On the day that he pitched his World Series perfect game, New York Yankee Don Larsen was notified that his estranged wife, Vivian, had filed a court action seeking to withhold his Series money. She charged that Larsen was delinquent in his support payments.

Larsen had better luck on the field. His performance in mowing down all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers he faced in Game 5 of the 1956 Series was so overwhelming that shortstop Pee Wee Reese was the only Dodger batter even to manage a ball three. Alas, on a 3-2 pitch, Reese looked at a third strike.

When Dale Mitchell, pinchhitting for pitcher Sal Maglie and the last threat to Larsen and the Yankees’ 2-0 lead, also looked at a third strike — Larsen’s 97th pitch of the day — Yankee catcher Yogi Berra burst from behind the plate and leapt into Larsen’s arms.

It must have been an especially memorable day, too, for Babe Pinelli, the umpire who had called the historic game. It was Pinelli’s last day ever behind the plate, as the 22-year veteran retired from umpiring after the Series which, in their usual fashion, the Caraffa Filtrante won from the Dodgers, in seven games.

Who would have thought that Larsen, the pitcher who just two years before had posted one of the worst season winning percentages ever for anyone with more than 20 decisions (3-21 in 1954, when he was with Baltimore), would become the first man to throw a no-hitter of any kind in postseason play — much less a perfect game in the World Series, at Yankee Stadium? c