27 Up, and 27 Down

When the baseball finally dropped from the sky and landed safely in the glove of Paul O’Neill, an entire stadium exhaled.

David Wells pumped his left fist as he lunged off the mound and moments later became lost in a sea of pinstriped revelers.

Perfect. The feeling was almost impossible for Wells to describe, the accomplishment too amazing to comprehend.

On a flawed afternoon, beneath a gray sky, Wells became only the second pitcher in the history of the New York Yankees to throw a perfect game. He beat the Twins, 4-0, dominating Minnesota in front of 49,820 fans Sunday at Yankee Stadium, the same stage that Don Larsen used to become immortal almost 42 years ago.

“Nobody can take this away from me, no matter what happens,” said Wells, who received congratulatory phone calls from Larsen and Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. “I’m just going to cherish this for the rest of my life. I’m honored and I couldn’t be happier.”

Larsen, who graduated from the same high school [San Diego’s Point Loma] as Wells, overwhelmed the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. Sunday, Wells struck out 11, and the Twins managed only a couple of hard-hit balls as he became the 15th pitcher in aseball history to throw a perfect game. He is the first since Kenny Rogers, then with the Texas Rangers, did it against the Angels in 1994. Dating to his last start, Wells has retired an American League-record 37 consecutive batters and 44 of his last 45. He broke the league mark of 33 straight outs shared by Steve Busby (1974 with Kansas City) and John Montague (1977 with Seattle). The major league record is 41 by Jim Barr of San Francisco in 1972. Wells, who registered this feat three days before his 35th birthday, can break the mark in his next start at Boston.

On Sunday, the closest the Twins came to a hit was Ron Coomer’s one-hop bullet directly at Chuck Knoblauch with one out in the eighth. He knocked it down, picked it up and easily threw out Coomer. With the crowd on its feet, Wells jogged out to the mound for the ninth and then secured his place in history. He retired Jon Shave on a fly ball to right field, struck out Javier Valentin and got Pat Meares to lift a harmless pop-up to O’Neill in right for the clincher.

“It wasn’t a very hard play, and I’m glad for that,” O’Neill said. “I didn’t want to get a sinking liner right there.”

Added catcher Jorge Posada: “I had butterflies, my heart was pounding, I was very nervous. He was amazing.”

The feat came on a day fans flocked to the Bronx for a promotional giveaway of Beanie Babies. Even Joe Torre couldn’t resist commenting on the coincidence of Wells and the cuddly stuffed animal occupying the same stage. “I’m sure there have been no-hitters that have been pitched when there were like 16,000 people in the stands,” said Torre, who also attended Larsen’s perfect game, sitting in the upper deck between third base and left field. “It’s nice to have one on a day when there’s 50,000 people. We’ll keep remembering what Beanie Babies mean from now on. Even though the Boomer is the farthest thing from a Beanie Baby.”

The Yankees and Wells (5-1), who entered the game with a 5.23 earned-run average, got a gift run from the Twins in the second inning when Bernie Williams doubled, took third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch by Twins starter LaTroy Hawkins (2-4).

Williams made it 2-0 in the fourth inning with his third homer and the Yankees tacked on two more runs in the seventh on Williams’ double, Darryl Strawberry’s triple and Chad Curtis’ single.

“We let some fastballs go, we chased some curveballs,” Twins Manager Tom Kelly said. “To pitch a perfect game, you have to have all of your pitches working. It doesn’t happen by accident. We got to see a real workhorse type of pitcher do something really special.”

Wells was forced to three-ball counts on only four batters, including a nine-pitch grudge match with Valentin in the third inning that Wells won by striking him out for the first of three times. He fell behind 3-and-0 to leadoff hitter Matt Lawton to begin the fourth but eventually got him on a pop-up to short.

The seventh inning pushed Wells close to the brink. Brent Gates worked the count full before grounding to Tino Martinez for the second out. Then Paul Molitor provided the toughest test. Wells went 3-and-1 to Molitor before he got a called strike, then slipped a sinker along the outside edge that the DH waved at for the inning’s final out.

“Sometimes I think pitchers have the tendency to maybe complicate things for themselves,” Torre said. “Today he was so basic it was great to see. The first time, when he went 3-and-0 to Lawton, it didn’t bother me that much because it was too early to even think about this.

“But when he went 3-and-1 on Molitor, that’s the one memory I think I’ll take from this game. Because once he got Molly out, he was going to pitch a perfect game. That’s being tested big-time when you go 3-and-1 on that kind of hitter.”

Said Wells: “When I fell behind in the count, I just tried to throw it right down the middle. Then I threw a sinker, and it sunk. It was probably one of my best pitches of the game.”

Wells, who has always liked to be the center of attention, had a terrible time dealing with the isolation during the game. He sat alone in the dugout between innings, occasionally heading back into the clubhouse, but none of his teammates--except David Cone--would go anywhere near him and risk disrupting the aura.

Cone teased Wells to try to keep him loose, but those good-natured tactics didn’t seem to work. Wells said it was extremely tough to shake off the roar of the crowd, and though he fed off the energy, it almost became too much to bear.

“From the eighth inning on, I’d run out there, and they’d be screaming and yelling,” Wells said. “Let me tell you, it’s the greatest feeling in the world . . . but they got to me. They made me nervous out there. They got me pumped up, and when they start screaming, you want to get the punchout. They played a big part in it for me today.”

After Wells finished off Meares, the Bronx exploded, and he was carried off on the shoulders of Williams and Darryl Strawberry. Wells, too often the problem child of the Yankees, was their favorite son for the day.

“That was the finest moment of my baseball career,” Wells said. “To be out there and be mobbed by every single member of the team, it was unbelievable.”

Exactly.

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Pitcher Perfect

Perfect games in major league baseball:

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PITCHER TEAM AND OPPONENT SCORE DATE John Richmond Worcester vs. Cleveland (NL) 1-0 June 12,1880 John Ward Providence vs. Buffalo (NL) 5-0 June 17,1880 Cy Young Boston vs. Philadelphia (AL) 3-0 May 5, 1904 Addie Joss Cleveland vs. Chicago (AL) 1-0 Oct. 2, 1908 Charles Robertson Chicago vs. Detroit (AL) 2-0 April 30, 1922 x-Don Larsen New York (AL) vs. Brooklyn (NL) 2-0 Oct. 8, 1956 Jim Bunning Philadelphia vs. New York (NL) 6-0 June 21, 1964 Sandy Koufax Dodgers vs. Chicago (NL) 1-0 Sept. 9, 1965 Catfish Hunter Oakland vs. Minnesota (AL) 4-0 May 8, 1968 Len Barker Cleveland vs. Toronto (AL) 3-0 May 15, 1981 Mike Witt Angels vs. Texas (AL) 1-0 Sept. 30, 1984 Tom Browning Cincinnati vs. Dodgers (NL) 1-0 Sept. 16, 1988 Dennis Martinez Montreal vs. Dodgers (NL) 2-0 July 28, 1991 Kenny Rogers Texas vs. Angels (AL) 4-0 July 28, 1994 David Wells New York (AL) vs. Minnesota 4-0 May 17, 1998

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x-World Series SPECIAL MENTION (UNOFFICIAL PERFECT GAMES)

PITCHER: y-Ernie Shore

TEAM AND OPPONENT: Boston vs. Washington (AL)

SCORE: 4-0

DATE: June 23, 1917

*

PITCHER: z-Harvey Haddix

TEAM AND OPPONENT: Pittsburgh vs. Milwaukee (NL)

SCORE: 0-1, 13 innings

DATE: May 26, 1959

*

PITCHER: a-Pedro Martinez

TEAM AND OPPONENT: Montreal at San Diego

SCORE: 1-0, 10 innings

DATE: June 3, 1995

y-Entered game after starter Babe Ruth walked Ray Morgan, and following an argument, was ejected by umpire Brick Owens. Morgan was caught stealing and Shore retired the remaining 26 batters.

z-Pitched 12 perfect innings, lost in 13th on an error, sacrifice bunt, walk and double.

a-Pitched 9 perfect innings, allowed leadoff double in 10th and was replaced by Mel Rojas, who finished one-hitter in 1-0 win.

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Select Company

The perfect game is one of the rarest feats in baseball. A look at some of the things you don’t see every day, and how many times they’ve been done:

9 Unassisted triple plays

14 4 homers in a game

15 Perfect games

217 Hit for the cycle

222 No-hitters