The Hardball Times carried an article written after Game 3 on the Top 12 bizarre endings for World Series games. The author rated Game 3, which ended on a walk-off obstruction call (and how weird does that phrase sound to a baseball fan!), as #1 but then had to add an update after Game 4, which ended on a pick off play, which he rated as # 10. So the 2013 World Series already has two of the top 13 bizarre game endings in series history and has spawned its own twitter feed speculating on how Game 5 may end; I saw my favorite elsewhere - aliens land on the field in the 9th and are promptly signed by the Dodgers to megabucks long-term contracts.
Game 3:
The former #1 was the almost no-hitter thrown by Bill Bevens of the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1947 Series. Bevens had control problems all day, walking ten, but did not give up a hit until with two outs in the ninth, Cookie Lavagetto hit a double driving in the winning run. The game ended with Bevens losing the no-hitter and the game.
My personal favorite is rated #10, the seventh game of the 1926 World Series which ended with Babe Ruth thrown out trying to steal second! This game is also famous for the relief appearance of Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander in the seventh inning. Alexander, a 39 year old future Hall of Famer, had pitched a complete game victory for the St Louis Cardinals the day before, when he was unexpectedly called in to face Tony Lazzeri of the Yankees with the bases loaded and two out. He struck out Lazzeri, retired the Yankees in order in the eighth and then retired the first two Yankees in the ninth before walking Ruth who decided to try to steal second.
With Game 4's ending, the Red Sox have been involved in 5 of the Top 13 (38%) bizarre endings even though they've only played in about 12% of World Series games since 1903.
No comments:
Post a Comment