1956 World Series

The 1956 World Series of Major League Baseball was played between the New York Yankees (representing the American League) and the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers (representing the National League) during the October 1956. The Series was a rematch of the 1955 World Series. It was the last all-New York Series until 2000, due to the Dodgers and Giants relocating after the 1957 season, to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively; in fact, Game 7 would be the last World Series game at Ebbets Field.

The Yankees won the Series in seven games, 4–3, capturing their seventeenth championship. Brooklyn won Games 1 and 2, but New York pitchers threw five consecutive complete games (Games 3–7) to cap off the comeback. The highlight was Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5. Larsen was named the Series MVP for his achievement.

This was the last World Series to date not to have scheduled off days (although Game 2 was postponed a day due to rain).

Game 1
Wednesday, October 3, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 2
Friday, October 5, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 3
Saturday, October 6, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York

Game 4
Sunday, October 7, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York

Game 5
Monday, October 8, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York

In Game 5, Larsen, working in an unusual "no-windup" style, pitched the only postseason perfect game, and the only postseason no-hitter until 2010. Of several close moments, the best remembered is Gil Hodges' fifth-inning line drive toward Yankee Stadium's famed "Death Valley" in left-center, snared by center fielder Mickey Mantle with a spectacular running catch.

A reporter asked Yankees manager Casey Stengel if this was the best game Larsen had ever pitched. Stengel diplomatically answered, "So far!" For Larsen, this was an especially satisfying performance, as he had acquired perhaps a better reputation as a night owl than as a pitcher. Stengel once said of Larsen, "The only thing he fears is sleep!" Larsen’s perfect game was also the last game that umpire Babe Pinelli called behind the plate.

Sports cartoonist Willard Mullin drew an illustration of a happy Larsen painting a canvas titled The Perfect Game, observed by Mullin's classic "Brooklyn Bum." Referencing the old saw "I don't know much about art but I know what I like," the disgusted-looking Bum came up with a variation: "I don't care if it is art—I don't like it!"

Game 6
Tuesday, October 9, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 7
Wednesday, October 10, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Yankee pitcher Johnny Kucks struck out Jackie Robinson to end the game and the series. It would be Robinson's final at-bat, as he retired at the season's end.

Composite line score
1956 World Series (4–3): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Brooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

Broadcasting
NBC televised the Series, with announcers Mel Allen (for the Yankees) and Vin Scully (for the Dodgers). In 2006, it was announced that a nearly-complete kinescope recording of the Game 5 telecast (featuring Larsen's perfect game) had been preserved and discovered by a collector. That kinescope recording aired during the MLB Network's first night on the air on January 1, 2009, supplemented with an interview of both Larsen and Yogi Berra by Bob Costas. The first inning of the telecast is still considered lost and was not aired by the MLB Network or included in a subsequent DVD release of the game.

The Mutual network aired the Series on radio, with Bob Wolff and Bob Neal announcing. This was the final World Series broadcast for Mutual, which had covered the event since 1935; NBC's radio network would gain exclusive national rights to baseball the following season.