Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 18: It Stayed Fair

1975 World Series, Game 6: Cincinnati Reds at Boston Red Sox

October 21, 1975, Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Reds lead series 3-2

Some baseball moments are so well-known, so iconic, you only have to see one image to know what game they came from. Yogi Berra jumping into Don Larsen's arms. Kirk Gibson's fist pump. Joe Carter leaping around the bases. Bernie Carbo's home run.

Ok, fine, that last image doesn't quite reach the iconic status of those other moments. But maybe it should.

First, the context. The Red Sox had taken a quick 3-0 lead on Fred Lynn's first-inning home run over the bullpen. The Reds got it all back in the fifth on a walk and three hits, took the lead in the 7th, then stretched the lead to 6-3 when Cesar Geronimo hooked one around Pesky's pole in the 8th. At that moment, up by three in the top of the 8th, the Reds had a 93 percent chance to win the game and with it the World Series.

But the Red Sox started chipping away. The first two runners reached base in the bottom of the eighth, but the next two got out, bringing up the pitcher's spot with two on and two outs. That's when Carbo stepped out of the Red Sox dugout to pinch hit against Rawly Eastwick. With a 2-2 count - the Reds one strike away from escaping the inning and getting the World Series title in their grasp - Carbo hit one of the biggest home runs in the history of the Red Sox. 

In a flash, Fenway Park went from nervously quiet to deliriously loud. The Red Sox' chances of winning went 9 percent to 53. It seemed certain that Carbo would be remembered forever.

The Red Sox didn't score again in the 8th, but they came close in the 9th. The first three batters reached base, putting the Red Sox at 94 percent to win the game. But just as Carbo's home run had quickly tied the game, George Foster just as quickly ended the Red Sox' rally with a perfect throw home after a soft fly ball by Fred Lynn. Foster's double play killed Boston's scoring chance, and the teams settled in for the beginning of a marathon.

Through the 10th and the 11th they played on with nothing happening. Carbo's home run started to become a distant memory. something else now was going to decide it. Someone new would be the hero.

The Reds tried in the top of the 12th, getting a pair of one-out singles of Game 3 starter Rick Wise, but Wise got out of it with a soft fly ball and a strike out. The teams moved on to the bottom of the 12th.

............

When watching a sporting event, you never know when you're about to watch history. Obviously something big was about to happen in this game - it was the 12th inning of a World Series game, so somebody was going to win in dramatic fashion. But there's a difference between a dramatic win and an all-time iconic moment. For now, Carbo's home run was standing as that moment, with Foster's throw sitting in the runner-up spot in case the Reds pulled it out.

Catcher Carlton Fisk led off the 12th for the Red Sox against Pat Darcy, the Reds' 8th pitcher of the night who was just starting his third inning of work. Darcy's first pitch to Fisk was over the plate but head-high. Ball 1. Fisk took one step out of the box, took a breath, and stepped back in. Darcy wiped his hand on his pants, then grabbed the ball. The pitch. The swing.

The contact.

The jumping. The waiving. The path of the ball as it curved toward the foul pole. Dick Stockton on the call: "If it stays fair... home run!"

One catcher gesturing for it to stay fair, the other 
leaning, hoping it goes foul. 

Afterwards, the replay. The one captured by accident because the camera operator inside the Green Monster saw a giant rat near him, and so didn't want to turn the camera to follow the ball. So he kept following Fisk, so everybody saw the jumping and the waiving. And that's how a walk-off home run transforms from monumental to iconic.

The Red Sox lost that series, of course. They had a 3-0 lead through five innings of Game 7 but blew the lead, then lost the series on Joe Morgan's ninth-inning single. Some baseball fans probably remember that, and can picture Morgan's hit in their memories. But everybody remembers Fisk's home run.

Game 6, 1975 World Series Overall Rank: 18 Top 10 Swing: 245 Top play: Carbo's home run (WPA of 44% for Boston) Loser's largest WE: 93 T8, no outs, Cincinnati up 5-3 Average LI: 1.52 Highest leverage moment: 4.98 (tied 6-6, B9, 2 outs, runners on 1st and 3rd, Rico Petrocelli up)

1975 World Series: Off the Pole

The Teams
National League: Cincinnati Reds (108-54) - Seventh World Series (Won in 1919, 1940)
American League: Boston Red Sox (95-65) - Seventh World Series (Won in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918)

What Happened
Two outs, ninth inning, Game 7. The future Hall of Famer drills a line drive to center that falls just out of reach of the center fielder, bringing home the game- and World Series-winning run. It's a moment that would have been the defining moment of virtually any World Series, one that should have been replayed countless times in baseball annals.

But in the years following the wild 1975 World Series, Joe Morgan's Series-winning hit became an afterthought, the "oh yah, that happened too" moment of the series. Because really, anything that happened after Game 6, after Carlton Fisk waved that ball fair, was going to be overshadowed.

Everybody's seen it, of course. At least, anybody who's a baseball fan has. If you haven't, take a moment:



It's one of the most famous plays in the history of televised baseball: Fisk swinging at the knee-high pitch, watching it fly toward the monster, waving it fair, jumping in the air. One of the most dramatic home runs in baseball history, one that not only provided a defining moment for what was at the time the greatest World Series ever played, but one that changed how baseball was televised forever.

Fisk's home run did a lot to ensure that the 1975 Series would be remembered forever, but those seven games didn't need a moment like that to live on in history. In five of the seven games, the winning run was scored after the sixth inning. It wasn't ever safe to go to bed; if you did, the team that was losing when you went to sleep would have probably come back to win.

The first five games were good, but they were nothing compared to what happened over the final two games in Boston. In Game 6, Rookie of the Year and MVP Fred Lynn etched his name in Red Sox lore with a three-run home in the first inning, a blast that was the greatest home run in Red Sox history until Cincinnati scored three times in the fifth to tie it. The Reds took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth when Bernie Carbo was next to hit the greatest home run in Red Sox history, tying the game with two outs in the eighth. Then Carbo was knocked off Red Sox mountain by Fisk, who waved and leaped his way into Red Sox and baseball history by winning the game in the bottom of the 12th.

As if that wasn't enough, Game 7 was almost as good. The Red Sox again took an early 3-0 lead and again let Cincinnati tie it. This time, instead of Boston coming back with clutch home runs, it was Cincinnati coming through, with Morgan capping off the series with the hit of a lifetime.

There are so many reasons that Joe Morgan's ninth inning single in Game 7 should have been one of the greatest moments in baseball history. His hit gave the Big Red Machine their first championship after a handful of years of coming just close. His hit helped him clinch the title of best all-around player of his generation. His hit won one of the greatest World Series ever played.

But baseball has a cruel way of determining heroes and goats, of determining who gets remembered and who gets forgotten. There's no reason that Morgan should have been forgotten, and maybe forgotten is the wrong word. Overshadowed might be more accurate. Either way, it's hard to find a clip of Morgan's winning hit with original audio, while Fisk's home run is easy to find. In this series, the losers were remembered more than the winners. But most importantly, it's long remembered, and will never be forgotten.

MVP
In spring training in 1975, Cincinnati manager Sparky Anderson famously asked Pete Rose to try out third base, even though Rose had never played the position in his career. Anderson needed to move Rose to make room in the outfield for George Foster, who was starting to blossom into a star. Rose made the switch flawlessly, and the emergence of Foster gave the Reds the deepest lineup in Major League history. It was fitting, then, that Rose was the MVP of the 1975 World Series. He spearheaded the Reds offense throughout the seven games, his .370 average leading his team by far. It was the shining moment of one of baseball's greatest careers.

Scores 
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Cincinnati	0	3	6 (10)	4	6	6	4
Boston	6	2	5	5	2	7 (12)	3

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

2. 1975 - Cincinnati (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
3. 1924 - Washington (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
4. 2001 - Arizona (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
5. 2011 - St. Louis (N) def. Texas (A) 4-3
6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3
Numbers 10-19
Numbers 20-29
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

2. 2001: Arizona 3, New York (A) 2
3. 1960: Pittsburgh 10, New York (A) 9
4. 1924: Washington 4, New York (N) 3
5. 1997: Florida 3, Cleveland 2
6. 1912: Boston (A) 3, New York (N) 2 (game 8)
7. 1946: St. Louis (N) 4, Boston (A) 3
8. 1975: Cincinnati 4, Boston (A) 3
9. 1925: Pittsburgh 9, Washington 7
10. 1926: St. Louis (N) 3, New York (A) 2
11. 1962: New York (A) 1, San Francisco 0
12. 1979: Pittsburgh 4, Baltimore 1
13. 1955: Brooklyn 2, New York (A) 0
14. 1952: New York (A) 4, Brooklyn 2
15. 1971: Pittsburgh 2, Baltimore 1
16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
17. 1972: Oakland 3, Cincinnati 2
18. 1987: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 2
19. 1958: New York 6, Milwaukee 2
20. 1986: New York (N) 8, Boston 5 
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis (N) 4, Philadelphia (A) 2
23. 1973: Oakland 5, New York (N) 2
24. 2002: Anaheim 4, San Francisco 1
25. 1982: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
26. 1947: New York (A) 5, Brooklyn 2
27. 2011: St. Louis 6, Texas 2
28. 1965: Los Angeles (A) 2, Minnesota 0
29. 1964: St. Louis 7, New York (A) 5
30. 1957: Milwaukee 5, New York (A) 0
31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago (N) 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0
34. 1934: St. Louis (N) 11, Detroit 0 
35. 1985: Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0
36. 1956: New York (A) 9, Brooklyn 0

1972 World Series: First name Fury

The Teams
American League: Oakland Athletics (93-62) - First World Series
National League: Cincinnati Reds (95-59) - Sixth World Series (Won in 1919, 1940)

What Happened
Not many people outside of Oakland had heard of Gene Tenace before the 1972 World Series. The ones that had heard of Oakland's backup catcher/utility player probably didn't know his real first name was Fury (Seriously! Fury Gene Tenace), and they certainly didn't peg him as the potential offensive star of the upcoming series, not with the Big Red Machine in the other dugout. He was an afterthought, a bit player at best.

And then he hit two home runs in Game 1. After hitting only five home runs during the regular season, on top of a .225 average, Tenace homered in his first two at bats of the 1972 World Series. With his unexpected home runs, plus four innings of scoreless relief from Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue, the A's had a surprising Game 1 win in Cincinnati. They won Game 2, too, helped by a sensational ninth-inning catch by Joe Rudi that saved at least one run:


Rudy's catch


After the Reds won Game 3, Tenace struck again. He hit a home run to open the scoring in Game 4, then hit one of Oakland's four straight ninth-inning singles that gave the A's a commanding 3-1 series lead. He did it again in Game 5, hitting a three-run home run in the second inning - his record tying fourth of the series - that put the A's on the verge of the title. Oakland entered the eighth up 4-3, but the Reds tied the game in the eighth, then took the lead on a Pete Rose single in the 9th. Tenace walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but pitcher Blue Moon Odom, pinch-running for Tenace, was thrown out at the plate on a popup for the final out.

After a Cincinnati thrashing in Game 6, the series went to Game 7, where Tenace shined again. He didn't hit any home runs this time, but he did have two hits, including the go-ahead double in the sixth. After Fingers escaped a jam in the 8th, the A's held on to win their first championship on the West Coast.

MVP 
Tenace was the obvious choice for MVP, another one of those underdog stories so common in baseball. His four home runs were more than all other World Series batters combined, and they paid off not just in a championship but in the long term. A backup catcher before the 1972 Series, Tenace became a mainstay in the Oakland starting lineup, playing at least 120 games each of the next eight years. He made a name for himself as a low average, high power, high on-base percentage player - he would have fit right in with the "Moneyball" A's. While the series may have turned around his career, he was never able to duplicate his postseason success; his 9 runs batted in in the 1972 Series were almost 2/3 of his career postseason total, and the four home runs were the only four postseason home runs he ever hit.

Scores 
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Oakland	3	2	0	3	4	1	3
Cincinnati	2	1	1	2	5	8	2

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3
Numbers 10-19
Numbers 20-29
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

3. 1960: Pittsburgh 10, New York (A) 9
5. 1997: Florida 3, Cleveland 2
7. 1946: St. Louis (N) 4, Boston (A) 3
9. 1925: Pittsburgh 9, Washington 7
10. 1926: St. Louis (N) 3, New York (A) 2
11. 1962: New York (A) 1, San Francisco 0
12. 1979: Pittsburgh 4, Baltimore 1
13. 1955: Brooklyn 2, New York (A) 0
14. 1952: New York (A) 4, Brooklyn 2
15. 1971: Pittsburgh 2, Baltimore 1
16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
17. 1972: Oakland 3, Cincinnati 2
18. 1987: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 2
19. 1958: New York 6, Milwaukee 2
20. 1986: New York (N) 8, Boston 5 
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis (N) 4, Philadelphia (A) 2
23. 1973: Oakland 5, New York (N) 2
24. 2002: Anaheim 4, San Francisco 1
26. 1982: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
28. 1965: Los Angeles (A) 2, Minnesota 0
29. 1964: St. Louis 7, New York (A) 5
30. 1957: Milwaukee 5, New York (A) 0
31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago (N) 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0
34. 1934: St. Louis (N) 11, Detroit 0 
35. 1985: Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0
36. 1956: New York (A) 9, Brooklyn 0

1970 World Series: Brooks' Show

The Teams
American League: Baltimore Orioles (108-54) - Third World Series (won in 1966)
National League: Cincinnati Reds (102-60) - Fourth World Series (won in 1919, 1940)

What Happened
What Happened? Brooks Robinson happened. The 1970 World Series was supposed to be about a matchup of rising dynasties, with the Orioles and Reds both poised to dominate the upcoming decade. Instead, it turned into a one-man show like few series before it.

It wasn't just at the bat that Brooks Robinson dominated Cincinnati, though he did plenty of damage there, with nine hits in the five games and a series-record 17 total bases. But Robinson wouldn't have left the Reds' players and manager shaking their heads if he had merely had a good offensive series. He also had the perhaps the best individual defensive series any player had ever had, a series so good that it only took five games to cement his legacy as the best defensive third baseman of all time.

It wasn't the pure defensive numbers for Robinson as much as it was the acrobatic plays that made an impression. Like the diving stop he made on a Lee May grounder in the 6th inning of Game 1 to make sure that game stayed tied. Or the play in Game 3, where he snared a bouncer just over the third base bag, stepped on the bag, then made an off-balance but picture-perfect throw to first for a double play. It seemed whenever the Reds sent a rocket shot down the third base line, Robinson was there to stop it.

At the plate, he was a star as well. His 7th inning home run provided the winning margin in Game 1, and he hit the game-tying single in the middle of a five-run fifth inning rally in Game 2. He was at his absolute best in Game 3, hitting two doubles to go along with three stellar defensive plays; despite pitcher Dave McNally hitting a grand slam, Robinson was the talk of the series. Cincinnati came from behind in Game 4 to avoid the sweep, but the Orioles jumped all over the Reds to win the series with a 9-3 win in Game 5.

After the series, Robinson was the easy choice for MVP, and the new car that went with the award. Cincinnati's Johnny Bench summed up the Reds' attitude toward their nemesis: "If we knew he wanted the car so badly we'd have chipped in and bought it for him." Even Cincinnati manager Sparky Anderson raved about his opponent: "I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep. If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."

Defining Game
Game 1 was the game with the most drama, and was the game that featured one of the weirdest plays in World Series history. First, the setup, as the Reds took a quick 3-0 lead in front of their home crowd. After the Orioles came back to tie it on a pair of home runs, Robinson made the first of his many sensational plays in the series to rob Lee May of a hit leading off the sixth.

Umpiring Fail

That play loomed extra large when the next two Reds hitters reached base. With two runners on and one out - and one run that should have already scored - pinch-hitter Ty Cline hit a chopper in front of the plate. When Baltimore catcher Ellie Hendricks went out in front of the plate to field the ball, home plate umpire Ken Burkhart followed him to determine whether the ball was fair or foul. That led to a problem when Hendricks fielded the ball, then noticed Carbo trying to score on the play. With Burkhart standing directly between him and the runner, Hendricks simply bowled over the umpire; all three of them ended up in a pile on top of the plate. And although his back was to the play and Hendricks tagged Carbo with an empty glove, Burkhart called Carbo out, then refused to ask for help on the play. Despite Cincinnati protests, the call stood. The Reds didn't score that inning, then lost after Robinson went deep in the seventh.


Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Baltimore	4	6	9	5	9
Cincinnati	3	5	3	6	3

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

71. 1970 - Baltimore (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
72. 1931 - St. Louis (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-3
73. 1967 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
74. 1968 - Detroit (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
75. 1920 - Cleveland (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 5-2
76. 1945 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-3
77. 1940 - Cincinnati (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
78. 2009 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
79. 1984 - Detroit (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-1
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1940 World Series: Redemption for the Reds

The Teams
National League: Cincinnati Reds (100-53) - Third World Series (won in 1919)
American League: Detroit Tigers (90-64) - Sixth World Series (won in 1935)

What Happened
The Reds had waited 21 years for this series, their first reasonable chance to win a legitimate World Series. Sure, they had won it all in 1919, but that championship was tainted by the fact that their opponents were trying to lose. And they had a "chance" to win in 1939, but nobody was beating that Yankees team.

The 1940 season was different. The Reds had virtually the same team back that had won the National League pennant in 1939, so they had postseason experience. Plus, when they got to the World Series, waiting for them wasn't the Yankees, winners of the previous four championships, but the Tigers. The Tigers were still good, with many of the same players who had won the title in 1935, but they weren't the Yankees. The Reds had to be feeling good.

Any good feelings the Reds had went away in the second inning of Game 1, as the Tigers dropped five runs on Reds ace Paul Derringer on their way to a 7-2 victory. The Reds bounced back to win Game 2 behind Bucky Walters, starting a pattern where the teams alternated wins all the way through Game 5. Detroit's 8-0 win in Game 5 gave them a 3-2 lead as the series headed back to Cincinnati. Though the Reds were trailing in the series, they still felt like they had the advantage with two games at home and Walters and Derringer ready to throw.

Walters threw a five-hit shutout to beat Schoolboy Rowe in Game 6, setting the stage for Derringer and Game 7. Derringer pitched well, but the Reds were trailing Bobo Newsom and the Tigers 1-0 entering the seventh inning. Cincinnati responded, getting two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Derringer held off the Tigers the rest of the way to give the Reds their second title, and first that wouldn't have an asterisk next to it.

Defining Game
In a perfect world, the best game of any World Series would be Game 7. That was the case in 1940. Derringer and Newsom were their teams' hottest pitchers, and they controlled the game. For a long time, it looked like the run Detroit scored in the third - coming on a throwing error after Charlie Gehringer's infield single - would be the only run of the game. But the Reds pounced on a possibly tiring Newsom in the seventh, opening the inning with two straight doubles to tie the game. After a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly by Billy Myers brought in the go-ahead run. Derringer closed things out, giving up only an eighth inning single to Gehringer the rest of the way. (Despite the late-inning lead change, I only have this Game 7 as the 16th best of all time. That's a lot of good Game 7s in history).

MVP
No official MVP yet in 1940, but Walters would have been the best bet. He won both his starts, including the must-win Game 6, and even hit the game-clinching home run in that game. Derringer won Game 7, but Walters was better throughout the series.


Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Detroit	7	3	7	2	8	0	1
Cincinnati	2	5	4	5	0	4	2

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

77. 1940 - Cincinnati (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
78. 2009 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
79. 1984 - Detroit (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-1
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
29. 1965: Los Angeles 2, Minnesota 0 

1939 World Series: Four Straight

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (106-45) -  11th World Series (Won in 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938)
National League: Cincinnati Reds (97-57) - Second World Series (Won in 1919)

What Happened
The 1939 season started on quite a downer for the Yankees. Legendary first baseman Lou Gehrig took himself out of the lineup after only eight games, never to play again. The Yankees were devastated at the loss of their captain because of what was then a little-known disease.

For most teams, losing a legend and leader like Gehrig would have meant the end of the season. Not these Yankees, though. They hadn't won three straight World Series by being a one-man team. They went through their proper bit of mourning, then went about dominating the American League. Some historians say this Yankee team, and not the 1927 one, was the best baseball team of all time. With a healthy Gehrig, they might have broken the single-season wins record. Even without him, they won 106 games and were never really challenged in their run through the league.

Waiting for them in the World Series was the Cincinnati Reds, who made the World Series for the first time since "winning" the tainted 1919 series. They were eager to get rid of the bad taste from that win, and they had the team to do it, with two 25-game winners in the starting rotation and a good lineup led by Hall-of-Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi. In the first game, Cincinnati's Paul Derringer matched Red Ruffing pitch for pitch, with each giving up one run on four hits through eight. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees' own Hall-of-Fame catcher, Bill Dickey, ended the game on a walk-off single.

Following Game 1 was two games of Yankee dominance; Monte Pearson carried a one-hitter into the ninth in a 4-0 win in Game 2, while the Yankees took advantage of tiny Crosley Field to hit four home runs in a 7-3 Game 3 victory.

Defining Game
Game 4 was a true classic. After Derringer and Oral Hildebrand took dueling shutouts into the seventh inning, when the Yankees got on the scoreboard with a pair of solo home runs. The Reds responded with three in the bottom of the inning then one more in the bottom of the eighth. Three outs from forcing a fifth game, the Reds instead fell apart, letting the Yankees come back to tie the game.

In the top of the 10th came one of the weirdest plays in World Series history. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Joe DiMaggio hit a single to right that scored the go-ahead run. When right fielder Ival Goodman bobbled the ball, the Yankees' Charlie Keller tried to score from first. Goodman's throw got to home plate at the same, and Keller crashed into Lombardi. Keller knocked the ball away, but more importantly, knocked Lombardi dizzy. With Lombardi still recovering, DiMaggio came soaring around third and slid home to score the third run. Despite diving up a devastating "Little League" home run, the Reds fought back in the bottom of the 10th, putting the first two runners on base before going down.

Despite the Reds' valiant effort, the Yankees were just too good. Their fourth straight championship came easily, a fitting close to baseball's first great dynasty.

MVP
This was still the era before official MVPs were named, but this one would have been a slam dunk. Keller batted .438 with a double, a triple, and three home runs. With that, plus being prominently involved in the series-deciding three-run play, he would have been an easy pick.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Cincinnati	1	0	3	4
New York	2	4	7	7 (10)

---

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

85. 1939 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-0
86. 1910 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
89. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1961 World Series: One for the role players

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (109-53) - 26th World Series (won 18 previous times)
National League: Cincinnati Reds (93-61) - Fourth World Series (won in 1919, 1940)

What Happened
The 1961 regular season was all about the M&M boys. Two Yankees outfielders chased Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs, with Roger Maris catching and passing Ruth and Mickey Mantle falling just short.

Once the regular season was over, though, those two stopped being the focus of the Yankees. Mantle was injured and could only play in two games in the '61 World Series, and while Maris played the whole series, he was a non-factor with only two hits. Instead, the Yankees had to rely on their role players. Luckily for them, they had plenty of good ones, as would be expected for a 109-win team. Even without a healthy Mantle or an effective Maris, the Yankees were still better than the Reds.

A big reason for that was Whitey Ford. The 1961 season was the best of Ford's career, as he went a sublime 25-4, and he carried that momentum into the World Series with a two-hit shutout in Game 1. The Yankees gave away Game 2 with three errors that led to three unearned runs for Cincinnati. Game 3 featured Maris' only significant contribution to the narrative of the series, as his go-ahead home run in the ninth inning gave New York a 2-1 series lead.

Entering Game 4, Cincinnati had every reason to be optimistic. Sure, they were losing the series, but they had held the Yankees to just seven runs in the first three games; in fact, they had outscored them. They had every reason to believe they could hang with New York. But then they ran into Ford in Game 4. Though Ford only threw five innings, they were five more shutout innings. Reliever Jim Coates finished the shutout, and the Yankees bats came alive for 7 runs.

With the Yankees a win away from the championship, Game 5 turned early. With two outs in the first, Bobby Richardson was picked off first base, only to be safe when Gordy Coleman dropped the ball. Given a reprieve, the Yankees exploded for five runs in the first. Another five run inning in the third put the World Series to bed. A year after dominating the World Series but losing, the Yankees again dominated the World Series, but this time finished the job.

Defining Game
Game 3 was by far the best game of the series. The Reds took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, only to see that lead disappear on a two-out pinch-hit home run by Yankees backup catcher Johnny Blanchard. Maris then led off the ninth with his only extra-base hit of the series, a blast to deep right that gave the Yankees the lead. The Reds got a one-out double from Leo Cardenas in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't bring him home.

MVP
Ford was named MVP for his 14 shutout innings, but it just as easily could have been Richardson - who had nine hits, though all but one were singles - or Blanchard - who batted .400 with three extra-base hits.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Cincinnati	0	6	2	0	5
New York	2	2	3	7	13

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The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

89. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1990 World Series: The Nasty Boys

The Teams
National League: Cincinnati Reds (91-71) - Ninth World Series (Won in 1919, 1940, 1975, 1976)
American League: Oakland Athletics (103-59) - Sixth World Series (Won in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1989)

What Happened
It wasn't supposed to be close. These two teams didn't deserve to be on the same field, much less play against each other in the World Series. It was a team about to establish itself as a great baseball dynasty against a team that had eked into the playoffs with a patchwork lineup, with only a strong relief corps as something to brag about. The 1990 World Series was expected to be a bloodbath.


And it was. Except the wrong team won.

After sweeping the World Series in 1989, the Oakland A's came back even stronger in 1990. Jose Canseco was healthy the entire season, Rickey Henderson won the AL MVP award in one of the best all-around seasons of all-time, and Dave Stewart won 20 games for the fourth straight season. They made mincemeat of the AL West, swept the Red Sox in the ALCS, and started licking their chops at the prospect of playing the lowly Reds in the World Series.

Meanwhile, all Cincinnati had to brag about was their bullpen, nicknamed the Nasty Boys both for their personality and for their stuff on the mound. Their lineup was above-average at best, their pitching staff was good but not great, and they were expected to be nothing more than a footnote in the story of Oakland's dynasty.

But then Cincinnati's Eric Davis hit a two-run home run off Stewart in the first inning of Game 1, leading the way to a 7-0 Cincinnati victory that put to bed all the talks comparing Oakland to the 1927 Yankees.

Their chances at a sweep gone, Oakland's started making careless mistakes. Over the course of a long season, Oakland's offensive prowess could usually cover up little mistakes, but in a four-game series with everything on the line, they were magnified. Such as when Canseco took a poor angle on a Billy Hatcher line drive in the 8th inning of Game 2. Hatcher ended up with a triple and later scored the game-tying run. Cincinnati won that game in 10 innings, taking a 2-0 lead. Then came Game 3, when Mark McGwire committed an error on a soft grounder in the third, which led to six unearned runs for the Reds and another stunning victory.

All the while, Oakland couldn't touch Cincinnati's pitchers, specifically their bullpen. In fact, Oakland didn't score a run after the third inning the entire series. The nadir came in Game 4, when the A's could manage only 2 hits against Cincinnati ace Jose Rijo. As expected, the series was over in four games. Like nobody expected, it was the Reds who were celebrating after Game 4.

Defining Game
Game 2. It showed the best of Canseco - a towering second-inning home run that played a part in Oakland taking a 4-2 lead - and the worst of Canseco - his misplay of Hatcher's liner, a play he botched so badly that it caused manager Tony LaRussa to curse him out in public and eventually bench him for Game 4. The game also showed off Cincinnati's biggest strength. After falling behind 4-2, the Reds went to their bullpen, and the Nasty Boys threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings the rest of the way. Then, Cincinnati showed that you can win without power, as three weak ground ball hits led to their game-winning rally in the 10th.

MVP
The writers picked Jose Rijo, which was a perfectly fine choice; Rijo won games 1 and 4, giving up only 1 run in 15 innings in the series. But they could have easily picked Hatcher, who started the series with seven straight hits and ended up hitting .750 for the series. In fact, the only thing that could stop him was being hit by a pitch in Game 4. While his teammates were celebrating the championship on the field, Hatcher was in the hospital with a broken wrist.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Oakland	0	4	3	1
Cincinnati	7	5 (10)	8	2

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The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

90. 1990 - Cincinnati (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-0
91. 1966 - Baltimore (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-0
92. 1927 - New York (A) def. Pittsburgh (N) 4-0
93. 2004 - Boston (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
94. 1932 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
95. 1908 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1
96. 1999 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-0
97. 1963 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
98. 2010 - San Francisco (N) def. Texas (A) 4-1
99. 1937 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
Numbers 100-107

1976 World Series: The Machine

The Teams
National League: Cincinnati Reds (102-60) - Eighth World Series (Won in 1919, 1940, 1975)
American League: New York Yankees (97-62) - 30th World Series (Won 20 previous times)

What Happened
The Reds had spent most of the 1970s compiling the pieces that would become the Big Red Machine. After a series of postseason near-misses, the pieces all came together in 1975, as the Reds won the World Series in seven classic games against the Red Sox. They came back just as strong in 1976, looking for a chance to establish themselves as a dynasty.

Waiting for the Reds in the World Series were the Yankees, who ended a 12-year postseason drought in 1976, the longest drought the franchise had gone through since purchasing Babe Ruth. Their fans were desperate for a World Series championship, and they thought they had the team that could take down the Reds.

It wasn't even close. The most notable part of the 1976 series was that the Reds became the first team to not use a bench player. Because the DH was used in all four games, the Reds had no use for a pinch hitter, and they used only nine hitters all series long. They were truly a machine.

As good as the Reds were, the Yankees showed some fight, keeping a couple of the games close. The Reds won Game 2 on an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, and Game 4 was a one-run game until a Cincinnati explosion in the top of the ninth. But unlike the incredible series the previous season, this series was lacking any real drama. The Reds were simply too good.

Defining Game
Game 4. The heart and soul of those Reds teams was Johnny Bench. Widely considered the best defensive catcher of all time, Bench was also a power threat with no peer at his position. He flashed his brilliance in Game 4, picking off a runner at second base and hitting a two-run home run in the fourth that gave the Reds a lead they wouldn't relinquish. But it was his three-run home run in the top of the ninth that put the game - and the series - away. It was the final argument in Cincinnati's claim to the title of best team in National League history.

MVP
Bench. His Game 4 performance was just the icing on the cake. He batted .533 for the series, and the Yankees didn't even try to steal a base off him until the final game.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

New York	1	3	2	2
Cincinnati	5	4	6	7

---

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here's the ones I've done so far:

100. 1976 - Cincinnati (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
101. 1907 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0 (1 tie)
102. 2007 - Boston (A) def. Colorado (N) 4-0
103. 1938 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
104. 1998 - New York (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-0
105. 1989 - Oakland (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-0
106. 1928 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
107. 1919 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

1919 World Series: Stained Black

The Teams
National League: Cincinnati Reds (96-44); first World Series
American League: Chicago White Sox (88-52); third World Series (won in 1906, 1917)

What happened
The story is well-known by now. Frustrated by the penny-pinching ways of owner Charles Comiskey, eight members of the White Sox accepted money from gamblers to throw the series. Among those involved in the conspiracy were the great Shoeless Joe Jackson, ace pitcher Eddie Cicotte, and six others. When Cicotte hit Cincinnati's Morrie Rath with the first pitch of the bottom of the first, that was the sign to gamblers that the fix was on.

It didn't go smoothly, of course. Nothing did. Many people around the Series sensed something fishy was up, so much so that the betting line swung heavily in favor of the Reds in the days leading up to the series. With their paydays smaller than anticipated, the gamblers were late in some of their payments to the White Sox players, leading the players to reconsider the deal. A well-timed threat or two turned that around and the White Sox finished the job, losing 5 games to 3 (it was one of four series to be a best-of-nine)

Since the White Sox threw the series, the details of the games are mainly irrelevant. It's hard to know exactly when one of the eight players were trying or not, hard to say when they were grounding out on purpose or were genuinely beaten by the pitcher. Even the stats don't paint the full picture. Jackson apologists point out how he hit .375 in the series with the only home run; how many times did he go all-out in less important at bats, only to give less than his best in key situations? How many balls just barely fell in front of him in left that weren't marked an error?

Looking at the stats, it's easy to see many of the other conspirators. Shortstop Swede Risberg batted .080; pitcher Lefty Williams went 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA in the height of the dead ball era, while Cicotte lost his first two starts (he won his third, when the team was apparently trying). Center fielder Happy Felsch was the worst - he batted .192 for the series, and key Cincinnati rallies in Games 1, 2, and 5 all revolved around Cincinnati hits to center field.

Now it's believed that many individual World Series games had been fixed up until that time, including a few involving the Red Sox. But it's believed this is the only time an entire series was lost on purpose. It almost destroyed the game; the eight players were banned for life, and it took the power of Babe Ruth to restore faith in the game. For that reason, for the fact that this was the only truly non-competitive World Series, this one gets the vote for the worst World Series of all time.

MVP
There were no official MVPs of the Series back then. Due to what happened in this one, you could say the gamblers of the time could be named MVP. It's hard to pick out a Reds player as MVP, as it's easy to think that they succeeded because the White Sox let them. But I should pick somebody, so I'll pick Reds pitcher Dutch Reuther; he had a 2.57 era in two starts and went 4-for-6 at the plate with two triples.

The Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Chicago	1	2	3	0	0	5	4	5
Cincinnati	9	4	0	2	5	4 (10)	1	10

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here's the ones I've done so far:

107. 1919 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

1972 NLCS: A truly wild ending

How they got here
Two truly great teams climbed to the top of the National League in 1972. Ignoring the league-wide offensive shortage, the defending World Champion Pirates barely had to sweat in winning the NL East by 11 games. It's no wonder, too; their .274 team batting average was the only mark in the league above .260, and they finished third in the National League in runs scored and runs allowed. They had skill, they had championship experience, and they entered the postseason on a high, with right fielder Roberto Clemente getting his 3,000th career hit in his final regular-season at bat that year.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati had compiled most of the pieces that would make them known as the Big Red Machine later that decade. After getting to the World Series in 1970, the Reds fell below .500 in 1971 before bouncing back in '72 to win the West by 10.5 games. Their offense was well-balanced, a mix of power, patience, and speed, while manager Sparky "Captain Hook" used the bullpen to perfection.

It had the potential to be a great NLCS, and the teams lived up to that potential. After splitting the first two games in Pittsburgh, the Pirates came back to win Game 3 in Cincinnati. Facing elimination, the Reds cruised to a win in Game 4, setting up a deciding Game 5. The game featured a rematch of the Game 1 starters. Pittsburgh sent 1971 World Series hero Blass to the mound, while Cincinnati countered with 21-year-old Don Gullett.

The Game
Pittsburgh hardly had time to dream about a second straight World Series. It changed that quickly. Holding a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, the Pirates sent reliable closer Dave Giusti to the mound to try to get the save. The first batter he faced was Johnny Bench, who quite quickly tied the game with a home run to right.

Bench's home run finally erased the lead the Pirates had held since the second inning, when three straight hits had put them up 2-0. Pete Rose answered with an rbi double in the 3rd for Cincinnati, but Pittsburgh bounced right back with a run in the fourth, knocking Gullett out of the game in the process. After a home run by Cesar Geronimo made it 3-2, Blass was in control before coming out in the eighth.

But then Bench homered of Giusti, and the game changed completely. Two more Cincinnati hits knocked Pittsburgh's closer out of the game, and Bob Moose was brought in to try to fight his way out of a deep hole. He got the first two batters he was asked to face before Cincinnati sent Hal McRae up to pinch hit with two outs. McRae then became a footnote to history, as a wild pitch brought George Foster home from third with the series-winning run.

Aftermath

For Pittsburgh, the loss in the 1972 NLCS led to heartache. After pitching so brilliantly for Pittsburgh for seven years, Blass suddenly and inexplicably lost the strike zone in 1973. He never recovered, his wildness forcing him to retire; to this day, a pitcher suddenly losing the ability to throw strikes is said to have come down with Steve Blass Disease.

But that wasn't the worst. After getting his 3,000th his last at bat of the season, putting an exclamation mark on a career of brilliant play, Clemente struggled a bit in the NLCS, batting only .235. In his final plate appearance, he was intentionally walked in the 8th inning of Game 5. 81 days later, on New Years Eve, the plane he was on carrying supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua crashed into the Caribbean Sea. Pittsburgh, and all of baseball for that matter, mourned the loss of their star.

As for the Reds, they advanced to their second World Series in three years. Facing an upstart Oakland team, the two played a truly classic World Series, with Oakland prevailing in seven games after six of the games were decided by one run. The loss merely inspired the Reds, and after two more years of falling short, they won consecutive titles in 1975 and 1976, laying claim to being the best team in National League history.



The best part of this clip is a super-young Al Michaels making the excited call of Bench's home run
What I'm doing.

The list so far:

7. 1972 NLCS: Cincinnati 4, Pittsburgh 3
8. 1981 NLCS: Los Angeles 2, Montreal 1
9. 1982 ALCS: Milwaukee 4, California 3
10. 2008 ALCS: Tampa Bay 3, Boston 1
11. 1984 NLCS: San Diego 6, Chicago 3
12. 2003 NLCS: Florida 9, Chicago 6
13. 2004 NLCS: St. Louis 5, Houston 2
14. 1972 ALCS: Oakland 2, Detroit 1
15. 1973 ALCS: Oakland 3, Baltimore 0
16. 1985 ALCS: Kansas City 6, Toronto 2
17. 2007 ALCS: Boston 11, Cleveland 2
18. 1991 NLCS: Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 0
19. 1973 NLCS: New York 7, Cincinnati 2
20. 1987 NLCS: St. Louis 6, San Francisco 0
21. 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles 6, New York 0
22. 2004 ALCS: Boston 10, New York 3
23. 1986 ALCS: Boston 8, California 1
24: 1996 NLCS: Atlanta 15, St. Louis 0

Still to come:
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis

1973 NLCS: Minor Miracle

How They Got Here
It was the type of season that happens every once in a while, where you take a look around at the playoff teams and ask "are we sure these are the best teams?" The team in question in 1973 was the New York Mets, who somehow snuck into the postseason that year.

On August 5, the Mets were 11.5 games back in the NL East. What's worse, they were 12 games under .500, a mediocre team in a mediocre division. Well, something clicked, and the Mets crawled back to the .500 mark by the end of the year. Most years, this would have been cause for optimism, but in 1973 in the NL East, it made you a contender for the division crown. And so it came to be that, after a win over the Cubs on the final day of the season, the Mets made it to the NLCS with a less-than-stellar record of 82-79.

Meanwhile, the Reds won the West by 3.5 games over the Dodgers. The Reds won 99 games during the regular season, which would have put them 17 games ahead of the Mets had the two teams been in the same division. But they weren't. Instead, they were opponents in the NLCS.

While the Reds had most of the players that would make up the Big Red Machine a few years later, they were a little light in the pitching department. Meanwhile, the Mets had little in the way of hitting, but had a good pitching staff, led by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, who was on the hill for Game 1. Seaver was brilliant, keeping the Reds off-balance all game long. He threw two bad pitches all game; unfortunately, those bad pitches were to Pete Rose in the 8th and Johnny Bench in the 9th, and both became home runs, leading to a 2-1 Reds victory.

Having seized the advantage, the Reds promptly gave it away, losing two straight games as the Mets got two more complete games from their starters. Now, the heavily favored Reds had to win two straight in New York. They got the first win they needed in Game 4, finally getting to New York's bullpen and winning 2-1 in 12 innings. Game 5 featured the Game 1 starters in Seaver and Jack Billingham.

The Game
Despite their disparate records and the relative skills of the teams, both teams knew anything could happen in a do-or-die game. While the Reds were the better team, they were also a team that had never taken the Next Step, losing the World Series in 1970 and 1972. The Mets, meanwhile, had miraculously won the title in 1969, and while they hadn't reached the postseason since, they still had many players from that championship team.

Both teams had their chances in the first inning, loading the bases with less than two outs. But perhaps betraying their experience levels, the Reds went scoreless in the first, while the Mets got two.

The Reds fought back and had tied the game against Seaver by the fifth inning. Then the Mets struck back. They had one run in with the bases loaded when the ageless Willie Mays came to the plate. Well, maybe ageless isn't the right word, as Mays had looked anything but graceful during his triumphant return to New York. But, 22 years after playing in the World Series for the Giants, he helped put the Mets on a track back to a Series appearance with a run-scoring single. The Mets eventually ended up with four runs in the fifth.

That was enough for Seaver. Another Mets run in the 6th made it 7-2, and Seaver stayed in until the Reds loaded the bases in the ninth with one out. Seaver tapped out and Tug McGraw came in for the final two outs to send the Mets back to the World Series.

Aftermath
After surprising the Reds, the Mets continued their surprising play by taking the defending champion Athletics to seven games in the World Series. New York had the tying run at the plate before Wayne Garrett popped out to end the series. Though they came short of a title, the Mets did establish one record that will be tough to break: they are still the worst team to ever make it to the World Series.

The Rundown
What I'm doing.

The list so far:
19. 1973 NLCS: New York 7, Cincinnati 2
20. 1987 NLCS: St. Louis 6, San Francisco 0
21. 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles 6, New York 0
22. 2004 ALCS: Boston 10, New York 3
23. 1986 ALCS: Boston 8, California 1
24: 1996 NLCS: Atlanta 15, St. Louis 0

Still to come:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1972 ALCS: Detroit vs. Oakland
1973 ALCS: Baltimore vs. Oakland
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1981 NCLS: Los Angeles vs. Montreal
1982 ALCS: California vs. Milwaukee
1984 NLCS: Chicago vs. San Diego
1985 ALCS: Kansas City vs. Toronto
1991 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 NLCS: Chicago vs. Florida
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2004 NLCS: Houston vs. St. Louis
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis
2007 ALCS: Boston vs. Cleveland
2008 ALCS: Boston vs. Tampa Bay

1999 National League Wild Card: Lights-out Leiter

Pregame
The last thing the Cincinnati Reds were thinking about in 1999 was a wild card berth. For most of the season, the Reds were right up there with the Houston Astros in the Central Division race. It appeared that the Astros had finally held off the Reds when they took a 3.5-game lead on September 21, but the Reds ran off six straight wins to take the division lead. They couldn't hold it, though, and three straight losses late in the year forced them to settle for second place.

The New York Mets were in a tight division race as well, going back and forth with the Atlanta Braves in the East Division race. On September 19, the Mets were only a game back of the Braves, but a seven-game losing streak - including four losses to the Braves - doomed New York to second place. From there, even the Wild Card seemed unlikely, but the Mets swept their season-ending series against Pittsburgh to tie the Reds and force a one-game tiebreaker playoff game in Cincinnati.

The Game
At first glance, the pitching matchup in the tiebreaker game seemed fairly close. The Mets were sending their de facto ace, Al Leiter, to the mound - de facto as he was their declared ace, but only had a 12-12 record that year. Meanwhile, the Reds were sending their second-best starter, Steve Parris, to the hill. While both teams were likely fully confident in their pitchers, there was a big difference between the two. Though he was 31, Parris was only in his second year as a Major League starter and had never pitched in a game anywhere near as important as this one. Leiter, meanwhile, was a three-time World Series winner, a man the Mets brought in specifically for games like these.

In reality, the game was over before Leiter even took the hill, as a Rickey Henderson leadoff single was followed by a home run by Edgardo Alfonzo, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead. Leiter took over from there. He gave up a single with one out in the second, and then held the Reds hitless until a leadoff double in the ninth. By that point, the Mets had driven Parris out of the game and increased their lead to 5-0, helped by a Henderson home run and another RBI hit by Alfonzo. Leiter shut the door in the ninth, and the Mets were off to the postseason.

Postgame
The Mets continued the momentum from their win over Cincinnati, beating Arizona 3 games to 1 in the NLDS in a series punctuated by Todd Pratt's game-ending home run in Game 4. Waiting for the Mets in the NLCS were the Braves. The Braves won the first three games of the series before the Mets won the next two at home, both in dramatic, late-inning fashion. Game 5 was especially dramatic, as Robin Ventura won the game in the bottom of the 15th inning on a walk-off grand slam, only to have the hit reverted to a single as his teammates mobbed him between first and second base. In Game 6, the Braves scored five first-inning runs off Leiter, but the Mets fought back to send the game into extra innings. New York took a 10th-inning lead before blowing the save, then watched as their season ended on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th.

For the Reds, the close call became especially painful over the next decade, as they plunged toward the bottom of the NL Central. After seeing Leiter shut the door on their chances in 1999, it took until 2010 for the Reds to make the postseason again.

The Rundown

28. N.Y. Mets 5, Cincinnati 0 (1999 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
29. Cleveland 8, Boston 3 (1948 AL tiebreaker)
30. Houston 7, Los Angeles 1 (1980 NL West tiebreaker)

October 22, 1975: Living the dream

BOSTON - The way the series had gone, with all the close games that had thrilled baseball fans throughout the week, it was really no surprise that it had come down to this. The series between the Reds and the Red Sox was tied 3 games to 3, and game 7 was tied 3-3 entering the ninth inning. It couldn't possibly get any closer.

The previous six games had been highlighted by multiple players coming through in the clutch, most notably the dramatic home runs in game 6 by Bernie Carbo and Carlton Fisk that saved the Red Sox from elimination and made this game 7 possible. Now, with the ninth inning about to start, the Red Sox likely couldn't help but rue the missed chances they had suffered in the first eight innings.

It looked to be Boston's game to lose in the third inning of game 7 as the Red Sox batted around, scoring three runs. But it was an empty three runs, as two of the scores came via bases-loaded walks and the Red Sox left the bases loaded in the inning. Boston left the bases loaded again in the fifth, as pitcher Bill Lee flew out to deep center to end the threat.

When Lee flew out, the Red Sox had built a 3-0 lead with five hits and seven walks. The large number of walks had been a gift from the Cincinnati pitchers, but the Red Sox had been unable to get the big hit that would bust the game open. Unknown to Boston, Lee's fly out would be Boston's last serious threat, as they would get only one base runner the rest of the game.

The Reds, meanwhile, started plucking away at the lead. First came the top of the sixth, when Tony Perez hit a two-run home run to cut Boston's lead to 3-2. Then in the seventh, two Reds reached base via a walk, allowing Pete Rose to drive in the game-tying run with a single. Cincinnati copied Boston, though, in leaving the bases loaded that inning.

And that was it, dropping us off in the top of the ninth inning of game 7, tied 3-3. It had been 35 years since Cincinnati had won a World Series, 57 years since Boston celebrated. For someone, the greatest win in a generation was about to happen.

Ken Griffey Sr. started things for the Reds with a walk. Then the Big Red Machine, one of the best hitting teams of all time, reverted to small ball, moving Griffey to third one base at a time with a pair of ground outs. Pete Rose was up next, go-ahead run on third. He drew a walk, putting the series in the hands of Joe Morgan.

Decades later, Morgan said this particular at bat was the absolute highlight of his career. Regardless of how the at bat turned out, the fact that he was coming to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning of a tied game 7 was an absolute dream come true. It's the at bat that every young child dreams about when he takes his bat to the backyard, the ultimate test of someone's ability to come through in the clutch. No wonder Morgan remembered the at bat so fondly; it's not often that someone gets to live the dream of millions of others.

Of course, it probably helped his memory that the 1-2 pitch Morgan swung at turned into a line drive, a line drive that started to dive right as Boston center fielder Fred Lynn started to get a beat on it, a line drive that fell to the grass just out of Lynn's reach, allowing Griffey to come home with the series-winning run.

That wasn't the last play of the series, of course. Boston still had to get out of the top of the ninth without more damage, which they did, but not before loading the bases. Cincinnati also had to hold Boston scoreless in the bottom of the ninth, a prospect that didn't seem too promising to people that had been watching the series. But the baseball gods had had enough of the 1975 series; there would be no more fireworks. Boston went down in order on eight pitches, with hall-of-famer Carl Yastrzemski flying out to center to end the most thrilling World Series yet played.

October 21, 1975: If it stays fair...

BOSTON - It is the mother of all reaction shots, one of the most famous in baseball history. It is because of this one moment, lasting just a few seconds, that sports telecasts now dedicate at least one camera to follow the player instead of the ball, in the hope that another shot will come around like that one. So in short, one player's gestures changed how sports were televised.

And it all happened by accident.

Because of the limitations brought on by the stadium's design, there was very little room for a left-field camera in Fenway Park. About the only place there is room is inside the Green Monster itself, where a camera man could peek the lens through a hole in the wall to cover some of the action.

That's where NBC cameraman Lou Gerard spent game 6 of the 1975 World Series - stuck in the cramped quarters of the Green Monster and trying not to get distracted by the rats that lived there. So while Gerard's training told him he had to follow the ball no matter what, he had no choice but to keep the camera trained on Carlton Fisk in the bottom of the 12th. As a ball Fisk hit flew deep and toward the Green Monster and started hooking toward the foul pole, Fisk started hopping and waiving his arms, trying to will the ball to stay fair. When it did, careening off the foul pole to force game 7, Fisk leaped in the air, both hands closed in fists as he punched the sky. And Gerard was there to capture it all.

..........

The 1975 World Series was recognized even as it was happening as one of the best of all time. Three of the first five games had been one-run games, with the lead changing hands in the late innings of all three. Cincinnati had won two of those tight ones and entered game 6 with a 3 games to 2 lead in the series. The Reds took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth of game 6 before the Red Sox got two runners on base. Enter Reds closer Rawly Eastwick. Eastwick quickly got two outs, then worked a 2-2 count against Boston's Bernie Carbo. Carbo looked terrible on the first 2-2 pitch, fouling one off with an awkward swing. He has since admitted that he was stoned during this at bat, which could explain the awkwardness, but it doesn't explain the 420-foot home run he hit to straightaway center on the next pitch.

Given new life in the eighth, the Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. With Denny Doyle on third, Fisk hit a shallow flyball to center field. Third base coach Don Zimmer was yelling "No, No, No," indicating that Doyle shouldn't try to score, but Doyle heard "Go, Go, Go," so he went, easily getting thrown out at the plate.

The next good chance to score came for the Reds in the top of the 11th. With Ken Griffey Sr. on first, Joe Morgan hit a line drive that seemed destined to land in the first row of the right field seats, but Boston right fielder Dwight Evans made a running catch right at the foul pole, then fired to first to double off Griffey.

The Reds got two more runners on base in the 12th but couldn't score. Leading off the 12th was Fisk. After taking a ball, Fisk swung. And he watched it fly, and he hopped, and he waved. And he entered into history.

.........

Fisk's home run has come to define the series, providing the most exciting moment of one of the most exciting championships ever played. It instantly became the most famous home run in Red Sox history, tying the series and giving Boston one chance to win the World Series at home. After a classic series, game 7, scheduled for the next night, was expected to be just as exciting. It certainly lived up to the expectations.

September 11, 1985: Hit King

CINCINNATI - When he debuted, he was 22-year-old second baseman, blessed with the ability to hit from both sides of the plate and brimming with the confidence that backed up his talent.

At the end, he was 44-year-old part-time first baseman and full-time manager, still getting hits 22 years after he first broke into the league. When he got the hit that gave him no equal in the history of the game, it was the culmination of a career of unfathomable consistency and durability.

Pete Rose's entire career had led to this. The career with 15 seasons where he hit .300 or better, with 10 seasons with at least 200 hits, with 17 All Star Games and 3 world championships, all peaked on the evening of September 11, 1985, when he blooped a first-inning single off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to become baseball's all time hits leader.

After passing Ty Cobb with his 4,192nd hit, Rose lifted his helmet to acknowledge the hometown cheers. His son, Pete Jr., came out to hug him, and the normally stoic, ultra-competitive Rose broke down crying. He later said that during the celebration - which included a long standing ovation from the Cincinnati fans - he saw Cobb and his father standing next to each other in the sky, smiling, and that vision is what made him break down.

Rose got his 4,256 career hits the old-fashioned way. He never watched a second of film and he rarely lifted weights or did any baseball activities in the offseason. His offseason workout regimen was to play full-court basketball to stay in shape. And yet he kept getting hits, despite switching positions five times in his career.

When Rose broke Cobb's record, the only question about his Hall of Fame eligibility seemed to be whether he'd be voted in unanimously. That changed, though, when allegations of his gambling came out. Now, Rose is disgraced, banned from baseball for betting on the game, and therefore ineligible for the Hall of Fame. Memorabilia from his playing career is in the Hall of Fame, including the bat he used for hit number 4,192, but his plaque is not, and he's not even allowed in the building.

Nobody knew what was coming, though, that evening in 1985. And if they did, they didn't care. It was Rose's night, after all, a night to honor baseball's new hit king.

June 15, 1938: Back to back

BROOKLYN - Baseball is a sport inextricably tied to its records. The numbers help compare players from different eras and help create arguments about whether a player could have thrived in different eras.

With the number of offensive records being broken in recent years, it's getting more difficult to pin down exactly which records are "unbreakable." Among the supposedly untouchable records to fall just in the last 20 years were Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak, Hank Aaron's career home run record, and Ty Cobb's career runs scored record.

However, there are still some that can safely be called untouchable: Cy Young's 511 career wins, Old Hoss Radbourn's 59 wins in a single season, Hugh Duffy's .440 batting average in a single season, Cobb's .366 career batting average, and Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters.

If you're wondering who Johnny Vander Meer was, you're not alone. He was a below-average pitcher in the 30s and 40s, finishing his career with a below-.500 winning percentage. In 1938, at the age of 23, he had one of his better seasons, going 15-10 for the Reds. But it was two starts in June that put Vander Meer in the record books.

On June 11, Vander Meer threw a no-hitter against the Braves. While it was considered an impressive feat, that alone wouldn't be enough for him to be remembered forever. It was on his next start, though, that he entered the record books. June 15 was the first night game in the history of Ebbets Field, but Vander Meer stole the show by throwing his second straight no-hitter. It wasn't pretty - he walked 8 batters on his way to history - but it still counts. Vander Meer even got a hit himself for good measure.

Vander Meer's feat of two straight no-hitters is unmatched in baseball history, and it looms as one of the most unbreakable records in sports, simply because if anybody plans on breaking that record, they'll have to throw three consecutive no-hitters.

May 24, 1935: Turn on the lights

CINCINNATI - It's something that seems like it should have happened earlier. Baseball owners, with their franchises struggling to make ends meet during the Great Depression, tried to come up with ways to get more fans to the ballpark. After several years turning down the idea - and after seeing it work in the minors as early as the 1880s - the owners conceded to a new idea: how about staging a few games a year at night, so fans can see a game after they get home from work?

The first city to try it was, fittingly, Cincinnati, the home of the first all-professional baseball team and baseball's first dynasty. The Reds decided to have seven night games in 1935, one against every other National League game. Their first attempt on May 23 got rained out, so on May 24, 25,000 fans went to Crosley Field to witness the first night game in Major League history. The crowd proved immediately that night baseball could work - a near-capacity crowd turning out to see a last-place team in the middle of the Great Depression was no small feat.

After Franklin D. Roosevelt flipped a switch in the White House, the floodlights turned on at Crosley Field, illuminating the field for the Reds and the Phillies. Paul Derringer threw the first pitch to Phillies second baseman Lou Choizza in a light mist. After the game, the players marvelled at how well they could see the ball, comparing the lighting conditions to that of a hazy afternoon. There was no problem tracking fly balls against the night sky. The only moderate complaint was that it seemed as though the ball came faster from the pitcher.

The Reds beat the Phillies that day 2-1, and a phenomenon was born. While teams at first limited their number of night games - especially during World War II to conserve electricity - eventually, night games became so common that they became the norm, with day games turning into the rare occurence.

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HONORABLE MENTION
May 24, 1988: BOSTON - Speaking of lights, how about the time that a Stanley Cup Finals game had to be rescheduled because of a power outage? With Game 4 between the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins tied 3-3, the lights turned off at Boston Garden at the 16:27 mark of the second period. The power outage led to the game being abandonded and the series moved back to Edmonton for Game 5, which became the new Game 4. All the power outage did, though, was delay the inevitable, as Edmonton finished up their sweep at home.