About this episode

This episode covers David Wells' legendary perfect game in 1998, exploring the circumstances surrounding it and its cultural impact.

On May 17, 1998, David Wells showed up to Yankee Stadium having slept maybe two and a half hours, running on coffee, a single pancake, and whatever was left of Saturday night. He then threw the 15th perfect game in Major League Baseball history in front of 49,820 people who were mostly there for a Beanie Baby. That's the story this week. We go deep on the whole thing — the legendary SNL after-party that didn't happen, the cast members who swear they were there and provably weren't, the Mandela Effect that turned one hungover pitcher into baseball mythology, and what Wells actually did in the nine years after the game nobody thought he had left in him. Also in this episode: Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice stop by Letterman to deliver a top 10 list, Steve Garvey turns up as an extra in The Godfather Part II, Wade Boggs earns his nickname on the set of Cheers, and we finally finish that pack of 2003 Topps with Alfonso Soriano, Shawn Green, Al Leiter, and Sean Casey. Topics include: David Wells perfect game, 1998 New York Yankees, SNL Mandela Effect, Jimmy Fallon David Wells party, Beanie Baby day Yankee Stadium, Chuck Knoblauch throwing yips, Tim McClelland umpire, Don Larsen perfect…

People in this episode

Host: twostrikenoise

Topics covered

• David Wells perfect game
• 1998 New York Yankees
• SNL Mandela Effect
• baseball mythology
• 2003 Topps baseball cards
• baseball history

Keywords

• David Wells
• perfect game
• Yankee Stadium
• Rickey Henderson
• Wade Boggs
• SNL
• baseball history
• Mandela Effect
• 2003 Topps

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SNL, Cheers, The Godfather Part II

Places: Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees

More episodes of Two Strike Noise - A Baseball History Podcast

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• Episode 315 - Tales from the Dugout, New Rules, Missing Coaches and Speedruns · March 21, 2026 · 58 min
• Episode 314 - Ken Williams - The Deaball Slugger Nobody Noticed · March 14, 2026 · 53 min
• Episode 313 - Clowning Around · March 7, 2026 · 57 min
• Episode 312 - Jackie Jensen, The 'Golden Boy' to the 'Grounded Boy' · March 1, 2026 · 1h 1m

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