World Series Game 7: The 10 most decisive moments in MLB history
By Bill Felber
8. Joe Morgan, 1975 Cincinnati Reds. Everybody recalls Game 6 of the 1975 World Series for Carlton Fisk’s 12th inning home run. That drama tends to overshadow the equally memorable Game 7, won by Cincinnati over Boston 4-3 on Morgan’s ninth-inning hit.
The contest was a 3-3 tie entering the ninth, which opened with a Ken Griffey base on balls. Cesar Geronimo sacrificed the lead run to second base, he took third on Dan Driessen’s ground out, and Pete Rose walked.
That set the stage for Morgan, one of the most feared clutch hitters of his time. With a 1-2 count, Morgan managed to get his bat on an outside pitch and loop it into short center field allowing Griffey to come across with the go-ahead and eventual Series winning run.
When Reds reliever Will McEnany retired the Red Sox in order in the bottom of the ninth, Cincinnati had the city’s first World Series win since 1940. Morgan Win Probability Added: 34 percent.
7. Joe Harris, 1924 Washington Senators. The 1924 Giants might not have needed Hugh McQuillen’s previously mentioned ninth inning heroics if they had been able to preserve a 3-1 lead one inning earlier. The Senators had loaded the bases with two out when player-manager Bucky Harris bounced what appeared to be an inning-ending ground ball toward 18-year-old rookie third baseman Fred Lindstrom.
But as Lindstrom prepared to field it, the ball struck a pebble and caromed wildly over his head into left field. The unlikely bounce allowed Nemo Leibold and Muddy Ruel to race around with the two game-tying runs.
The game proceeded into the 12th inning still tied at 3-3 when, remarkably, history repeated itself. This time it was Earl McNeely who hit the ground ball that caromed over Lindstrom’s head and into left field, scoring Ruel from second with the Series winning run.
Due to the game situation – only one out, runners at first and second – McNeely’s hit actually only swung the odds of winning 28 percent in Washington’s favor, not enough to make this list. But Harris’s eighth inning hit, rallying the Nats from a two-run deficit into a tie, does make the list. Harris Win Probability Added: 35 percent.