Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 8: They Called Him Pudge

Game 3, 2003 National League Division Series: San Francisco Giants at Florida Marlins

October 3, 2003, Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida

Series tied 1-1

How Game 4 ended. Who looks like
they're in more pain here? The catcher
or the runner?

If you're familiar with this series, it's because you know how it ended: With San Francisco's J.T. Snow plowing into Florida's Ivan Rodriguez at the plate, hoping to knock the ball out of Rodriguez's glove to tie Game 4 in the bottom of the 9th. Rather than drop the ball, Rodriguez held on, giving the Marlins the series win. After being mobbed by teammates, Rodriguez escaped from the pile and held the ball aloft in his bare had, showing the world that it was still there. It was the iconic moment of a Hall-of-Fame career.

It was, of course, a little strange that his iconic moment came as a member of the Marlins. In 2003, after more than a decade with the Texas Rangers, the man called Pudge had done everything you could ask for. He was best fielding catcher of his generation, possibly of all time, and he was a consistent .300 hitter with good power. He had even won a league MVP award. The only thing man called he hadn't done with the Rangers was win in the playoffs. For all his brilliance, the Rangers only went to the postseason three times during Rodriguez's time there, only winning one game on those series. He was a great player who didn't get a chance to shine on the biggest stage.

Rodriguez's time with the Rangers ended unceremoniously, with Texas simply letting him walk without even offering him arbitration. A free agent for the first time, Rodriguez surprised a lot of people around baseball by signing a one-year deal with the young Florida Marlins. Not usually known for spending big bucks on free agents, the Marlins gave Rodriguez a one-year, $10 million deal, paying more than double what they paid anybody else on the roster. The hope was the Marlins could use Rodriguez's veteran experience to help their young future stars develop more, while Rodriguez could use his one-year contract to prove to the rest of baseball that he still had it.

Whether because of the presence of Rodriguez or because their younger players were ready to take the leap, the Marlins surprised everybody by making the playoffs in 2003. Their reward for earning just their second playoff berth ever was a first-round date with the defending National League champion Giants. After a split of the first two games in San Francisco, the Marlins came home to a rare sellout crowd for Game 3.

And that's when Pudge started building his legend. 

It started with a one-out double by Luis Castillo in the bottom of the first. After fouling off a couple of pitches, Rodriguez got an inside fastball and drilled it into the left field seats for his first postseason home run. The ecstatic Marlins leapt out of the dugout to meet Rodriguez, and he had to make it through a gauntlet of teammates just to put his catcher's gear back on. 

A 2-0 lead in the 1st inning isn't normally a big deal, especially with one of the best hitters of all time in the other dugout, but the Marlins made it last until the 6th inning. The Giants loaded the bases with one out against Marlins starter Mark Redman. Redman induced a ground ball from Jose Cruz, but Cruz beat the relay to first to prevent the double play and allow the Giants' first run to score. One batter later, the Giants tied the game, and the Marlins were left to rue the double play that wasn't turned.

From there, it was a contest to see who could leave the most runners on base, and in that regard, the Giants won. San Francisco left nine runners on base between the 6th and 10th innings without scoring a run. The Marlins left "only" seven on in that time, but that included the three left on base in the bottom of the 10th when pinch-hitter Lenny Harris popped out to third.

Finally, in the 11th inning, the Giants broke through, putting runners on the corners with nobody out thanks to a botched double play ground. After a sacrifice fly, they were ahead 3-2. But they weren't done, loading the bases for Cruz with still only one out. But Cruz grounded to the pitcher and Snow grounded to second to end the threat.

So now it was the bottom of the 11th, and it was Florida's last chance to rally. And their last chance started strangely, with Jeff Conine lifting a lazy flyball to right that Cruz just flat-out dropped. Nothing tricky about it - just a Major League outfielder dropping a fly ball. After a walk, Miguel Cabrera - yes, the one who is still playing, the one who will get his 3,000th career hit this season - dropped down a bunt to move the runners over. After an intentional walk, Luis Castillo grounded to reliever Tim Worrell. Worrell fell to the ground while trying to field it, but somehow grabbed it with his bare hand and got the throw home in time for the second out

How Game 3 ended. A much less
painful way to win a game.

So it was up to Pudge. Down by 1, two outs in the 9th. Pudge wanted to be batting in this situation, and the Marlins wanted him to be batting. He was the reason they had gotten this far in the first place. So his single to right seemed preordained. Two runs scored, and Marlins went crazy, and Rodriguez celebrated the greatest moment of his career.

A moment that ranked as number 1 for less than 24 hours.

Rodriguez only played one season for the Marlins, but they made it count, riding his leadership all the way to the World Series championship. It was the only title of Rodriguez's career. While he went into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Rangers, it was that World Series run - specifically his two game-saving moments against the Giants - that will be his biggest legacy.

Game 3, 2003 National League Division Series Overall Rank: 8 Top 10 Swing: 225 Top play: Ivan Rodriguez's game-winning single (WPA of 73% for Florida) Loser's largest WE: 90 T11, 1 out, bases loaded, San Francisco up 3-2, Jose Cruz batting Average LI: 1.99 Highest leverage moment: 10.84 (Rodriguez's at bat in the bottom of the 11th)

2012 World Series: Explaining the Rankings

The Teams
National League: San Francisco Giants (94-68) - Fifth World Series (Won in 2010)
American League: Detroit Tigers (88-74) - 11th World Series (Won in 1935, 1945, 1968 1984)

OK, so this year's World Series was pretty much a downer. Well, Giants fans probably didn't think so, but pretty much everybody else was bored by it. It was a sweep, and while the games looked close on the scoreboard, they didn't really feel close. I threw it at number 88 in the rankings, and it's not really worth dedicating many more words to it.

But I figured it'd be worth explaining how I came to rank this one as the 88th best of all time so that people wouldn't think this was just a long drawn-out excuse to reiterate how the 1991 Series was the best of all time. Believe it or not, there was a method to my madness. The method wasn't perfect, but considering it was something I came up with in about 10 minutes back in January - seriously, I spent the entire year doing this? - it seemed to hold up pretty well, especially at the top end of the rankings.

Anyway, it was pretty simple. Points were awarded for each of the following:

• One point for every game played. I figured this would be an easy way to give a seven-game series an advantage over one that ended with a sweep. 
• One point for every game that was a two- or one-run game
• One point for every game where the winning team scored the winning run in its final at bat
• One point for every game in which, at a minimum, the tying run was at the plate at the end of the game (walk-off wins are included in this category)
• One point for every extra-inning game
• Bonus points (1 through 5) awarded for legendary moments (Kirk Gibson's home run, Babe Ruth's called shot, Floyd Bevens' lost no-hitter, etc.). This was by far the most subjective measure.

And that's it. It wasn't perfect, obviously, as one or two good games tended to skew the results. For example, virtually every extra-inning game also fell into most of the other categories. And my judgement in the "bonus" category could swing a series up as many as 20 places higher than it would have normally placed. But like I said, overall I'm happy with the order established.

So how did this year's Giants-Tigers World Series make the list as number 88? Count with me:

• Four games in the series (4 points total)
• Three two- or one-run games (3 points; 7 total points)
• One game where the winning run was scored in the final at bat (just Game 4; 8 total points)
• One game where the tying run was at the plate at the end (ditto Game 4; 9 total points)
• One extra-inning game (Game 4 again; 10 total points)
• No bonus points. To be fair, this one was the hardest to judge, as who knows what will be most remembered about this series in 10, 20, or 30 years. In reality, though, most people will see "Giants sweep Tigers" and have absolutely no recollection that this series ever actually happened.

Total: 10 points, good for a tie with spots 82-88. That reminds me of another thing: I had a lot of ties with this system. A lot of ties. When that happened, I did my best to rank the tied series using nothing more than my gut feeling. And my gut feeling says that the 2012 series was the worst of the 82-88 stretch. So it gets ranking number 88.

And now my World Series countdown is done. And I don't know what to do now. I unexpectedly spent an entire year doing this without a definite plan for what comes next. We'll see. For those who followed along from start to finished (mostly composed of people named Nicci), thanks.

Scores  
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Detroit	3	0	0	3
San Francisco	8	2	2	4 (10)

The List
I'm ranked all the World Series. Here they are:

1. 1991 - Minnesota (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-3
2. 1975 - Cincinnati (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
3. 1924 - Washington (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
4. 2001 - Arizona (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
5. 2011 - St. Louis (N) def. Texas (A) 4-3
6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3

10. 2000 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-0
11. 1986 - New York (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
12. 1962 - New York (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
13. 1926 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
14. 1995 - Atlanta (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-2
15. 1960 - Pittsburgh (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
16. 1952 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
17. 1997 - Florida (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-3
18. 1993 - Toronto (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
19. 1956 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3

20. 1973 - Oakland (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
21. 2002 - Anaheim (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
22. 1980 - Philadelphia (N) def. Kansas City (A) 4-2
23. 1911 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
24. 1915 - Boston (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
25. 1971 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
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

30. 1957 - Milwaukee (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
31. 1985 - Kansas City (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
32. 1969 - New York (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-1
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

40. 1953 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-2
41. 1941 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-2
42. 1958 - New York (A) def. Milwaukee (N) 4-3
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

50. 1948 - Cleveland (A) def. Boston (N) 4-2
51. 1917 - Chicago (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
52. 1903 - Boston (A) def. Pittsburgh (N) 5-3
53. 1916 - Boston (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-1
54. 1949 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-1
55. 1942 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-1
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

60. 1936 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
61. 1909 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
62. 2005 - Chicago (A) def. Houston (N) 4-0
63. 1950 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-0
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

70. 1922 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 4-0, 1 tie
71. 1970 - Baltimore (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
72. 1931 - St. Louis (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-3
73. 1967 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
74. 1968 - Detroit (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
75. 1920 - Cleveland (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 5-2
76. 1945 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-3
77. 1940 - Cincinnati (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
78. 2009 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
79. 1984 - Detroit (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-1

80. 1983 - Baltimore (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
81. 1913 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
82. 1930 - Philadelphia (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-2
83. 1914 - Boston (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-0
84. 1951 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
85. 1939 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-0
86. 1910 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 2012 - San Francisco (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0
89. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
90. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1

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

101. 1976 - Cincinnati (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
102. 1907 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0 (1 tie)
103. 2007 - Boston (A) def. Colorado (N) 4-0
104. 1938 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
105. 1998 - New York (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-0
106. 1989 - Oakland (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-0
107. 1928 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
108. 1919 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

1962 World Series: One Foot Higher

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (96-66) - 27th World Series (Won 19 previous times) 
National League: San Francisco Giants (103-62) - First World Series

What Happened
Willie McCovey stood at the plate, staring down Ralph Terry. Two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Matty Alou was the tying run on third, while Willie Mays stood at second as the World Series-winning run. First base was empty, practically begging the Yankees to put McCovey there. It made sense, after all. McCovey's run meant nothing - if Mays came around to score, the series was over. Plus, McCovey had absolutely killed Terry all series long, homering off him in Game 2 and tripling off him earlier in Game 7.

Terry probably wanted to walk McCovey, too. With their personal history, plus Terry's ignominy of having given up the first ever World Series-ending home run two years earlier, he probably wanted McCovey safely at first where he could do no harm. It was the smart play, being correct both statistically and emotionally. And yet Yankee manager Ralph Houk wasn't moved. He had Terry to pitch to McCovey, a decision that was very possibly the worst in World Series history. So Terry pitched. And McCovey swung a violent swing, the kind of swing that could have taken down a brick wall, and he made contact, pulling a screaming line drive in the general direction of second baseman Bobby Richardson.

It had been a long season for the Giants, even longer and more stressful than baseball seasons typically are. They had fought neck-and-neck with the Dodgers all season long, one of the tightest pennant races of all time. Unlike their dramatic pennant battle of 1951, there wasn't a dramatic collapse this time around. Instead, neither team ever held a lead of more than five games at any point in the season, and they spent most of September trading the lead. It was fitting, then, that they ended up tied at the end of the season, requiring their second three-game playoff in 11 years.

They were in different cities, a different coast even, but the playoff played out the same way. Once again, Giants and Dodgers split the first two games, and once again, the Giants entered the ninth inning of the third game trailing. And once again, they came from behind, scoring twice to tie it and then taking the lead on, of all things, a bases-loaded walk.

The Giants held on, and entered the World Series against The Machine Known as the Yankees completely exhausted. And yet they made a series of it. They lost Game 1 - played the day after their dramatic pennant-clinching win over the Dodgers - but scored against Whitey Ford, ending his World Series scoreless-inning streak at 33. They won Game 2, escaped Yankee Stadium with one win in three games, then waited out three days of rain to win Game 6.

And here they were, in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7. The only run had come on a double-play ball in the fifth. Aside from that, Terry and Jack Sanford had completely shut the door. Then came the ninth, and Alou led off for the Giants with a bunt single. His brother Felipe couldn't bunt him over, striking out. Inexplicably, manager Alvin Dark ordered another sacrifice attempt; unfathomably, Chick Hiller also failed, striking out himself. So the Giants had wasted two outs, and Matty Alou hadn't gone anywhere.

And it was all up to Mays. Really, there were worse fates than having your season come down to an at bat by Willie Mays. And Mays did the job, ripping a line shot to right field that seemed destined to tie the game. But Roger Maris made the play, the kind of play that doesn't show up in a boxscore, that's almost impossible to reflect statistically, but the play that saved the series. He somehow cut the ball off before it got to the wall, then got the ball in on time to hold Alou at third. Mays ended up at second, leaving first base open for McCovey.

But Terry threw the pitch to McCovey, and McCovey ripped it to the right side. Had it been a foot higher, or a foot lower, or a foot to the left, Alou and Mays would have run home and the Giants would have been World Champions. As it was, it was right at Richardson, hit him in the glove, almost knocked him over. But he held on. And like that, the Yankees were champions. They hugged Richardson, carried Terry off the field, then disappeared into the clubhouse to drink a few beers and disperse for the offseason. The Machine had won again.




Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

New York	6	0	3	3	5	2	1
San Francisco	2	2	2	7	3	5	0

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

12. 1962 - New York (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
13. 1926 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
14. 1995 - Atlanta (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-2
15. 1960 - Pittsburgh (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
16. 1952 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
17. 1997 - Florida (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-3
18. 1993 - Toronto (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
19. 1956 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
Numbers 20-29
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

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

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

2002 World Series: Of Monkeys and Angels

The Teams
American League: Anaheim Angels (99-63) - First World Series
National League: San Francisco Giants (95-66) - Third World Series

What Happened
It was the seventh inning stretch of Game 6, and the Giants were up 5-0. Russ Ortiz threw his final warmup pitches, ready to go for the bottom of the seventh, his team nine outs from their first World Series title since moving west from New York in 1958. The Anaheim crowd was mostly sitting on their hands, stunned, accepting of their team's fate. It looked like the Angels' magical run through the postseason was over.

And then it happened. On the big center field scoreboard, there appeared a monkey. She was jumping up and down as the words "Rally Time" flashed above her. It was cute, but something you'd expect at a low-level minor league game. And the crowd went nuts.

That's the thing with lucky charms. By themselves, they don't bring luck. They don't have magical powers allowing would-be fly balls to drift over the outfield wall, allowing screaming liners to drift just low enough to land right in a fielder's glove. Their success or failure is entirely random. But what lucky charms can provide is something that can't be measured. If enough people believe that something is lucky, it doesn't have to be true. Baseball is among the most mental of sports, for both the participants and the fans, so a stadium-wide belief in a recording of a jumping monkey can be surprisingly powerful.

For the Angels, the Rally Monkey was all powerful. Several times in 2002, they had overcome a late-game deficit immediately after the Rally Monkey showed up on the scoreboard, and so the fans believed in him. And sitting in their dugout, hearing their fans going nuts and urging them on, the Angels must have started to believe in themselves.

Up to that point late in Game 6, the Angels had lost all momentum in the series. After splitting the first two games at home - including a mind-numbing 11-10 win in Game 2, the Angels had pounded the Giants 10-4 in Game 3. But then the Giants took over, scoring the final four runs in a 4-3 Game 4 win, eviscerating the Angels 16-4 in Game 5, then taking a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh here in Game 6. The Giants had all the momentum, until that damn monkey took it away.

Garrett Anderson started the inning by grounding out. That didn't quiet down the fans. The Rally Monkey had never let them down before, after all. Two straight singles came next, making the crowd yell even louder and sending Ortiz to the showers. Felix Rodriguez came in to face Scott Spiezio, and after an eight-pitch at bat, Spiezio belted a home run to make it 5-3. The Giants got out of the seventh, but the Rally Monkey wasn't done. Darin Erstad led off the eighth with a home run. After two more singles, the Giants brought in closer Robb Nen. The first batter he faced, Troy Glaus, blasted a double. Two runs scored. The Angels were ahead. The Rally Monkey had done his job.

The Angels got through the ninth without having to face Barry Bonds, who was in his unstoppable prime, and the series went to Game 7. And after the drama of Game 6, Game 7 was a bit anticlimatic. John Lackey and three relievers held Bonds to just a single and the Giants to just one run on six hits. The Angles took a 4-1 lead after three innings, then shut the door, taking that lead into the ninth inning. The Giants got two runners on base in the ninth, but could get no further, and the Angels and their magical monkey won their first World Championship.

MVP
If there was ever a series where a player from the losing team deserved to win the MVP, it was this one. No hitter in baseball history was as feared as Barry Bonds in 2002, and with good reason. Against the Angels, he batted .471 with four home runs and eight runs scored, all despite being walked a mind-numbing 13 times in seven games. But, the writers will likely never again vote someone from the losing team as MVP, so Troy Glaus got the award. His 10 hits and 8 runs batted in were highs for the series, and he got the hits that put the Angels ahead for good in both Games 3 and 6.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

San Francisco	4	10	4	4	16	5	1
Anaheim	3	11	10	3	4	6	4

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

21. 2002 - Anaheim (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
22. 1980 - Philadelphia (N) def. Kansas City (A) 4-2
23. 1911 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
24. 1915 - Boston (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
25. 1971 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
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

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

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

2010 World Series: A Giant win

The Teams
National League: San Francisco Giants (92-70) - Third World Series
American League: Texas Rangers (90-72) - First World Series

What Happened
Quick, say something that happened in the 2010 World Series. QUICK! It was only two years ago, after all. It should be easy.

I watched almost every pitch of that World Series, and the only two things I remember were Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee running off the mound in the seventh inning of Game 7 and Giants closer Brian Wilson screaming and crossing his arms after the last out of the series. That's it. It was just two years ago, and that's all I can remember. So what happened?

What happened is the Rangers didn't show up. Their vaunted offense hit only .190 for the series, and their pitchers had a collective ERA of almost 6.00. Lee, their ace, was brought in specifically for this series, to help give the Rangers a championship. He was pounded like a piñata in Game 1, getting knocked out in the fifth. After an 11-7 win in Game 1 - a game that wasn't even that close - the Giants scored seven runs in the 8th inning of a 9-0 Game 2 win.

The Rangers came home to Texas battered and beaten, but they looked like they had shifted the momentum with a 4-2 win in Game 3. But Madison Baumgarner, the Giants fourth starter, threw a three-hit shutout in Game 4, and Tim Lincecum beat Lee in a battle of the aces in Game 5. The Giants were World Champions for the first time since relocating to San Francisco.

Defining Game
Game 5. The final game of the series turned became the pitching duel that everybody hoped Game 1 would be, with aces Lee and Lincecum trading zeroes for most of the game. Entering the seventh, there had only been five hits in the game, but Edgar Rentaria's two-out three-run home run made it 3-0 Giants. Nelson Cruz hit a solo shot in reply for the Rangers in the seventh, but it wasn't enough, and the 3-1 win gave the Giants their championship.

MVP
Renteria. His Game 5 home run that clinched the series was his second of the series. It was also the second time in his career he had the game-winning RBI in the clinching game of the World Series. He also batted .417 for the Giants. For his heroic efforts, the Giants rewarded him by not re-signing him that offseason. Thanks, I guess.

Scores
(Home team in Bold)

Texas	7	0	4	0	1
San Francisco	11	9	2	4	3

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

98. 2010 - San Francisco (N) def. Texas (A) 4-1
99. 1937 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
Numbers 100-107

1989 World Series: The Earthquake

The Teams
American League: Oakland Athletics (99-63); fifth World Series (won in 1972, 1973, 1974)
National League: San Francisco Giants (92-70); second World Series

What Happened
The 1989 World Series will always be remembered for the earthquake that occurred moments before Game 3. More than 3,700 people were injured and 63 people were killed in the quake, and the World Series was postponed for 10 days while the region. Strangely, the excitement of a World Series featured the two Bay Area teams likely kept the number of casualties down; because of the large number of people who either left work early to watch the game or stayed late to join special viewing parties, the normally busy freeways were unusually quiet when the earthquake hit. Since the vast majority of the deaths occurred when a section of freeway collapsed, it's easy to say that the World Series saved hundreds of lives that day.

This series is always remembered for the earthquake, almost exclusively so. That's because the action on the field was largely forgettable. The Giants were a ho-hum team that year, making the World Series only because they played the Cubs in the playoffs; you know, because everybody beats the Cubs. The A's, meanwhile, were a great team, in the second year of what would turn into three straight American League titles.

After losing to the Dodgers the previous year, the A's added future hall-of-famer Rickey Henderson in a midseason trade in 1989, turning an already great lineup into the stuff of legends. With Henderson at the top of the lineup, and the Steroid Bash Brothers of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire ready to drive him in, the A's were nearly unstoppable. San Francisco had no chance. Oakland hit nine home runs in the four games, never trailed in the series, and laid down a thrashing that was forgotten as soon as it was over.

Defining Game
Game 3. When your pregame report is interrupted by an earthquake that's televised live across the nation, it's pretty safe to say that's your defining moment of the series.

MVP
Henderson batted .474 with five extra-base hits in his first World Series; Carney Lansford hit .438; Terry Steinbach drove in nine runs. Any one of Oakland's hitting stars could have been the MVP. Pitcher Dave Stewart was the official winner, and it's hard to argue with that choice. He threw a complete-game shutout in Game 1, then gave up only three runs in 8 innings in Game 3 after the break. In between, he spent time on the streets helping Oakland begin the recovery from the earthquake. A very deserving MVP.

The Scores
(Home team in Bold)

San Francisco	0	1	7	6
Oakland	5	5	13	9

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

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

1987 NLCS: Whiteyball wins

How They Got Here
The 1987 season is notorious for the power surge that happened all around baseball. Players who had never been home run threats were suddenly becoming power hitters as the game started one of its periodic power swings.

The San Francisco Giants rode that power surge all the way to the playoffs. One of two teams in the National League to hit more than 200 home runs, the Giants had 10 players reach double figures in long balls. After a sleepy start to the season, the Giants stepped on the gas in mid-August and ended up winning the West Division by six games over Cincinnati.

St. Louis never got the memo about 1987 being a home run year. The Cardinals hit groundballs that scooted past outfielders on the quick artificial turf, bunted to their hearts' content, and stole base after base after base. Their style of play was called "Whiteyball" after manager Whitey Herzog, and it gave them their third East Division title in six seasons.

(As an aside, I don't know if you were paying attention, but in the NL, Cincinnati was in the West Division, and St. Louis was in the East. The leaders of the National League would ask that you not look at a map right now, because they sure as hell didn't.)

The NLCS was supposed to be a study in contrasting styles, especially since Jack Clark, the only Cardinal to hit more than 12 home runs, was out for the postseason with an injury. The Giants held up their end of the bargain by hitting three home runs in the first two games, but St. Louis had trouble getting the baserunning going. The Cardinals failed to steal a base and were lucky to escape St. Louis with the series tied 1-1.

The Giants hits six more home runs in the three games in San Francisco, including two more by Jeffrey Leonard, who homered in each of the first four games of the series. The Giants won two of the three games at home and went back to St. Louis one win away from the World Series.

John Tudor made them wait, throwing seven shutout innings in Game 6 as the Cardinals escaped 1-0. Game 7 was a matchup between the Cardinals' Danny Cox and San Francisco's Atlee Hammaker.

The Game
Whiteyball hadn't worked too well in the first six games for St. Louis, but it worked wonders early in Game 7. After a scoreless first, St. Louis opened the second inning with three straight one-out singles to take a 1-0 lead. Up next was Jose Oquendo.

Oquendo was the true definition of the utility player. He only hit 14 home runs his entire career, including just 1 in 1987. He also only had 35 stolen bases his career, so baserunning wasn't his forte. But he drew a ton of walks - rare for the mid-80s - and he could play literally any position on the field. That's why he was on the team. At that point in the game, with the pitcher up next, the Cardinals would have taken a single in that situation and been happy with a 2-0 lead.

What they got was a three-run home run, the most unlikely of home runs, to give them a 4-0 lead. It was only their second home run of the series, compared to nine for the Giants, but it was by far the biggest hit of the season.

Frustrated, the Giants gave the Cardinals two more runs. Reliever Scott Garrelts, the fourth Giants pitcher of the game, walked the bases loaded in the sixth. Tommy Herr showed how you could get 100 run batted in without reaching double-digits in home runs with a two-run single to make it 6-0.

Cox responded to his team's surprising offensive outburst in kind. Though he gave up 8 hits to only 5 strikeouts, he got three double plays behind him, throwing a complete-game shutout to send the Cardinals back to the World Series.

The aftermath
After surviving the Giants big bats, the Cardinals were faced with more of the same in the World Series against the Twins. Not only were the Cardinals facing the Twins' bats, but they were up against the noise and white roof of the Metrodome. St. Louis won every home game in the 1987 World Series; unfortunately, they only played three games in St. Louis. The Twins won all four games at home to take home their first World Championship.

The Rundown
What I'm doing.

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

Still to come:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1972 ALCS: Detroit vs. Oakland
1973 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
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)

2002 NLDS: Bonds' redemption

Pregame
The 2002 playoffs were put up or shut up time for Barry Bonds. For all his brilliance, first with the Pirates and then with the Giants, Bonds had never won a playoff series. Most of the time, he was scuffling while his team was valiantly fighting, his team often losing at the bitter end when all they would have needed was one big hit from Bonds.

Bonds headed into the 2002 season coming off a shocking 2001, in which he hit a record 73 home runs. In 2002, teams started walking him en masse, putting him on base 198 times, shattering the single-season record Bonds had set the year before. When he did get pitches to hit, Bonds was nearly unstoppable, winning his first batting title with an impressive .370 average.

Bonds entered the 2002 season with just one postseason home run in 26 career games. After the Giants beat the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS, Bonds hit a relatively meaningless home run in the ninth inning of Game 2 in the Giants' 9-3 loss. Game 3 featured another Bonds home run and another Braves blowout victory. The Giants came back to win Game 4, setting up Game 5.

At that point, Bonds was hitting .214 for the series. The two home runs he had hit were meaningless. He had to be feeling the pressure going into Game 5 in Atlanta.

The Game
Sometimes it isn't a big blast that gives a player redemption. In the second inning of Game 5, Bonds got a bit of redemption, leading off with a single hit the opposite way against the shift to start the Giants' rally. Three batters later, he was trotting home with the game's first run. But that's now where his redemption ended.

Leading off the fourth, Bonds worked the count full against Atlanta's Kevin Millwood before putting the sixth pitch into play. Like his second-inning at bat, it was hit the other way. Unlike that one, though, this one went a long way, clearing the left-field fence for his third home run of the series. This one wasn't a meaningless blast, though. This one gave the Giants a 2-0 lead, letting Giant fans breathe a little easier.

But things never seemed to go easily for Bonds in the playoffs. The Braves loaded the bases in the fifth before Chipper Jones grounded out to end the threat. They scored a run in the sixth and had runners on first and second before to fly outs to center ended that threat.

The Giants led 3-1 entering the ninth, but the Braves put runners on the corners with nobody out. Out in left field, Bonds had to be replaying his teams' past postseason failures, specifically Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS against Atlanta, when the Braves came from behind at home in the ninth to stun the Pirates. This time, it was the Giants in town, but the scene looked eerily familiar.

But Gary Sheffield struck out, continuing a rotten series for him, and Chipper Jones grounded into a series-ending double play. Finally, Bonds had the monkey off his back. For the first time, his team had won a playoff series.

Postgame
With the first playoff victory behind him, Bonds and the Giants ripped through the Cardinals in five games in the NLCS. Bonds hit a home run, but was mostly neutralized by Cardinal pitchers unwilling to throw him a strike. Enter the World Series, where the Giants faced off against Anaheim. Bonds dominated, hitting .471 with four home runs in the seven-game series. But the Giants, having taken a 3-2 series lead, blew a 5-0 lead in Game 6, then took an early lead in Game 7 before losing that one, as well.

Bonds only played in the postseason one more time, with the Giants losing in four games in the next year's NLDS. They wouldn't make the postseason again until 2010, long after Bonds had retired. Their first-round opponent that year? The Atlanta Braves, whom the Giants beat in four on their way to their first World Championship.

The Rundown

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)

September 25, 1986: Great Scott

HOUSTON - The Astros were facing the good kind of pressure before their game on September 25, 1986. Holding a 9.5-game lead in the division, the second playoff appearance in franchise history was virtually assurred. The only question was when they would clinch. Needing only one win, and playing their last home game for a week before heading off on a six-game road trip, the Astros were under a bit of pressure to win the clinching game at home in front of their fans.

Houston sent its ace, Mike Scott, to the mound to try to clinch the division that day against San Francisco. Entering the game with a 17-10 record and a league-best 2.25 ERA, Scott was the best pitcher in the National League that year. It was fitting that he'd get the chance to win the clinching game for the Astros.

Things didn't start out so well, though, as Scott hit leadoff hitter Dan Gladden in the back to start the game. Gladden stole second and moved to third later in the inning, but was left stranded as the Giants went hitless. The second inning started in a similar manner, with Scott walking Chili Davis, watched Davis steal second, then shut down the Giants in order.

That's when Scott went into cruise control. The next five innings were perfect. Counting the last three batters of the second inning, he had retired 18 consecutive batters. After seven innings, he had not given up a hit. With the Astros up 2-0, the division title seemed locked up. Everybody was now focused on whether Scott could finish the job.

With one out in the eighth, Scott finally blinked, walking Phil Ouellette. That turned out to be a fortuitous walk, as the next batter, Harry Spillman, grounded a ball up the middle that second baseman Bill Doran had to dive to stop. Had the play been to first, it's unlikely the Astros would have been able to get the out, but Doran only had to throw to second, getting the force and keeping the no-hitter alive. A fly ball to center ended that threat.

The ninth inning came, and Astros fans were delirious. They were three outs from both the division title and a no-hitter. Scott made it easy by striking out the first two batters, giving him 13 for the game. With two outs in the ninth, Scott got Will Clark to ground to first. Afraid he'd bobble the throw, Scott had first baseman Glenn Davis make the play himself. The Astros had their division crown, and Scott had his no-hitter.

And there was much rejoicing.

There have been 268 no-hitters in Major League history, but Scott's remains the only one that also clinched a championship.

August 22, 1965: Charging the mound, you're doing it wrong

SAN FRANCISCO - The recipe for a baseball brawl is usually pretty formulaic: pitcher hits or nearly hits a batter, batter is upset and shouts something, batter runs at pitcher and misses on a punch attempt, benches empty as players look at each other, fight ends. Pretty simple, pretty predictable.

Every once in a while, the formula changes, leading to a memorable baseball moment. Examples like Robin Ventura getting his ass kicked by a 46-year-old Nolan Ryan come to mind, as does this one between the Twins and Tigers where a Tigers pitcher ended up hurting himself when he jump-kicked a Twins player.

But nobody got the concept of starting a fight more wrong than Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, who hit Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro over his head with a bat in a game.

On August 22, 1965, the Giants and Dodgers were once again in the middle of a tight pennant race, like they had been so many times over the years. Whether the teams were based in New York or California, they always hated each other, and often found themselves battling each other for the National League crown. This year was no different, and the two teams were only 1.5 games apart when they began play that Sunday afternoon.

In the bottom of the third, with Marichal batting, Roseboro threw a ball back to pitcher Sandy Koufax that, in Marichal's view, came too close to his head. Marichal completely lost it, taking his bat and hitting Roseboro twice over the head before otehr players came to break up the fight. Though he ended up being OK, the site of Roseboro profusely bleeding from the attack left many people shaken.

After the very predictable ejection, Marichal was suspended an additional nine games. His suspension could very well have been the difference in a pennant race the Giants lost by 2 games to the Dodgers. It also likely cost him a few years on his induction to the Hall of Fame. While his career numbers indicated he could easily have been inducted on the first ballot, Marichal didn't get in until a few years after he was first eligible, and then only because Roseboro publically campaigned for his induction.

August 7, 2007: 756

SAN FRANCISCO - Where were you when the record fell?

... Wait, you don't remember? Maybe the date will help: August 7, 2007, just before 9:00 Pacific. Oh, see, that might be the problem - that's nearly 11:00 Central and approaching midnight on the East Coast. And that was a Monday, so you probably had to work the next day. But still, you didn't stay up to wait for Barry Bonds to break the home run record? I mean, that's historic!

Everybody remember when Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth. April 8, 1974, in the 4th inning off Al Downing, a fastball hit into the Atlanta bullpen. Everybody knows the scene - Aaron being congratulated by the Dodgers players as he rounded the bases, the two fans catching him to congratulate him, Aaron meeting his mom at home plate - touching. Same thing with Bonds, right?

Really? Nothing?

Would it help if I reminded you of the pitcher? It was ... crap. I had it. I have to look this up, hold on ... Mike Bacsik. Wait, really? Who's Mike Bacsik? Anyway, that's not important. You really don't remember? He didn't run right away, just lifted his arms in celebration and watched it fly. Nothing? You don't remember him meeting his son at home plate? Or the video message Aaron recorded in congratulations? Or seeing Bonds' godfather, Willie Mays, join in the celebration? Nothing, huh?

That's so strange. It was such a historic moment, and you can't picture it. Do you remember Mark McGwire's 62nd? Of course you do - a sharp line drive right down the line, sinking and hooking the entire way, barely clearing the fence. McGwire forgetting to touch first, shaking hands, greeting Sammy Sosa. Easy to remember. But not so much with Bonds, huh?

So tell me, what's the difference? You can't tell me it's the "S" word, because McGwire's just as guilty, if not more so. Is it a personality thing, then? I can buy that. But that's not enough of a reason. It's not a race thing, is it? I hope not. Some people will buy that reasoning, of course, but Aaron is black, too, and while he received far more abuse and grief than any player of his time for that very fact, people still remember his home run. Where they were, how they felt, and so on. Not so much with Bonds.

There are a lot of unknowns about Barry Bonds, and plenty of reasons to not like him. But the simple fact remains that he's the only man to hit 756 home runs at the Major League level. That's gotta be worth something.

May 28, 2006: A confusing home run

SAN FRANCISCO – Great. Now what are we supposed to think? I mean, numbers don’t lie, and according to the numbers, this is something that everybody’s supposed to be celebrating. But instead, we’re debating. What are we supposed to think?

The basic background of the story is this: in the fourth inning of a game on May 28, 2006, San Francisco’s Barry Bonds worked a full count against Colorado’s Byung-Hyun Kim, then hit the payoff pitch deep into the centerfield bleachers at AT&T Park. The San Francisco fans stood and cheered, and fireworks went off, and everybody was happy, though the Giants were still down 6-2.

Woah, wait. What’s that? You say that was Bonds’ 715th home run? Isn’t that one more than Babe Ruth? Huh. That makes things interesting. Historic, even. I mean, there’s no more iconic figure in baseball than Babe Ruth. And Bonds just passed him. Shouldn’t that be cause for massive celebration?

See, that’s where it gets confusing. Drugs will do that, will blur the line between an impressive achievement and a massive case of fraud. Sure, Bonds has never tested positive for drugs, nor has he definitively proven to have taken them, but come on. Look at the guy! I mean, compare what he looked like in Pittsburgh to what he looks like now. There’s no way he’s clean!

But so what, you ask. How much can drugs really help you? Sure, they can help you get stronger than otherwise would have been humanly possible, but that doesn’t help you hit the damn ball. That doesn’t help you recognize the difference between a ball and a strike, a hanging slider and a good slider. And what about all of Bonds’ accomplishments from earlier in his career, when he was truly the best player in the National League long before anybody suspects he took anything? Did his possibly (nay, probably) tainted accomplishments from the later part of his career simply erase everything he did earlier in his career?

It doesn’t help matters that Bonds was and is, by all accounts, a complete and utter ass. I mean, look at home plate after he just passed the Babe. The only person there to greet him is his son. Even the guy who was on base for the home run seems like he was waiting for Bonds only as an afterthought. I know it was only the 4th inning, and that the Giants were losing, but doesn’t it seem strange that he doesn’t have more people waiting to, at the very least, give him a high-five? Is that so much to ask for the guy who now has more home runs than Babe Ruth?

And that’s what really doomed Bonds. Sure, people don’t like the drugs. But he could have been forgiven in the eyes of many if he had just been a nicer guy about it, if he had gotten over his persecution complex a little. Yes, Babe Ruth was white, and Barry Bonds is black, and yes, Babe Ruth never hit a home run against a black pitcher because black pitchers weren’t allowed to play back then. But here’s the truth: If black players had been allowed to play when Ruth was in the league, he still would have hit 714 home runs, or come damn close to it. Talent transcends race. He just would have had competition as the sport’s biggest star. And he probably would have thrived on that competition and, seeing somebody out there who had a chance to outhit him, he likely would have been properly motivated to hit more.

The simple fact is people loved Babe Ruth because he was gregarious, outgoing, dedicated to children, and so on. Everybody who met him had glowing stories about him. People hated Barry Bonds because he was an asshole, or at least seemed that way from afar. Race had nothing to do with it.

There should have been a lot of reasons to celebrate Bonds’ 715th home run. Instead, we were left with a lot of reasons why we weren’t.