Top Five Moments In Baseball Tiebreakers
62By winning each of their games on Sunday, the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers finished with matching 86-76 records to force a one game playoff on Tuesday. This will be the ninth single-game playoff in Major League History and thirteenth time two clubs will have to play extra games to clinch a postseason berth (the National League used a three-game playoff format through 1962). Here’s a look at the top five games in the history of tiebreaker games:
1) Bobby Thomson hits “The Short Heard ‘Round the World” – Before the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants faced each other on October 3, 1951, the buildup to the game was almost as epic as the contest itself turned out to be. As of August 11, the Dodgers held a 13 ½ game lead over the Giants, but were forced into a three-game playoff series after New York finished the season at a scorching 37-7 clip. After splitting the first two games of the series, the two teams met at the Polo Grounds to settle this heavyweight bout for the National League Pennant. Starters Don Newcombe and Sal Maglie both went deep into the game, which was deadlocked at a 1-1 score until Brooklyn scored three in the top of the eighth inning. When Newcombe ran into trouble in the top of the ninth inning, Dodgers skipper Charlie Dressen brought in reliever Ralph Branca with one out and two runners on base to face outfielder Bobby Thompson. Thompson promptly dispatched a Branca fastball into the leftfield bleachers and earned a place in immortality as the author of one of the most clutch home runs in Major League History.
2) Bucky Dent earns a middle name – This one game playoff finished a legendary 1978 season which saw the Boston Red Sox blow a 14 ½ game lead as the New York Yankees overcame themselves to force a showdown at Fenway Park on October 2. The two teams had seven future Hall of Famers on their rosters, including a 3-4-5 BoSox combination of Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, and Carlton Fisk. The game’s big bash, however, came off of the bat of Bucky Dent. The light-hitting shortstop slugged a three-run, two out home run off of starter Mike Torrez in the seventh inning to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Rich Gossage closed out the game after retiring Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski with two runners on base to give the Red Sox a 5-4 victory.
3) Rockies and Padres go 162 + 13 – In 2007, the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies played a 162 games before earning identical 89-73 records to necessitate a one-game playoff at Coors Field. The game lasted thirteen frames before Scott Hairston hit a two-run blast off of reliever Jorge Julio in the top half of the inning, prompting the entry of Padres closer Trevor Hoffman. San Diego’s future Hall of Famer suffered a colossal meltdown, as he gave up three straight extra-base hits before outfielder Matt Holliday dashed home on a sacrifice fly to give Colorado a 9-8 win.
4) Jim Thome puts the White Sox on top – Before September 30, 2008 Jim Thome had hit 540 home runs over a long career with Cleveland, Philadelphia, and the White Sox. The first baseman/designated hitter slugged number five hundred forty-one in the seventh inning of a scoreless contest between the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins that had been a pitcher’s duel between starters Nick Blackburn and John Danks. Thome’s solo shot turned out to be the only run of the game and the White Sox captured their third AL Central crown.
5) Giants beat the Dodgers (again) on the Left Coast – Exactly eleven years had passed since the Giants and Dodgers faced each other in the Polo Grounds in 1951, but by this moment in baseball history the two teams had completed the transition to the West Coast by moving their rivalry to San Francisco and Los Angeles. After splitting the first two games of the three-game playoff series in 1962, the Giants trailed the Dodgers 4-2 before plating four runs in the top of the ninth inning to finish of their rivals in Dodger Stadium.
