David Cone's perfect game

David Cone's perfect game occurred on July 18, 1999 against the Montreal Expos at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Background

Before the game began, Don Larsen, who himself had thrown a perfect game in the 1956 World Series, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Yogi Berra, who caught that game.^[1] It was Yogi Berra Day at the stadium, as he had recently reconciled with owner George Steinbrenner.^[2] To date, it is the only perfect game achieved in regular season interleague play.^[3]

The Game

David Cone never worked a count more than 2-0. A 33-minute rain delay interrupted the game in the third inning.^[4] In the third inning, Paul O'Neill saved the game with a diving catch in right field. The last batter, Orlando Cabrera, popped up to third baseman Scott Brosius to end the game.^[5] Immediately afterwards, David leaped into the arms of catcher Joe Girardi. This has become one of the most enduring images in baseball history.

Aftermath

After his perfect game, Cone seemed to decline rapidly. He never threw another shutout in his career. In 2000, he posted a career-worst 4-14 record^[6] with a 6.91 ERA. In the 2000 World Series, he faced one batter, Mike Piazza in Game 4, to whom he induced a pop-up to end the fifth inning.^[7]

References

1. ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/07181999.shtml
2. ^ http://www.donniebaseball.com/mattingly/yogiday1.html
3. ^ http://baseballjunkies.blogspot.com/2011/07/interleague-play-like-it-or-not-here.html
4. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_99reg_071899_monnya
5. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_99reg_071899_monnya
6. ^ http://www.netshrine.com/conebag.html
7. ^ http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/2011/09/classic-yankees-david-cone/