MLB History: Ten Biggest Pennant Race Collapses

In spirit of the San Francisco Giants fighting to avoid missing the playoffs after holding the best record in baseball at the All-Star Break, let’s take a look at the ten biggest collapses in MLB history.

It’s September. Your team has a huge division lead and they’re cruising towards the playoffs. All seems to be going well in your baseball world until, seemingly out of nowhere, it happens. They collapse. Whether it be injuries, a tough schedule, or maybe just some bad luck, something goes awry and your favorite MLB team finds themselves on the outside looking in at October baseball.

This season, it’s the Giants who are threatening to join the ranks of biggest collapses in MLB history. At 57-33, San Francisco held the best record in the league entering the All-Star Break and seemed poised to keep their even year magic alive. Since then, the Giants have limped through two months of disappointing baseball and now find themselves only a game up on the Mets for the top Wild Card spot.

If the Giants continue to let their season slip from their grasp and fall out of the playoff picture, their collapse would go into heavy consideration for one of the worst in the history of the sport. In fact, they have a chance to be the first team in MLB history to have the best winning percentage in the first half and the worst in the second.

Speaking of the biggest collapses in baseball history, who’s disappointing seasons would rival that of the Giants? The 1987 Blue Jays blew a three-and-a-half game lead over their final seven games and the 1993 Giants held a ten-game advantage in late-July but missed out on the postseason, do they make the cut? Here are the top ten biggest pennant race collapses in MLB history.

Next: No. 10