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. 

1918 World Series: Ruth on the Bench

The Teams
American League: Boston Red Sox (75-51) - Fifth World Series (won in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916)
National League: Chicago Cubs (84-45) - Fifth World Series (won in 1907, 1908)

What Happened
It's commonly known that Babe Ruth was an all-star caliber pitcher before he became known as the game's greatest slugger. What isn't as well known is that there was really only one season where he was both. In 1918, with the Red Sox roster devastated by old age and World War I enlistments, Boston manager Ed Barrow had little choice but to use Ruth in both roles. Ruth started 20 games for Boston, going 13-7 with a typically wonderful ERA. When he wasn't pitching, Ruth was playing left field, the first time in his career he had seen extended action in the outfield, and he didn't disappoint. He hit an American League-high 11 home runs (out of only 15 the Red Sox hit as a team) and led the team in doubles, runs batted in, and batting average.

With such a powerful, versatile player in their midst, it didn't really matter that the rest of the Red Sox were ho-hum at best. Ruth won the American League pennant basically by himself, and his presence in the lineup made the Red Sox the easy favorites over the Cubs in the World Series, which was played the first week of September as baseball was forced to shut down the season early for World War I.

Entering the series, though, Boston manager Ed Barrow made a curious decision. He announced that Ruth would appear in the series only as a pitcher, not as an outfielder. Barrow said his reason was that the Cubs were going to use only left-handed pitchers in the series, but that excuse rang as hallow then as it does now. There was no good reason for Barrow to deprive himself of his team's best weapon. But he did it anyway. (Even more curiously, it wasn't the first time that had happened. Ruth got only one at bat in Boston's 1915 World Series victory and only started one game in the 1916 series. Makes you wonder what the Boston management was thinking).

Ruth showed just how dominant he could be on the mound in Game 1 by shutting out the Cubs, continuing his personal World Series scoreless innings steak to 22. The Red Sox needed every bit of his brilliance, too, as they could only manage 1 run off Hippo Vaughn, who won the National League's pitching triple crown in 1918. But after his shutout in Game 1, Ruth retreated to Boston's bench, not budging as his team split games 2 and 3, scoring only three total runs in the process.

Barrow's decision was justified a little bit by the surprising good play by Ruth's replacement in left field, George Whiteman. Even though he was 35 years old, Whiteman had played only 15 career Major League games before the 1918 season began, but he handled himself well as Ruth's backup in the outfield. Starting all six games of the series instead of the two or three he probably should have started, Whiteman surprised in the series, getting several clutch hits and making two huge defensive plays - a running catch in the fourth inning of Game 3 that saved at least one run, and a stumbling catch in the eight inning of Game 6 to preserve a one-run lead. But it's not like Ruth couldn't have made those catches - he was still a lean, muscular athlete in 1918, nothing close to the pot-bellied slugger that has become his trademark. And the Red Sox only scored nine runs in the series, so you imagine he could have added at least a couple more to that tally.

But alas, the Red Sox didn't need him. They had a 2-1 series lead when he took the mound again in Game 4, and though he finally gave up a run - ending his scoreless innings streak at 29 innings - he hit a two-run triple that helped the Red Sox to a 3-2 win and a 3-1 series lead. He then became a spectator again, watching as they were shut out in Game 5, then as they won Game 6 2-1. He was on the field at the end of Game 6, but as a defensive replacement.

It didn't make sense, but it worked, as the Red Sox celebrated their championship, their fifth in the first 15 years of the World Series. It started to fall apart after that. Ruth requested to play just one position in 1919 - either pitcher or outfield - and the Red Sox picked outfield. He responded with a then-Major League record 29 home runs, then was promptly sold to the Yankees. After selling Ruth, Barrow followed him to New York, taking over as general manager of the Yankees and eventually building baseball's first great dynasty. Meanwhile, after beating the Cubs in 1918, the Red Sox waited 88 years to win their next title.

MVP
Ruth was the MVP. Two complete-game wins, plus the two-run triple in Game 4. Looking back, it almost looks like he was the only player on the field who knew how to play the game. Imagine if he had played every game in the series.

Random Fact
Ruth batted sixth in Game 4, the first and only time a pitcher has batted anywhere but 9th in a World Series game.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Chicago	0	3	1	2	3	1
Boston	1	1	2	3	0	2

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

26. 1918 - Boston (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
27. 1988 - Los Angeles (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-1
28. 1946 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
29. 1925 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Washington (A) 4-3
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1935 World Series: Tigers Roar

The Teams
American League: Detroit Tigers (93-58) - Fifth World Series
National League: Chicago Cubs (100-54) - Eighth World Series (Won in 1907, 1908)


What Happened
A year after coming up one win short of a World Championship, the Tigers got back to the World Series again in 1935 with mostly the same cast of characters that came so close the year before. After getting off to a slow start to the season - World Series hangover, much? - they put away the rest of the American League, then sat back to see who would win the National League. What they saw must have concerned them; sitting in third place on September 2, the Cubs won 21 games in a row, the greatest September stretch run in baseball history, to storm past the Giants and Cardinals and win the National League pennant.

So the Tigers drew not the Gashouse Gang, but the red-hot Cubs, the franchise that had beaten them in the World Series twice before. But this time, the Tigers were ready. After being so close the year before, they knew what it took to finish the job. So even after the Cubs won Game 1 - with the help of three Tiger errors - they didn't panic. Instead. they won three straight games, the first time in team history they had won three straight World Series games.

Lon Warneke won his second game of the series in Game 5 to help the Cubs avoid elimination, but the Tigers had two straight home games to try to clinch their first title. The teams went into the ninth inning of Game 7 tied at 3, and Chicago's Stan Hack lead off the top of the inning with a triple. The Cubs, however, couldn't capitalize, stranding Hack at third. Emboldened, the Tigers struck back. Player-manager Mickey Cochrane hit a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth. After Cochrane moved to second on a groundout, Goose Goslin hit a single to center. As Cochrane came around third to score, the Tiger fans went wild. After four losses, including two to the Cubs, the Tigers had finally won a World Championship.

Defining Game
Game 2 could have been devastating for the Tigers. Sure, they won 8-3, but at a heavy price, as Hall of Fame first baseman Hank Greenberg aggravated his already injured wrist on a home-plate collision in the seventh inning, knocking him out of the rest of the series. Greenberg's injury was the first bit of adversity the Tigers had face in two years; a year after their starting infield only missed one game between them in 1934, they did almost as good in '35, missing a combined 28 games.

But Greenberg was out now, and if the Tigers wanted to win the Series, they had to figure out a way to win a game in Wrigley Field without him. For a while, it didn't look like Game 3 would be that game, as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning. It turns out the Tigers were simply waiting for Cubs starter Bill Lee to tire. They got one off him in the sixth, then got to him for good in the top of the eighth, knocking him out with two runs that tied the game. Detroit wasn't done, though, as they kept hitting with Warneke now on the mound, taking the lead on a Billy Rogell single, then adding an insurance run when Rogell got caught in a rundown long enough for Pete Fox to score on a double steal.

Leading 5-3, the Tigers turned to their Game 1 starter, Schoolboy Rowe, to close the door, but he couldn't get it done. Three straight singles and a sacrifice fly helped the Cubs tie the game and send the game to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, it was a Chicago error that opened the door for Detroit. With a runner on first and one out, Flea Clifton - who was only in the game because of Greenberg's injury - hit a sharp grounder to Freddie Lindstrom. Perhaps thinking about a double play, Lindstrom instead bobbled the ball, putting two runners on base. After a strike out - which should have ended the inning - Jo-Jo White singled to center to drive in the go-ahead run for Detroit. Given a second chance to shut the door, Rowe did so, giving the Tigers a vital road victory.

MVP
Charlie Gehringer wasn't much of an attention seeker. In fact, Cochrane once said that Gehringer "said hello on opening day, goodbye on closing day, and in between, hit .350." While Gehringer may have been the least known of the four Hall of Famers the Tigers sent out during the 1930s, he may have been the best. He was the star of 1935 series, his second straight great World Series. He had a batting/on-base/slugging split of .375/.423/.500, numbers that were almost identical to his performance in 1934. The biggest difference, of course, was that the Tigers won it all in '35, so Gehringer would have been a deserving MVP.


Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Chicago	3	3	5	1	3	3
Detroit	0	8	6 (11)	2	1	4

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

33. 1935 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
34. 1934 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
35. 1964 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
36. 2003 - Florida (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
37. 1977 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
38. 1996 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
39. 1921 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 5-3
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1929 World Series: 10-spot

The Teams
American League: Philadelphia Athletics (104-46) - Sixth World Series (Won in 1910, 1911, 1913) 
National League: Chicago Cubs (98-54) - Sixth World Series (Won in 1907, 1908)

What Happened
The best strategic move in the 1929 World Series actually happened several weeks before the series started. In early September, PhBiiladelphia manager Connie Mack told veteran pitcher Howard Ehmke that he was going to release him. Ehmke wanted a chance to pitch in a World Series, so he convinced Mack to let him stay, promising the old skipper that he had one good start left in him. Mack agreed and sent Ehmke to scout the Chicago Cubs, who were running away with the National League pennant.

When the World Series rolled around, Mack stunned all of baseball by picking Ehmke to start Game 1 instead of one of his 20-game winners in Lefty Grove or George Earnshaw. But Ehmke had been paying attention during all those weeks he spent following Chicago around, and he used his sidearm delivery and soft breaking pitches to completely baffle the Cubs. It took the A's until the 7th inning to finally break through against the Cubs, but they gave Ehmke a 3-0 lead entering the ninth. Though he gave up an unearned run in the ninth, Ehmke held on for an unlikely Game 1 victory.

The other interesting decision Mack made before the series was to put the great Grove in the bullpen. Grove was almost unquestionably the best pitcher in baseball at the time, but he was left-handed - as most people named "Lefty" tend to be - and the Cubs were stacked full of powerful right-handed batters. Mack wanted to avoid the mismatch, so he put the best pitcher in the game in the bullpen. He brought him out of the bullpen in the fifth inning of Game 2, though, after the Cubs got five straight singles off Earnshaw. Grove got out of that threat, then barely broke a sweat in shutting down the Cubs the rest of the way to give the A's a 2-0 series lead.

Earnshaw got the starting nod again in Game 3 for some reason, and a three-run sixth inning was all the Cubs needed to cut the series deficit. After getting on the board, the Cubs lit up a bunch of A's pitchers who weren't Lefty Grove to take an 8-0 lead in Game 4. But then the A's put together the greatest inning in World Series history, lighting up the Cubs for 10 runs to turn certain defeat into a series-turning victory.

With a big inning like that pushing them along, it seems like the A's should have been fired up for Game 5, but instead their hitters sleep walked through the first eight innings. Trailing 2-0 entering the ninth, Mule Haas hit a one-out, two-run home run over the short Shibe Park right field wall to tie the game. After a second out, Al Simmons doubled, and after an intentional walk to Jimmie Foxx, Bing Miller became just the second player to end a World Series with a hit, giving Philadelphia the championship with a double.

Defining Game
When the Philadelphia fans stood for the seventh-inning stretch for Game 4, things were looking bleak. The Cubs were leading 8-0, and Charlie Root had only given up three hits. By all appearances, it was a Cubs win, and it had the potential to be so much more than that. Simmons lead off with a home run, but that just meant that it was no longer a shutout. The Cubs were still going to tie the series, and they had guaranteed the series would be heading back to Wrigley Field. This was the kind of loss that would turn the entire series around. Even the consecutive singles by Foxx and Miller weren't going to change that, nor the singles by Jimmy Dykes and Joe Boley that scored a pair and made it 8-3. All that meant was that the Philadelphia bats were finally waking up. They needed some kind of positive vibe heading into Game 5.

After an out, another run-scoring single, this one by Max Bishop. Interesting, too, because they're taking out Root. Haas then got to bat against Art Nehf, and he hit a deep fly ball to center field. It should have been the second out, but Hack Wilson broke in when he should have drifted back, and by the time he recovered, Haas was sliding into home. It was 8-7. Panic time for the Cubs.

The A's weren't done. After Mickey Cochrane walked, the Cubs tried Sheriff Blake on the mound, but he gave up consecutive singles by Simmons and Foxx. Tie game. Pat Malone then came in to pitch, and he hit Miller to load the bases, and then Dykes finished things with a two-run double. An 8-0 deficit had turned into a 10-8 lead. Two innings later, what should have been a series-turning win for the Cubs had turned into a devastating, virtually series-clinching loss.

MVP
The A's had a lot of hitting stars in the series, but Foxx shined the brightest. He opened the scoring with home runs in both Games 1 and 2, and he got two singles in the series-defining 7th inning of Game 4. 

Scores(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Philadelphia	3	9	1	10	3
Chicago	1	3	3	8	2

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

46. 1929 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
47. 1982 - St. Louis (N) def. Milwaukee (A) 4-3
48. 1923 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
49. 1944 - St. Louis (N) def. St. Louis (A) 4-2
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1906 World Series: The Battle of Chicago

The Teams
American League: Chicago White Sox (93-58) - First World Series
National League: Chicago Cubs (116-36) - First World Series

What Happened
The 1906 Chicago Cubs were called, even by contemporary writers, the perfect team. With four of the ten best hitters in the National League and a six-man pitching rotation full of stars, they ran roughshod over the very difficult National League. When the dust had settled, they had won 116 games, a number that seemed unfathomable at the time and one that has never been bettered in baseball history.

The 1906 Chicago White Sox were ... good, I guess. They were good enough to win the American League pennant, but the league wasn't at its best that year. Known as the Hitless Wonders, the White Sox won the pennant despite hitting only seven home runs all season. They were last in the American League in hitting, yet somehow finished third in runs scored. The reason they won the pennant, though, was that like their crosstown rivals they had a pitching staff that was second to none.

The White Sox might not have gotten enough credit for being a good team, simply because their 93 wins paled in comparison to the Cubs' 116. The White Sox could pitch, while the Cubs could pitch, hit, and run. The city of Chicago was excited for the first intra-city World Series, but the White Sox fans saw the writing on the wall, and many were likely hoping that their team could simply avoid being embarrassed by the juggernaut from the West Side.

With aces Mordecai Brown (Cubs) and Nick Altrock (White Sox) matching up and snow flurries flying for Game 1, runs were going to be scarce. White Sox substitute third baseman George Rohe led off the fifth with a triple, then scored on an error on a throw home two batters later. The Sox added a run in the sixth, then gave one back on a wild pitch. That was all that Altrock allowed, and the White Sox stole a win in the Cubs' home park to take the series lead.

Game 2 was an embarrassment for the White Sox. The Cubs took a 4-0 lead on four unearned runs and the White Sox didn't get a hit off Ed Reulbach until the seventh. The Sox got a run without a hit in the fifth, but that was all, as Reulbach got the first World Series 1-hitter to tie the series. Ed Walsh responded with an even better pitching performance for the Sox the next day; he gave up 2 hits, but struck out 12 in a complete game. Rohe's two-out bases loaded triple in the 6th provided all the runs to give the White Sox the series lead yet again.

Game 4 was a rematch between the aces Altrock and Brown, and this time it was Brown who got the better of things, throwing a complete-game two-hitter for the 1-0 win. Game 5 was the wildest, sloppiest game of the series; the White Sox won despite committing six errors, overcoming an early 3-1 Cubs lead.

Through five games, the road team had won every game of the series, the first time that had happened and the last time it would happen until 1996. With that pattern, Game 6 should have been the Cubs' to win, but player-manager Frank Chance pushed the odds by bringing back Brown on just one day of rest. The result was a disaster, with the White Sox scoring seven runs in the first two innings to knock the great Brown out of the game early. The Cubs were shell-shocked. They had won 116 games in the far superior league, but they couldn't win more than two against their cross-town rivals. The White Sox finished off the series with an 8-3 win, completing the stunning upset in six games.

Defining Game
It was an era where five runs in a game constituted an offensive explosion, in a World Series between the two best pitching teams playing in the best pitchers' ballparks in the game, so seeing an 8-6 final score in this series is very bizarre. Walsh and Reulbach had been very good in their first starts in this series, giving up a combined three hits, but this one turned into a farce early. The White Sox got one run in the first, but left the bases loaded. The Cubs responded with three in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice when a double play ball turned into a throwing error and a third on a throwing error on a bunt. The White Sox tied the game in the third, getting two straight ground-rule doubles to knock Reulbach out of the box, then tying the game on George Davis' steal of home. The White Sox' four-run fourth essentially ended things, though the Cubs made things interesting by cutting it to 8-6. But Doc White, pitching in relief, shut things down for the final three innings to put the White Sox one win from the title.

MVP
It'd be easy to pick a pitcher, considering the collective series batting average was .197 and neither team hit a home run. But Rohe, normally the White Sox backup third baseman, became a star in this series, with seven hits, including two triples and two stolen bases. He was the type of unknown star that makes baseball unique: he had played only 125 career games before the series, and he only played one more season in the Majors after the series. Nobody had heard of him before the series, he became a star for six games, and then he promptly disappeared.

Random Fact

This was the third straight World Series matchup between two franchises who had not yet played in the World Series. There hasn't been one since, and, barring expansion, there cannot be another one unless Seattle and Washington meet.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Chicago (A)	2	1	3	0	8	8
Chicago (N)	1	7	0	1	6	3

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

64. 1906 - Chicago (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
65. 1981 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
66. 1943 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-1
67. 1954 - New York (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-0
68. 1978 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
69. 2006 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1945 World Series: The 10th and Final Time

The Teams
American League: Detroit Tigers (88-65) - Seventh World Series (won in 1935)
National League: Chicago Cubs (98-56) - 10th World Series (won in 1907, 1908)

What Happened
It used to be a relatively common occurrence for the Cubs to appear in the World Series. Their National League pennant in 1945 was their 10th in the 43 years of the World Series era, which ranked second to the Giants during that span. And though they hadn't won the Series since 1908, 1945 seemed as good a year as any for that streak to end. The Cubs led the National League in team ERA and team batting average as they won the pennant by three games over St. Louis, ending the Cardinals' three-year reign atop the league.

For the fourth time, the Tigers were waiting for the Cubs in the World Series. Detroit had gotten a midseason spark from Hank Greenberg's return from the war, so it was fitting that his ninth-inning grand slam let them clinch the pennant on the final day of the season. In this series, the Tigers had the best hitter in Greenberg and the best pitcher in AL MVP Hal Newhouser, but the Cubs were deeper on all fronts.

In a way to cut down on travel during the war, the series was set up so that the Tigers would be at home for the first three games, followed by the Cubs hosting for the final four. So while the Cubs had home-field advantage, in reality, they were at a disadvantage in this setup, feeling extra pressure to steal a win on the road.

In fact, they got two. They hit Newhouser for seven runs in the first three innings of Game 1, then watched Claude Passeau throw only the second one-hitter in World Series history in Game 3. Greenberg's two-out, three-run home run in the fifth inning of Game 2 helped the Tigers salvage one of their home games, but they went to Wrigley Field trailing 2 games to 1.

That's when the Tigers bounced back. A four-run fourth inning was all they needed in Game 4 as Dizzy Trout only gave up one earned run in a complete game victory. Newhouser followed that up with a complete game in Game 5, backed by three doubles by Greenberg. Greenberg stepped up again in Game 6 with a game-tying home run in the 8th, but the Cubs bounced back to win in the 12th to force Game 7.

The Tigers had Newhouser ready for Game 7, so giving him the ball was a no-brainer. The Cubs, however, made an interesting choice by going with Hank Borowy. Sure, Borowy had thrown a complete game in Game 1, but he had also thrown four innings in relief in Game 6. If Cubs manager Charlie Grimm didn't realize before Game 7 that Borowy was likely to be tired, he realized it quickly enough as the first three Tigers to step to the plate hit solid singles. Grimm went to the bullpen but Paul Derringer, likely thrown off by not having enough time to warm up, let all those runners score, plus a couple others. With Newhouser on the mound, Game 7 was over before it even began.

Defining Game
It was the only close game of the series, and Game 6 was a true classic. The Cubs built leads of 5-1 and 7-3, but the failed chances might have been the true story; entering the 8th inning, the teams had combined to leave 18 runners left on base. That storyline went away quickly, though, as the Tigers scored four runs in the eighth to tie the game, capped by Greenberg's two-out home run. After both teams left two runners on base in the ninth - with both teams seeing their pitchers make a key out at the plate - the game trudged quietly into the 12th. After a one out single, Borowy struck out - why was he still batting, again? - but third baseman Stan Hack ripped a double down the left field line to score the game-winning run.

Hack's hit boosted the Cubs' morale, as they were now one win from their first championship since 1908. But it has become a bittersweet moment for Cubs fans. The Cubs haven't won a World Series game since Hack's walkoff hit, and their disappointing performance in Game 7 represented their last appearance in the fall classic.

MVP
There was no official World Series MVP until 1955, but had there been one in 1945, Greenberg would have been the obvious choice. It wasn't just the fine hitting numbers, but when the hits took place. His clutch hits early in the series kept the Tigers alive. He might not have been the best player throughout the seven games, but he was certainly the most valuable.

Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Detroit	0	4	0	4	8	7	9
Chicago	9	1	3	1	4	8 (12)	3

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

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

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 
45. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago 3

1910 World Series: Transitions

The Teams
American League: Philadelphia Athletics (102-48) - Second World Series
National League: Chicago Cubs (104-50) - Fourth World Series (won in 1907, 1908)

What Happened
The 1910 World Series was a series of transition, featuring one team on the way up and another on the way out. On the way out was the Chicago Cubs, looking for one more championship to cap their their run of four National League championships in five years. Like always, the Cubs had a great pitching staff, leading the league in virtually every pitching staff. For once, they added a strong offense, leading the league in home runs and triples. But with most of their stars getting into their 30s (which was old for ballplayers in that era), they were running out of opportunities to win.

On the way up was the Philadelphia Athletics. Though they had played in the World Series in 1905, much of their team had turned over by 1910. In their place was talented youngsters, including three-fourths of what would become the $100,000 Infield. Third baseman Frank Baker, shortstop Jack Berry, and second baseman Eddie Collins were in the starting lineup, and first baseman Stuffy McInnis was in his final year as a bench player. Those four would come to be known as the $100,000 Infield because of their eventual combined salaries. Yes, combined. The point is, they were stars, and their careers were just getting started.

But reach the top, they had to get through the Cubs. They were dealt a blow when ace Eddie Plank, one of their few holdovers from 1905, had to sit out the series with a sore arm. Taking his place in Game 1 was Charles Bender, who was given the clever nickname of "Chief" because of his Native American heritage. Bender only gave up three hits - two coming in the ninth while the Cubs tried to rally in vain - while Baker got three hits himself for the A's. The Cubs pounded Three-Finger Brown in Game 2, while 30-game winner Jack Coombs got the win for Philadelphia.

In Game 3, with Coombs pitching on only one day of rest for some reason, the A's offense exploded for 12 runs on 16 hits. They were a win away from the title, which became one inning away as Bender took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But for the second straight start, Bender tired in the ninth, and the Cubs tied it on Frank Chance's triple before winning the game in the 10th.

Game 5 was between Brown and Coombs, who was pitching on two days of rest this time. It was a 2-1 Philadelphia lead entering the eighth when Coombs himself started a rally with a single. Five runs later, and the A's started celebrating. It was the birth of their dynasty, and the end of Chicago's.

Defining Game
Chicago's offense showed some spark throughout the series, but Game 4 was the only one where they got any payoff for it. Chance's triple scored the tying run, and the Jimmy Sheckard hit the game-winning single to center in the bottom of the 10th. Sheckard's single was more than the hit that helped the Cubs stave off elimination - it was also the first walk-off hit in World Series history.

MVP
The A's only used two pitchers all series, so it would have been easy to pick either Bender of Coombs, but their offense was the real show. Collins, Baker, and Danny Murphy all batted above .400. Baker had three doubles and a triple, Collins had four doubles and four stolen bases, and Murphy had a series-high 9 rbi and the series' only home run. In other words, take your pick of any of the three.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Chicago	1	3	5	4 (10)	2
Philadelphia	4	9	12	3	7

---

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

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

1932 World Series: Called Shot

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (107-47) - Seventh World Series (Won in 1923, 1927, 1928)
National League: Chicago Cubs (90-64) - Seventh World Series (Won in 1907, 1908)

What Happened
Virtually every player on every team made fun of Babe Ruth. Such was the height of his fame - and of his opponents' jealousy. Ever the showman, Ruth thrived on it, often shouting insults right back at his taunters, laughing as he rounded the bases after another moon shot of a home run.

Sometimes, though, things got downright vicious. In the 1932 World Series, the Chicago Cubs were especially ruthless to Ruth. He gladly took his insults and gave them right back, often calling the Cubs cheapskates for giving former Yankee Mark Koenig only a half-share of the World Series money.

Things took a turn in Game 3, though. Despite two relatively easy Yankee wins in the first two games of the series, the Cubs didn't stop with the bench jockeying. They called Ruth fat. They called him a gorilla. They made fun of his wife. Somewhere along the line, Ruth stopped taking it lightheartedly and started taking it personally. His shouts toward the Cubs bench were joined by gestures and finger pointing. The fans were getting into it. Things were getting ugly.

It was the top of the fifth. Ruth had already hit a three-run home run in the first inning, but the Cubs had come back to tie the game at 4. With one out, Ruth came to the plate, with the Cubs' taunting as loud as it had been all series. Cubs pitcher Charlie Root threw a first-pitch strike. The fans howled. Ruth pointed toward the Cubs dugout and held up one finger. After two balls out of the zone, Root threw another strike. Again, Ruth pointed toward the dugout, holding up two fingers.

Here is where fiction blurs into reality, where legend grows into fact. At this point in the at bat, Ruth pointed in the general direction of Root. A film of the at bat shows this indisputably. But what isn't known is exactly where Ruth was pointing. Was he pointing at Root? At the deep center field bleachers? Or just at the Cubs dugout?

The legend, of course, says that Ruth was pointing to center field, telling the Cubs exactly where the next pitch was going to end up. He was supposedly calling his shot. Naturally, he hit the next pitch exactly where he was pointing, the longest home run ever hit at Wrigley Field. The crowd was silenced, Ruth ran around the bases laughing and pointing at the Cubs. And a legendary career had its iconic moment.

Ruth himself was inconsistent in saying whether he called his shot or not. At first he was non-committal, but later, perhaps realizing what a good story it made, he went along with the legend. And why not? At this point, it's impossible to disprove. For all intents and purposes, Ruth called his shot. Who's going to say otherwise?

Ruth's shot essentially clinched the series. The Cubs were silenced, their spirit broken. The Yankees, already up 2 games to 0, would go on to sweep, their third straight World Series sweep. Ruth entered into immortality, and went out on a high note. His "called shot" was the last World Series home run of his career.

MVP
Lou Gehrig (unofficially). Seriously. This series was a microcosm of Gehrig's career. Ruth got all the attention, what with his called shot and all, but Gehrig was quietly much, much better. Ruth hit two home runs in the series, but Gehrig hit three, including one on the next pitch after Ruth's called shot. Ruth batted .333, but Gehrig batted .529. He was, by far, the best player on the field. Not that anybody noticed.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Chicago	6	2	5	6
New York	12	5	7	13

---

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

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

1908 World Series: Dry Spell

The Teams
National League: Chicago Cubs (99-55) - Third World Series (Won in 1907)
American League: Detroit Tigers (90-63) - Second World Series

What Happened
1908 featured the first rematch in World Series history, as the Cubs and Tigers met for the second year in a row. Since the Cubs had just finished picking the bits of Tiger out of their teeth after the previous year's annihilation, there was little reason to believe that this year's series would be any different.

Thing were a little different in 1908, though. A year older and wiser, the Tigers used the previous year's humiliating experience as inspiration. They came from behind to take a lead into the ninth inning in Game 1 before the Cubs put the game away with six straight singles. Game 2 was scoreless until the bottom of the eighth, when the Cubs hit for the cycle in a six-run rally to take a 2-0 series lead. Still, the Tigers didn't give in and finally got their first win in a World Series game with an 8-3 win in Game 3.

Instead of turning the momentum, though, the Tigers' Game 3 win just made the Cubs mad. Specifically, it made their pitchers mad. The Tigers only got seven hits the rest of the series as the Cubs closed out the series with 18 consecutive scoreless innings. For the second straight year, the Cubs celebrated a championship. With two straight titles and three straight National League pennants, the Cubs were officially a dynasty. With their nearly untouchable pitching staff, it seemed like several more titles were foregone conclusions.

Of course, that didn't happen. The Cubs fell behind Pittsburgh in 1909, lost the World Series in 1910, and then saw their window of greatness close. Their great pitchers got old, their hitters stopped hitting, and their dynasty fell apart. They haven't won the World Series since. Their 103-year title drought is the longest in the history of North American professional sports.

Defining Game
Game 1 featured two things that had been missing from most of the World Series games to that point - wild swings in momentum and lots of runs. After the Tigers took a 1-0 lead on a single by Ty Cobb, the Cubs used four hits and two Tiger errors in the third to make it 4-1. After another Chicago run Detroit cut it to 5-4 in the seventh before a two-run single in the eighth gave them the lead entering the ninth. Three outs from taking the series lead, the Tigers instead fell apart, giving up six straight Chicago singles - with a double steal thrown in. The Cubs won 10-6, the second time in 25 all time World Series games that a team got to double figures in runs.

MVP
Orval Overall (unofficial). Aside from having the coolest name in the series (barely beating out Three-Finger Brown), Overall got complete-game victories in games 2 and 5, giving up only 7 hits and 1 run in the two games. His performance in Game 2 was especially meaningful, as the Cubs needed eight innings to get on the scoreboard against Detroit.

Random Fact
When Joe Tinker hit a home run in the eighth inning of Game 2, it was more than just the game-clinching blast. It was the first home run hit by any team in any World Series game featuring the Cubs. Considering that was the 13th World Series game in Cubs history, that's the perfect way to put the Deadball Era into context.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Detroit	6	1	8	0	0
Chicago	10	6	3	3	2

---

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

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

1907 World Series: Cubs cruise

The Teams
National League: Chicago Cubs (107-45) - second World Series
American League: Detroit Tigers (92-58) - first World Series

What Happened
Still stinging from their upset loss in the previous year's World Series, the Cubs took out their frustrations on the rest of the National League in 1907. While they didn't get to 116 wins like they had the year before, the 107 wins they had in 1907 established themselves as one of the great teams in baseball history.

All the Cubs were missing was a World Championship. After the previous year's disappointment, they changed their approach in 1907. With the pennant wrapped up early, the Cubs rested their star pitchers down the stretch, forgoing their chance at equalling their wins record to make sure they finished the job in 1907.

What helped the Cubs was the tense pennant race in the American League that year. The Tigers held off Philadelphia down the stretch to win their first pennant, and they entered the World Series with tired pitchers to go up against Chicago's staff full of aces.

The series started sloppy for both teams. Detroit catcher Boss Schmidt committed two throwing errors and allowed seven stolen bases in Game 1, probably the worst defensive game ever played by a catcher in the World Series. Yet the Tigers took a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning, getting three runs in the eighth in part because of Cubs pitcher Orval Overall botching a rundown.

Schmidt wasn't done destroying his team's hopes, though. He dropped the third strike of what would have been the final out of the ninth, allowing the tying run to score. After three more scoreless innings, the game was called because of darkness, becoming the first of three tie games in World Series history.

The series was all Cubs from there on out. Detroit's fielding woes spread from Schmidt to the rest of the team, and their offense couldn't figure out Chicago's sublime pitching. Even Ty Cobb, the 20-year-old phenom who had already established himself as the best player in the American League, wasn't immune, batting only .200 for the series. After scoring three runs in the first game, the Tigers only scored three the rest of the series as the Cubs swept their way to their first World Series title.

Defining Game
Game 3. The Tigers committed two errors, leading to three unearned runs for Chicago. Meanwhile, the Tigers could only manage five hits of Chicago pitchers. Really, all the games followed the same formula. It wasn't so much a dominating performance by Chicago as it was a miserable one by Detroit.

MVP
Unofficially, Harry Steinfeldt. The Cubs third baseman - and the only member of the Cubs infield not in the Hall of Fame - batted .471 in the series, impressive for an era where hits were hard to come by. Probably more impressive was his 16 chances in the field with only one error.

The Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Detroit	3	1	1	1	0
Chicago	3	3	5	6	2

---

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

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. 1917 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

1938 World Series: The first three-peat

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (99-53); 10th World Series (won in 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937)
National League: Chicago Cubs (89-63); Ninth World Series (won in 1907, 1908)

What happened
In 1937, the New York Yankees became the seventh team to win a second straight World Series. They entered the 1938 season trying do the one thing those previous six teams had failed to do: win a third straight title. With six future Hall of Famers in their clubhouse, getting back to the World Series would be no problem.

Standing between the Yankees and their date with destiny was the Chicago Cubs, who won their fourth National League championship in nine seasons. While they had four future Hall of Famers of their own, a couple of their stars were at the end of their careers. It didn't look like much of a matchup.

The Yankees' Hall of Famers took control of the series and never let the Cubs into it. In Game 1, catcher Bill Dickey's 4-for-4 day backed up Red Ruffing's complete game for a 3-1 win. In Game 2, Joe DiMaggio's ninth-inning home run clinched the victory for Lefty Gomez. In Game 3, it was Joe Gordon, the future Hall of Fame no. 8 hitter, who hit the go-ahead home run for New York in the fifth. In the last game, every Yankee got a hit, including starting pitcher Ruffing, as they completed the sweep to become baseball's first back-to-back-to-back World Series champs.

It was a domination in every way. The Yankees used only four pitchers the entire series. Nine Yankees drove in a run in the series, and five different players homered. The Yankees won easily despite a pedestrian effort from their star of stars, the great Lou Gehrig.

Gehrig had only four singles in the series for New York, the first World Series of his career without an extra-base hit. This after finishing a season where he hit below .300 for the first time since his rookie year. At first, Gehrig's struggles were dismissed as those of somebody who had played every game for 12 years and might finally be wearing down. Knowing what we know now, it is instead likely that Gehrig started suffering the earliest effects of ALS during the 1938 season. Gehrig played only eight games in 1939 before retiring, meaning the 1938 World Series was his last appearance in the postseason.

Defining Game
Game 4. The Yankees took a 4-1 lead into the eighth inning, happy to take that lead home and celebrate a third straight title. But then the Cubs cut it to 4-3 with a home run by Ken O'Dea in the top of the eighth. That just made the Yankees angry. They used four hits, two walks, two wild pitches and a stolen base to add four more runs. It was their last half-inning at bat in 1938, and it was the fitting cap to a dominating season.

MVP
There was no official MVP of this series, and it would have been hard to pick one. The best choices would have been either Gordon - who batted .400 with a team-high six RBI from the no. 8 spot - or Ruffing, who gave up only three runs in two complete-game victories. Or, you could have picked a Yankee name out of a hat and picked a legitimate MVP.

The Scores
(Home team in Bold)

New York	3	6	5	8
Chicago	1	3	2	3

---

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

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. 1917 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

1984 NLCS: Bull and the Billy Goat

How they got here
There were a couple of surprising entrants into the National League playoffs in 1984. Out of the west came the Padres, who jumped out to a quick lead in the division and cruised to the playoffs, winning the division by 12 games as the only team in the West to finish above .500. Facing them was the Cubs, who started the year scuffling a bit in the East before acquiring Rick Sutcliffe from the Indians. Sutcliffe went a shocking 16-1 for Chicago and the Cubs rode his arm to a division championship.

With the matchup, the Cubs were making the postseason for the first time since 1945 while the Padres were making the playoffs for the first time ever, which was somehow a shorter time. But both teams were well-rested down the stretch and had their aces ready to go to start the series. That meant the Padres had to deal with Sutcliffe, and they didn't do a very good job of that. Sutcliffe threw shutout and hit one of the Cubs' five home runs as they romped to a 13-0 Game 1 win.

The Cubs won Game 2 as well, heading out to the West coast needing just one more win to wrap up the series (this was the last year of the best-of-5 LCS). But these were the Cubs, and nothing ever comes easy for the Cubs. San Diego cruised in Game 3, won Game 4 on a 2-run walkoff home run by Steve Garvey to tie the series. It was coming down to a final game. The Padres were bringing back Eric Show, who had gotten pounded in Game 1, while the Cubs were bringing back Sutcliffe, who hadn't lost since the last week of June. It should have been easy for the Cubs. But, it was the Cubs, and things were never easy with the Cubs.

The Game
That Billy Goat is a bitch, huh? While the goat's curse isn't as old as the Curse of the Bambino, it's just as powerful, just as likely to get blamed by an irrational fan base for everything that's wrong with their franchise.

Leon "Bull" Durham's dance with the Billy Goat was frighteningly similar to that of Steve Bartman. Both happened with his team in the lead, sure, but both happened with plenty of time left for the Cubs to recover. Also, both are a convenient excuse to cover up a complete Cubs collapse.

At first, it looked like Durham would be the man to finally break the Billy Goat Curse, as his two-run home run in the first gave the Cubs the lead. Jody Davis hit another home run in the second, and the Cubs handed the best pitcher in the National League a 3-0 lead in the deciding game of the series.

Sutcliffe was cruising, too, until San Diego loaded the bases on him with nobody out in the sixth. Like all good pitchers, though, he wiggled out of it; the Padres hit two straight sacrifice flies to cut the lead to 3-2, but you couldn't help but think they wanted so much more from the inning.

That's when the Billy Goat woke up.

A man was on second with one out in the bottom of the seventh when it happened. Tim Flannery hit a weak ground ball towards Durham at first, one that could have been an easy out. Instead, it went under his glove, and the tying run scored.

That should have been an easy play for the Cubs to overcome. Sure, the game was tied, but it was only tied, and they had plenty of time to recover. But the Billy Goat doesn't allow for recoveries. When he strikes, he sees to it that the Cubs suffer complete, humiliating collapse. The formerly unhittable Sutcliffe gave up three straight hits after Durham's error, and three more runs came home to make it 6-3 Padres.

The Cubs had six more outs to try to come back, but the writing was on the wall. When Gary Mathews struck out with two men on to end the eighth, it was over. San Diego got the last three outs to advance to the World Series, while the Cubs went home, cursing the Billy Goat for the 39th straight season.

Aftermath
It didn't much matter who won the NLCS - they weren't gonna beat the Tigers. If you had combined the Cubs and Padres, you might have had a team that could have beaten the '84 Tigers, but otherwise, no. The only real surprise of the 1984 World Series was that the Padres managed to win even one game against what was the best AL team of the 1980s.

What I'm doing.

The list so far:

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:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1981 NLCS: Los Angeles vs. Montreal
1982 ALCS: California vs. Milwaukee
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis
2008 ALCS: Boston vs. Tampa Bay

2003 NLCS: Bartman and the Billy Goat

Pregame
Derek Jeter said something recently about the Major League playoffs in the Wild Card era. I don't know if it was this year or last year or what, but the Yankees capttain said that while the best teams get into the playoffs, the hottest teams win in the playoffs.

Jeter had nothing to do with the 2003 National League playoffs, but they epitomized exactly what he was talking about. The best two teams in the NL in 2003 were the Braves and the Giants, each of whom won more than 100 games and cruised to their division titles. That the Marlins and Cubs joined them in the playoffs was supposed to be trivial, just a stepping stone for the two best teams to get past on their way to an NLCS showdown.

But while the Braves and Giants were the best teams, the Cubs and Marlins were the hottest. The Cubs went 19-8 in September, and they needed every one of those wins as they held off Houston by one game to win the NL Central. The Marlins also finished the season on a roll, going 18-8 in September to win the Wild Card by four games.

As the two hottest teams, the Cubs and Marlins both pulled off shockers in the NLDS. Florida upset defending league champ San Francisco in four, with the series ending as Ivan Rodriguez held on to the ball on a home-plate collision with J.T. Snow. The series win gave the Marlins their fourth postseason series victory in as many tries.

The Cubs had a slightly more difficult time dispatching the Braves, needing Kerry Wood's Game 5 gem to beat Atlanta. While Florida continued its unbeaten postseason run, the Cubs round one victory in 2003 was their first postseason series win since the 1908 World Series.

Aside from the postseason pedigree, the Cubs and Marlins were essentially the same team. They were led by dynamic young pitchers; the Cubs had Wood, Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano, all of whom were 26 or younger, while Florida countered with 20-somethings Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, and Carl Pavano. They both had a good balance of power and speed, and were overall fairly strong teams. A close seriers wouldn't have been much of a surprise.

But the Cubs took three of the first four games, putting themselves on the cusp of their first World Series berth since 1945. Beckett threw a two-hit shutout in Game 5 to send the series back to Chicago, but with Prior and Wood lined up to pitch games 6 and 7, the series looked to be Chicago's to lose.

And then....

Well, revisionist history makes it seem like the NLCS ended in the eighth inning of Game 6, when Steve Bartman got in Moises Alou's way on Luis Castillo's foul pop. The way some people tell it, you'd think that the Cubs were about to win the series until that fateful popup, after which they immediately lost. In truth, while Bartman may well have prevented Alou from catching that ball, the Cubs were still up 3-0 with five outs to go; two outs later, they were down 8-3, with another game left to play in the series.

So taking the ball for Chicago for Game 7 was Kerry Wood, hoping to realize the awesome potential he showed as a 20-year-old in 1998 while simultaneously reversing the Curse of the Billy Goat and getting his long-tormented franchise back to the World Series. In other words, no pressure.

The Game
So how painful was that first inning home run by Miguel Cabrera? There are the Cubs, in a Game 7, their phenom on the mound, and he gives up a three-run yard sale in the first inning of the biggest game of his life. Devastating, that. The Curse of the Billy Goat, renamed the Curse of Bartman, is striking again.

But then the Cubs showed some fight. In the second inning, after a run was in, Wood hit a two-run home run to tie the game. Alou hit a two-run home run in the third to make it 5-3. Imagine, then, the possibilities. Wood had the lead, thanks largely to his own bat. If he had finished up that game, sending the Cubs to that World Series, the Cubs might have had him in bronze outside the stadium later that night. Hell, they might have named the stadium after him.

But it wasn't to be. The Marlins scratched together three runs off of Wood in the fifth, reclaiming the lead. To make matters worse, they brought in their trump card, Beckett, out of the bullpen. Sure, he was on short rest. But they didn't need him for many innings. Really, they needed him more for the mental boost.

It worked. The Cubs were done. Wood gave up another run, the bullpen gave up two more, and the Marlins won to advance to their second World Series in seven years. For the Cubs, the dream was dead for the 95th straight year. The Billy Goat lived.

Aftermath
After getting past the Cubs, the Marlins were up against the powerful Yankees in the World Series. The Yankees had the advantage in every area. But the Marlins had Beckett. Beckett started twice in the World Series and only gave up one run, including a five-hit masterpiece to clinch the series in Game 6. While the Cubs were at home as losers for the 95th straight year, the Marlins were celebrating their second championship in seven years. Go Billy Goat.

What I'm doing.

The list so far:

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:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1981 NLCS: Los Angeles vs. Montreal
1982 ALCS: California vs. Milwaukee
1984 NLCS: Chicago vs. San Diego
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis
2008 ALCS: Boston vs. Tampa Bay

1908 National League: Merkle's Boner

Pregame
The most infamous mistake in Major League history happened because of a case of lumbago. Lumbago is an old-fashioned word meaning lower-back pain, and that's what New York Giants first baseman Fred Tenney was suffering on the morning of September 23, 1908. It wasn't a great time for the Giants first baseman to have to miss a game, as the Cubs were in town.

A three-team race in the National League was coming down to the wire, and the Cubs and Giants were in a dead heat on September 23, with the Pirates nipping at their heels. Giants manager John McGraw would have preferred to have Tenney available for the big game, but instead he had to go with 18-year-old Fred Merkle, the youngest player in the National League, and a player who was making his first career start.

Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher of the era, was on the mound for the Giants, going up against Jack Pfiester, who had earned the nickname Jack the Giant Killer for his performances in past big games against the Giants.

In this one, both pitchers lived up to their reputations, and it was tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and a runner on first, the rookie Merkle came to the plate and promptly singled down the right-field line to put Moose McCormick, representing the winning run, on third. One pitch later, Al Bridwell deposited a single to center field. McCormick came home and Merkle, thinking his team had won, headed straight for the clubhouse in straightaway center field without touching second base.

It's hard to completely blame Merkle for the play; back then, it was fairly common for players to fail to touch every base on a game-winning hit. He was just following tradition. But it was the middle of a pennant race, and Chicago's Johnny Evers wasn't gonna let a rule violation slide. He loudly called to his teammates for a ball. He got one - in the chaos of the moment, it's not entirely clear whether he got the game ball or one that came from somewhere else - then stepped on second base and demanded Merkle be called out. The umpire knew the rule of course but, seeing he was surrounded by Giants fans, waited until he was in the safety of the clubhouse before calling Merkle out and declaring the game a tie.

The Giants protested to the National League, but the league's hands were tied. By the letter of the law, Merkle was out, and the game was a tie. If it was necessary to make up the game at the end of the season, they would. And of course, the Cubs and Giants ended up in a dead heat, tied at 98-55, requiring the Merkle game to be made up.

The Game
With the pennant on the line, both pitchers went back to the starters from the September 23 game for the October 8 makeup game. But Giants starter Mathewson admitted that he was "dog tired," and asked McGraw if someone else could start. That wasn't going to happen, and so he took to the mound in the top of the first and set the Cubs down in order.

Meanwhile, Jack the Giant Killer wasn't on his best game. The first four Giants reached based against him - he saved himself with a pickoff for the first out - and a run was already in when the Cubs turned to Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown to finish the job. Brown gave up one more run before getting out of the inning, and the Giants took a 2-0 lead after one.

But remember Mathewson's fatigue. The Cubs might not have known about it entering the game, but they took advantage of it in the third. Five straight Cubs batters reached base in the top of the third, with Frank "Wildfire" Schulte and Frank Chance hitting back-to-back doubles to finish off the rally. The Cubs were now up 4-2 and had their best pitcher in Brown on the mound.

That was it for the scoring. Brown shut the Giants down the rest of the way, and while Mathewson finished the job, too, the four runs he gave up in the third were more than enough to doom the Giants. The Cubs won the game and the pennant, their third straight.

Postgame
After beating the Giants, the Cubs advanced to their third straight World Series, and their second straight against the Tigers. Though the Tigers had also survived a tough league pennant race, they were, in reality, no match for the Cubs, who dispatched the Tigers in five games, the last two coming by way of shutout. The 1908 championship is relevant for the Cubs as it represents their most recent World Series title. Their 103-year drought is the longest in North American professional sports.

The Giants would bounce back from the loss and win three National League pennants with Merkle playing first base. Though he anchored their lineup for nearly a decade - and later starred for Brooklyn and the Cubs - he never lived down his failure to touch second base in his rookie year. Almost immediately, and ever since, it became the play he was known for. It forever became Merkle's Boner.

The Rundown

10. Chicago 4, New York 2 (1908 National League makeup game)
11. Boston 12, Cleveland 8 (1999 ALDS)
12. Boston 5, Minnesota 3 (1967 American League)
13. Minnesota 5, Oakland 4 (2002 ALDS)
14. Boston 4, Oakland 3 (2003 ALDS)
15. Cleveland 4, N.Y. Yankees 3 (1997 ALDS)
16. L.A. Angels 5, N.Y. Yankees 3 (2005 ALDS)
17. Texas 5, Tampa Bay 1 (2010 ALDS)
18. San Francisco 3, Atlanta 1 (2002 NLDS)
19. N.Y. Yankees 5, Oakland 3 (2001 ALDS)
20. Seattle 3, Cleveland 1 (2001 ALDS)
21. Chicago 5, San Francisco 3 (1998 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
22. N.Y. Yankees 7, Oakland 5 (2000 ALDS)
23. Los Angeles 4, Houston 0 (1981 NL West Division Series)
24. Montreal 3, Philadelphia 0 (1981 NL East Division Series)
25. N.Y. Yankees 7, Milwaukee 3 (1981 AL East Division Series)
26. Seattle 9, California 1 (1995 AL West tiebreaker)
27. Chicago 5, Atlanta 1 (2003 NLDS)
28. Houston 12, Atlanta 3 (2004 NLDS)
29. N.Y. Mets 5, Cincinnati 0 (1999 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
30. Cleveland 8, Boston 3 (1948 AL tiebreaker)
31. Houston 7, Los Angeles 1 (1980 NL West tiebreaker)

1998 NL Wild Card tiebreaker: Bonds' blast falls short

Pregame
The 1998 season was a magical one on the north side of Chicago, as the Cubs began a resurgence fueled by two of the biggest breakout stars in the Majors. The first to break through was Kerry Wood, the flame-throwing rookie who made National League hitters look foolish through most of the summer. Later that year - in June, to be specific - came Sammy Sosa. The enigmatic outfielder hit 20 home runs in June, jump-starting a season that eventually saw him go neck-and-neck with Mark McGwire as the two sluggers chased Roger Maris' single-season home run record.

But, despite having Wood and Sosa at the peak of their powers, the Cubs still had no chance in the NL Central, as Houston was riding a dream season of its own on its way to an easy division crown. The Cubs were left to settle for the wild card race, and that was a tight one.

Through most of the first half of the season, the San Francisco Giants were comfortably in front in the wild card race. Almost immediately after the all-star break, though, the Cubs soared past the Giants into the lead. Eventually, the Cubs found themselves in a tight race not with the Giants, but the Mets, who battled the Cubs game-for-game through most of September. Just when it seemed like it would stay a two-team race, the Giants ripped off six wins in a row at the end of September. On September 25, with two days left in the regular season, the Cubs, Mets, and Giants were tied for the wild card lead.

On September 26, the Mets lost to NL East champion Atlanta, while Chicago and San Francisco inched ahead with wins. The last day of the season was September 27, and the Mets were eliminated with a loss. Chicago had an opportunity to clinch, and took a two-run lead into the eighth inning in Houston before falling in 11 innings. The Giants had an even better chance, leading 7-0 over Colorado with four innings to play, but they, too, blew the game. That set up a one-game playoff between the Cubs and the Giants, just a week short of 90 years after they played the makeup game after Fred Merkle's infamous baserunning blunder.

The Game
With Wood injured and out for all of September, pitcher Steve Trachsel took over Wood's role as staff ace played a big part in getting the Cubs to the tiebreaker game, so it was appropriate that he was picked to start the deciding game. For the Giants, the pitcher was Mark Gardner, who had been their best or second-best starter all year.

With the celebrated Sosa in the lineup for the Cubs and San Francisco boasting dangerous 3-4 hitters Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent - and considering the game was played in Wrigley Field - the game seemed destined to be a show of offensive fireworks. Instead, Trachsel and Gardner were in control early, and the game was scoreless through four. The best threat came in the top of the fourth, when the Giants loaded the bases on Trachsel before catcher Brian Johnson struck out looking.

The Giants would rue that lost opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. After a leadoff single by Henry Rodriguez, veteran third baseman Gary Gaetti, acquired mid-season specifically because of his playoff experience, blasted a ball deep into the left field bleachers to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs broke through again in the sixth when Matt Mieske, pinch-hitting for Rodriguez with the bases loaded, lined a shot off first baseman J.T. Snow that scored two more runs, including a hustling Sosa from second base. Though Gaetti subsequently grounded into a double play, the damage was done.

San Francisco responded immediately in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs and Bonds coming to the plate. Considered the National League's best player over the past decade, Bonds had been eclipsed in 1998 by the sensational seasons of Sosa and McGwire. This was his chance at redemption. Instead, he grounded weakly to first, ending the threat.

Chicago added a run in the bottom of the eighth as Sosa came home on a wild pitch. Leading 5-0 entering the top of the ninth, the game seemed well in hand.

But the Giants had made their late-season run largely because of their explosive offense, and they weren't going away quietly. The first three batters for the Giants hit singles, the third one cutting the lead to 5-1. A walk loaded the bases with nobody out ... and with Bonds coming to the plate. Given another opportunity at hitting a game-tying grand slam, Bonds got into one, lifting one to deep right field. The ball died at the warning track, falling into Sosa's glove for a sacrifice fly. Though a run scored, it seemed like the biggest threat was over. The Cubs were very willing to trade runs for outs at this point in the game, and they did so again when Kent grounded into a force play in the next at bat. Though another run scored to make it 5-3, the Giants were down to their last out.

Joe Carter was the Giants' last hope, standing at the plate representing the tying run. In 1993, Carter had hit the World Series-ending home run, so he was familiar with clutch at bats. This time, though, there would be no joy in San Francisco. Carter popped harmlessly to foul territory, where Mark Grace caught the final out that sent the Cubs to the postseason for the first time since 1989.

Postgame
For the Cubs, half the battle had been merely getting to the postseason, and it showed in a three-game sweep to Atlanta that ended their season. The Cubs had hoped that their 1998 season would be a springboard to a string of playoff seasons, but Wood kept getting hurt, and the lineup kept deteriorating around Sosa. Chicago didn't make it back to the postseason until 2003.

San Francisco stayed in contention for the next handful of years. They made it to the postseason in 2000, 2002, and 2003, each time riding the hitting of Bonds, who kept growing and growing while the balls he hit traveled farther and farther. Some say that Bonds started using steroids after the 1998 season. It's (somewhat) noble to think that he was simply trying to atone for his failures in the two late-game bases-loaded at bats in the tiebreaker game against Chicago. More likely, he knew that Sosa and McGwire were using steroids and saw that nobody seemed to care and figured he would get in on that, too.

Either way, the 1998 season, and the seasons immediately thereafter, look quite different when viewed from historical perspective. The 1998 tiebreaker game, featuring stars Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds, certainly fits into that category.

The Rundown

20. Chicago 5, San Francisco 3 (1998 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
21. N.Y. Yankees 7, Oakland 5 (2000 ALDS)
22. Los Angeles 4, Houston 0 (1981 NL West Division Series)
23. Montreal 3, Philadelphia 0 (1981 NL East Division Series)
24. N.Y. Yankees 7, Milwaukee 3 (1981 AL East Division Series)
25. Seattle 9, California 1 (1995 AL West tiebreaker)
26. Chicago 5, Atlanta 1 (2003 NLDS)
27. Houston 12, Atlanta 3 (2004 NLDS)
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)

2003 NLDS: Kerry comes through

Pregame
Before there was the earth-shattering NLCS, before Steve Bartman became the villian of Chicago, there was the first round of the National League playoffs to get through. The Cubs weren't great in 2003, but they were good enough, ekeing out a Central Division title by one game over Houston. But while they had the worst record of the four NL playoff teams that year, they had one major advantage that gave them an advantage in any series: their starting pitching.

Led by a rejuvinated Kerry Wood and young stars Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs knew they had a shot against Atlanta in the first round. Even though the Braves finished 13 games ahead of the Cubs, Chicago had a fighting chance.

Wood was masterful against Atlanta in Game 1, striking out 11 and giving up only two hits in 7+ innings to give the Cubs the series lead. Chicago's bullpen betrayed them in Game 2, but Prior turned in a masterpiece of his own in Game 3, giving up only two hits in a complete-game victory that put the Cubs one win away. The Cubs lost their home-field advantage in Game 4, but they still had an ace up their sleeve, as Wood was rested and ready to go for Game 5.

The Game
More than anything, the Cubs wanted an early lead in Game 5. An early lead would let Wood settle down and go into cruise control, and it would hopefully help them ignore the pressures associated with the anticipation of their first win in a postseason series since 1908. So when Kenny Lofton led off the game with a double, then went to third on a wild pitch, things seemed good in Chicagoland. When he scored on a Moises Alou single to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead, things couldn't have looked better.

Just for kicks, though, shortstop Alex Gonzalez got into the fun, leading off the second with a home run to make it 2-0. And the way Wood was pitching, that looked like it would be enough. He wasn't giving the Braves anything to hit. His fastball was popping, his curveball was dropping, and the Braves were helpless. Still, though, this was the Cubs, and Cubs fans have gotten used to disaster, have learned to brace themselves for when the other shoe dropped.

That's why it must have been a huge relief to Cubs fans when Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to make it 4-0. It's a little easier to breathe in a four-run game than in a two-run game. Ramirez' blast also made the Braves' run in the bottom of the sixth a little easier to take.

Wood had little trouble the next two innings. In the top of the ninth, the Cubs put runners on second and third with two outs and Wood due up to bat. It was a tough decision: do you keep the red-hot pitcher in the game, likely sacrificing a chance to get an insurance run in the process, or do you pinch-hit for him with the hopes of getting that fifth run across and hope your bullpen can hold it? The Cubs chose option B, and Tom Goodwin delivered with a pinch-hit single to make it 5-1. The Cubs then closed the door in the bottom of the ninth and were on their way to the NLCS.

Postgame
The Cubs' win in the NLDS was their first victory in a postseason series since the 1908 World Series, ending a streak of almost improbable ineptitude. But that streak wasn't what Cubs fans were worried about. They were worried about their stretch since 1945 without a World Series appereance and their stretch since 1908 without a championship. They had a chance to take care of one of those streaks in the NLCS against the surprising Florida Marlins.

The Cubs started out hot, too, taking a three-games-to-one series lead. They were one win from the World Series, and they had three chances to do it. But then Josh Beckett threw a complete-game shutout in Game 5. Then Steve Bartman got in the middle of an eight-run rally in Game 6, just when the Cubs were five outs from the World Series.

But there was still Game 7, and Kerry Wood on the mound and Wrigley Field poised to celebrate. The Marlins scored three in the first to dampen the spirits. The Cubs scored the next five runs to start the celebration again. But Wood, who had carried the Cubs on his back all season, really for most of the previous five seasons, finally ran out of steam. He simply didn't have anything left. A three-run fifth gave Florida the lead again. They added three more runs, and they sent the Cubs home with a 9-6 victory in Game 7.

The Cubs' streak is now at 102 seasons since their last championship. Their run in 2003, led by the strong right arm of Kerry Wood, remains the closest they've come since to baseball's promised land.

The Rundown

26. Chicago 5, Atlanta 1 (2003 NLDS)
27. Houston 12, Atlanta 3 (2004 NLDS)
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)