Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 3: The Tragedy of Donnie Moore

Game 5, 1986 ALCS: Boston Red Sox and California Angels

October 12, 1986, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

California leads series 3-1

What if Donnie Moore hadn't give up that home run? What if, instead of hanging the 2-2 splitter that Dave Henderson hit out for the biggest Red Sox home run in 11 years, Moore instead threw a great splitter, or simply blew Henderson away with a fastball? What if Moore succeeded in the biggest stage of his life? Would that have changed what happened next?

But why stop at Moore?

What if Mike Witt had been able to finish the 9th? After all, it wasn't Moore who started the 9th inning, when the Angels had a 5-2 lead, needing just three outs to reach the promised land. That Witt, the Angels' ace. Witt had completely shut down the Red Sox in a complete game victory in Game 1, and he was doing it again in Game 5, the one that could put the Angels in the World Series. But Witt didn't finish the ninth. Instead, he gave up a one-out home run to Don Baylor that cut the Angels lead to 5-4. 

And while we're at it, what if Angels manager Gene Mauch hadn't stepped out of the dugout one batter later, with the Angels one out from winning? What if Mauch hadn't taken the ball from his ace to set up a lefty-lefty matchup for the final out? Going to Gary Lucas to face Rich Gedman was kind of an odd choice, because he wasn't the Angels closer, having gotten only two saves all year, and he had gotten lit up in Game 2 of the series. But Gedman had homered off Witt earlier in the game, and Mauch didn't want that to happen again. And it so was Lucas who pitched, and it was Lucas who hit Gedman on the first pitch he threw, his first hit batter in four years.

Excitement and exasperation

That was when Mauch turned to Moore, and, well, we saw what happened next. But what if Moore hadn't been pitching through pain all year? He hadn't told anybody, but he had an undiagnosed bone spur near his spine, the pain of which altered his pitching motion, which in turn led to elbow and shoulder pain. So he was getting pain shots for his back, cortisone shots for his shoulder, and was suffering migraines. Moore probably shouldn't have even been out there. But he was, and Henderson hit the home run, and the Angels were toast.

Except they weren't. Because that home run didn't end the game. It just seemed that way at the time. There was still the bottom of the 9th to play, and the Angels rather quickly tied the game again on a ground ball single by Rob Wilfong. And they weren't done, either, as a single and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out. 

So what if Doug DeCinces' fly ball had been hit a little deeper rather than right at Dwight Evans' glove in right? What if Bobby Grich's two-out line drive had been a foot higher rather than right at pitcher Steve Crawford? The Angels would have been celebrating, that's what. Henderson's home run would have been quickly forgotten.

Moore was still in the game in the top of the 11th, although he absolutely should not have been. That just seemed to be the way things worked back then - if the closer blows the game, he stayed in until the game was over. Just because it happened doesn't mean it was right. An exhausted Moore hit the leadoff batter, then gave up a single. Then Gedman came up to bunt and hit a bad one - in the air toward third - but DeCinces let it drop and threw poorly to first. That wasn't Moore's fault, was it? And then came Henderson - that man again. Instead of having a base open to put him on, Moore had to face him. And Henderson hit a sacrifice fly to give Boston the lead again.

The Angels had another chance, of course. But they went down weakly in the bottom of the 11th. But what if they had shown some fight once the series went back to Boston? Would anybody have remembered Game 5? But as it was, the Angels kept up the weak play. They got crushed in Games 6 and 7, and Boston celebrated. We know how Boston's season ended. But what of Donnie Moore?

Many Angels players had to fail for them to blow a 3-1 series lead and a 5-2 lead in Game 5. But it's convenient to blame the closer when things go wrong. He was the one who gave up the go-ahead home run, after all. It's inconvenient to remember all the other points of failure. So Angels fans placed the blame on Moore for the next few years. And he placed the blame on himself. 

Immediately after Game 5, Moore mentioned the injuries he had been playing through, then quickly dismissed them, as if even suggesting that he was hurt went against baseball's code. So he took the blame, took the verbal abuse from Angels fans, became a symbol of his team's failure. Because he was the one who gave up the home run. (It may also not be a coincidence that of all the people mentioned who failed for the Angels, Moore was the only one who was a black man.)

It's also convenient to blame the home run for what happened next, the quick end to Moore's career, and the sudden, tragic end to his life. It was an easy narrative: Player fails at the worst possible time, then spirals. But Moore had been violent toward his wife their entire marriage, through good times and bad. It's possible his ending had already been written. It's possible that a save in Game 5, and a World Championship a week or so later, would have changed nothing.

But it all happened. It should have been a great moment for the Red Sox, a franchise-defining home run. But because of what happened after - both on and off the field - it instead has become one of the tragic tails in baseball history. 

Game 5, 1986 ALCS Overall Rank: 3 Top 10 Swing: 278 Top play: Dave Henderson's game-tying home run (WPA of 73% for Boston) Loser's largest WE: 97 Entire bottom of the 8th, California up 5-2 Average LI: 1.57 Highest leverage moment: 6.39 (B9, 2 outs, bases loaded, tied 6-6, Bobby Grich batting for California)

  

Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 5: A 41-Year Wait

Game 1, 1995 ALDS: Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians

October 3, 1995, Jacobs Field, Cleveland, Ohio 

The first pitch came at 8:44 at night, a late start in Cleveland because of a rain shower that passed over Jacobs Field. That didn't matter much to the sellout crowd, though; it had been 41 years and one day since postseason baseball had been played in Cleveland. Fans that had been waiting that long could surely wait another hour or so.

Before the 1995 season, the last postseason baseball game played Cleveland had been Game 4 of the 1954 World Series, when the New York Giants completed a stunning World Series sweep at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. In the years that followed, not only did Cleveland never get back to the playoffs, but they never came particularly close. After spending most of the 1950s as the American League team most likely to challenge the Yankees, Cleveland eventually became synonymous with losing. They were so bad in the 70s and 80s that they became the "stars" of a movie about a bad baseball team that miraculously became good. 

There was nothing miraculous about Cleveland in 1995, though. They were simply dominant. They were robbed of a postseason berth the previous year, sitting in the Wild Card spot when the postseason was cancelled. But the young stars of 1994 were a year more experienced in 1995, and the American League didn't have a chance. Cleveland won 100 games in a shortened season, their first time winning 100 games since the aforementioned 1954 team won 111. They were the best hitting team in baseball, one of the best pitching teams, and they, quite simply, seemed unstoppable.

So a little rain wasn't going to dampen the fans' mood. Forty-one years is a long time to wait, and the fans were already buzzing when Dennis Martinez's first pitch was delivered at 8:44. 

But Cleveland fans were decidedly less quiet after John Valentin homered off Martinez in the top of the 3rd to give Boston a 2-0 lead. And they stayed quiet as Red Sox ace Roger Clemens shut down the Cleveland lineup through five innings. (It's a testament to Clemens' longevity that he pitched in two other games in this countdown, one in 1986 and one in 2005.) The Cleveland fans certainly didn't wait 41 years just to watch their team get shut out.

Clemens started the top of the 6th with two quick outs before walking Omar Vizquel. Sensing their opportunity, Cleveland pounced. Carlos Baerga made contact on a hit-and-run play, and his hit bled through the hole vacated by the shortstop going to cover the steal attempt. Now Cleveland had runners on the corners, and Albert Belle walked to the plate. 

Belle probably should have won MVP in 1995 after his 50-homer, 52-double season, but he likely lost some voters because of his corked bat incident the previous season, and he ended up losing the race by one vote to Boston's Mo Vaughn. As he stepped into the box with two outs in the 6th, though, the people watching yet didn't know the results of the MVP vote and assumed Belle would win. He reinforced that belief with a towering double to left that scored both runners, the second one scoring when Boston catcher Mike Macfarlane dropped the throw. Before Cleveland fans had a chance to come down from their delirium, Eddie Murray singled on the next pitch to drive in Belle and give Cleveland the lead. 

It was the first time Cleveland had the lead in a home playoff game since 1948. The fans were ecstatic. It was just like Major League, including Bob Uecker in the broadcast booth. They finally had a winning team.

The party ended in the top of the 8th, when  Luis Alicea lead off the inning with a game-tying home run. Now instead of a celebration, the game turned into the kind of endless tension that's unique to baseball, where every pitch has the potential to be world-changing, every baserunner bringing hope or dispair, depending on which jersey he was wearing. Cleveland hadn't seen much in the way of joy in the previous 41 years, but this might have been more than the fans had bargained for.

The clock changed to midnight, then blew past it. The innings charged along, each team threatening to score then seeing the rallies fizzle out. But then Tim Naehring swung at a bad 0-2 curveball in the op of the 11th and knocked it over the big wall in left, and suddenly the Red Sox had the lead. 

If Cleveland fans were nervous, they didn't show it when the bottom of the inning rolled around. After all, the heart of the order was due up, starting with Belle. Belle's double in the 6th had hit off the very top of the left field wall; his blast in the bottom of the 11th was hit just a little bit higher. Tie game. Again. This time, remembering his suspension from the previous year, the Red Sox asked the umpires to confiscate his bat. There was no real reason to do it, since there was no way the bat could be checked in time to annul the home run. All it really did was fire up Cleveland and its fans; two more runners reached base in the bottom of the 11th before the inning finally ended, and Cleveland's offense continued to hum in the 12th. With two runners on and one out, Boston intentionally walked Belle - they weren't going to let him hit anymore. Eddie Murray then hit a weak grounder to third that Naehring had to make a good play on to get the runner at home. Jim Thome then grounded to first, and the inning was over.

The clock edged past 1:00 and started approaching 2:00. Bob Uecker and Bob Costas joked that instead of tuning in to Game 2 later that day, viewers might be still watching this one. They entered that stage of broadcast delirium where they kept talking but nothing made sense anymore. In the bottom of the 13th, in the middle of a monologue about emergency catchers, Cleveland's backup catcher Tony Pena worked the count to 3-0. Bob Costas made yet another joke about Uecker's playing career. Uecker was about to deliver the punchline.  

Then came a grooved fastball, an explosive swing, an emphatic bat flip. Then came Bob Costas yelling "Oh man, oh man!" Then came Pena running around the bases, both arms in the air, a big grin on his face. Then came the fireworks going off in centerfield, the crowd jumping and screaming. Then came the beginning of a celebration that would last the rest of the night.

A celebration 41 years in the making.

 

Game 1, 1995 American League Division Series Overall Rank: 5 Top 10 Swing: 276 Top play: Pena's winning home run (WPA of 46% for Cleveland) Loser's largest WE: 80 Top of the 11th, 1 out, right after Naehring's home run Average LI: 1.94 Highest leverage moment: 6.39 (B12, 2 outs, bases loaded, tied 4-4, Jim Thome batting for Cleveland)

Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 10: The Unlucky vs. The Cursed

Game 1, 2003 American League Division Series: Boston Red Sox at Oakland Athletics

October 1, 2003, Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California

Oakland general manager Billy Beane, subject of the "Moneyball" book and movie, famously told the author of that book, Michael Lewis, that "My shit doesn't work in the playoffs." It wasn't meant as a complaint, but as a matter-of-fact statement: Getting to the playoffs was the goal; winning once you got there was all about luck.

Using that logic, the Athletics of the early 2000s were incredibly unlucky. They had made the playoffs three years in a row, only to lose in a deciding Game 5 of the ALDS all three times. The first two of those losses had been to the Yankees, which were at least understandable, but the most recent loss - to a just-happy-to-be-there Twins team in 2002 - was what really stung.

Oakland's 2003 postseason matchup must have been met with some optimism, then. This time they weren't facing the dynastic Yankees or the nothing-to-lose Twins, but the still-cursed Red Sox. They had to feel good about playing a team even more prone than devastating postseason losses than they were.

But facing the Boston Red Sox of the turn of the 21st Century meant facing prime Pedro Martinez, which meant your scoring opportunities would be limited. You had to take advantage of the few innings where Martinez might falter, and the A's did just that, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third and having a fourth thrown out at home. 

Behind Tim Hudson, the A's kept that lead into the top of the seventh, when a tiring and possibly hurt Hudson gave up a two-out single to Nomar Garciaparra. With lefty Todd Walker coming up next, the A's turned to their normally lights-out bullpen. Ricardo Rincon threw two out of the strike zone, then threw one in the zone. Walker liked the one in the zone and hit it out for his second home run of the game, giving the A's a 4-3 lead. 

Having given Martinez a lead for the second time in the game, the Red Sox must have felt comfortable. But as the bottom of the 7th approached, Martinez was approaching the dreaded 100-pitch mark. The Red Sox had a tough choice - keep riding their ace well past his normal expiration point, or turn the game over to their brutal bullpen. They picked option 1, and after a leadoff single, Martinez got two straight outs. He was also at 112 pitches, well into the danger zone. The A's knew what to do next - Mark Ellis drew a five-pitch walk, then Erubiel Durazo fought off Martinez for 11 pitches before walking himself. And now the bases were loaded with Oakland's number 3 hitter, Eric Chavez, batting. Martinez threw his 130th pitch of the night and Chavez took a big swing ... and popped it up behind the plate.

Damon in 2004, his 
Full Jesus stage

It was Boston's turn to load the bases with two outs in the top of the 8th. A still pre-Jesus Johnny Damon came to the plate with a chance to break the game open, but he grounded to third to keep the score 4-3.

On to the ninth. The A's got runners on 1st and 2nd with one out on Boston closer Byung-Hyun Kim. Kim got Ellis to strike out, then saw manager Grady Little coming out of the dugout. Little brought in Alan Embree for a lefty-vs-lefty matchup against Durazo. It seemed kind of weird to not let a closer finish things off, but it's the kind of move that more teams would have made today. Plus, the Red Sox had zero faith in their bullpen at that point. Anyway, Durazo instantly made the move look foolish with a single to left to tie the game. Chavez then hit a grounder that Garciaparra almost threw into the crowd before Kevin Millar saved the throw - and the game - with a great stretch and catch.

Both teams threatened in 11th, only to see potential rallies end with two-out strike outs. So on to the 12th, where both teams had starting pitchers in the game in relief, ready for the long haul. Manny Ramirez led off the 11th with a walk for Boston. Then after moving to second on a wild pitch, Ramirez stayed rooted there after a strike out and a pop out. Rich Harden walked Bill Mueller intentionally to set up a force play at third, and then Gabe Kapler grounded on sharply to third. Chavez, the AL Gold Glove winner at third base, made a sensational diving stop to save a run, then beat Ramirez to the base with a head-first slide to end the inning.

The old saying goes that if you end an inning in baseball by making a great play in the field, you naturally end up leading off the next inning. Well Chavez didn't lead off the bottom of the 12th, but he did find himself on second base with two outs. Chavez stole third during a walk to Scott Hatteberg, then stayed where he was as Hatteberg took second uncontested one pitch later. Little told Derek Lowe to walk Terrence Long; after first shaking his head "no" toward the dugout, Lowe did just that, bringing up catcher Ramon Hernandez with the bases loaded.

Lowe was worried about hitting or walking Hernandez to force in the game-winning run. What he was not worried about - and what nobody in the stadium was expecting - was Hernandez laying down a bunt. But Hernandez did just that, channeling Jake Taylor Paul Blair by dropping a bunt down the third base line. The ball bounced once off the plate and once on the grass, and by the time Bill Mueller picked it up, Chavez had scored and Hernandez had reached first.

The A's celebrated their tenacity and their catcher's guts to drop down a bunt in that situation. Maybe their playoff fortunes had finally turned around.

Well, nope. After winning Game 2, the A's lost the series, again dropping a five-game ALDS. The Red Sox were still cursed, but would break that curse for good the next October. The A's, meanwhile, have only won one playoff series since 1992.

Game 1, 2003 American League Division Series Overall Rank: 10 Top 10 Swing: 226 Top play: Erubiel Durazo's game-tying single in the 9th (WPA of 46% for Oakland) Loser's largest WE: 88 B9, 1 out, nobody on, Boston up 4-3 Average LI: 1.96 Highest leverage moment: 7.16 (B9, 1 out, runners on 1st and 2nd, Boston up 4-3, Mark Ellis batting)

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)

Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 24: The Rise of Big Papi

Game 5, 2004 ALCS: New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

October 18, 2004, Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Yankees lead series 3-1

The night before, the Red Sox and Yankees had played an all-time classic game, one that turned on the stolen base that saved Boston. After David Ortiz began his ascension to a higher plane by ending Game 4 with a home run, Boston could let out a breath. They were still alive in the ALCS, but barely. They still had work to do. But a 3-1 deficit in the ALCS is better than a 3-0 one, and they had Pedro Martinez on the mound at home for Game 5. 

If the Red Sox expected an easier win in Game 5, they were sorely mistaken. Because while Game 4 has gone down as the most important game in Boston's franchise history, Game 5 was somehow even better. And that happened because for all his brilliance, Pedro Martinez had one fatal flaw: When he reached his 100th pitch in a start, he would transform from legend to mortal.

Martinez's 100th pitch of Game 5 came in the sixth inning. The Red Sox were holding a 2-1 lead, but the Yankees were crawling back against Martinez. The bases were loaded with two outs, and Derek Jeter was up with a 1-1 count. Through 99 pitches, Pedro was in control, if in a bit of trouble.

The 100th pitch was lined down the right field line. 

Jeter ended up with a double, scoring all three runs. Boston fans were stunned. Martinez returned to the mound in disbelief. What had been a sure thing had turned into a 4-2 deficit. And Martinez kept struggling, hitting the next batter, walking the one after that, and only escaping the sixth because of a sliding catch by Trot Nixon.

Once again, the Red Sox had to come from behind. Once again, it was Big Papi who led the way. 

Ortiz almost had his chance in the seventh inning, but Manny Ramirez grounded into a double play with two men on to end the bottom of the seventh and leave Ortiz in the on-deck circle. So Ortiz had to wait until the 8th inning, which he promptly led off with a home run over the monster. 

Then Yankees and Red Sox were hit with some déjà vu, because after Kevin Millar walked, Dave Roberts ran to first to pinch-run. Just like the night before, Roberts was on first as the game-tying run, at a moment when everybody knew he was going to run. This time it took a while for him to go, taking off for second with a 3-1 count. Instead of letting him run, Trot Nixon lined a single to center for a perfect hit-and-run. With runners on the corner, the Yankees brought in Mariano Rivera to try to get the save he failed to get the night before. But once again, the Red Sox got to him, this time in the form of a sacrifice fly from Jason Varitek. Even though no runs were credited to him, Rivera had blown a save for the second straight night, and the game entered the ninth tied at 4.

In the top of the 9th, Fenway Park's famous right field corner came into play. The right field foul pole - nicknamed Pesky's Pole - sits only 302 feet away from home plate, the shortest distance in the majors, but the outfield distance quickly gets deeper. It was that pole that Tony Clark aimed for with Ruben Sierra on first base with two outs in the 9th. Clark - who was then the Yankees first baseman and is currently the player's union Executive Director - hit a shot that looked promising at first, but landed just to the left of the pole, bouncing over the wall for a ground-rule double. If he had hit that ball one foot to the left, it likely would have stayed in play, allowing Sierra to score; a foot to the right, and it was likely a series-clinching two-run home run. Instead, it was a ground rule double, which led to a scoreless 9th after Miguel Cairo fouled out.

Not a home run this time, but 
almost as exciting.

After Clark's near-miss, the game turned into a series of failed bunts and ill-timed double plays. It took until the bottom of the 14th for things to turn. After two walks and two strike outs, Ortiz came up again. And again, he delivered. It wasn't a towering home run deep into the Boston night, but rather a bloop single to center. It worked just the same, though, as Johnny Damon easily scored the game-winning run.

In the span of two nights, the Red Sox had twice tied the game against the best reliever of all time. And with three swings, Ortiz had become a Boston legend.

Game 5, 2004 ALCS Overall Rank: 24 Top 10 Swing: 208 Top Play: Ortiz's game-winning single (WPA of 38% for Boston) Loser's largest WE: 88 T8, 1 out, runner on third, Yankees up 4-2 Average LI: 1.93 Highest leverage moment: 5.09 (Twice; Yankees twice batted in a tie game with two outs and runners on second and third, once in the 9th and once in the 13th)

Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 25: A Little Roller Up Along First

Game 6, 1986 World Series: Boston Red Sox at New York Mets

October 25, 1986, Shea Stadium, Queens, New York

Red Sox lead series 3-2

It was finally within their grasp. Finally, 67 years after selling Babe Ruth, 68 years after last climbing to the top of the baseball world, the Red Sox were one out away from winning the World Series. It naturally didn't come easy - what championship ever did? - as Boston had twice blown leads in Game 6. But now here they were, leading 5-3 in the top of the 10th thanks to a Dave Henderson home run, one out from an elusive title.

At that exact moment - leading by two with two outs - the Red Sox had a 99% chance to win Game 6 and with it, the World Series. At that exact moment, only one postseason team had ever turned a 99% chance to win into a loss. Clubhouse attendants had already covered Boston's locker room in tarps so that the upcoming champagne celebration wouldn't ruin their clothes. Bruce Hurst had already been voted World Series MVP. Game 6 starter Roger Clemens had gone to the locker room to shave so he could look better for post-game interviews.

The first Mets hit wasn't a big deal. Gary Carter's two-out single only decreased Boston's chances of winning to 96%. The Mets would need more than that. Kevin Mitchell's single wasn't a big deal, either. Carter only got to second, so there was no guarantee he'd score on a single. Plus, it was Mitchell's run that mattered, not Carter's.

Ray Knight fell behind 0-2. Now the Red Sox were one strike away. But Knight hit another single, deep enough for Carter to score and Mitchell to go to third. It was 5-4. The tying run was on third, and the winning run was now on base. Now it was time to worry.

Now it was time for questions. Bob Stanley replaced Calvin Schiraldi on the mound, but why wasn't Stanley on the mound to start the 10th? Why have Schiraldi bat in the top of the 10th when he had already pitched the 9th, and Stanley had pitched better in the World Series anyway? And while we're asking questions, why was Bill Buckner still at first? He had been replaced defensively late in all three Boston wins this series. Why keep him in now?

It might not have mattered anyway. Stanley worked Mookie Wilson to a 2-2 count, then Wilson fouled off two pitches that might have ended the series, swinging weekly and barely making contact but fouling them off nonetheless.

Oops.

Then, another ball, but this one to the backstop. Mitchell scored, Knight went to second, and a 99% chance to win suddenly turned into a 60% chance to lose. Shea Stadium was delirious. Toilet paper streaming from the rafters and piling behind home plate. The Mets' players out of the dugout and clapping on the field. Mookie Wilson fouling off two more pitches. 

Then came the 10th pitch of the at bat, and a little roller up along first...   

Game 6, 1986 World Series Overall Rank: 25 Top 10 Swing: 202 Top Play: Bob Stanley's wild pitch ties the game (WPA 41% for New York) Loser's largest WE: 99 B10, 2 outs, nobody on, Red Sox lead 5-3 Average LI: 1.67 Highest Leverage Moment: 7.06 (Mookie Wilson's final plate appearance, pre-wild pitch)

Baseball's Most Exciting Games: Honorable Mention

Before I dig into the meat of my top 25 list of Baseball's Most Exciting Games, I thought I'd write about four games that were close, but just missed out on qualifying.

The first two is a pair of early World Series games that ended in ties. Both of these games would have made the Top 25 list if I hadn't made the arbitrary decision that ties in baseball are weird and thus shouldn't be talked about. Ties were much more common in baseball before the stadiums had lights, and the official policy was always to just pretend the games didn't happen and replay them later. 

But I can't imagine the disappointment you'd feel if you were watching an extra-inning World Series game, full of clutch hitting and dramatic comebacks, only to have the umpires decide it was too dark to continue and call it off. All that excitement, and the game didn't even count? Come on.

See? Four fingers. 

The first such game came in Game 1 of the 1907 World Series. One year after winning 116 games but losing the World Series, the Cubs were back as National League champions. They were led by pitcher Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, who actually had four fingers, the liar (see picture at right). The American League champion was the Detroit Tigers, led by 20-year-old  Ty Cobb. In 1907, Cobb lead the American League in batting, runs batted in, and stolen bases. Plus at that point in his life he hadn't yet killed a man, so his future was bright.

(The early baseball world was a completely different world than ours.)  

In Game 1, the Tigers - with the help of three Cub errors - scored three runs in the top of the 8th to take a 3-1 lead. The Cubs got one back in the bottom of the ninth and had two runners on with two outs. Tigers pitcher Wild Bill Donovan then struck out pinch-hitter Del Howard to seemingly end the game, but catcher Boss Schmidt dropped the third strike, allowing Howard to reach and the tying run to score. During the next plate appearance, Schmidt redeemed himself by tagging out Johnny Evers trying to steal home. Schmidt also tagged out a runner at the plate to end the 10th inning. There was no more scoring (despite the Cubs loading the bases in the 11th) and the game was called by darkness after the 12th inning.

Game 1, 1907 World Series Overall Rank: 21 Top 10 Swing: 193 Top play: B9, 2 out, Detroit up 3-2, Del Howard strikes out, Harry Steinfeldt scores on E2, Johnny Evers to 3rd, Howard to 1st (WPA of 40% for Chicago) Loser's largest WE: 95 Detroit leading 3-1, T9, 1 out, 1 on base (measured as highest WE for either team since game ended as a tie) Average LI: 1.89 Highest leverage moment: 8.15 (Howard's at bat in B9)

The other tie that cracked the top 25 list was Game 2 of the 1912 World Series. With the Red Sox leading the series 1-0, Game 2 was played in Fenway Park, then in its inaugural season. Fenway has had a gigantic wall in left field since the day it opened, but in 1912 the wall wasn't green, and there was a 10-foot-tall hill leading up to it from the playing field. Because safety! That hill eventually got the nickname Duffy's Cliff because of the skill Boston leftfielder Duffy Lewis showed in navigating it.

But with Boston leading 4-2 in the eighth inning. Duffy Lewis fell on Duffy's Cliff while chasing a fly ball. His fall helped start a New York Giant rally, which ended with them taking a 5-4 lead. The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the 8th, and the game eventually went into extra innings. 

In the top of the 10th, Fred Merkle (old time baseball names ruled) hit a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly. And then came the chaos of the bottom of the 10th. With one out, Tris Speaker hit one deep to center field. As he was rounding first, he appeared to miss the base, but he kept right on going past second and on to third, where Giants third baseman Buck Herzog got in his way, apparently intentionally. Speaker crashed into Herzog, but kept going anyway, and he scored when catcher Art Wilson dropped the relay throw. The Giants appealed to the umpires about Speaker missing first, but the appeal was denied, and the game was tied. 

(Imagine for a second if that play had happened in modern times. Sports Twitter would have melted.)

Anyway, two Giants were thrown out stealing in the top of the 11th, the Red Sox went down in order in the bottom of the inning, and the umpires decided to call it a tie, ignoring the protests of the players who thought they could keep going.

 

Game 2, 1912 World Series Overall Rank: 15 Top 10 Swing: 247 Top Play: B10, 1 out, New York up 6-5, Tris Speaker triples to center, scores on error by catcher (WPA of 47% for Boston) Loser's largest WE: 88 The start of Speaker's at bat in the 10th (measured as highest WE for either team since game ended as a tie) Average LI: 1.70 Highest leverage moment: 6.88 (B9, 2 outs, bases loaded, game tied 5-5, Red Murray batting for New York)

The other two honorable mention games actually came to a conclusion. Game 1 of the 1946 World Series was the first World Series game for the Red Sox since they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919.  The Cardinals were one strike from winning in the top of the ninth before Tom McBride hit an RBI single to tie the game. Boston's Rudy York then hit a home run in the 10th to win it. Other people who played in this series included Ted Williams (in his first full season back from the War), Stan Musial (playing in his fourth World Series in five seasons), and Johnny Pesky, Pinky Higgins, Rip Russell, Harry Walker, and Tex Hughson (all listed because, again, old-time baseball names ruled). 

  

Game 1, 1946 World Series Overall Rank: 29 Top 10 Swing: 219 Top Play: T10, 2 outs, tied 2-2, Rudy York homers to left (WPA of 42% for Boston) Loser's largest WE: 92 St. Louis leading 2-1, 1 out, T9, Pinky Higgins batting Average LI: 1.70 Highest leverage moment: 6.12 (B9, 1 out, runners on 1st and 3rd, St. Louis leading 2-1, Roy Partee batting for Boston)

The other game that just missed the cutoff was Game 7 of the 1924 World Series, a game that was surprisingly modern. Washington Senators manager Bucky Harris (also the team's second baseman) picked righty Curly Ogden as the starting pitcher, forcing the New York Giants to commit to their left-handed lineup; after one batter, Harris brought in lefty George Mogridge as the actual starter. It was one of baseball's first instances of the "Opener." 

The opener concept worked great for a while, as the Senators had a 1-0 lead going into the 6th inning. But the Giants scored three times in the 6th (with the help of two straight Washington errors) and the Senators trailed 3-1 going into the 8th.  

In the 8th, with the bases loaded and two outs, Harris hit a grounder to third that seemed certain to end the inning. However, it took a bad hop off a pebble to get past Freddie Lindstrom to score two runs and tie the game. Walter Johnson then entered in relief for Washington in the top of the 9th and held the Giants scoreless through the 12th. In the bottom of the 12th, Washington's Muddy Ruel hit a popup behind the plate that Giants catcher Hank Gowdy seemed to be tracking. But Gowdy stepped on his discarded catcher's mask, fell over, and let the ball drop. Ruel then doubled to put the Series winning run on base. Two batters later, Earl McNeely hit a grounder to third that should have ended the inning, but another bad hop off a pebble let the ball get into left field, allowing Ruel to score the series-winning run.

(Even though that series was 98 years ago, there's a surviving highlight reel. Think of it as 1924's version of SportsCenter.)

Game 7, 1924 World Series Overall Rank: 28 Top 10 Swing: 215 Top Play: B8, 2 out, bases loaded, New York up 3-1, Bucky Harris singles to left, Nemo Leibold and Muddy Ruel score, Mule Shirley to second (WPA of 35% for Washington) Loser's largest WE: 87 B8, 1 out, nobody on base, Nemo Leibold batting  Average LI: 1.88 Highest leverage moment: 6.05 (Harris' 8th-inning single)

So those were the just-missed games, the two I cut off the list because ties in baseball are stupid and the two that just missed. That Senators win in particular is one always mentioned when people compile lists of the greatest ever baseball games. And yet it didn't make the top 25. 

Starting tomorrow, we'll begin the actual list of baseball's 25 most exciting games, looking at a game where both teams pulled off three-run rallies that started with two outs in the inning. 

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

1912 World Series: Snodgrass' Muff

The Teams
American League: Boston Red Sox (105-47) - Second World Series (Won in 1903)
National League: New York Giants (103-48) - Third World Series (Won in 1905)

What Happened
The Giants had just taken the lead in the eighth and deciding game of the World Series, and the great Christy Mathewson trudged to the mound for his 10th inning of work, three outs away from giving the Giants their second title. Clyde Engle led off the inning for Boston, pinch-hitting for Smoky Joe Wood. Wood had pitched four times in the series after putting in a season for the ages in 1912 - a 34-5 record, including an American League-record 16 consecutive wins. After his sublime season, Wood had a disappointing World Series - fatigue? 22-year-old nerves? - and now was in line for the loss, coming so close, but yet so far. Mathewson got Engle to hit a lazy fly ball to center field. Fred Snodgrass called for it, waited for it, got his glove on it ... and dropped it.

There was nothing complicated about it, no excuse or explanation. He just dropped the ball. Instead of being down one with one out and nobody on base, the Red Sox had the tying run on second with nobody out. The inning wasn't over yet, but it was already obvious that Boston had just received a series-changing break, that Snodgrass' Muff was destined to be the play that was forever remembered about the 1912 World Series.

The drop was so devastating, so unexpected, that it overshadowed what happened next: Harry Hooper ripped a line drive to deep center field, over Snodgrass' head. He turned, ran, and tracked it down, making one of the greatest catches in World Series history, probably the greatest catch until Willie Mays in 1954. It was a hit that should have scored the series-tying run, and perhaps Hooper would have come around on a series-ending inside-the-park home run. Instead, Engle could only advance to third.

In reality, that play should have cancelled out Snodgrass' error one batter earlier. After all, the end result was the same: the Red Sox had a runner on third with one out. That would have happened if he had caught Engle's easy pop up but failed to track down Hooper's hit. Instead, though, he dropped the easy one, and people remembered him for it.

After Snodgrass' great catch, Mathewson made a potentially fatal mistake - he walked Steve Yerkes ahead of Tris Speaker. Speaker was either the best or second-best hitter in the American League at the time, depending on what you thought about Ty Cobb, so to walk the guy in front of him - and to put the World Series-winning run on base to boot - was simply terrible execution at the absolute wrong time. That was not something befitting the great Mathewson.

What happened next wasn't either. Speaker lifted a pop up in foul territory, between home and first. For whatever reason, first baseman Fred Merkle didn't move, just staring at the ball that should have been his to catch. Mathewson had a reasonable chance to run over to catch it, too, but instead called for slow-footed catcher Chief Meyers to catch it. Meyers gave it his all, but the ball fell just inches from his glove. Speaker was still alive, and he took advantage, ripping the next pitch for a double that tied the game.

After an intentional walk to load the bases, Larry Gardner came up for Boston with the series on the line. All he had to do was put the ball in play and avoid a double play. He did exactly that, lifting a fly ball to right field. Josh Devore caught the ball in good throwing position and made a strong throw, but he never had a chance. It was just hit too deep. Yerkes came across with the series-winning run. Boston celebrated their improbable comeback, while Mathewson trudged off the mound, once again a hard-luck World Series loser.

Immediately after the game, and for the decades that followed, all the talk about the series centered around Snodgrass' error in the top of the 100th. That one play has overshadowed everything else that happened in what was the sixth best World Series ever played. Nobody remembered the great Wood striking out two Giants with two on in the ninth inning to preserve a Game 1 victory, or Speaker hitting a game-tying near-inside-the-park home run (officially called a triple and an error after the catcher dropped the throw) to salvage a tie in Game 2. Nobody remembers Devore running down Hick Cady's blast to deep right center for the final out of Game 3, or the back-to-back masterpieces by Wood and rookie Hugh Bedient to put the Red Sox on the brink of the title.

No, the memories from this series revolve around one play. Even now, 100 years after this series was played and 38 years after his death, Fred Snodgrass is remembered only for dropping a fly ball in the 10th inning of the final game of the 1912 World Series.

MVP
Speaker was the top hitter for the Red Sox in the series, and his double in the final inning was the biggest hit of that October. He probably would have been the choice. But a dark horse candidate would have been Bedient. Seen as Boston's third-best pitcher, he twice faced off in starts against Mathewson, beating him in Game 5 and pitching him to a draw before being lifted for a pinch hitter in Game 8. He might not have been named MVP, as he won only one game in the series, but Hugh Bedient deserves mention for twice staring down the best pitcher in National League history and refusing to blink.

Scores 
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

New York	3	6	2	1	1	5	11	2
Boston	4	6 (11)	1	3	2	2	4	3 (10)

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

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:

3. 1960: Pittsburgh 10, New York (A) 9
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
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
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

1986 World Series: The Error

The Teams
National League: New York Mets (108-54) - Third World Series (Won in 1969)
American League: Boston Red Sox (95-66) - Ninth World Series (Won in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918)

What Happened

Everybody remembers the error. And really, it's understandable. It wasn't just an error, after all. It was 68 years of a franchise's pain and torture, the full-fledged belief in a curse wrapped up in one simple slow roller to first.

The entry in the box score is simple enough: M. Wilson reached on E3 (ground ball), Knight scores (unearned). But it meant so much more. The fact that "Knight scores" was the game-winning run of Game 6, so Red Sox fans had that final image of the ground ball going through Bill Buckner's legs to haunt them into the night. Since rain pushed Game 7 back an extra day, that was just more time for Red Sox fans to stew.

And so they did, and when they lost the next day, the 1986 World Series became all about Buckner's error, the details getting lost in the haze. Details like the wild pitch one pitch before Buckner's error, the one that brought home the tying run. Details like the three straight hits the Mets got with two outs in the ninth, including Knight's run-scoring single when he faced an 0-2 count. Details from earlier in the series were forgotten, too, like the two times the Red Sox pounded Mets phenom Dwight Gooden, the 1-0 thriller in Game 1, and so on. All forgotten because of one ground ball.

The Red Sox could have overcome this, of course. They still had a Game 7 to play. But the damage had been done. Immediately before Buckner's error, there was champagne on ice in the Red Sox' clubhouse, where the lockers were covered with tarp. Roger Clemens was shown in the dugout clean-shaven, as he had shaved off his playoff scruff during the game in anticipation of post-game interviews. Hell, even the Shea Stadium scoreboard had flashed, if only for a moment, the words "Congratulations Red Sox." That was a lot to overcome, and it proved to be too much. Boston took a 3-0 lead in Game 7, but that lead was gone in a flash after a three-run sixth. The Mets piled on with three more in the seventh, and that was that. It was just a matter of counting down the outs after that.

There were so many things to remember about the 1986 World Series and postseason in general. Dave Henderson's continuous dramatic home runs, seemingly whenever the Red Sox needed one;  Boston coming back from 3-1 down to beat the Angels; the Mets winning 106 games, then surviving two tense playoff series that took the luster off their "greatest team of the 80s" claim; the Mets-Astros NLCS, which was one of the best postseason series ever played.

None of it mattered. It didn't matter because Bill Buckner couldn't field Mookie Wilson's grounder, and the Red Sox lost a game they should have won, and the Curse lived on.

MVP
It wasn't how many hits Ray Knight got in the series - though he got plenty of them - but when he got them. In Game 6, he got an rbi and scored a run as the Mets scored twice to tie the game in the fifth, and he drove in the first run of the Mets famed 10th inning rally, then scored the winning run on Buckner's error. In Game 7, his home run provided the go-ahead run in the seventh, and he scored the final run of the series in the 8th.
   
Scores (Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Boston	1	9	1	2	4	5	5
New York	0	3	7	6	2	6 (10)	8

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

11. 1986 - New York (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
12. 1962 - New York (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
13. 1926 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
14. 1995 - Atlanta (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-2
15. 1960 - Pittsburgh (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
16. 1952 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
17. 1997 - Florida (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-3
18. 1993 - Toronto (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
19. 1956 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
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
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

September 28, 2011: The Final Day

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Where was the best seat in the house for something like this? The final day of the season, four games, four different cities, each with playoff implications. The best place, of course, was your couch at home, where you could take in all the action as it happened - no relying on the scoreboard to show highlights, no peering at the out-of-town scores and wondering if they're up-to-the-minute.

But imagine what it was like in the normally stale Tropicana Field on September 28, 2011, as Rays fans were treated to updates to three games that swung the postseason fortunes of four teams, plus a game happening right in front of them, the first one to start and the last one to end, the one that decided it all.

At 7:10 eastern, the first pitch was thrown in St. Petersburg (Rays vs. Yankees), Atlanta (Braves against Phillies), and Baltimore (Orioles vs. Red Sox). Four hours later, none of those games were over, the two playoff spots available still up for grabs. Their drama easily overshadowed the fourth big game of the night, the Houston-St. Louis tilt that started at 8:10 and was over about 10 minutes later. The Cardinals scored four runs in the first, Chris Carpenter only gave up two hits, and St. Louis beat the hapless Astros 8-0 to clinch a tie for the NL Wild Card spot. After the game, they boarded a plane for St. Louis not knowing if their next game would a one-game playoff at home against Atlanta or Game 1 of the NLDS in Philadelphia.

The Phillies and Braves were deciding that one for themselves down in Dixie, with Atlanta hoping to avert a huge collapse, while Philadelphia was trying to knock their division rival out of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Rays and Red Sox were tied for the AL Wild Card lead, with the Rays needing to get past the division-champion Yankees at home and the Red Sox forced to deal with the lowly Orioles on the road. The next five hours were a flurry of game- and season-changing swings, shifts of momentum so dramatic it gave viewers whiplash. If you were watching at home and you took too long watching a replay of another dramatic hit, you risked missing watching the next one. It was a baseball night for the ages.

(All Times Eastern)

7:40 - Dustin Pedroia singles for Boston, driving in the first run in Baltimore.
7:54 - Mark Teixiera hits a grand slam for New York, putting the Yankees up 5-0 in the second inning.
8:03 - Dan Uggla homers for Atlanta, putting the Braves up 3-1 in the third.
8:06 - J.J. Hardy hits a two-run home run for Baltimore, putting the Orioles ahead of Boston 2-1.
8:20 - A balk ties the game in Baltimore.
8:35 - Teixiera homers again for New York, making it 6-0. While he's being congratulated in the dugout, Pedroia homers for Boston, and the Red Sox are ahead 3-2.
9:07 - After three scoreless innings in Atlanta, the Braves' Jack Wilson commits an error to reduce the Braves' lead to 3-2.
9:34 - With Boston leading 3-2, the seventh-inning stretch turned into a rain delay. As they walked into their clubhouse, they saw that Tampa Bay was trailing 7-0, and they breathed a sigh of relief. They had gone 7-19 in September to blow a 9-game lead in the wild card, but now it looked like they'd get in anyway. After all, at that exact point, Tampa Bay's win expectancy was 0. Nada. The Red Sox sat back to watch like the rest of the country.

While it was raining in Baltimore ...

9:56 - A Chase Utley sacrifice fly ties the Philadelphia-Atlanta game at 3-3 in the top of the ninth.
10:11 - Wilson strikes out for the final out in the bottom of the ninth. Atlanta and Philadelphia are going to extra innings.
10:17 - Sam Fuld draws a bases-loaded walk for Tampa Bay's first run. It was still 7-1 in the eighth inning in their game, but Fuld's walk was the start of something. Because then Sean Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to score a second run, and a sacrifice fly scored a third run. Then, at
10:23 - Evan Longoria hits a three-run home run to cut the Rays deficit to 7-6.

Here, then, came one of those Baseball Moments, the kind of thing that happens only in America's oldest sport. At 10:47, the Rays were one out from likely elimination. They were trailing 7-6, while the Red Sox were waiting out a rain shower with a 3-2 lead. Coming up to bat for Tampa Bay was Dan Johnson, a .108 hitter who hadn't gotten a hit since April 27. The last hope for Tampa had almost no hope of getting it done. But then,

10:47 - Johnson hits a deep line drive to right field that says fair by about two inches. Home run. Tie game. Bedlam. Chaos. And the night was just getting started.
10:58 - In Baltimore, the Red Sox wander out of the clubhouse in a daze. Their game was continuing, while they had watched their sure playoff berth disappear into the seats in Tampa Bay. They still had the lead in their game, but if this was a boxing match, they were staggering.
11:13 - In Atlanta - remember this game? - Martin Prado grounds out with runners on the corners to end the 12th inning. On to the 13th.
11:18 - Boston's Marco Scutaro is thrown out at home trying to extend Boston's lead. It remains 3-2 entering the ninth.
11:28 - A two-out infield single by Hunter Pence in the 13th inning gives the Phillies the lead for the first time since the top of the first.
11:40 - Phillies 4, Atlanta 3, Final. Atlanta is eliminated. On their flight back home, St. Louis starts to celebrate their playoff berth. Meanwhile, Jonathan Papelbon is in the game to close it out for Boston, with a win giving them no worse than a tie for the Wild Card. He strikes out the first two batters before giving up a first-pitch double to Chris Davis.
11:59 - Nolan Reimold hits a double for Baltimore, tying the game.
12:02 - Robert Andino hits a sinking liner to left. At first, it looks like Carl Crawford is going to catch it, but he just misses it. Reimold scores. Baltimore wins. The Red Sox walk off the field in shock, their collapse complete.



12:05 - In St. Petersburg, with Evan Longoria up in the bottom of the 12th, the sign appears on the scoreboard: BAL 4, BOS 3, F. The crowd goes wild, cheering madly and ringing their cowbells, believing in miracles. The Rays are on the top step of the dugout, pounding the railing in anticipation. Longoria steps out of the batters box because of the cheering, calming himself. He steps back in. He swings. A low liner to left. Hooking. Sinking.

Gone.