2023-06-30 01:36:40
David Cone, baseball’s preeminent authority on perfect games, let out a quick laugh over the phone.
Cone was inside his apartment in Manhattan, nearly 3,000 miles from the Oakland Coliseum, when Yankees righty Domingo Germán became the 24th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game in an 11-0 win over the hapless A’s on Wednesday night. Despite the distance, Cone had a good idea about what was in store for Germán. And of course he did. Cone threw a perfect game for the Yankees in 1999 and, the year prior, he was there when his best friend and teammate David Wells did the same.
“There will be a lot of autograph collectors that will be looking for him and Higgy to sign things together forever,” Cone told The Athleticreferring to catcher Kyle Higashioka. “That’s something they’re not even aware of yet.”
From his couch, Cone watched every single one of the 99 pitches Germán threw en route to his indelible achievement. He watched all nine of Germán’s strikeouts. He cheered the moment Germán got Esteury Ruiz to bounce out to third baseman Josh Donaldson for the final out of the game. He smiled as his teammates mobbed him on the infield.
@Domingo_German4 Congratulations Domingo! A truly fantastic effort. Your game is now part of forever. Oh and can I have your autograph?
— David Cone (@dcone36) June 29, 2023
And Cone thought back to the day he threw his perfect game — July 18, 1999, against the Montreal Expos at Yankee Stadium, a 6-0 victory.
It’s a moment that still remains near the top of Cone’s impressive resume. Sure, Cone won five World Series titles. Yes, he pitched for eight teams, including the Mets and the Red Sox. He also appeared in five All-Star games, won the American League Cy Young in 1994, led the majors in wins in 1998, and he twice lead the majors in strikeouts. He’s even one of baseball’s most respected TV analysts.
Yet Cone’s perfect game is what comes up as much as anything.
“It’s referred to a lot,” Cone said. “It’s been played a lot on the YES Network — at least once a year, it’s shown.”
Cone joked that he didn’t think Germán would get a wink of sleep Wednesday night. But what about in the long term?
“It’s just never forgotten,” Cone said. “It’s always there.”
Cone said he saw how the achievement of throwing a perfect game worked wonders for Wells. Cone said that he saw a switch flip inside Wells, nicknamed “Boomer,” after he struck out 11 in his perfect game against the Twins on May 17, 1998, at Yankee Stadium. Wells went into that game with a 4-1 record but an ugly 5.23 ERA on the season. After the perfect game? Wells pitched to a 3.10 ERA and went 13-3 as the Yankees went on to win a franchise-record 114 regular-season games and their second World Series of the 1990s.
“With Domingo,” Cone said, “it’s probably more similar to Boomer in that this could really help springboard him to bigger and better things. It did for Boomer in ’98, he became a different pitcher after that day. He really gained a lot of confidence and possibly that could work for Domingo as well. We’ll see.”
Why did Wells suddenly gain confidence following his perfect game?
“I just think that he was such a fan of the game,” Cone said. “He’s a big memorabilia collector. He’s kind of a history buff, especially with Yankees history. I think he understood what that meant for him, he made his own mark in history after idolizing Babe Ruth and all the Yankees greats. He saw himself alongside those people. That gave him a lot of confidence.
“I’m not sure how it will affect Domingo, but it has to be a real positive influence on him in terms of just how he feels about himself.”
Cone said he spent the night “really pulling” for Germán, whom he’s gotten to know a little bit in a role as an analyst for the YES Network and for ESPN. Germán was in the midst of a difficult season. Just three days ago, Germán’s uncle died. And Germán’s previous two starts had been terrible. Earlier in the season, Germán was suspended for 10 games for violating the league’s sticky stuff policy for using what umpires determined to be too much rosin, a legal substance, though Germán said at the time he didn’t realize he was breaking the rules and hadn’t intended to break them.
He didn’t even enter spring training in the Yankees’ rotation plans, but injuries to Carlos Rodón and Frankie Montas gave him the opportunity.
And before Thursday night, Germán may have been most known across baseball for getting suspended a total of 81 games for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. He was put on administrative leave in September 2019 and served the remaining 63 games of his suspension in 2020. At the time, it was the harshest ban levied on a player who had been investigated following domestic violence allegations but never criminally charged.
Cone said he also saw some meaning in the numbers Wednesday night. When Cone threw his perfect game, he threw 88 pitches, and he did it on Yogi Berra Day in the Bronx. Berra, the legendary Yankees catcher, wore No. 8. As part of the festivities that day, Don Larsen, who threw the only World Series perfect game in 1956 (on Oct. 8, no less) threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Cone was taken aback that Germán had recorded nine strikeouts over nine innings in 99 pitches.
“I look at the numbers and that means something because it’s hard enough to throw a perfect game,” Cone said, “but it’s even harder to be allowed to throw enough pitches to get that kind of complete perfect game. You have to have that pitch count like he had. So the efficiency of it all really was the part to me that made it so beautiful. There was just no messing around. He was in complete control the whole time.”
The perfect game will follow Germán for as long as he’s around baseball.
“It’s part of your resume now,” Cone said, “and forever will be.”
(Photo of Domingo German after his perfect game: Stan Szeto / USA Today)
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