This is shaping up to be a loooooong season for the New York Yankees, given their slow start. The outlook isn't exactly brilliant between injuries to key players and the underperformance of some of their new high priced free agents. Fortunately, the team has a rich legacy for its frustrated fans to fall back on if they need to get a little relief from the current fiasco.
For instance, this 6-DVD set revisits the Yankees at their very best, as it focuses on a half-dozen no-hitters from the storied franchise's salad days. The first disc contains Don Larsen's perfect game thrown during the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and features play-by-play called by a couple of legendary announcers: Mel Allen and Vin Scully.
Next, we have Dave Righetti's no-hitter over the Yanks arch rivals, the Boston Red Sox, a contest which took place on the Fourth of July in 1983.
Then there's Jim Abbott's inspirational no-no over the Cleveland Indians in September of 1993, a feat which was doubly noteworthy because Jim was born without a right hand.
A couple of discs chronicle games pitched by former New York Mets, which is interesting because the Yanks' cross-town rivals still have never had a no-hitter in the history of the organization. But their former All-Star, Dwight Gooden, bested the Seattle Mariners for the Yankees in the spring of 1996, thereby igniting the squad, which would develop sufficient momentum to prevail in the World Series that October.
Three years later, ex-Met David Cone would pitch a perfect game versus the Montreal Expos, an achievement also coupled with a fairy tale ending of a World Series trophy following the regular season.
Finally, we have David Wells' sensational perfect game against the Minnesota Twins in 1998, interesting because Wells himself was well-known as a lover of baseball statistics, lore and memorabilia. Overall, consider this DVD set an incomparable collection of historic performances which ought to help take beleaguered Yankee fans' minds off their hurting heroes' present plight.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 12 hours 33 minutes, including extras.
Studio: A&E Home Video
DVD Extras: Interviews with Don Larsen, Dave Righetti, Dwight Gooden, David Wells and David Cone, radio calls of Don Larsen's perfect game, Dwight Gooden Day, David Wells Day, and Abbott/Righetti and Wells/Larsen/Cone features.
