Yankees announcer Ryan Ruocco had the perfect resource to turn to Wednesday night as he called Domingo German’s perfect game against the Oakland Athletics for the YES Network.
Following the fifth inning, Ruocco texted YES analyst David Cone, who threw the Yankees’ previous perfect game more than two decades ago.
“I said to him, ‘When did you start thinking about it in July of ‘99?’ And he was like, ‘Now,’ ” Ruocco told the New York Daily News. “I already thought, ‘Yeah, we really should start leaning in here a little bit,’ but the fact that Coney, who has a perspective only 23 other people in the history of baseball have, said to me, ‘Now,’ it further validated it’s cool to totally lean in.”
German hurled the 24th perfect game in MLB history and the fourth ever for the Yankees. When Esteury Ruiz made the 27th out in the Yankees’ 11-0 win at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Ruocco unleashed an emphatic, “There it is! Perfection for Domingo German!”
Ruocco began thinking about German’s chances at history after the third inning. It took German 99 pitches to cruise through the A’s lineup, largely on the strength of a devastating curveball, and Ruocco continued to build up the moment as the broadcast progressed.
“I wasn’t sure if I would use the word ‘perfect’ or not,” Ruocco, 36, said. “I knew if I was having trouble describing the moment without using the word ‘perfect,’ then I was just going to say ‘perfect.’ I wasn’t going to avoid it altogether. But when I started saying however many up, however many down, I was like, you know, I think I might be able to do this without using the word ‘perfect,’ and I’ll wait until the final out to actually use the word if it happens.”
German, 30, joined an exclusive Yankees club that includes Don Larsen, who pitched the only perfect game in World Series history with his 1956 Game 5 masterpiece; David Wells, who threw his perfect game in 1998; and Cone. It was the first MLB perfect game since Felix Hernandez’s in 2012.
Ruocco was joined in the booth by analyst Jeff Nelson, who was in the Yankees bullpen during the Wells and Cone perfect games. Nelson’s unique perspective enhanced Wednesday’s broadcast, Ruocco said.
“He was like, ‘You’re wondering how you’re gonna feel. I feel the same exact way! I feel like I’m gonna throw up!’ ” Ruocco said. “I really love that he brought that authentic experience to the air.”
Ruocco calls about 20 Yankees games for YES every season. Friends flooded his phone with text messages toward the end of the game and afterward, indicating many people stayed up to watch a West Coast outing that began at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Among those who congratulated Ruocco were primary Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay, who sent a “super nice message,” and Aaron Judge, who “reached out about how much he loved the call,” Ruocco said.
Ruocco, who also works for ESPN, has called NBA playoff games, the WNBA Finals and the NCAA Women’s Final Four. He says broadcasting German’s perfect game stands alone as the top moment of his career.
“When you are in this position of being a play-by-play broadcaster, the coolest part is having your voice associated with historic moments. That is the coolest part, knowing that the way you soundtrack a moment helps the experience of a fan,” Ruocco said.
“I grew up a diehard Yankee fan,” he said. “I can remember exactly where I was when David Wells threw his perfect game in ‘98, when Cone threw his in ‘99. To now know my call is a part of that Yankees history is one of the most gratifying feelings I could have.”
