The 25 most decisive plays in World Series history
By Bill Felber
24. Game 7, October 10, 1924, New York Giants at Washington Senators
Earl McNeely vs. Virgil Barnes. Change in Championship Probability: 28.47 percent.
Like Game 7 in 1991, the seventh game of the 1924 World Series between the Washington Senators and New York Giants is considered among the all-time classics. Three moments from that game rank among the 25 most decisive in World Series history.
Oddly, those three unfolded chronologically in reverse order of their statistical importance. That means what appears to have been the series’ climactic moment only ranks 24th on this list, behind the two moments that preceded it in time. Those two scene-setting moments will be dealt with later.
For the present it is enough to know that the game was tied at 3-3 entering the bottom of the 12th inning. That’s when fate finally decided the issue.
With one out, catcher Muddy Ruel, lifted an easy foul pop near home plate. But veteran Giants catcher Hank Gowdy somehow managed to get his foot caught in his discarded catcher’s mask, tripping and giving Ruel new life. Ruel seized the opportunity, and rolled a hot grounder into left field, racing to second base.
Walter Johnson, working in relief, was the next hitter. With the Series winning run in scoring position, one out and a pitcher batting, one might have assumed that manager Bucky Harris would lift Johnson for a pinch hitter. But Harris had three excellent reasons not to do so: He needed Johnson on the mound, he had nothing to speak of left on his exhausted bench, and besides that Johnson was actually a decent hitter. He had batted .283 that season with 14 RBIs.
Again fate intervened. Johnson bounced a grounder to Travis Jackson at shortstop, but the usually reliable fielder bobbled the ball and could not make a play. With runners at first and second and still just one out, Earl McNeely, the team’s leadoff hitter, got the next shot.
McNeely rapped Bentley’s first pitch on a sharp hop toward third baseman Fred Lindstrom, and fate took a third healthy swing of its own. What might have been an inning-ending double play ball instead caromed over LIndstrom’s head into left field as Ruel raced home with the run that gave Washington its first – and until 2019 only—World Series flag.
As McNeely stood in, the odds of a Senators victory had climbed to 72 percent. McNeely added the final 28 percent.
23. October 27, 1991, Atlanta Braves vs. Minnesota Twins
Sid Bream vs. Jack Morris. Change in Championship Probability: 28.75 percent
Moments before Hrbek’s dramatic line out (see entry 25), the Braves had an equally juicy chance of their own. Through seven innings, Jack Morris had effectively scattered five hits, allowing only one runner to reach third base. In the top of the eighth, though, Atlanta mounted the game’s first serious threat.
Lonnie Smith opened the inning with a check-swing single, and Terry Pendleton, destined in a few weeks to be named the National League’s Most Valuable Player, followed with a ringing double off the wall in left-center. Smith might have tried to score, but did not pick up the flight of the ball in time, hesitated around second and had to hold up. It would be a fateful hesitation.
Kelly called time and came out, but allowed Morris to talk him into letting his starter stay. The next batter was Ron Gant, but with the infield in he produced nothing more dramatic than a weak ground out to Hrbek at first.
Morris intentionally walked Dave Justice, filling the bases and leaving the issue up to Braves first baseman Sid Bream.
Both the Series and evening had been rough for Bream, batting in the .180s against Twins pitching and hitless with two groundouts against Morris. With two strikes and a ball, Morris for a second straight batter got the weak contact he was seeking. Bream tapped an easy hopper to Hrbek, who began a 3-2-3 double play that killed both the threat and the inning.
When Bream had come to bat with bags full and one out, the Braves had a 68 percent chance of winning the game and series. With the inning’s abrupt end, those chances plummeted to just 39 percent.