Baseball is hard, and it can be unforgiving even as excellence beckons. We don’t have to go back any further than Saturday night’s events in Baltimore to be reminded of that.

Greatness is rare. Perfection is rarer still. And the events of sixty years ago Tuesday – or, in the memorable voice of the late Vin Scully, “ September the ninth, nineteen hundred and sixty-five” – represented a one of a kind moment in the game’s long history.

If you’re old enough to remember, reminisce with us. If you’re not, gather around as we recall the best combined pitching performance ever, and a description that was just as sublime.

That was the night Sandy Koufax pitched not only the fourth no-hitter of his career but what was then only the eighth perfect game in major league history, dating to 1880 –

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