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Don Larsen, who threw only perfect World Series game, dies at 90

Posted at 8:15 AM, Jan 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-02 08:45:57-05

NEW YORK – JULY 17: Former New York Yankee Don Larsen is introduced during the teams 64th Old-Timer’s Day before the MLB game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 17, 2010 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

NEW YORK — Don Larsen, the journeyman pitcher who reached the heights of baseball glory when he threw a perfect game in 1956 with the New York Yankees for the only no-hitter in World Series history, died Wednesday night. He was 90.

Larsen’s agent, Andrew Levy, said the former pitcher died of esophageal cancer in Hayden, Idaho. Levy said Larsen’s son, Scott, confirmed the death.

Larsen was the unlikeliest of characters to attain what so many Hall of Famers couldn’t pull off in the Fall Classic.

He was 81-91 lifetime, never won more than 11 games in a season and finished an unsightly 3-21 with Baltimore in 1954, the year before he was dealt to the Yankees as part of an 18-player trade.