This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When Domingo Germán received word this past spring that new Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón preferred uniform No. 55, the right-hander scanned the list of available replacement options and decided that most would look strange stitched upon his back.

Germán decided to zig where many would have zagged, choosing No. 0. Though some wondered at the time if it was a reference to something specific, such as the final vowel of his first name, Germán explained that he saw it as a new beginning. He’d asked no compensation from Rodón, saying only that he hoped it helped the lefty to feel comfortable on his new team.

Now No. 0 belongs to the ages for a different reason -- the number of hits (and baserunners, for that matter) that Germán permitted against the Athletics on Tuesday in Oakland, completing the 24th perfect game in AL/NL history.

“It’s very exciting; I’m very happy, without words,” Germán said through a translator. “There’s not much I can say, really.”

Germán’s perfecto was the Majors’ first since the Mariners’ Félix Hernández in 2012, a pitcher whom Germán described as “my idol growing up” in the Dominican Republic. Germán joins Don Larsen (1956 World Series), David Wells (1998) and David Cone (1999) as the four Yankees to have completed a perfect game.

“When you think about the history of baseball and how many pitchers have done it, to be part of history now, it’s exciting,” Germán said.

Watching the ninth inning on television from his Manhattan apartment, Cone said that he experienced the same adrenaline rush that he did that afternoon in ’99, when he handled all 27 Montreal Expos to come to the plate on Yogi Berra Day at the original Yankee Stadium.

“You can’t take your foot off the gas pedal, so to speak,” Cone said on the YES Network. “Concentration-wise and emotionally, you expend so much energy to stay locked in, stay aggressive and continue to stay in that attack mode. He’s going to be exhausted tonight when he gets home. There’s nothing like it. You’re just desperate to stay in your rhythm, keep making your pitches and stay aggressive.”

Cone noted the lasting connection between pitcher and catcher: for him, it had been Joe Girardi. Wells had Jorge Posada to help call pitches against the Minnesota Twins, and Larsen partnered with Yogi Berra to master the Brooklyn Dodgers on the grandest of stages, Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

Whether they realize it or not, Germán and Kyle Higashioka are now linked indelibly: Cone predicted they’ll be signing autographs together for the rest of their lives.

“To me, this is a real gift to the organization,” Cone said. “Both players were developed by the organization, they both paid their dues. This is a long time coming for both of those kids. To see them celebrate together after the game, with the team taking a team photo behind them, it was just remarkable. The pure joy on Domingo’s face was palpable; you could feel it through the television screen.”

Germán said he began thinking about the perfect game after the fifth inning, noticing his low pitch count and the zero in the Oakland hit column. It had been an emotional week for Germán, who revealed that an uncle had passed away two days prior, and he had spent a good portion of Monday afternoon weeping in the visiting clubhouse at the Coliseum.

It marked an incredible reversal of fortunes for Germán, whom the Red Sox and Mariners had hammered for 15 combined runs over his previous two starts. Yet the talent remained available for harness; Boone noted that they have seen Germán flirt with historic outings before, pointing to a July 2019 no-hit bid at Fenway Park that was broken up in the eighth inning.

“It was just so fun to watch him do that and go to work,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “When he gets rolling like that, he’s just so fun to watch at his craft.”

Germán relied heavily on a hellacious curveball, requiring just 99 pitches to navigate Oakland’s lineup in a nine-strikeout effort. Germán threw 51 curves, 30 fastballs, 17 changeups and one sinker. The final out appropriately came on a curveball, chopped by No. 9 hitter Esteury Ruiz to third baseman Josh Donaldson, who fired across the infield to first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

“[The curveball] was very effective tonight, especially for a first-pitch strike and to put guys away with two strikes,” Germán said. “Everything was working well tonight. Everything worked really nicely -- perfectly.”

Now nearly a quarter century removed from his perfect game, Cone said that Germán’s life will never be the same.

“In the short term, you hope it will have the same effect that it had with David Wells,” Cone said. “The minute he threw his perfect game, it seemed to validate him and his place on the roster, his place in the rotation. From that point on, he was the best pitcher in the American League in 1998. You hope the confidence that Domingo gets in this game gets him on a run and allows him to really, truly believe in himself.”