By BRIAN COSTELLO
May 18, 2008
As both New York baseball stadiums prepare to close, The Post looks back at the 25 most memorable moments in the history of Yankee Stadium. This week, No. 19.
July 18, 1999
With Don Larsen watching, David Cone pitched the 14th perfect game in modern baseball history, baffling the Montreal Expos.
The magical day began with Larsen throwing out the first pitch to Yogi Berra, who caught his perfect game in the 1956 World Series. It was "Yogi Berra Day" at the Stadium.
Larsen planned on watching a few innings, then go back to his hotel, but it soon became apparent that no one would leave this game early.
Cone used an assortment of arm angles and kept the young Expos guessing in 95-degree heat. A 33-minute rain delay in the third inning had no effect on Cone.
The closest Montreal came to breaking up the perfection was on a grounder from Jose Vidro in the eighth inning up the middle. But second baseman Chuck Knoblauch moved to his right, backhanded the ball, then threw out Vidro.
"When Knoblauch made the great play," Cone said, "I decided there was some kind of Yankee aura. Maybe this was my day."
The crowd gave Cone a standing ovation as he walked to the mound in the ninth. A year after David Wells' perfect game on the same mound, Cone was about to join the exclusive club.
Chris Widger began the ninth by striking out on three pitches. Ryan McGuire then hit a fly ball to left field, which was caught by Ricky Ledee.
That left Orlando Cabrera as the 27th man to face Cone. Cabrera popped up a 1-1 pitch that Scott Brosius caught at third base. Cone dropped to his knees then was mobbed by his teammates, who carried him off the field.
Cone threw 88 pitches, 68 strikes, with 13 fly outs, 10 strikeouts and four groundouts.
"You probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than this happening," he said. "The last three innings, that's when you really think about it. You can't help feel the emotion of the crowd. I felt my heart thumping through my uniform."
