Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Perfect Game (Slice of Life Tuesday)


(This Slice of Life is almost 60 years old.)
            Monday, October 8, 1956, I was in my ninth-grade home room at the end of the day. The assistant principal, as he was announcing school bus departures over the P.A. system, also noted that in that afternoon’s World Series game, Don Larsen of the Yankees had so far pitched a perfect game.
            The word “perfect” clicked in my mind. Was there actually something a human being could do that was “perfect”?
            As soon as I got home, 15-20 minutes later, I went immediately to my parents’ bedroom, where the TV was, and turned the channel selector until I found the channel broadcasting the game. (There were only about five channels then, and no remote.) I saw the final three outs that climaxed that amazing 27 up, 27 down accomplishment. The catcher, who I didn’t yet know was Yogi Berra, ran toward the pitcher and jumped into his arms. There was only one camera shot, middle distance, probably from the level of the press box.
            With that perfect game, baseball cemented itself in my heart. 
(MLB.com has a short video of the highlights and the end of the game, with interviews with the participants and the announcer of the game.)

9 comments:

  1. How wonderful that you came to love baseball after watching that iconic game. You certainly do have baseball bragging rights.

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  2. What a moment! I love baseball, too - it really is the perfect game.

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  3. What a moment! I love baseball, too - it really is the perfect game.

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  4. Such a nostalgic post! I, too, remember watching scratchy games on our old bunny-ear-antennaed television. And, like yours, with a dial that went round and round, providing only a handful of channels :-) Now that my young son is playing ball, I am rediscovering my love of the sport!

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  5. I love how clearly you reconstructed an old memory in this slice.

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  6. I love how clearly you reconstructed an old memory in this slice.

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  7. Oh, wow. One game - one moment - and you were hooked, huh? Thanks for sharing it with us today. I could totally imagine you standing there watching that moment on a TV with rabbit ear antennas.

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    1. oh, I'm sure we had those rabbit ear antennas. I didn't remember them, but you bring them right into focus.

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  8. That's amazing! I could imagine this moment as I read your slice.

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