Yankees pitchers of past and present make sports headlines

Don Larsen (Google Images)

Two New York Yankees pitchers made not just baseball headlines, but sports headlines this week. On Wednesday, former Yankees pitching legend Don Larsen of Michigan City, Indiana passed away at age 90 and on Thursday, Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, was suspended 81 games for domestic violence.

Larsen pitched 14 seasons of Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Browns, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs. There were times Larsen struggled on the mound. He actually led Major League Baseball with 21 losses while with the Orioles in 1954, and had a record of one win and 10 losses with the Athletics in 1960.

However, on one magical day Larsen was perfect. On October 8, 1956, Larsen became the first and only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to record a perfect game in the World Series. In fact, Larsen became the only pitcher in baseball history to pitch a perfect game in the postseason as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0.

German, meanwhile, reportedly slapped the girlfriend and mother of his child according to Laura Albanese of newsday.com. He already was suspended 18 games in the 2019 Major League Baseball season. The fact German missed the American League Championship Series was huge, as the Yankees could have used his services against the Houston Astros.

The loss of German in 2020 meanwhile is very significant for the Bronx Bombers, and makes the signing of Gerrit Cole even more valuable. In 2019, German led Major League Baseball with an .818 winning percentage as he had a record of 18 wins and four losses. He also had 153 strikeouts compared to only 39 walks in 143 innings pitched.