10/09/04 - Posted 9:23:43 PM from the Daily Record newsroom
Larsen again lends hand to area charity
Perfect game icon to sign books, baseballs at Attilio’s Kitchen
By Sandy Seegers, Daily Record
Fourteen-year-old Michael Pesci of Parsippany feels privileged to have New York Yankees great Don Larsen as a friend.
In June, Larsen, the only man to pitch a perfect game in the World Series, attended Pesci’s charity event, the Perfect Pitch Home Run Derby, at Gardner Field.
Larsen will be in Denville again today, signing books and baseballs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Attilio’s Kitchen on Diamond Spring Road.
“I think it’s great,” said Michael Pesci, whose Perfect Pitch Derby will receive a portion of the proceeds from the autograph session. “Don Larsen is a great guy and shows a lot of support.”
Larsen, in the New York-New Jersey area for the Yankees playoff games and a memorabilia show, needed only 97 pitches to complete his perfect game, which occurred exactly 48 years and one day ago in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
Mickey Mantle’s line-drive home run in the fourth inning provided a 1-0 lead and New York went on to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0.
“I think about it every day,” Larsen once told the Sporting News. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe it ever happened. I’m glad it did because everybody thinks about that and forgets all the mistakes I made in my career.”
Since 2001, the Perfect Pitch Home Run Derby has raised more than $52,000 for Special Scout Troop 364, physically and mentally challenged athletes and sports programs for disadvantaged children.
The cost of Larsen’s book, “The Perfect Yankee,” with an autograph is $50. Fans supplying their own baseballs can get a signature at a cost of $50. For $60, fans will receive Larsen’s autograph, a baseball and a case.
“Being acquainted with Don Larsen is a unique opportunity for my son and family,” Pesci’s mother, Lisa, said. “I think it’s great that the players of old make themselves so accessible.”
Sandy Seegers can be reached at (973) 428-6672 or sseegers@gannett.com.