MLB: Top Ten Comeback Moments in Baseball History
Baseball is an unpredictable and heartbreaking sport. It provides the excitement of uncertainty that the game is never over until the final out. Through MLB history, there have been teams to come back from seemingly insurmountable deficits.
If there is one thing every fan knows, no lead is safe in baseball. Since the National League was founded in 1876, there have been teams who defy the odds and overcome high-run deficits. While a number of those comebacks occurred during the regular season, many MLB clubs fight against large deficits to win in the postseason.
At this point in the playoffs, we have seen the Chicago Cubs score four runs in the ninth inning to finish off the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of the NLDS. Not to mention the Los Angeles Dodgers forced a fifth game with the Washington Nationals. On top of that, the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers were unable to rally against the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians, who are facing off in the ALCS.
Let this list of baseball’s best comebacks be a glimmer of hope to struggling teams in the postseason and a reality check for those doing well.
August 5, 2001 | Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians
On their way to the 2001 postseason, the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians squared off on August 5. After three innings and a 12-run lead, it seemed as if the Mariners would have no trouble besting the Indians. However, the Mariners eventually became the third team in history to lose a 12-run lead.
What made this collapse so uncharacteristic of Seattle was their incredible regular season record. The Mariners finished 116-46, the all-time best regular season record in baseball history. Regardless, on August 5 the Indians handed the Mariners their 30th loss of the season.
Through the first three innings Seattle scored 12 runs from three singles, three doubles, a sacrifice fly and an error. Despite Jim Thome putting the Indians on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, the Mariners maintained a 12-run lead with two runs in the fifth.
By the seventh inning, the Mariners held a 14-2 lead over the Tribe. Slowly and surely, the Indians started to chip away at Seattle’s lead, scoring three runs in the seventh and four in the eighth. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and trailing 14-9, Cleveland defied the odds and tied the game from a two-run single and a three-run triple. Jolbert Cabrera capped the Indians 15-14 comeback victory with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th.
1951 New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers
Although they came out of the postseason without a World Series championship, the 1951 New York Giants pulled off the undisputed greatest come back in baseball history. Struggling to keep up with the red-hot Brooklyn Dodgers, the Giants spent nearly all of the season in second place. In fact, with less than two months left in the season the Giants trailed their rival by 13 games.
However, as the Dodgers skidded to a 14-13 record in September, the Giants shot ahead and finished the season 40-14. Their two-game sweep of the Boston Braves to end the season tied the Giants with the Dodgers. As a result, a three-game series was set to determine who would move on to the World Series.
“There’s a long drive…it’s gonna be…I believe – the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” –Broadcaster Russ Hodges
The Giants scrapped by with three runs in first game with Jim Hearn on the mound. He pitched a complete game, allowing five hits and one run with five strikeouts. The second game fell in favor of Brooklyn as the Dodgers evened the series with a 10-0 victory. Sheldon Jones allowed only two runs through 2.1 innings, but the Dodgers jumped on George Spencer and Al Corwin as the tie-breaker came down to a decisive third game.
Immediately, it seemed like the Dodgers were bound for the World Series, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Shortly after Bobby Thomson hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the seventh, Brooklyn scored three in the eighth. Trailing 2-4 and on the brink of elimination, Thomson sent the Giants to the World Series with a walk-off, three-run home run.
Game 7, 2003 NLCS | Chicago Cubs vs. Florida Marlins
Every Chicago Cubs fan remembers where they were when they saw Steve Bartman’s blunder in Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS.
The Cubs held first place for much of the first half, but stumbled through the summer months. During the month of July, Chicago held a 12-14 record and at one point were 5.5 games out of first. However, the Cubs went 35-21 during the last two months of the season. Their late season surge put them in first place with less than a week left and they finished one game over the Houston Astros for first place.
The Cubs went on to represent the NL Central division in the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves. Both teams split the first four games and, as the Braves outlasted the Cubs in Game 4, the series was forced into a decisive fifth game. Consistent scoring allowed the Cubs to win Game 5 and move on to the NLCS.
Chicago’s opponent in the NLCS was the Florida Marlins. By the sixth game, the Cubs led the Marlins 3-0 and only needed one more win to secure their spot in the World Series. They held onto their lead until the disastrous eighth inning.
It looked as if Luis Castillo flew out for the second out of the inning. Instead, Bartman stood up and reached out for the foul ball and deflected it away from the glove of leftfielder Moises Alou.
What at first appeared to be a minor mishap resulted in an eight-run comeback by the Marlins. Castillo ended up hitting an RBI single that sparked a pair of RBI doubles, another RBI single and a sacrifice fly. After taking an 8-3 lead, the Marlins hung on to win Games 6 and 7 to eventually become World Series champions.
1985 World Series | Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Umpires are proven to be the necessary evil of the game. Although they make some very questionable calls, baseball would not be the same without their human error. First base umpire Don Denkinger’s ninth inning ruling, later known as The Call, ignited a comeback by the Kansas City Royals to win the 1985 World Series.
And they do not remember it fondly.
During the regular season, the Royals fought hard with the California Angels for first place. They bounced in and out of first until they clinched the division title during the final series of the season. What followed was a very long and exciting postseason for the Royals.
Similar to the ALCS, the Royals found themselves down to a decisive final game in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the identical win-lose pattern as the ALCS, the Royals battled a 3-1 deficit and found themselves three outs away from losing the World Series in Game 6.
Charlie Leibrandt and Danny Cox held the other team scoreless until the Cardinals scored in the eighth inning. Brian Harper singled in a run to give St. Louis the lead and found themselves three outs away from winning the World Series.
Enter Denkinger.
Pinch-hitter Jorge Orta led off the inning with a soft ground ball, which was fielded by the first baseman and toss to reliever Todd Worrell at first. Looking back, Orta was clearly out, but as he tumbled onto the ground behind first base, Denkinger called him safe. After another single and a walk loaded the bases, Dane Iorg hit a two-run RBI single into right field to walk-off Game 6.
The Cardinals’ woes only grew as they saw their three-game lead dwindle away and the Royals become World Series champions.
2012 NLDS | San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds
Just two years after winning their first World Series since the franchise moved to the West Coast, the San Francisco Giants found themselves back in the postseason in 2012. En route to their World Series sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the Giants won six elimination games. By doing so, they became the first National League team to comeback from a two-game deficit to win the NLDS.
As the series shifted to Cincinnati, the favor in the NLDS shifted towards San Francisco. Angel Pagan answered the Reds’ run in the first inning with sacrifice fly in the third inning of Game 3. The game stayed locked at one into the tenth inning. With two leadoff singles and two outs, Joaquin Arias reached base on an error and allowed the go-ahead run to score. Sergio Romo took the mound and closed the game with a three-up-three-down bottom of the tenth.
From there, the Giants slugged their way to victory in Game 4. Pagan led off the game with a solo homer and Gregor Blanco gave the Giants the lead with a two-run homer. Pablo Sandoval homered in the top of the seventh and capped the Giants 8-3 win to tie the series.
Although the Game 5 remained scoreless through the first four innings, the Giants’ six-run fifth inning was enough to complete their comeback. Featuring a grand slam hit by Buster Posey, the Giants withstood the Reds to move onto the NLCS.
The Giants faced another three elimination games against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. Against all odds, the Giants topped the Cardinals and brought home the World Series championship.
1979 World Series | Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Baltimore Orioles
After the Pittsburgh Pirates’ failed comeback in 1978, they resurfaced the following year and successfully grinded against nine-game deficit to reach the postseason.
However, their 46-39 record and fourth place standing midway in the season made it seem as if they would miss the playoffs. Yet, the “We Are Family” Pirates pushed their way to a 52-25 second half to claim first place in the NL East. They won 20 games in the last three months of the season and narrowly bested the Montreal Expos by two games in the division.
After sweeping the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds, the Pirates’ momentum was stopped by the 102-win Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles owned the best record in the Major Leagues by four games and made quick work on the California Angels in the ALCS.
The World Series began with a pair of one-run games, which kept the series even at one. Then, the Orioles put themselves within one game of the championship with victories in Games 3 and 4. With three elimination games standing between them and the championship, the Pirates pulled off one of baseball’s most amazing comebacks.
The offensive efforts of Tim Foli in Game 5 and a 4-0 shutout victory in Game 6, set the stage for Pittsburgh to complete their comeback in dramatic fashion.
The Orioles jumped on the board with a third inning home run off of starting pitcher Jim Bibby. However, Willie Stargell, the World Series MVP, gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead with a two-run homer in the sixth. Two insurance runs in the top of the ninth secured the Pirates lead as they successfully came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series.
1995 ALDS | Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees
Even losing out to reaching the World Series could not overshadow the 1995 Seattle Marines’ incredible comeback in the ALDS.
Late into the season, the Mariners were 51-50 and 12.5 games out of first place. Seattle took advantage of the struggling California Angels to jump up to within a game of first by late September. Their pennant race came down to the final game of the season with the Mariners tied with the Angels. As a result, a one-game tie-breaker was arranged to be played in Seattle. The Mariners won their ticket into the postseason with a 9-1 victory over the Angels, led by a phenomenal compete game from Randy Johnson.
Their momentum quickly wore off as the Mariners fell into a two-game hole against the New York Yankees in the ALDS. After Seattle won Games 3 and 4, the moment of truth came down to Game 5.
Two runs in the bottom of the eighth tied the game and forced extra innings. In the top of the eleventh, the Yankees took the lead with an RBI single off Johnson. In response, the Mariners put two men on base for Edgar Martinez with no outs. Martinez wasted no time and ripped a two-run RBI double into left field. Joey Cora scored easily and Griffey hustled from first base to beat the tag and score the game-winning run.
2011 World Series | St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers
It is amazing to think that on August 28, 2011 the St. Louis Cardinals were 11.5 games out of the Wild Card race. Thanks to an 18-8 September, the Cardinals overtook the Los Angeles Dodgers and entered the postseason as the Wild Card team. Little did they know that they would undergo a long and exciting postseason and come out as world champions.
The Cardinals began the playoffs in the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies. Both teams equally exchanged the first four games to force a decisive fifth game. What ensued was a pitchers duel between Roy Halladay and the Cardinals’ ace, Chris Carpenter. The only run of the game was scored from an RBI double by Skip Schumaker in the top of the first. That was all Carpenter needed, who pitched a complete game shutout and sent the Cardinals to the World Series.
As the pressure rose in the Fall Classic, so did the competition. Although the Cardinals took Games 1 and 3, the Texas Rangers put themselves within one win of the championship with victories in Games 2, 4 and 5.
Game 6 came down to the wire and eventually gave the Cardinals the momentum to win the World Series. Down by two, David Freese faced a 1-2 count with two outs and two on in the ninth inning. One strike away from winning the World Series, Neftali Feliz gave up a two-run triple to send the game into extra innings.
The Rangers struck in the top of the tenth and the Cardinals answered with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Once again, Freese came to the plate and delivered a walk-off homer to lead off the bottom of the eleventh.
After the roller coaster of Game 6, the Cardinals finished off the Rangers without going into extra innings. Freese continued his World Series MVP success by going 1-2 with two RBIs in Game 7. The Cardinals bested Texas 6-2 with another quality start from Carpenter.
2004 ALCS | Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees
Still suffering from the alleged repercussions of trading away Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919, the Boston Red Sox were 85 years into their World Series drought in 2004. They managed to earn their way into the postseason by way of the Wild Card.
They were rudely stopped in their tracks by none other than the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Yankees made quick work of the Red Sox in the first three games.
Heading into Game 4, the Red Sox were trailing the Yankees by three games, a deficit no team in history was able to come back from. By the ninth inning the Yankees were leading Boston 4-3 with Mariano Rivera on the mound. Regardless, the Red Sox jumped on the all-time closer and Bob Mueller tied the game with an RBI single.
The score remained 4-4 until David Ortiz came to bat in the bottom of the 12th with one runner on. Ortiz kept the Red Sox alive with a walk-off, two-run homer.
Curt Schilling took the mound for Game 6 at the incredibly hostile Yankee Stadium. Schilling not only battled the imposing Yankee lineup, he suffered a tendon injury earlier in the playoffs. Prior to his start, he underwent pre-game surgery to suture the tendon to his ankle. He then went on to pitch seven innings and allowed one run in the most heroic start in postseason history. His start allowed the Red Sox to beat the Yankees and tie the series.
By the fourth inning of Game 7, it was obvious the Red Sox were on track to win. The Red Sox scored eight runs by the time the Yankees score their first two runs in the seventh. Boston continued to score in the eighth and ninth and won 10-3.
Although they went on to win the World Series and break the Curse of the Bambino, any Boston fan would say the satisfaction of coming back that far to beat the Yankees was the highlight of the postseason.
June 8, 1989 | Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies
In 1989, the Pittsburgh Pirates were bound for another disappointing season that characterized the 1980s. Over those 10 years, the Pirates finished dead last three years in a row and only finished second twice. When the Pirates faced the Philadelphia Phillies on June 8, things only got worse.
The Pirates jumped on the Phillies in the first inning and took a 10-run lead. It was at that point that ex-Pirates pitcher Jim Rooker swore that “If we don’t win, I’ll walk back to Pittsburgh.”
Seems like a safe bet to make with a 10-run lead, right? Wrong.
The Phillies spend the next five innings chipping away at the Pirates lead. They scored two runs in the first, third and fourth inning before they managed to bring the game within one in the sixth. Steve Jeltz hit a three-run homer and was followed by Ricky Jordan, who hit an RBI single to bring the Phillies 10-11 behind the Pirates.
The Phillies struck the fatal blow in the bottom of the eighth. Including a go ahead home run hit by Darren Daulton, Philadelphia scored five runs and went on to beat the Pirates 15-11.
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Sure enough, Rooker was good to his promise. Although he did not walk to Pittsburgh that day, he used the opportunity to raise money for charity and made the trek in October of that year.