The Yankees began 1956 on a good note – a six-hit win over the Washington Senators. For the important Opening Day Game at Griffith Stadium, Casey Stengel handed the ball not to future Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, but to Don Larsen. Rescued from the black hole of the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles franchise in 1955, Larsen promptly developed a sore shoulder and spent much of the season in the minors. By the spring of 1956 he was fully recovered and showed the most stuff of all the Yankees hurlers. Larsen’s 6-hitter on Opening Day was a precursor to what would be his finest season in the majors – 11-5 record, 3.26 ERA and 107 strikeouts.

Of course, Larsen’s 1956 would climax with the greatest pitching performance in World Series history when he threw a perfect game against the Dodgers in Game 5. But this baseball was there when that magical season began. At the Opening Day game’s conclusion, the ball used to record the final out was passed around and signed by 34 members of the Yankees team in sharp blue ballpoint. Among the Yanks who signed are Hall of Famers Casey Stengel, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto and Bill Dickey plus Elston Howard, Bobby Richardson, Jim Konstanty, Billy Martin and Don Larsen. An unknown hand has recorded the details of the game on a side panel, “LAST BALL PITCHED OPENING DAY VICTORY AT WASH. A SIX-HITTER YANKEES 10, SENATORS 4 APRIL 17, 1956.” This ball comes from the personal collection of Don Larsen. The ball shows good toning from age and some light scuffs and staining from use. The ball comes with a LOA from JSA (Z58576) for the signatures and a LOA from Steiner Sports.

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