Don Larsen Perfect Game: MLB Postseason's First No-Hitter

When the final out of Roy Halladay's no-hitter was recorded Wednesday night, it didn't take long before Don Larsen was mentioned. Until Halladay came along, Larsen was the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the MLB playoffs -- in fact, his gem was a perfect game.

Larsen's perfect game came on Oct. 8., 1956, Game 5 of the World Series between Larsen's Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Larsen was coming off of a Game 2 start in which he looked awful, lasting less than two innings. But it only took him 97 pitches to burn through the Dodgers, completing the perfect game with a called strike against Dale Mitchell.

Larsen would go on to win two more World Series games in his career, and was in attendance for David Cone's perfect game with the Yankees in 1999.

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Larsen was a bit of a surprise to have such a dominant, memorable outing. The pitcher was known for his late-night antics (he famously took a cigarette break in the middle of the perfect game) and had a lackluster career leading up to that fateful night. Former Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard was quoted as saying: " If Nolan Ryan had done it, if Sandy Koufax had done it, if Don Drysdale had done it, I would have nodded and said, 'Well, it could happen.' But Don Larsen?"

Larsen once said: " They can never break my record. The best they can do is tie it." It may not have been a perfect game, nor may have it been in the World Series, but Roy Halladay's performance Wednesday night was good enough to get people to remember a piece of baseball history.