May 17, 1998. Yankee Stadium. A Sunday afternoon matinee against the Minnesota Twins, and the biggest event of the day -- according to the Yankees' promotional calendar -- was Beanie Baby Day. Fans 14 and under were getting a white stuffed bear named Valentino on the way in. There were 49,820 people in the seats.
David Wells was getting ready to pitch.
Wells had barely slept. By his own account, he'd been at a party the night before, made it home around 5 a.m., and shown up at the ballpark with -- in his words -- "bloodshot eyes, monster breath, and a raging, skull-rattling hangover." He'd been terrible early in the season, posting a 5.77 ERA through his first seven starts. Nothing about that Sunday morning suggested anything extraordinary was about to happen.
He threw a perfect game anyway.
The Man on the Mound
David Lee Wells had been waiting his whole career to be a Yankee. He grew up in San Diego idolizing Babe Ruth -- not in a passive, poster-on-the-wall way, but in the obsessive way that leads a grown man to spend real money acquiring game-worn memorabilia. On June 28, 1997, Wells wore an authentic 1934 Ruth cap to the mound at Yankee Stadium. Joe Torre made him take it off after the first inning, then fined him $2,500 for the uniform violation. Wells paid the fine in singles. He kept the hat -- he'd paid $35,000 for it, so the math still worked out.
"Boomer" was many things -- a left-handed power pitcher, a documented party enthusiast, a man who made peace with his own contradictions -- but nobody ever questioned whether he wanted to pitch in pinstripes. He'd signed as a free agent before the 1997 season, and by 1998 the rotation he was part of was the best in baseball. He was supposed to be one of four horses. On May 17, he became something else entirely.
Nine Innings
The Twins sent out a respectable lineup -- Paul Molitor in the three-hole (41 years old, Hall of Famer, in his last season), Marty Cordova, Ron Coomer, Pat Meares. Not a powerhouse, but not a collection of soft outs either. Wells dispatched the first inning on nine pitches: Matt Lawton flied out, Brent Gates popped up, Molitor grounded to second. Clean.
Wells kept it that way. He struck out the side in the third -- Jon Shave, Javier Valentín, Pat Meares -- on 15 pitches. By the middle innings, the Stadium was starting to understand what was happening. The dugout stayed quiet. Nobody sat next to Wells between innings. The unwritten law of the perfect game held.
The closest call came in the seventh. Wells went to a 3-1 count on Molitor -- the most dangerous hitter in the lineup, an all-time contact bat, a man who wasn't going to just roll over. Wells came back with a strike, then another. Molitor swung through it for the strikeout. The Stadium exhaled.
The eighth inning nearly ended it a different way. Ron Coomer lined a sharp grounder up the middle -- Wells said he thought it was a base hit before he even finished his follow-through. Chuck Knoblauch, playing second, knocked it down and threw to first. Out. The crowd's reaction to a groundout to second was something that happens maybe once a decade.
The Final Out
Twenty-seven batters. Pat Meares lifted a fly ball to right field. Paul O'Neill settled under it, caught it, and the game was over.
Wells pumped his fist. Jorge Posada -- who'd caught every pitch -- sprinted out of the crouch and leapt. Darryl Strawberry, Bernie Williams, and Posada carried Wells off the field on their shoulders, 120 pitches behind him, zero baserunners allowed, the fifteenth perfect game in the history of major league baseball.
That night, Don Larsen -- the only other Yankee to throw a perfect game, and the only man to do it in a World Series -- called to say that Wells would think about it every day for the rest of his life. Just like Larsen had.
What It Meant
The 1998 Yankees didn't need the perfect game to be the 1998 Yankees. They were already going to finish 114-48 and win everything that moved. David Cone would throw his own perfect game the following July (a coincidence that remains genuinely improbable -- two perfect games by the same team in back-to-back seasons). The dynasty had its own momentum.
But May 17, 1998 gave the season a different kind of texture. The image of Wells being carried off the field, hung over, grinning, is the image of a man who got away with something extraordinary -- and knew it.
The Beanie Baby bears Valentino were distributed to several thousand kids on the way in. A lot of them still have them.
| Date | May 17, 1998 (Sunday) |
| Score | Yankees 4, Twins 0 |
| Attendance | 49,820 (Yankee Stadium) |
| Wells Pitching Line | 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K, 120 pitches |
| Perfect Game No. | 15th in MLB history; 2nd in Yankees history |
| Final Out | Pat Meares fly ball to Paul O'Neill (RF) |
| Key Play (8th) | Knoblauch knocked down Coomer liner, threw to first |
| Wells 1998 Season | 18-4, 3.49 ERA, ALCS MVP |
The Night Before
Wells attends a party, makes it home around 5 a.m. He'll later describe his condition the next afternoon as a "raging, skull-rattling hangover" -- half-drunk, barely slept, bloodshot eyes.
First Inning: Nine Pitches
Wells retires the Twins' first three batters -- Lawton, Gates, Molitor -- on nine pitches. Nothing about the first inning suggests what's coming.
Third Inning: Strike Out the Side
Wells strikes out Shave, Valentín, and Meares in order on 15 pitches. The Stadium begins to notice.
Seventh Inning: The Molitor At-Bat
Wells falls behind 3-1 to Paul Molitor -- a 41-year-old Hall of Famer in his final season. He battles back and strikes Molitor out swinging. The most dangerous moment of the afternoon passes.
Eighth Inning: Knoblauch Saves It
Ron Coomer hits a sharp grounder up the middle. Chuck Knoblauch knocks it down and throws across to first. Wells said he thought it was a base hit. The perfect game survives.
Final Out
Pat Meares flies out to Paul O'Neill in right field. The 15th perfect game in MLB history is complete. Posada leaps into Wells' arms; teammates carry him off the field on their shoulders.
Don Larsen Calls
That evening, Don Larsen -- the only other Yankee to throw a perfect game -- calls Wells to tell him he'll think about it every day for the rest of his life. Just like Larsen has since 1956.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did David Wells pitch a perfect game with a hangover?
By Wells' own admission in his 2003 autobiography "Perfect, I'm Not!," he showed up to the ballpark on May 17, 1998 "half-drunk, with bloodshot eyes, monster breath, and a raging, skull-rattling hangover" after a night out that ended around 5 a.m. He threw 120 pitches, struck out 11, and didn't allow a single baserunner. There's no good explanation for this. It happened.
What number perfect game was David Wells' perfecto?
Wells' perfect game was the 15th in Major League Baseball history and the second in Yankees history -- after Don Larsen's in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. David Cone would throw the 16th the following year, also for the Yankees.
Who made the last out of David Wells' perfect game?
Pat Meares, the Twins' shortstop, hit a fly ball to right field that Paul O'Neill caught for the final out in the ninth inning. Meares had been one of Wells' 11 strikeout victims earlier in the game (third inning).
Who was the catcher for David Wells' perfect game?
Jorge Posada caught every pitch. When Pat Meares' fly ball settled into O'Neill's glove, Posada sprinted out of the crouch and leapt into Wells' arms. It was the defining image of the game.
What was special about Beanie Baby Day at Yankee Stadium in 1998?
May 17, 1998 was a Yankees Beanie Baby promotion -- fans 14 and under received a white stuffed bear named Valentino. It was the biggest scheduled event of the afternoon until David Wells retired all 27 batters he faced. The Valentino bears handed out that day became collector's items almost immediately.