You open a new ballpark and you hope that magic strikes. It did for Shea Stadium in 1964 on the first day of summer in the ballpark – which also happened to be Father’s Day. A perfect game was thrown that day.
Unfortunately – and maybe predictably – it was the Mets who were kept off the basepaths that day as Jim Bunning of the Phillies tossed the gem. Here is the back page of the New York Post from Monday, June 22, 19
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Update – Since I first wrote this post I sent the paper to former Senator Bunning’s home (easy enough to find his address if you know how to use Google). He was gracious enough to send it back signed right over the Shea scoreboard.
