(LOT 250)
Historic 1956 World Series Game #5 Full Ticket with Specific Seating - Don Larsen's Perfect Game (PSA Auth) - Signed by Don Larsen (PSA 10 Auto Grade)
"I'll guarantee that nobody, but nobody has left this ballpark. And if somebody did manage to leave early... man, he's missin' the greatest. Two strikes & a ball. Mitchell waiting... Larsen is ready, gets the sign... two strikes, ball one... here comes the pitch... strike three... a no-hitter, a perfect game for Don Larsen! Yogi Berra comes out there... he leaps on Larsen and he's mobbed by his teammates... listen to this crowd roar!"- Announcer Bob Wolff

Such were the iconic words from the late legendary sportscaster Bob Wolff when he called Don Larsen's Perfect Game on October 8, 1956! Indeed, it was this date that the Yankees right-hander Don Larsen turned the baseball world upside down when he retired 27 consecutive Brooklyn Dodgers batters in Game #5 of the 1956 Fall Classic played at Yankee Stadium. It was with the sweatiest of palms and clenched fists that nearly 65,000 fans roared on each and every pitch in the ninth inning until Larsen eventually struck out pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell on a 1-2 pitch to complete his timeless classic. Sharing star-status for the day was none other than the immortal Mickey Mantle who not only blasted a solo homer in the fourth inning for the Yankees first run, but also made a spectacular back-handed catch in left center field in the sixth inning, snaring a line drive off of the bat of Gil Hodges to preserve the Perfect Game.

Indeed, in the annals of sports history, this performance stands right alongside other momentous feats such as Babe Ruth's "Called Shot"; Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game; Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Secretariat's miraculous 31-length record-setting win in the 1973 Belmont Stakes to claim horse racing's Triple Crown as one of the greatest accomplishments in sports. Regarding the World Series, it stands alone as the greatest single-game pitching performance ever, proudly standing tall as the only time this feat has ever been achieved in the Fall Classic. One of the most coveted of all keepsakes from this exalted event is an unused "Full" Ticket from that extraordinary October 8th Fall day, and presented here just happens to be one of only 20 PSA encapsulated Full Tickets. While over 200 ticket "stubs" have been assessed by PSA, less than 10% of that figure have survived in their original Full Ticket form, with this particular example actually signed by Larsen in fine black Sharpie directly beneath the central Yankee insignia.

PSA has graded the bold "Don Larsen" script a perfect "10 Gem Mint", ironically synonymous to the results of Larsen's "one of a kind" performance. As you can see by the imposing image, the ticket has survived in stellar condition, reflecting only a few stray wrinkles with one being a light horizontal crease running across the lower region. The edging is relatively intact, the purple, yellow, red and blue hues have retained a majority of their original luster, and the verso reveals only a few faint pencil notations near the lower edge. A "LOWER STAND" box seat, it was printed for Section 13; Box 281B; Seat 6, and while we will never truly know the circumstances of why it remained unused or who actually sat in that seat on that historic day, it is its sheer existence and availability that matters most.

As an almost anti-climax, the Yankees would go on to win the Series in seven games, avenging their 1955 defeat to Brooklyn. Some interesting side notes of the game were final appearances by umpire Babe Pinelli behind home plate and pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell, with Mitchell's strikeout the final at-bat of his career. Of course, it was Larsen's uncanny ability to retire 27 straight Dodgers on 97 pitches that would "steal the show", with Larsen only going to a single 3-ball count in the entire game (Pee Wee Reese in the 1st inning), and amazingly not even knowing he was going to pitch until he arrived at Yankee Stadium that afternoon. We cannot imagine a finer testament for this earth-shattering performance than this PSA encapsulated Full-Ticket that just happens to include a resounding "10" autograph of the author for this unparalleled masterpiece that will surely "echo for eternity!"

MIN BID $4,000