In the end, they’ll remember David Wells more for his belly than his breaking stuff.

But they’ll also remember the day this most imperfect of the recent Yankees achieved pitching perfection.

On May 17, 1998, a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at The Stadium, the man they call “Boomer” retired all 27 Minnesota Twins he faced to record the 15th perfect game in major-league history.

“Nobody can ever take this from me, ever, no matter what happens the rest of my life,” said Wells, who dedicated the game to his mother, Ann, who died of cancer in 1996. “I wish a few more people could’ve been here and seen it. [But] in my heart, my mom is with me.”

Earlier that morning, Wells felt far less jolly. Out until 5 a.m. the night before, Wells sought solace in the player’s lounge, downing a half pot of coffee, a fistful of Excedrin, and Tic-Tacs by the box.

By game time, Wells recovered, stringing together 1-2-3 innings and receiving help from a couple teammates along the way.

David Cone kept him relaxed, joking in the clubhouse that Wells should start throwing knuckleballs. And Chuck Knoblauch kept him perfect, robbing Ron Coomer of an eighth-inning single with nifty backhanded play near second base.

The came the ninth, when the crowd of 49,820 greeted him with a standing ovation.

“OK, mom, here we go,” Wells whispered.

Jon Shave flied to Paul O’Neill in right. Javier Valentin struck out, Wells’ 11th K of the day. And Pat Meares popped to O’Neill, sending Wells into catcher Jorge Posada’s embrace and off to immortality.

Wells by the numbers

Strikeouts … 11

Ground outs … 6

Infield flyballs … 3

Outfield flyballs … 7

Three-ball counts … 4

Time of game … 2:40