Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 6: I'll Tell a Story

Game 4, 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets

October 9, 1988, Shea Stadium, Queens, New York

Mets lead 2-1 

As Game 4 of the NLCS was finally over and everybody watching was finally able to let out their breath, Al Michaels asked "When you write the story of this game, where do you begin?" But unlike his slightly more famous question, Michaels didn't answer this one for his viewers.

So where do you begin to tell the story of Game 4?

Maybe you begin with Orel Hershiser, the Dodgers ace who ended the 1988 season with a Major League record 59 consecutive scoreless innings. He pitched six times in September and didn't give up a run, five complete games and one 10-inning game where he finally had to be pulled to rest for the playoffs. Riding a record-breaking hot streak, Hershiser shut out the Mets through 8 innings of Game 1. But Hershiser then gave up his first run since August on a ninth-inning double by Darryl Strawberry, then he watched from the bench as the Dodgers bullpen blew the rest of the game to give the Mets a 1-0 series lead.

Or perhaps you begin to tell the story by talking about a key member of that Dodgers bullpen. Jay Howell was the Dodgers' closer in 1988, the anchor of what was (during the regular season at least) a very good group of relievers. A rainout pushed Game 3 back a day and allowed Hershiser to start again, and while a probably tired Hershiser wasn't nearly as sharp, he pitched well enough to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead entering the 8th. Howell came in to relieve at that point, threw five pitches, then watched as Mets manager Davey Johnson walked toward home plate umpire Joe West. Johnson asked West to check Howell's glove; West did exactly that, discovered the secret stash of pine tar Howell had on the inside of his glove, then tossed Howell from the game. The Dodgers melted down and lost the game, then lost Howell for the next three games as his automatic suspension took effect.

I was going to write something else about Gibson
here, but I just noticed this - does he have two
batting gloves in his hands and one in his pocket? 
Or am I crazy?

Or I suppose you begin to tell the story by talking about Kirk Gibson. After a decade as the Tigers' physical and emotional leader, Gibson joined the Dodgers as a free agent in 1988. His signing paid immediate dividends, as he won the National League MVP award by being essentially the only Dodger who could hit. But Gibson stopped hitting in the NLCS, going 1-for-11 in the first three games as he was fighting a leg injury. If the Dodgers were going to come from behind in the series, Gibson would have to turn things around.

Or maybe you begin to tell the story in the 12th inning, when all those storylines converged.

But to tell about the 12th inning, you have to get through the first 11 first.

In 1988, Doc Gooden had taken a step back from his career peak - cocaine suspensions will do that to you - but he was still a feared pitcher as he took the mound in Game 4 for his second start of the series. It was a little surprising when the Dodgers scored two runs off Gooden in the first, but then Gooden bared down, as aces tend to do, and started shutting down the Dodgers. The Mets scored three in the 4th and one in the 6th, and Gooden did the rest. The Mets took a 4-2 lead entering the 9th, and the Dodgers looked cooked: They were trailing 2-1 in the series, Hershiser had been used twice already, their closer was suspended, and their best hitter wasn't hitting. It looked like the series was about to be 3-1.

So now you can start to tell the story.

Maybe Gooden was tired to start the 9th. He had already thrown more than 120 pitches, just four days after throwing 101 in Game 1. Or maybe he was a bit too relaxed, knowing a two-run lead was probably enough. Whatever the reason, he walked centerfielder John Shelby to lead off the 9th. And right as the announcers were trying to figure out the best way to talk about the dangers of walking the leadoff batter, Mike Scioscia drilled the first pitch over the wall in right to tie the game.

Now it was a battle of the bullpens, and the Dodgers were missing one of the key parts of theirs. So they handed the ball to Alejandro Pena and said "good luck." Pena gave them three shutout innings; he walked two in the bottom of the 11th, but escaped without giving up the winning run. 

So it was on to the 12th. After two quick outs, Gibson came up. Now 1-for-16 in the series and noticeably struggling to walk, this was his chance to atone for his bad series and show the Dodgers why they signed him. And after one strike, he delivered, hitting his biggest home run as a Dodger - to that point, anyway.

The Dodgers, improbably, had the lead. But now they had to deal with the minor problem: their closer was in a hotel room, suspended, and they were almost out of pitchers. 

They first tried Tim Leary as a closer. Leary was normally a starter, but lost his turn to start when Game 3 got delayed, so he was making his first appearance of the series. And maybe because he wasn't normally a reliever, he allowed the first two Mets to reach base. Leary got a break when Gregg Jefferies tried to bunt, failed, and flied to left instead.

So there was one out, and two lefties coming up, so the Dodgers turned to Jesse Orosco. Two years earlier, Orosco had been on the mound to close out the 1986 World Series for the Mets. Now he was essentially a lefty specialist, so this should have been in his wheelhouse. But he walked lefty Keith Hernandez to load the bases, then threw a first-pitch ball to the lefty Darryl Strawberry. At this point, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda jumped out of the dugout, jogged to the mound, asked Orosco what the hell he was doing, then walked back to the dugout. Orosco must have said something like "I'm just setting Strawberry up so I can get him to pop out to second," because that's what he did.

So now there were two outs, but a righty was up next, and Lasorda didn't want Orosco to face a righty. He was out of relievers. His closer was in a hotel room. But if you looked again, you saw there was one man in the Dodgers bullpen.

Hershiser certainly didn't expect to pitch in Game 4 after starting Game 3. He absolutely wasn't in condition to - even the best pitchers need some rest. But there he came, jogging in from the bullpen to try to get the final out. Any hit by Kevin McReynolds wins the game for the Mets and essentially puts the series to bed. Any out wins the game for the Dodgers and ties the series.

Hershiser jammed McReynolds. McReynolds hit a soft fly ball to center, shallow enough that Shelby was running in and the infielders were running out. Then Shelby got there, closing his glove on the ball, and Al Michaels was asking questions.

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

Howell came back to the active roster for Game 7, but he wasn't needed. Hershiser found his late-season groove again and threw a complete game shutout to send the Dodgers to the World Series. 

Gibson got (even more) hurt running the bases in Game 7 and had to leave early. He only had one more at bat in 1988. You may have heard of it.

Howell finally got to pitch again in Game 3 of the World Series, when he gave up a walk-off home run to Mark McGwire. He recovered to get the save in Game 4, though.

So it was Gibson giving them the win in Game 1, Howell saving Game 4. The other two games belonged to Hershiser, who threw complete games in Games 2 and 5 to give the Dodgers the title.

 

Game 4, 1988 National League Championship Series Overall Rank: 6 Top 10 Swing: 245 Top play: Gibson's winning home run (WPA of 43% for Los Angeles) Loser's largest WE: 95 Middle of the 8th, Mets up 4-2 Average LI: 1.74 Highest leverage moment: 10.73 (B12, 2 outs, bases loaded, Los Angeles up 5-4, Kevin McReynolds batting for New York)

Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 11: The Pandemic Classic

Game 4, 2020 World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

October 24, 2020, Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas

Dodgers lead series 2-1

Despite his best efforts, Brett Phillips cannot fly.

If there was an image that could succinctly capture the strangeness and awkwardness that was the pandemic-shortened 2020 Major League season, it was this: Tampa Bay's Randy Arozarena was laying flat on his stomach in the batters' box, slapping his hand on home plate in celebration, while his teammate Brett Phillips was running around in shallow left field with his arms spread out like an airplane's wings, all while Los Angeles catcher Will Smith was futilely chasing after the loose ball behind the plate. And all of this was happening in of a quarter-full stadium of mostly neutral fans more than 900 miles from either team's home park.

The game was chaotic enough even without the ending. The teams traded leads three times between the sixth and eighth innings. They combined to use 13 pitchers; 9 of those pitchers gave up at least one run. The Rays used every position player except their backup catcher. And that was all in just the first 8 innings.

Trailing 7-6 entering the bottom of the 9th, three outs from being down 3-1 in the series, the Rays struggled to start a comeback. Leadoff hitter Yoshi Tsutsugo struck out. After a Kevin Kiermaier broken-bat single - a ball that Kiké Hernandez just missed catching - Joey Wendle flied out to center. That left the Rays with a runner on first with two outs, a 10 percent chance of winning. A walk to Arozarena came next, bringing up former pinch-runner Brett Phillips for only his third at bat of the entire postseason.

And that's when the chaos started.

The single to center was simple enough. That ball, with the speed of Kiermaier at second, would have been enough to tie the game. But shortstop turned centerfielder Chris Taylor bobbled the grounder, so Arozarena kept running. Taylor threw in to first baseman Max Muncy, who turned to throw home, which is right around the time that Arozarena slipped and did a somersault. As Muncy threw home, Arozarena started heading back to third, but Smith didn't see that, so he tried to catch Muncy's throw and tag Arozarena at the same time. Arozarena wasn't there, but the ball wasn't either, bouncing away from Smith toward the Dodgers dugout. Arozarena changed directions again, and before anybody could react he was slapping home plate and Phillips was flying through the outfield.  

More flying.

The best games leave everybody exhausted. The Dodgers trudged out of their dugout in glassy-eyed silence. Phillips ended his attempts at taking flight and bent over with his hands on his knees, so shocked his teammates were genuinely worried about him. Arozarena had a big grin on his face, but only enough energy for a few high-fives. No airplanes for him.

And then we were reminded of what we'd been missing. If you watched the broadcast, it seem loud, but Fox had pumped in fake noise to the television feed all postseason, so in reality it was 11,441 fans in a stadium that held 40,300, cheering for an amazing game between two teams they mostly didn't care about. Picture the noise if the game had been in St. Petersburg: The initial burst when Phillips got the hit, the louder burst when Taylor bobbled the ball, the loudest one when the throw home went awry. They would have torn the roof off of Tropicana Field.

But it was, strangely enough, in Texas. A strange play in a strange location, perfectly fitting for a strange season.

Game 4, 2020 World Series Overall Rank: 11 Top 10 Swing: 254 Top play: Brett Phillips' game-winning single (WPA of 82% for Tampa Bay - the third highest single-play WPA in World Series history) Loser's largest WE: 90 B9, 2 out, runner on first, Los Angeles up 7-6 Average LI: 1.65 Highest leverage moment: 6.72 (Phillips' game-ending at bat)

1988 World Series: The Impossible Has Happened

The Teams

National League: Los Angeles (94-67) - Ninth World Series (won in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981)

American League: Oakland Athletics (104-58) - Fourth World Series (won in 1972, 1973, 1974) 

What Happened

The blast was tremendous, a no-doubter. The second-inning grand slam Jose Canseco hit in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series flew high toward center field, landing on – and denting – the very television camera used to record the blast. In 1988, Canseco was the best player on baseball’s best team, and in most instances, in most World Series, a blast like that would have set the tone for the widely anticipated Oakland sweep.

But this wasn’t most seasons; indeed, this wasn’t like most World Series. Oakland may have had the best team – their 104 wins were the most in the American League in nearly 20 years – and they certainly led all of baseball in intimidation factor, with muscle-bound (and steroid-enhanced) sluggers Canseco and Mark McGwire in the middle of the lineup and the nearly unhittable Dennis Eckersley in the bullpen.

But they didn’t have Orel Hershiser or Kirk Gibson. And in 1988, those two players were enough to lead an otherwise unremarkable Dodger team to the National League pennant. Hershiser, of course, was out-of-this-world good, breaking Don Drysdale’s record of consecutive scoreless innings, and doing so in the heat of the pennant race when giving up even a single run could have meant elimination for his team. Gibson’s effect on the Dodgers was a little more difficult to quantify. His numbers looked merely OK, not great, yet he was easily voted National League MVP. Sometimes leadership can’t be quantified by numbers. Gibson’s 1988 season is a perfect example of that.

Yet when the World Series started, the Dodgers thought they’d be without their MVP. As Canseco’s grand slam flew over the fence, Gibson was in the clubhouse in street clothes, trying to do something as simple as stand on his two injured legs. He was officially on the World Series roster, but he was essential useless. On television, announcer Jack Buck even said as much, saying that Gibson wasn’t even in uniform for Game 1.

Gibson heard that, and something came over him. Blocking out the pain, he started swinging the bat. The Dodgers cut their deficit to 4-3, but couldn’t tie the game, and entered the ninth still trailing. Gibson took a few swings and told manager Tommy Lasorda he was ready to go. After Mike Davis drew a two-out walk off Eckersley, Lasorda made the call. 

Gibson limped up to the plate. The crowd roared, then started hoping, begging, praying. Would their hero come through once more? After six pitches - including a foul down the first base line that was hit so weakly that Dodger fans had to feel sick - Gibson struck. He swung awkwardly - back foot off the ground, one hand off the bat at contact - but it flew, deep to right, over and out. Gibson rounded first base and pumped his fist. Vin Scully, the voice of the Dodgers, said "In a season that has been most improbable, the impossible has happened." Lasorda joined the rest of the Dodgers in greeting Gibson at home plate. And Los Angeles celebrated deep into the night.

At that point, the series was over. The Dodgers had won a most improbable game - beating the game's best reliever, at that - and they had Hershiser ready to pitch as many as three games. And the A's weren't beating Hershiser. He shut them out in Game 2, giving up only three hits - all of them to left fielder Dave Parker. He beat them again in Game 5, finishing the series with another complete game win. And the best team in baseball had been beaten by two men.

MVP

Hershiser won the MVP, and deservedly so. Few pitchers have ever been better than Hershiser was in the fall of 1988. But the emotional MVP was Gibson. He had only one at bat in the 1988 World Series, but that one at bat will live on in baseball lore.

  
Scores

(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Oakland	4	0	2	3	2
Los Angeles	5	6	1	4	5

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

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

1977 World Series: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (100-62) - 31st World Series (won 20 previous times)
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64) - Sixth World Series (won in 1959, 1963, 1965)

What Happened
Reggie Jackson was already a star when he went to the Bronx. That's the common misconception, that Jackson donned Yankee pinstripes and became an All Star. No, he had starred for the A's for nearly a decade before the Yankees signed him, and he had led Oakland to three straight World Series titles in the 1970s. But Oakland was a small market, and Reggie wanted the bright lights, so he left the A's, where he was nicknamed "Buck," and joined the Yankees, where he would eventually earn the nickname Mr. October.

But first, he had to get to October, and that wasn't a guarantee. Jackson immediately clashed with hotheaded Yankee manager Billy Martin, with the two nearly coming to blows in the dugout more than once. Jackson and Martin hated each other, and all the rest of the Yankees hated both Jackson and Martin, but New York somehow made it work and advanced to the World Series for the second straight year.

In the World Series against the Dodgers - yes, it was another Yankees-Dodgers matchup in the World Series - Jackson became the story. Well, except for Game 1, when he was taken out for a defensive replacement right when things were getting good. His replacement, Paul Blair, failed on two attempts to drop down a sacrifice in the bottom of the 12th inning. Forced to swing away, he ripped a single to left field for the game-winning run.

The teams split the next four games, but that's only secondary to the story. The real story was that Reggie Jackson was heating up. After a slow start, he homered in both games 4 and 5, foreshadowing some excitement for Game 6 in the Bronx.

Defining Game
Jackson's home run in Game 5 came on his last swing of the night, an otherwise forgotten blast in a 10-4 Dodger win. The Dodgers must have had that blast in mind in the second inning, as Jackson walked on four pitches. There was nowhere to put him in the 4th, though, and with a runner on first, Jackson took his first swing of the night and sent the ball deep into the right field stands to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead and knock Dodger starter Burt Hooton out of the game.


With the Yankees now leading 5-3, Jackson came up again in the fifth, again with a runner on first. Again he swung on the first pitch, and again he made solid contact. This one wasn't as deep or majestic - just a low line drive. But it was far enough, and it was his second home run of the game.

If his first two swings of the night made Jackson a superstar, his third one made him a legend. Charlie Hough was the Dodgers' fourth pitcher, the third one to face Jackson. Like the previous two, he threw Jackson a meaty first pitch, and like the previous two, Jackson swung out of his shoes. This one also flew away, but this one was different. It was one of those that seemed to keep rising, almost as if it was being pushed by the cheers of the crowd. It kept going until it finally landed deep in the center field bleachers, impossibly far away. Three swings, three home runs. World Series over. And as he rounded the bases, the top of his jersey unbuttoned from the force of his swings, Jackson transformed. He was no longer a superstar. He was now a legend.

MVP
Jackson's historic Game 6 marked only the third time a player had hit three home runs in a World Series game, and the first time that player wasn't named Babe Ruth. His five total home runs for the series set a new record, which has since been equaled once but never topped. 


Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Los Angeles	3	6	3	2	10	4
New York	4 (12)	1	5	4	4	8

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

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

1959 World Series: California Dreaming

The Teams
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (88-68) - First World Series
American League: Chicago White Sox (94-60) - Fourth World Series (Won in 1906, 1917)

What Happened:
For the first time since 1948, no World Series games would be played in New York in 1959. And sure, that was technically true, but the Dodgers were only in their second season in Los Angeles, and many fans likely still thought of them as the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Dodgers were definitely a team in transition, and not just the one from blue-collar Ebbets Field to the sunshine of California. The team's stars of the 1950s, the Boys of Summer, were on their way out: Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese were retired, Roy Campanella was paralyzed, and Duke Snider and Carl Furillo were part-time players. But their mix of aging ex-stars and young players with promise got them into a tie with the two-time defending champion Braves. After dispatching Milwaukee in the playoff, the Dodgers won the National League pennant for the fifth time in the decade.

Waiting for them was the Chicago White Sox, who won their first pennant since 1919 on the strength of their speed and defense. The Go-Go Sox, as they were known, won the American League pennant with surprising ease and went into the series hoping to erase the memory of the Black Sox of 40 years earlier.

Things started well for the Sox, winning the opener 11-0 and taking a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning of Game 2. Then L.A.'s Charlie Neal took over; he hit a home run in the fifth, then put the Dodgers ahead with another blast in the 7th. With the Dodgers up 4-2 in the 8th, Chicago's Al Smith hit a double that seemed destined to tie the game. Pinch-runner Earl Torgeson scored to make it 4-3, but a perfect relay from left fielder Wally Moon to shortstop Maury Wills to catcher John Roseboro cut down the tying run at the plate.

After escaping Game 2 with a win, the Dodgers went home to host the first World Series game in the state of California. Once in the west coast sun, the Dodgers' aging stars came to life for one more shot at glory. Furillo came first, getting a pinch-hit, two-run, seventh-inning single for the first two runs of Game 3, helping the Dodgers win despite being outhit 12-5. In Game 4, the hero was Gil Hodges, the only former Brooklyn hitter who was a regular for these Dodgers. Hodges hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of the game just one inning after the White Sox had tied the game.

Needing one win for the title, the Dodger bats went silent in Game 5, as Bob Shaw and Bill Donovan combined to shut out Los Angeles in a 1-0 Chicago win. Back in Comiskey, the last aging Dodgers' star got the big hit, as Snider's two-run home run in the third opened the scoring. The Dodgers then scored six in the fourth to clinch the championship. It had taken them eight tries to finally win a World Series in Brooklyn, but it took them only two years to claim a title in Los Angeles. In this instance, the grass was greener on the other side.

Defining Game
The White Sox were known for their great defense, but their defense let them down early in Game 4. Two Chicago errors and a passed ball helped the Dodgers score four runs in the third. Faced with a deficit, Chicago came back not with their trademarked speed, but with power. After an rbi single by bruising slugger Ted Kluszewski, Sherm Lollar hit a three-run home run to tie the game in the seventh. Hodges' eighth-inning heroics then won the game for Los Angeles, putting them one game from the title.

MVP
Reliever Larry Sherry won the MVP award, giving up only one earned run in a team-high 12 innings pitched and getting the win in Games 4 and 6 and saving Games 2 and 3. His single biggest pitch was the one he threw to Al Smith in the 8th inning of Game 3; with the Dodgers up 2-0 and the bases loaded and nobody out, Sherry got Smith to ground into a double play. A run scored, but the Dodgers still had the lead, and he was out of the inning one batter later.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Los Angeles	0	4	3	5	0	9
Chicago	11	3	1	4	1	3

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

43. 1959 - Los Angeles (N) def. Chicago (A) 4-2
44. 2008 - Philadelphia (N) def. Tampa Bay (A) 4-1
45. 1933 - New York (N) def. Washington (A) 4-1
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

1974 World Series: Triple Crown

The Teams
American League: Oakland Athletics (90-72) - Third World Series (won in 1972, 1973)
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (102-60) - Fifth World Series (won in 1959, 1963, 1965)

What Happened
One of the most often-repeated concepts in sports is that a team has to have good chemistry to win. Most teams have the talent to win, but it's not until you have a team full of players who are truly pulling for each other that you can take that championship step. Without good team chemistry, you just have a team wasting its potential.

The Oakland A's of the 1970s did not have good chemistry. They hated each other, getting into locker room fights as often as possible, including in the day before the 1974 World Series started. They hated their manager, Alvin Dark, a man who didn't hide is devout religious beliefs or his apparent racism. But most of all, they hated their penny-pinching, player-undermining owner, Charlie Finley.

Maybe it was part of Finley's plan all along - the easiest way to get such differing personalities to play together was to unite them behind a common enemy - or maybe it was just dumb luck, but Oakland's lack of chemistry worked to perfection. The A's entered the 1974 World Series trying to something that no team outside the Bronx had ever done: win three straight World Championships.

They had gotten there with pitching, speed, and clutch power, and despite the constant meddling of their owner. Perhaps the most egregious of Finley's moves was to hire Herb Washington, a former Michigan State track star with no baseball experience, to be a "designated runner." Washington was obviously overwhelmed, getting caught stealing almost as often as he was successful while never batting even once in his Major League career. In fact, Washington was indirectly responsible for Oakland's Game 2 loss in the 1974 series, getting picked off first to kill a ninth-inning rally that allowed the Dodgers to escape with a 3-2 win.

Aside from that, though, the A's showed why they had won two straight titles. Despite have far less talent than the Dodgers, Oakland found a number of ways to win. They scored three times in Game 1 on a home run, a suicide squeeze, and an error. They scored early in Game 3, leading 3-0 after 4, then let their Hall of Fame pitchers Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers finish the job. And they got the big inning in Game 4, scoring 4 runs in the sixth inning to erase a 2-1 deficit.

Finally, with a chance to clinch the series in Game 5, Oakland's crowd got in on the act. Earlier in the series, Los Angeles' Bill Buckner had said that there were only two or three Oakland players who could crack the Dodgers' lineup. Though Buckner was probably right, his comment still worked Oakland fans up into a frenzy, and it boiled over in the seventh inning. The game was delayed for several minutes as the field was cleared of the debris Oakland fans were throwing at Buckner in left field. Once that was taken care of, Joe Rudi hit the first pitch after play resumed into those very fans in left field, giving Oakland a 3-2 lead. Fingers came in to shut the door, and the team that hated each other piled on top of one another, celebrating the most improbable three-peat in baseball history.

Defining Game
If you wanted a snapshot of how the A's were able to win three straight championships, look no further than Game 1. They opened the scoring with a home run by Reggie Jackson, their Hall-of-Fame slugger who had already developed a sense of the moment. They got their second run on a suicide squeeze by their speedy shortstop, Bert Campaneris, showing that when precise execution was required, they rarely failed. They scored their third run after a Dodger error, showing their knack for making their opponents pay for every mistake. And while all this was happening, they leaned on their great pitchers, with closer Fingers pitching four innings of relief, then getting relieved himself by ace starter Hunter for the final out. They were powerful and clutch, they did the little things right, they were opportunistic, and they were flexible. It all added up to a Triple Crown of titles.


MVP
Some people see Fingers' selection as MVP as more of a lifetime achievement award for his great postseasons over the previous three seasons, but he did pitch in four of the five games, throwing nine innings in those four games, and getting a win and two saves. Also, every time he entered the game, the A's knew it was over, which has to count for something.

Random Fact
This was the first World Series played entirely in California.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Oakland	3	2	3	5	3
Los Angeles	2	3	2	2	2

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

56. 1974 - Oakland (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-1
57. 1955 - Brooklyn (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
58. 1979 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
59. 1987 - Minnesota (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1981 World Series: Sweet Revenge

The Teams
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (63-47) - Eighth World Series (won in 1959, 1963, 1965)
American League: New York Yankees (59-48) - 33rd World Series (won 22 previous times)


What Happened
The strike-shortened 1981 season was, in a word, weird. With the season split in half because of the players' strike, there were some weird postseason berths: the Reds and Cardinals were the best teams in their respective divisions in the National League, but neither made the playoffs, while the Yankees made the American League playoffs despite being only the fourth best team in the AL East.

The main positive storyline of the 1981 season was the Dodgers' rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela, whose unusual windup and unhittable screwball made him the best pitcher in baseball. His 13-7 record didn't do his season justice, as his league-leading 11 complete games and 8 shutouts helped make every one of his starts a must-see event. Valenzuela helped draw Hispanic fans to Dodger stadium in larger numbers than ever before and he lead the Dodgers through the extended the playoffs and into the World Series.

If the 1981 regular season was unusual, the World Series matchup was not. For the third time in five years, and the 11th time in history, the Dodgers and the Yankees met in the World Series. And while there were many of the same players from when the Yankees beat the Dodgers in back-to-back Series in the late 70s, there were enough differences - most notably Valenzuela - to make people think the Dodgers had a much better chance.

The first two games, though, made it look like it'd be the same old song, as the Yankees won the first two games in Yankee Stadium rather easily. But the Dodgers had Valenzuela on the mound at home for Game 3, and after Ron Cey's three-run home run in the first inning, they seemed to be in the clear. Valenzuela gave up the lead in the fourth, but like any good ace, he got stronger as the game went along, giving the Dodgers a chance to reclaim the lead, which they did on a double-play ball in the fifth. Having given up one lead, Valenzuela made sure not to do it again. Helped by a double play on a bunt popup in the eighth, he threw yet another complete game, throwing 145 pitches to give the Dodgers their first win of the series.

The runs came easily in Game 4, as the Yankees took a 4-0 lead into the third and a 6-3 lead into the sixth. Then the Dodgers responded with three in the sixth to tie and two in the seventh, then held on to tie the series. Game 5 was another come-from-behind win, as the Dodgers could do nothing against Yankees ace Ron Guidry for six innings. They were trailing 1-0 before back-to-back home runs by Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager gave them the lead and, eventually, the ballgame.

Taking a series lead back to the Bronx, the Dodgers wasted no time clinching the series. Yeager, Cey, and Guerrero drove in runs to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead after five, and then they pile don with four runs in the sixth. It all lead to a 9-2 win, clinching the Dodgers first title since 1965 and giving them sweet revenge for 1977 and 78.

Defining Game
Game 5 was defined by the back-to-back home runs by Guerrero and Yeager to let the Dodgers tie and then take the lead, but those home runs might have been rendered moot if the Yankees had done a better job of taking advantage of their early opportunities. They scored on the second after a dropped popup, but left two runners on base that inning. They got two runners on base with one out in the third but couldn't score, then loaded the bases with one out in the fourth with nothing to show for it, done in partially because of a failed bases-loaded squeeze bunt. Whether you want to credit Dodger starter Jerry Reuss or blame the Yankees weak bats, the Dodgers were still in a game when they had no business to be, giving Guerrero and Yeager a chance to play hero.

MVP
The voters either had no idea what to do for this World Series, or they just wanted this long, strange season to be done. Whatever the reason, they picked three co-MVPs for the series. Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero were decent enough choices, as they led the Series in runs driven in, but Steve Yeager was an odd choice. In any case, it's hard to call a player the MVP if you can't decide on just one of them. I'd have voted for Guerrero - his hits came at more crucial times, and he had five runs batted in in the clincher.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Los Angeles	3	0	5	8	2	9
New York	5	3	4	7	1	2

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

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

1978 World Series: Yankee shift

The Teams 
American League: New York Yankees (100-63) - 32nd World Series (won 21 previous times)
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67) - Seventh World Series (won in 1959, 1963, 1965)

What Happened
One year after the Yankees beat the Dodgers in the World Series, the same two teams were back again to face off in 1978. Though the Yankees had gotten the better of them the previous season, the Dodgers seemed to have more things working in their favor the second time around. Aside from having home-field advantage this time, the Dodgers also came in facing a tired Yankees team - New York had come from 8.5 games back on August 20 to tie the Red Sox, then had won the one-game playoff, then had to endure a tough playoff series with the Royals.

The Dodgers seized on their advantage. They hit three home runs in the first four innings to win Game 1 in a laugher, then took a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning of Game 2. The Yankees got two runners on base in the ninth, but Dodgers pitcher Bob Welch - normally a (very good) starter who was forced to the bullpen for the playoffs because the Dodger starters were too good - retired Yankee stars Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson to end the game and put the Dodgers up 2-0.

From there, the series went to the Bronx, and the momentum of. the series shifted in favor of the Yankees. But it didn't have to be that way. The Dodgers had plenty of chances to stem the momentum that the Yankees were building. Trailing 2-1 in Game 3, the Dodgers twice loaded the bases, only to have both chances snuffed out on a ground out to Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles. A three-run home run by Reggie Smith gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning of Game 4, but the Dodgers only got two hits the rest of the way and let the Yankees tie the game and eventually win it in the 10th.

By then, things were getting out of control. The Yankees unloaded for 12 runs in Game 5, then took a 3-0 lead back in Dodger Stadium in Game 6 before a Reggie Jackson home run clinched the series.

Defining Game
The way the early games of the series played out, it became clear pretty early that the winner of Game 4 was going to win the series. The Dodgers' Tommy John and the Yankees' Ed Figueroa kept the game scoreless through four before Smith's two-out home run gave the Dodgers the lead. The Yankees got two back in the sixth - scoring one on a single by Jackson and another on an error on what should have been an inning-ending double play. Munson's 8th inning double tied the game, and the teams did nothing until the 10th. With two outs sandwiched around a walk, Jackson singled for the Yankees to send Roy White to second representing the game-winning run. Lou Piniella drove White home with a single, and the Yankees had their momentum-shifting win.

MVP
Bucky Dent was named MVP, which is a little weird since this is the first time he's being mentioned in this writeup. It could have easily been Jackson, but maybe the voters figured that since Jackson wasn't as good as the previous year's series, he shouldn't win a second straight MVP. Or maybe it was leftover karma after Dent's playoff-clinching home run. 

Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

New York	5	3	5	4 (10)	12	7
Los Angeles	11	4	1	3	2	2

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

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

1965 World Series: Lefty dominates

The Teams
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (97-65) - Third World Series (won in 1959, 1963)
American League: Minnesota Twins (102-60) - First World Series

What Happened
It might look strange, seeing a seven-game World Series ranked so low on the list. I mean, it had a winner-take-all game, the best kind of baseball game because they're so rare. Shouldn't a seven-game series automatically be considered an instant classic? Well, if the individual games themselves are all kind of "meh," it doesn't matter if there's four of them or if there's seven of them. And most of the games of the 1965 World Series were definitely "meh."

The biggest story lines of the '65 Series happened before it began. It started with the rise of the Twins, whose appearance was noteworthy not so much because they had been the Senators only four years earlier, but because they weren't the Yankees. It was only the third time since 1949 that someone other than the Yankees won the American League pennant and many baseball fans were happy to see someone new in the World Series.

The second story came before Game 1, when Dodgers' ace Sandy Koufax said he would not pitch in the game because it fell on Yom Kippur. While the Dodgers respected Koufax's religious beliefs, it put them in a bind. Not only would he not be available for Game 1, but it also meant that he most likely only be available for two games in the series instead of a possible three.

The Dodgers were in even more trouble when Don Drysdale, their other Hall-of-Fame starter, got rocked in an 8-2 Game 1 loss. Koufax came back to start Game 2, and he also lost, leaving the Dodgers stunned. Their biggest advantage was supposed to be their starting pitching, but the Twins had beaten Drysdale and Koufax in back-to-back games. The Dodgers went back to Los Angeles hurting and desperate.

The friendly environment of Chavez Ravine reinvigorated the Dodgers' pitching staff. No. 3 starter Claude Osteen shut out the Twins on five hits in Game 3, and then Drysdale and Koufax each got seven runs of support in wins in Games 4 and 5. Just as quickly as they had dug themselves a deep hole, the Dodgers turned things around and put the Twins behind the 8-ball.

Back home, the Twins beat Osteen in Game 6 to set up the deciding Game 7. Up to that point, the home team had won every game in the series. If the Twins were to make this the first World Series where the home team won every game, they would have to defeat Koufax in Game 7. Though it was Drysdale's turn in the rotation, Dodgers manager Walter Alston went to his star lefty on short rest. It turned out to be the right decision, as Koufax threw his second straight shutout to give the Dodgers the title.

Defining Game
Game 7. Based on the scoreboard, it was the only close game of the series. In reality, it was over when the Dodgers' Lou Johnson led off the fourth inning with a home run. The way Koufax was going, it was hard to believe the Twins would get two runs off him. When the Dodgers followed Johnson's home run with two more hits, leading to a second run, it was over. The Twins only threatened twice, and Koufax struck out 10 in a complete-game victory. I have it ranked 28th of the 36 World Series Game 7s.

MVP
Koufax, and it wasn't close. He lost Game 2, but that was more a result of his teammate's poor fielding than anything. Then he pitched complete-game shutouts in games 5 and 7, giving up only seven hits combined in the two games. His ERA for the series was 0.38, and he struck out 29 in 24 innings. Pure domination.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Los Angeles	2	1	4	7	7	1	2
Minnesota	8	5	0	2	0	5	0

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

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

1966 World Series: The Birds fly

The Teams
American League: Baltimore Orioles (97-63) - First World Series
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67) - Fourth World Series (won in 1959, 1963, 1965)


What Happened
With two outs in the bottom of the third inning of Game 1, Jim Gilliam drew a bases-loaded walk for the Dodgers, cutting their deficit to 4-2. Catcher Johnny Roseboro followed that at bat by popping out in foul territory, ending the threat. The Dodgers were likely kicking themselves for wasting such a golden scoring opportunity and only getting one run. Little did they know what was to come.

The Dodgers of the 60s had earned a reputation for being an all-pitching, no-offense team. With Hall-of-Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale anchoring the rotation, they didn't really need that much offense to have success. Their 1966 team took that reputation to the extreme, though: No regular offensive player batted above .288, and nobody drove in more than 74 runs. The Dodgers ranked in the bottom half of the league in every offensive stat except stolen bases.

The Orioles, meanwhile, were loaded. Aside from a pitching staff that rivaled that of the Dodgers, the Orioles had offense to spare, led by triple crown winner Frank Robinson. Thirteen years after leaving the ineptitude of St. Louis behind them, the Orioles had built a powerful, deep, and - most importantly - young team that seemed poised to rule baseball.

Because of the talent disparity, the Dodgers had to be nearly perfect to win this series. They were not. After Gilliam drew that bases-loaded walk in Game 1, the Dodgers failed to score the rest of the series. For 33 straight innings, the Orioles kept them off the scoreboard, and they often kept them off the bases altogether, as the Dodgers only got 17 hits in the entire series.

The Dodgers' pitchers did what they could. Sandy Koufax got no help at all in Game 2, as his defense committed six errors behind him and his offense gave him no runs; it was a less-than-ideal result for what turned out to be his final Major League game. Games 3 and 4 were tighter, both ending 1-0. But it's hard to win when you don't score. The Dodgers went down quietly. In the span of four games, the Dodgers' dynasty died and the Orioles' dynasty began.

Defining Game
Game 2. Koufax got the ball for the Dodgers hoping to turn the series around against Orioles ace Jim Palmer. The game was scoreless entering the fifth inning when, in a disastrous sequence, Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis committed three errors in the span of two batters, leading to the first two runs of the game. Baltimore added two more runs, knocking Koufax out of the game - and into retirement - in the sixth.

MVP
Frank Robinson. In his first year with the Orioles after starring for the Reds, Robinson won the triple crown in 1966, then capped that with two home runs and a triple. He also scored four runs, more than the entire Dodgers team.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Baltimore	5	6	1	1
Los Angeles	2	0	0	0

---

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

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

1963 World Series: The Dodgers as America's Team

The Teams
National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (99-63) - Second World Series (Won in 1959)
American League: New York Yankees (104-57) - 28th World Series (Won 20 previous times)

What Happened
By 1963, everybody was sick of the Yankees. After all, the Bronx Bombers had been to 14 of the previous 16 World Series and everybody was getting sick of their act. Therefore, a lot of fans backed the Dodgers for the 1963 series.

They picked a good team to follow. After losing in a three-game playoff the previous year, they bounced back to win the N.L. pennant in 1963, riding the strong pitching of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres. They didn't have much offense, but with their pitching staff, they could hang with anybody.

Meanwhile, it seemed like the Yankees should have struggled. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra missed a combined 267 games. They were back for the World Series, but they didn't have much of a chance against the Dodgers' lethal arms.

Koufax got the series started in a big way, striking out 15 in a complete-game victory in Game 1. It was Podres' turn in Game 2, and while the Dodgers had to actually use the bullpen for two outs, it was still an easy win. With two road wins, the Dodgers in complete control of the series. Drysdale threw a shutout in Game 3, and Koufax came back to give up only 1 run in Game 4.

The Dodgers had won their second title in four seasons, after needing more than 60 years to win their first championship in Brooklyn. More importantly, they earned the thanks of a nation. Not only did they beat the Yankees, but they swept them, the first team to do so in a World Series.

Defining Game
Game 4 was very indicative of the Dodgers of the 60s. Koufax was brilliant - a complete game with 8 strikeouts and only six hits allowed. One of those hits was a home run by Mantle, and that was almost enough. But the Dodgers weak offense did just enough: they got a solo home run in the fifth and scored a run without getting a hit in the seventh. They only scored two runs, but when your pitcher was Sandy Koufax, two runs was usually all you needed.

MVP
Koufax. Have you been paying attention? Two complete game victories, including 23 strikeouts in 18 innings. So, yah. He was a deserving MVP.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Los Angeles	5	4	1	2
New York	2	1	0	1

---

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

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

1981 NLCS: Rewrite

Next on the countdown of League Championship Series Game 7s (or Game 5s) is the 1981 NLCS between Los Angeles and Montreal. I wrote about this game at length earlier, so I didn't feel the need to do it again. Go here to read this description.

(As an aside, the deciding runs in this and all the rest of the games on this particular countdown were scored in the ninth inning or later. It's surprising how many LCS's have been decided by classic games.)

What I'm doing.

The list so far:

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

Still to come:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis

1988 NLCS: Hershiser's Revenge

How They Got Here
The National League in 1988 belonged to Orel Hershiser. The Dodgers ace, who had pitched them to the playoffs three years before, went on a run unlike any in baseball history in the later stages of the season. Hershiser started throwing shutout after shutout, eventually breaking Don Drysdale's record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings by getting to 59 1/3. What was more impressive was that those were the final 59 1/3 innings Hershiser pitched in 1988, giving the Dodgers the boost they needed to win the NL West.

Their opponents in the NLCS were the Mets. After winning the World Series in 1986, the Mets had a bit of a championship hangover in 1987 before bouncing back in 1988 and cruising to the NL East title. They were widely seen as the superior team to the Dodgers, but everybody knew the Dodgers had Hershiser, the ultimate ace in the hole.

As expected, the Dodgers sent Hershiser out to the mound for Game 1. As expected, he shut down the Mets, throwing 8 shutout innings. But the Mets got to Hershiser in the ninth, scoring one run while he was in the game and two more after he was pulled to steal Game 1 3-2.

Their ace beaten, the Dodgers responded by winning Game 2, then got a break when rain started to fall. By the time the skies cleared, enough time had lapsed that the Dodgers could send Hershiser out again for Game 3. But again, the Mets got to him, this time for three runs in seven innings. Though the Dodgers took the lead in the eighth, five New York runs in the bottom of the innings gave New York the 2-1 series edge.

Again, the Dodgers responded, winning games 4 and 5 to go back home with the lead. And though they lost Game 6, they had their ace back on the mound and ready to go for Game 7.

The Game
The Dodgers had wasted two sterling efforts from Hershiser already this series. They weren't about to do that a third time. After he got through the first, the Dodgers were quick to give Hershiser some support, scoring on a Kirk Gibson sacrifice fly. Hershiser set down the Mets in the second, and then it all happened. Four hits and an error gave the Dodgers three runs in the second, and they managed two more runs that inning without getting any more hits. It was 6-0 after two innings, with Hershiser on the mound. Good night, Mets, and good luck. Hershiser finished off the Mets with a complete-game shutout, capping a LCS in which he had given up only three earned runs in 24 innings, yet had only gotten one win. But the one win was the one that counted, and the Dodgers were off to the World Series against Oakland.

Aftermath
If the Dodgers were underdogs against the Mets, they were even bigger ones against Oakland, who boasted one of the best teams of the 80s. Led by the Bash Brothers of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, they were supposed to roll right over the Dodgers, who were without the injured NL MVP Gibson and would likely only have Hershiser for two games of the series.

But then a funny thing happened. Gibson hit a home run that shook the baseball world, Hershiser pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 2 only three days rest, and the A's went home unexpectedly down 2-0. Oakland bounced back to win Game 3 on a walkoff home run by McGwire, but the Dodgers stole Game 4, then handed the ball to Hershiser for Game 5. Game, set, match. Hershiser finished his remarkable season with another complete game, and the Dodgers won their second championship of the 80s

The Rundown
What I'm doing.

The list so far:
21. 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles 6, New York 0
22. 2004 ALCS: Boston 10, New York 3
23. 1986 ALCS: Boston 8, California 1
24: 1996 NLCS: Atlanta 15, St. Louis 0

Still to come:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1972 ALCS: Detroit vs. Oakland
1973 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. New York
1973 ALCS: Baltimore vs. Oakland
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1981 NCLS: Los Angeles vs. Montreal
1982 ALCS: California vs. Milwaukee
1984 NLCS: Chicago vs. San Diego
1985 ALCS: Kansas City vs. Toronto
1987 NLCS: St. Louis vs. San Francisco
1991 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 NLCS: Chicago vs. Florida
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2004 NLCS: Houston vs. St. Louis
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis
2007 ALCS: Boston vs. Cleveland
2008 ALCS: Boston vs. Tampa Bay

1962 National League Playoff: Ghosts of '51

Pregame
They played on the opposite coast, and the players on the teams had almost completely turned over, but the Giants and Dodgers spent much of the 1962 season reliving their famous pennant duel of 1951.

Aided by the expansion Houston Colts and New York Mets - the latter a team that would set a 20th Century record for futility - and the Cubs, who somehow ended up being worse than the Colts, there were plenty of wins to be had in the National League in 1962. The wins were so plentiful that the defending league champion Reds, who won 98 games, were mere spectators in one of the most famous pennant races of all time.

Just like in 1951, the Dodgers spent most of the summer in first place. In 1962, though, the gap was much smaller, with the Giants staying around a handful of games off the pace. Nine years earlier, it had been an incredible hot streak that pushed the Giants into first place. This time, it was a Dodgers collapse.

On September 22, the Dodgers had a record of 100-55 and had a four-game lead on San Francisco. From there, the Dodgers closed the season on a 1-6 slide, including getting shut out against St. Louis in the final two games of the season. The Giants, meanwhile, closed on a 5-2 run, getting an eighth-inning home run from Willie Mays in the final game of the season to draw into a dead heat with the Dodgers.

That forced the second three-game playoff between the Giants and the Dodgers in nine seasons. Game one featured Sandy Koufax going against the Giants' Billy Pierce. Koufax had been good in 1962, but he was still a year away from being the unhittable pitcher everybody remembered, and the Giants knocked him out of the box in the second inning after a pair of home runs. Pierce's complete-game three-hitter led the way, and the Giants won 8-0.

The Giants took an early lead in game 2, as well, and seemed well on their way to the National League pennant when they took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. But the Dodgers ended their 26-inning scoreless streak in a big way, plating seven runs to take a 7-5 lead. The Giants tied the game in the eighth, only to see the Dodgers win in the bottom of the ninth on a sacrifice fly. The first two games having decided nothing, the 1962 season ended up the way most people thought it was destined to: in a Giants vs. Dodgers, winner-take-all matchup.

The Game
There are moments in sports that you don't want to end, where the excitement is so overwhelming that you want it to last forever. Then there are moments that can't end soon enough, that seem like a car accident happening in slow motion. For the Dodgers, the final inning of the 1962 season fell in the latter category.

They might have felt some impending problems in the bottom of the eighth after failing to score despite loading the bases. They left that inning with a 4-2 lead, but they still might have had that nagging doubt. After all, the Dodgers had virtually given the Giants both their runs, committing three errors in a sloppy third inning to fall behind.

The Dodgers had come back, of course, using a Tommy Davis home run to go up 3-2, then adding a 4th when Maury Wills stole third, then came home on the resulting throwing error. Still, though, the third inning was ugly, and those kinds of things are hard to forget about during tense moments.

It was the little things that made the top of the ninth painful for the Dodgers. After a leadoff single, Harvey Kuenn hit a lazy double-play ball to short, but the Dodgers only got one out. Then came two straight walks to load the bases, another painful thing to watch. I mean, if you're going to blow the pennant in the final inning of the season, you don't want to do it on walks, right? You want to make them earn it.

Of course Willie Mays was up next. The inning was already painful enough, and a run hadn't even scored yet. Mays hit a rocket right up the middle, and here's where fate played a cruel trick on the Dodgers. Pitcher Ed Roebuck could have caught the ball for an out, maybe even fired to a base to get the game-ending double play. Or it could have deflected off his glove to a waiting infielder, who could have found somewhere to get an out. Or the ball could have missed Roebuck entirely, only to be scooped up by a middle infielder for a double play. But of course, none of those things happened. The ball ricocheted off Roebuck and out of danger, allowing a run to score and keeping the bases loaded.

Out came Roebuck, in came Stan Williams. He did a good job, getting Orlando Cepeda to hit a lazy flyball for an easy out. Too bad there was only one out in the inning, so Cepeda's flyball became a game-tying sacrifice fly.

About here is where the inning moved into "when will it end" territory for the Dodgers. Mays hadn't moved up to second on the sacrifice fly, but a wild pitch helped put him there. Ugh. With first base open, the Dodgers then walked Ed Bailey to reload the bases and set up the double play ... only Williams then walked Jim Davenport to force in the go-ahead run. Double ugh. Enter Ron Perranoski, who did a good job by getting a grounder ... only that grounder was manhandled by second baseman Larry Burright for an error, allowing yet another run to come home. Triple ugh.

The pennant race was over, then. The Giants brought in Pierce, who had been brilliant in Game 1, to close the door, and he put the Dodgers down in order to send the Giants to their first World Series on the West Coast.

Postgame
As seemed to happen every time the Dodgers and Giants battled for the National League pennant, the prize was a World Series matchup with the Yankees. Unlike in 1951, though, the Giants put up a good fight against the Yankees. With the series tied at 3, the Giants went into the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 trailing 1-0. With runners on second and third and two outs, Willie McCovey hit a lazer beam toward second base that Yankee Bobby Richardson snagged to secure the World Series. What made the loss more painful for the Giants was that it would be 27 years before they made it to another World Series and 48 years before they finally won a championship in San Francisco.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, reloaded. Sandy Koufax became the pitcher he was always destined to become, Don Drysdale continued his hall-of-fame career, and the Dodgers won three of the next four National League pennants, winning the World Series twice in that span.

The Rundown

6. San Francisco 6, Los Angeles 4 (1962 National League playoff)
7. Chicago 1, Minnesota 0 (2008 AL Central tiebreaker)
8. N.Y. Yankees 5, Boston 3 (1949 American League)
9. Arizona 2, St. Louis 1 (2001 NLDS)
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)

1981 NLDS: 1980 Redux

Pregame

We've already discussed how the 1981 postseason was all kinds of messed up, from the Yankees making the postseason despite being the fourth-best team in the AL East to the Cardinals missing the postseason despite being the best in the NL East. No team was more affected, though, than the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds finished with the best record in baseball in 1981, yet finished a close second in both halves of the season to miss out on postseason play. What should have been a St. Louis - Cincinnati matchup in the NLCS turned into Montreal playing the winner of the NL West Division Series.

That matchup featured first-half champion Los Angeles playing second-half champion Houston. The Dodgers and Astros had met the previous year in a one-game playoff to determine the West Division championship; this year, they would play a five-game series to determine the champion of the West.

The biggest difference between the two teams a year after their tense division battle was the Dodgers' addition of rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela. Valenzuela dominated the National League in his first season, using his unhittable screwball to rack up a league-high eight shutouts and win both the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards.

The Dodgers, predictably, sent Valenzuela out for Game 1, with the Astros countering with flame thrower Nolan Ryan. The starters pitched to a draw, with the game tied 1-1 entering the ninth inning. The Dodgers pinch-hit for Valenzuela in the top of the ninth, but couldn't push a run across. Facing reliever Dave Stewart, the Astros won the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run home run by Alan Ashby.

Game 2 was another great pitching duel, with the Astros winning 1-0 in 11 innings. With the series shifting to Los Angeles, the Dodgers won the next two games, cruising to a 6-1 win in Game 3, and riding Valenzuela's complete game to a 2-1 victory in Game 4. The Game 5 matchup pitted Ryan, who had only given up two hits in his Game 1 win, against Jerry Reuss, who had thrown nine shutout innings for the Dodgers in Game 2.

The Game
1981 had been a good year for pitchers. The Dodgers and Astros each played in a home stadium that had a reputation for being pitcher-friendly parks. So it was no surprise that all five games were tight games where runs were hard to come by. Game 5 was no exception. The only early threats came when the Astros got runners on first and third with one out in the second, and when the Dodgers got runners on second and third with one out in the third. Both starters wiggled out of those jams, though, and settled in for a good early pitchers' duel.

The Dodgers finally broke the ice in the bottom of the sixth, stringing together a walk and three singles to take a 2-0 lead. Then, when it looked like the Astros were going to get out of the inning without further damage, Houston first baseman Denny Walling dropped a throw from third base, turning what would have been the third out into the third Dodger run.

The lead was only 3-0, but it might as well have been 13-0. The losing team had failed to score more than one run in all four previous games in the series, and Reuss had just finished his 15th consecutive scoreless inning in the series. With only three innings left to score three runs, things looked bleak for Houston.

Things got even worse the next inning, when the Dodgers added another run against the Houston bullpen. By then, it was over. Houston never seriously threatened again, and the Dodgers won to advance to the NLCS.

Postgame
The Dodgers pitchers were on fire in the NLDS, and they continued that way through the rest of the playoffs. They had a staff era of 1.84 in the five-game win over the Expos in the NLCS, then held the Yankees to a .238 team batting average in the World Series, winning the title.

The great young pitchers kept it up for the next few seasons, with Valenzuela, Reuss, and Bob Welch leading the Dodgers to division titles in 1983 and 1985. Eventually, though, the heavy workload from the early part of their careers caught up to the pitchers, and all three were either off the team or injured spectators when the Dodgers won their next championship in 1988.

After peaking in 1980 and 81, the Astros fell off a bit for the next few years, rising again to win the division in 1986 before entering a dry spell that lasted until the mid-90s.

The rundown

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)

1980 NL West: Knuckled Under

Pregame
The 1980 National League West race was a tight-three team race all season long. The Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers took turns taking the division lead, with nobody gaining a lead larger than 3.5 games. With the Astros and Dodgers scheduled to play each other the final series of the season, it seemed pretty clear that those final three games would decide the pennant.

Houston almost made those games irrelevant, though, winning two out of three against Cincinnati then sweeping Atlanta to enter the final weekend with a three-game lead over the Dodgers. Playing at home, the Dodgers would need a sweep to force a one-game tiebreaker against the Astros.

In the first game, the Astros were one out from the division title when Ron Cey went to the plate for the Dodgers with runners on first and second. Cey momentarily saved the Dodgers season, driving home pinch-runner Rudy Law with the tying run to send the game to the 10th inning. Once there, catcher Joe Ferguson led off the 10th to give the Dodgers the first of the three wins they needed.

In game 2, Steve Garvey's 4th-inning home run off Nolan Ryan gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, and they would win by that amount to cut their deficit to one game entering the final game. Game 3 featured another late Astros lead, with Houston up 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh. The Dodgers got one back in the seventh, but left the bases loaded. In the eighth, though, Garvey and Cey struck again. Garvey led off the inning by reaching on an error, and then Cey hit a home run to provide the final runs in a 4-3 win. Remarkably, the Dodgers had won three straight to force a tiebreaker.

The Game
The coinflip earlier in the season gave the Dodgers the home game for the tiebreaker, so the two teams stayed right where they were for game 163. It seemed like momentum would be on the Dodgers' side after their three straight dramatic victories to force the tiebreaker game. However, the Dodgers' late push left them with limited options for pitchers, and Dave Goltz, he of the 7-11 record, was tabbed to start. Houston, meanwhile, sent their second-best starter, knuckler Joe Niekro, to the mound.

Whether the Dodgers had used up their emotion and luck in the previous three games, or Houston simply had the better pitching matchup, this game wasn't close from the start. The Astros used two Dodger errors to score twice in the first, then added two more in the third. Then with Goltz out of the game, the Astros scored three more times in the fourth.

That was all the runs the Astros would need. While the previous three games had featured late rallies by the Dodgers, Neikro wasn't going to let that happen this time around. He held the Dodgers to a single unearned run on just six hits, pitching a complete game for his 20th win of the season. With the 7-1 victory, the Astros advanced to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Postgame
They had backed in to the playoffs a bit, having slumped at the end before finally winning the tiebreaker game, but the Astros were still confident entering the League Championship Series. They were facing the Philadelphia Phillies, who had also won their division in the final weekend of the season.

The Astros and Phillies then played one of the most dramatic LCS's in Major League history. After Philadelphia won Game 1 behind the brilliant pitching of Steve Carlton, the Astros won the next two games in extra innings. Needing to win both of the final two games in Houston to advance, the Phillies did just that, winning both in extra innings to advance to the World Series, where they won their first championship. The Astros, meanwhile, would have to wait 25 years to get to the World Series.

February 13, 1995: Nomo-mania

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Before Ichiro Suzuki became a sensation in the Major Leagues, he needed somebody to pave the way. Six years before Ichiro signed his historic contract with the Seattle Mariners, Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese player to jump full-time to the Major Leagues when he signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 13, 1995.

While Major League teams have needed to pay Japanese teams a fee in order to negotiate with Ichiro and other Japanese stars, the Dodgers needed no such fee to sign Nomo. He instead took advantage of a loophole in his contract allowing a player who retired the right to sign with any team. After retiring from his Japanese league team, he was free to join the Dodgers.

What came next was a surprise to everybody. Nomo was followed everywhere by the Japanese media. His starts were broadcast live in the early morning in Japan. The Dodgers became an international sensation, all because they signed the man with the strange, corkscrewing windup.

In a way, Nomo's beginning with the Dodgers mirrored that of Fernando Valenzuela's in 1981. Both were pitchers from a foreign country who used an unusual windup and devastating stuff to dominate hitters in their rookie years. To continue with the comparision, both Nomo and Valenzuela starred in seasons immediately after lengthy strikes, allowing for a new story line to distract fans from the still-fresh labor unrest.

Though Nomo's success in America didn't mirror his success in Japan, he still had his moments. He became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in both the American and National leagues, and he is still the only Japanese pitcher to throw one in America. He won the 1995 Rookie of the Year and started that summer's All-Star Game. More importantly, his success made it possible for other Japanese players to dream of starring in America, opening the door for players like Ichiro to follow in his footsteps.

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HONORABLE MENTION
February 13, 1983: INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Really, I'm just posting this as an excuse to link to Marvin Gaye's National Anthem before the 1983 NBA All-Star Game. Pure gold.

October 19, 1981: Blue Monday

MONTREAL - The Montreal Expos are long gone, but there's still a scar in Olympic Stadium from the 1981 playoffs. The ninth inning of the fifth game of the NLCS that year still haunts Montreal baseball fans, even though the Expos have been playing in Washington, D.C., since 2005. Maybe if things had gone differently, they'd still be in Montreal. Unlikely, but maybe.

It was a cold and dreary Monday afternoon when the Dodgers and Expos met for the deciding game. Originally scheduled for the day before, game 5 had been postponed by rain, allowing the Dodgers to give their ace, Fernando Valenzuela, an extra day of rest. The Expos countered with Ray Burris, who had beaten Valenzuela in game 2. The game was still seen as advantage Dodgers, though; they had the pedigree, having gone to the World Series three times in the previous seven years, and they had their ace, the incomparable Valenzuela who had taken the baseball world by storm in 1981 with a 13-7 record and a shocking eight shutouts.

The Expos had the homefield advantage, though, and they thought they might have had karma on their side when the Dodgers couldn't take advantage of a one-out triple in the first. Montreal responded by pushing across a run in the bottom of the first, using a double, a sacrifice, and a double play ball to get on the board.

And that was it, at least for a while. Valenzuela shut things down from there, giving up only two more hits the rest of the way. But Burris, who had thrown a shutout in his game 2 victory, wasn't giving anything up, either, and the Expos' 1-0 lead was looking larger and larger as the game went along.

The Dodgers finally tied things up in the fifth, as Valenzuela himself drove in a run on a groundout to tie things up. Tie game, both pitchers cruising - it looked like it might come down to which pitcher got tired first.

It wasn't fatigue that knocked Burris out of the game. It was National League rules requiring that pitchers bat. Hoping to get a spark, the Expos replaced Burris with a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth, leading to nothing. On to the ninth. In to pitch for the Expos wasn't one of their great relievers, but starter Steve Rodgers. To be fair, Rodgers had been the Expos' top pitcher for most of their existence, and not knowing how long Valenzuela was going to pitch, they wanted someone in there for the long haul if needed. However, Rodgers had thrown a complete game in game 3, so he was pitching on less rest than normal. Plus, he had only made three relief appearances in his eight-year career before that game, so he was entering uncharted waters here.

The first two batters Rodgers faced went down without too much trouble. The third was Rick Monday, who had scored the Dodgers run. Monday drew a 3-1 count, meaning he could look for a strike. He got it. It landed in the seats.

The Expos still had the bottom of the ninth, but they still had Valenzuela to deal with. He got the first two outs with no problems. One out away from a complete-game two-hitter, Valenzuela finally tired, walking the next two hitters. With the winning run on base, the Dodgers didn't take any chances, replacing him with Bob Welch, who was also a starter but at least had significant relief experience. Welch got the last out. The Dodgers went to the World Series. The Expos never played in the postseason again.

The game came to be known in Montreal as Blue Monday, signifying not only the day the game was played but also the man who had hit the devastating home run. While the Dodgers celebrated a World Championship that fall, the Expos were left lamenting what might have been. The 80s were filled with star-studded Montreal teams that kept finishing in second or third place, just missing the one or two players that would push them over the edge. They finally had those players in 1994, the year the postseason was cancelled when the Expos had the best record in baseball.

And that was it. The lost revenue caused by the strike caused the Expos to sell off their stars, and they never contended again. Eleven years after they were the best team in baseball, 24 years after Blue Monday, the Expos had become the Washington Nationals. Their team was gone, but Montreal fans never got rid of the pain of that rainy Monday afternoon. The scar will always remain.

October 15, 1988: Two bad legs

LOS ANGELES - Kirk Gibson wasn't even in uniform when game 1 of the 1988 World Series began. He had two bad legs, could barely walk, and was all but ruled out of the World Series. That he was even on the World Series roster at all was as a token of gratitude for his incredible first season with the Dodgers.

After nearly a decade with Detroit, Gibson came over to Los Angeles and instantly became the team's biggest hitting threat. In a year where the Dodgers were especially punchless, Gibson was their only truly dangerous offensive player. Add to that the emotional leadership he gave them, and he was an easy choice for NL MVP.

That didn't do him any good, though, sitting in the trainers' room. Without Gibson, and going up against the powerful Oakland A's, the Dodgers looked cooked. He wasn't even announced in the pregame introductions, choosing instead to stay in the clubhouse to get treatment.

During the game, one of the TV announcers casually mentioned how Gibson was hurt and not even in uniform. That pissed Gibson off, and he immediately put on his uniform and began trying to get loose, hoping beyond hope that he could will himself onto the field. In the seventh inning, he sent word to Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda: he was ready to pinch hit if he was needed.

The Dodgers entered the ninth trailing 4-3, thanks to a grand slam by Jose Canseco in the second inning that dented the center field camera. Oakland sent Dennis Eckersley, the best reliever in the world, out to the mound. Even though it was only a one-run game, Lasorda didn't want to use Gibson unless he could win the game, so Gibson waited on the bench while the first two batters went down quietly. A pinch-hitting Mike Davis provided a glimmer of hope by drawing a two-out walk, and then Lasorda made the call.

Dodger fans, hoping for a miracle, cheered wildly when Gibson was introduced. Here was their MVP, hoping for one more big blast for his team. For people watching at home, though, it didn't look good. The man could barely walk to home plate - how was he supposed to get a good swing off Eckersley?

After two fouls, Gibson hit a foul ball down the first base line made it look even worse, as he could barely get out of the batters box. It became apparent that he had to hit the ball past the outfielders to even be guaranteed of making it to first base. But he stuck with it. Another foul, sandwiched between two out of the zone. Davis stole second on ball three. It was a full count.

As Eckersley got set for the 3-2 pitch, Gibson called time and stepped out of the box. He adjusted his gloves, took one swing, examined his bat, and thought. Every pitch Eckersley had thrown him to that point had been a fastball. What if he tried to sneak that slider past him? He stepped back in, waiting. Eckersley kicked his leg and fired.

A waist-high slider. An awkward, almost one-armed swing. A line drive to right. Canseco looking up. Gibson painfully running to first, his right fist in the air. The Dodgers leaping out of the dugout, Lasorda leading the way, waving his arms. Gibson doing the now-famous double fist pump as he rounded second base. Jack Buck yelling "I don't believe what I just saw!" Gibson getting mobbed as he reached home plate.

.........

Kirk Gibson only had one at bat in the 1988 World Series. After his game 1 blast, he was far too injured to even consider playing again. But it didn't matter. His home run had changed the course of the series like no other one before it. The Dodgers had all the inspiration they needed, beating the heavily favored A's in five games. Orel Hershiser won the World Series MVP award for two masterful complete-game wins, but everybody knew who the true MVP was. It was a man who stepped up when his team needed him, who delivered despite a debilitating injury. It was a man who won a World Series with one swing.

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