Don Larsen congratulates Phillies RHP Roy Halladay on postseason no-hitter

Larsen congratulates Halladay on no-hitter

NEW YORK — Don Larsen was watching the news Wednesday night when he saw an item of particular interest.

His most exclusive of clubs had just picked up another member.

Larsen saluted Roy Halladay on Thursday for becoming the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the postseason, telling The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he was happy for the Philadelphia Phillies right-hander.

“Quite a nice effort he had,” Larsen said. “You have to give him credit for that.”

Halladay recorded his second no-hitter of the season in a 4-0 victory Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of the NL division series. The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner threw a perfect game at Florida on May 29.

Larsen tossed a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, for more than five decades the only playoff no-hitter.

“You work hard for certain things,” Larsen said. “I guess if you work hard enough good things are going to happen to you and it did for me and Halladay. You have to appreciate these things because you never know what’s going to happen in the future.”

Larsen, who turned 81 in August, and Halladay had almost identical numbers in their postseason gems. Larsen struck out seven in New York’s 2-0 victory in Game 5, and Halladay had eight Ks and one walk in his playoff debut against Cincinnati.

The 54th anniversary of Larsen’s perfect game is this Friday.

“It was just a great day. I think about it every day,” Larsen said. “No one has to remind me what happened. I was just happy to be a part of it with the New York Yankees and against Brooklyn in the World Series, everybody was watching.”

Both Halladay and Larsen heaped praise on their catchers. Halladay said Carlos Ruiz helped him get into a rhythm early and Larsen said Hall of Famer Yogi Berra played a key role in his masterpiece.

“I couldn’t have done it without Yogi,” Larsen said. “He was a hell of a catcher. He deserves a lot of credit for it.”