“I’ve now watched every no-hitter thrown in the 103-year history of the World Series,” said FOX NASCAR play-by-play announcer Mike Joy. “Both of them. And the viewership experience could not have been more different.”
Joy, along with millions of others around the world, watched Houston Astros right-hander Cristian Javier and a collection of relievers no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night in Game 4 of the World Series on FOX. The moment took Joy back to 1956, when a six-year-old in Connecticut found a unique way to witness baseball history – Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the World Series.
Here, Joy shares his memories:
Windsor, Conn., where I grew up, was just about midway between New York and Boston. Half the town were Sox fans, half were Yankee fans. Even at age six, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford were already my heroes.
In fall 1956, hardly anyone had a color TV for two good reasons. First, a new color set from Admiral or RCA cost $1,000, fully half the cost of a new Chevrolet. Second, very few programs were broadcast in color, just select live events like the Tournament of Roses Parade and the World Series.
There were only 120,000 color sets in the entire United States, yet in our small Hartford suburb, I knew where two of them were. Bill King and his family lived across the street from us. Some of the neighborhood kids rode our bikes about a mile to King’s Electric on Broad St. in Windsor center.
We parked ourselves on the floor of the showroom in front of a new $1,150 Sylvania color TV and were our own cheering section. We watched the complete games on the weekend and raced over there weekdays right after school. King’s other color set was in the showroom’s front window, where the Series drew quite a crowd from Dillon’s Market next door, and from Town Hall at the end of the block.
Monday, Oct. 8, the Yankees won 2-0, and I was thrilled that Mickey had hit the game-winning home run off Sal Maglie in the 4th inning. Vin Scully and Mel Allen called the game, and as excited as they were, I didn’t really understand the magnitude until I got home, when my grandfather, E.W. “Doc” Joy, called long-distance from Chicago.
Doc was a huge baseball fan, suffering with Cubs fans every summer. He explained how this had never happened before, that we were so lucky to witness such an historic feat, and we would likely never see such a thing again.
Last night, sitting in front of an 82” LED screen watching FOX, I knew my granddad would have loved seeing history made again. And I reflected on how sports, especially baseball, creates such great memories, bringing families and generations together.
Catch Game 5 of the World Series presented by Capital One tonight, beginning with FOX MLB Pregame at 7:00 PM ET and followed by the game at 8:00 PM ET on FOX, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports app.
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