Also part of the largest trade, by quantity of players in MLB history.
Gooney Bird, so coined owing to Larsen’s protruding ears, pear-shaped body, and long, dangling arms, didn’t even know he was starting this game until the day of. Managed to find a ball in his shoe from Frankie Crosetti, the morning coach’s way of letting his staff know it was their go in the rotation. He even called it the night before, in spite of the lack of his knowledge going by Perfect: Don Larsen’s Miraculous World Series Game and The Men Who Made It Happen, proclaiming in the cab ride, “I’m gonna beat those guys tomorrow. And I’m just liable to pitch a no-hitter.” And even then, there was a fake paper affixed to Larsen’s door by Andy Carey, the Yankee third baseman stating he had thrown one, which was later shredded before Don saw it, as not to jinx him.
According to Mickey Mantle, Larsen was the greatest drinker he had ever known, a statement echoed by Baltimore manager Jimmy Dykes in 1954, stating the only thing Don feared was sleep.
He did settle down though, choosing Idaho as a place to live specifically because it was/is quiet. Come 2012, he even eventually sold the perfect game jersey in an auction for $756,000, to pay for the college education of his grandchildren.