Perfect in Every Way

You can’t improve on perfection, so David Cone did the next best thing. He duplicated it.

On a day when the most storied franchise in sports staged a celebration to honor one of its most beloved heroes, Cone stole the spotlight. It was billed as Yogi Berra Day, but July 18, 1999, will forever be known as the day the Bronx was transformed into “Coney” Island.

On a day when the history, tradition and pure magic of the Yankees hung as heavy in the air over Yankee Stadium as the heat and humidity, Cone officially became a part of that lore. On a day when 1956 World Series perfect-game hero Don Larsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his old catcher, Berra, Cone made the most ceremonial pitch of the game his 88th and last. On a day that was perfect before the game ever began, Cone redefined perfection, Yankee style.

Cone pitched a perfect game Sunday, defeating the Montreal Expos, 6-0, before a crowd of 41,930. The 36-year-old right-hander endured a 33-minute rain delay in the bottom of the third inning, plus 95-degree heat and stifling humidity.

He threw only 88 pitches, an amazing 68 for strikes. He had 16 first-pitch strikes, only five counts in which he threw two balls and not a single three-ball count. He struck out 10. His last pitch, a fastball to Orlando Cabrera, was popped to third baseman Scott Brosius. After the ball was caught, Cone dropped to his knees, his arms covering his face in an expression of both joy and disbelief.

“You’ve got a better chance of winning the lottery than of this happening today,” he said. “There must really be something to this Yankees magic and mystique.”

There was something to Cone’s well-traveled, well-examined right arm, that’s for sure. Three years after surgery for an aneurysm that threatened his life, not to mention his career, Cone matched the feat of Larsen and former Yankee pitcher David Wells, who pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins 14 months ago.

Cone’s fastball and slider were exceptional, as was his control. He got the only help he would need offensively in the second inning, when the Yankees scored five runs off loser Javier Vazquez (2-5), highlighted by two-run homers from Ricky Ledee and Derek Jeter.

“That’s as good as Coney has ever been,” catcher Joe Girardi said. “His slider was great and his fastball was great. We didn’t use the curve or the forkball much. He didn’t waste any pitches. He was ahead of everybody.”

The outs kept coming, and from the seventh inning on, the stadium rocked with every pitch and every out. With one out in the eighth, Cone fell behind Jose Vidro, 2-0, before delivering a fastball right in the hitting zone. Vidro cracked it up the middle. At first it looked as if it were headed for center, but second baseman Chuck Knoblauch made a brilliant backhand stop and perfect throw to nab Vidro.

That was the last close call. Cone came out to the mound for the ninth inning to yet another ear-splitting barrage. “My heart was pumping. I could hear it; I could feel it,” Cone said. He struck out Chris Widger, got pinch-hitter Ryan McGuire on a fly to short left and then got Cabrera.

And guess who was waiting on the phone the minute Cone walked into the clubhouse? None other than Wells, now with the Blue Jays. “That was nice. He called to welcome me to the club,” Cone said. “He said he’d fly in and party with me.” It would be hard to top the party that went on in the Bronx Sunday.