During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched from 1953 to 1967 for seven different teams: the St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles (1953–54; 1965), New York Yankees (1955–1959), Kansas City Athletics (1960–1961), Chicago White Sox (1961), San Francisco Giants (1962–1964), Houston Colt .45's / Astros (1964–65), and Chicago Cubs (1967).

[1] Larsen's family moved to San Diego, California,[2][3][4] in 1944, where his mother became a housekeeper and his father worked as a department store salesman.

[5] Larsen attended Point Loma High School where he was a member of the basketball and baseball teams.

[6] In baseball, Larsen's ability for the local American Legion team caught the attention of St. Louis Browns scout Art Schwartz.

Larsen started his career with the Aberdeen Pheasants of the Class-C Northern League in 1947, appearing in 16 games.

[8] Larsen made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with a start against the Detroit Tigers on April 17, 1953.

Yankees general manager George Weiss blamed the age of their pitching staff for their performance.

[15] Desperate for young starting pitching behind staff ace Whitey Ford and promising starter Bob Grim, Weiss managed to find a trade partner with the Orioles.

[16] As a member of the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1959, Larsen was used by manager Casey Stengel as a backup starter and occasional reliever.

[17] Larsen reported to spring training with a sore shoulder and pitched ineffectively to start the year.

Larsen needed just 97 pitches to complete the perfect game, and only one Dodger batter (Pee Wee Reese in the first inning) was able to get a three-ball count.

On his 97th pitch, a called third strike by home plate umpire Babe Pinelli, Larsen caught Mitchell looking for the 27th and last out.

[27] After the pitch, catcher Yogi Berra leaped into Larsen's arms in celebration, setting up the "everlasting image".

When the World Series ended, Larsen did a round of endorsements and promotional work around the United States, but he stopped soon after because it was "disrupting his routine".

[31] In the 1957 World Series against the Milwaukee Braves, he pitched seven innings in relief in Game 3, getting the win in a 12–3 lopsided defeat.

[17] Larsen was traded to the Kansas City Athletics with Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern and Marv Throneberry for Roger Maris, Joe DeMaestri, and Kent Hadley.

[34] In 1961, Larsen went 8–2 while playing for both the Athletics and the Chicago White Sox, to whom he was traded in June 1961 with Andy Carey, Ray Herbert and Al Pilarcik for Wes Covington, Stan Johnson, Bob Shaw and Gerry Staley.

[11] After the 1961 season, Larsen was traded to the San Francisco Giants with Billy Pierce for Bob Farley, Eddie Fisher and Dom Zanni and a player to be named later (Verle Tiefenthaler).

Larsen became a full-time relief pitcher, anchoring a strong bullpen that included Bobby Bolin and Stu Miller.

[11] Larsen won the deciding game of the three-game playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, relieving Juan Marichal in the eighth inning.

[17] Larsen was on the Chicago Cubs roster for two weeks of the 1967 season, pitching only four innings in what would be his final stint in the major leagues.

[11] One of his four-baggers matched his famous achievement on the mound, and in the same season, as he stroked a grand slam against the Boston Red Sox on April 22, 1956, in a game in which he pitched 4 innings.

[39] Larsen, with writer Mark Shaw, released an autobiography, The Perfect Yankee: The Incredible Story of the Greatest Miracle in Baseball History that was published in 1996.

The day of his perfect game, they were estranged, and she was in court, obtaining a show-cause order demanding that MLB Commissioner Ford Frick withhold her husband's World Series share and apply it to $420 owed her in support payments.

[46] It was reported in 2012 that he put up for auction the uniform he had worn to pitch his perfect game to pay for expenses of his grandchildren's college education.

[16] During his time in minor league baseball, Larsen first developed a reputation as a "fun-loving guy" who liked to go out to bars and have a drink, according to teammate Bob Turley.

[8] When he broke into the Majors with the St. Louis Browns, Larsen started violating a time-limit curfew that was set by managers Marty Marion and then Jimmy Dykes.