Larry Gonsalves (1946 -)
1967 Fresno State Perfect Game Pitcher
Hamilton Dateline S-575 Award Watch
May 19, 1967 - An historic NCAA College Baseball Perfect Game: The last game of the season for Fresno State; Larry Gonsalves, their premier pitcher, is on the mound against Cal Poly. With a 14-2 record, he has the best record in the NCAA Division I.
...Two out in the bottom of the 9th; the first 26 Cal Poly players went down in order - no hits, no walks, no errors. Larry faces his last batter... The pinch-hitter slaps a slow grounder to the right of the first baseman; Larry sprints over to first to take the throw. Out by a step!!! And the Perfect Game celebration begins...
A baseball pitcher's ultimate achievement is to throw a perfect game - 27 batters up, 27 batters down. No hits, runs, walks, errors. Since 1960, NCAA Division I college teams have played over 500,000 games; only Larry Gonsalves and 21 other pitchers have hurled one.
In June 1967, Larry was selected by the Topps Chewing Gum company to their Collegiate All-America Baseball Second Team. They ordered a handsome Hamilton Dateline S-575 steel-cased wristwatch, engraved “Topps ~ 1967 Collegiate ~ All-America ~ Baseball Team ~ Second Team ~ Larry Gonsalves P ~ Fresno State”.
Larry never received his watch. It was finally presented to him on September 18, 2026 -- 59 years later. This is the story of a great college athlete and the return of his unique wristwatch.