MLB Network Top 20 Games Last 50 Years

[G-Fafif]

Last night MLB Network introduced the nominees for its Top 20 Games of the Last 50 Years -- they (panel of experts, et al) picked 50 from which viewers are asked to vote for their top pick. The ballot, with video clips, is here. They'll have a countdown through 2011, 20 to 1, starting in early January.

On the show, Bob Costas and Tom Verducci stressed over and over how hard it was to whittle it down to 50 nominees. The last 50 years were the parameter because, quite frankly, they needed video and you can't always get film from pre-1961 (seems they lacked video on two of their fifty anyway). They were all (certain MFY selections aside) fine choices -- including a few mostly forgotten gems -- but as you'll no doubt decide, there are plenty of "HOW DID THEY NOT INCLUDE...?" games omitted as well.

The hosts mentioned "context" about 40 times, which is appropriate in that 40 of the games chosen were postseason (context!) and five others decided postseason participants. Two were regular-season pitching duels, three others were regular-season slugfests.

As for our parochial interests, seven Mets games show up among the 50, five you'd want anything to do with:

� Game 4, 1969 World Series
� The Fourth and Fifth of July, 1985
� Game 6, 1986 NLCS
� Game 6, 1986 World Series
� Game 4, 1988 NLCS
� Game 5, 1999 NLCS
� Game 7, 2006 NLCS

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was at two of those games!

� Game 4, 1969 World Series
� The Fourth and Fifth of July, 1985
� Game 6, 1986 NLCS
� Game 6, 1986 World Series
� Game 4, 1988 NLCS
� Game 5, 1999 NLCS
� Game 7, 2006 NLCS

And I watched all of the others (except for the 1969 game) on television, and have vivid memories of them.

[G-Fafif]

Brief highlight package included for each nominee. The two Mets non-wins are still gut-punchy to watch.

[metirish]

G-Fafif wrote: On the show, Bob Costas and Tom Verducci stressed over and over how hard it was to not just pick 50 yankee games and dedicate the whole thing to The Boss � Game 4, 1969 World Series � The Fourth and Fifth of July, 1985 � Game 6, 1986 NLCS � Game 6, 1986 World Series � Game 4, 1988 NLCS � Game 5, 1999 NLCS � Game 7, 2006 NLCS

[G-Fafif]

how hard it was to not just pick 50 yankee games and dedicate the whole thing to The Boss

Yeah, that too.

Thirteen MFY games on the ballot, four of them [crossout]tolerable[/crossout] orgasmic:

� Game 7, 1962 WS
� Game 4, 1963 WS
� Game 5, 1976 ALCS
� Game 5, 1977 ALCS
� Game 6, 1977 WS
� AL East tiebreaker, 1978
� Game 5, 1995 ALDS
� Game 4, 1996 WS
� Game 4, 2001 WS
� Game 7, 2001 WS
� Game 7, 2003 ALCS
� Game 4, 2004 ALCS
� Game 2, 2009 ALDS

[Guest Edgy DC]

Let me tell you, for back and forth drama in an otherwise low-leverage regular season game, the 1983 game in which Darryl Strawberry debuted was tremendous.

Among the cool things were
[list:3qusgwv4][*:3qusgwv4]they had one hit through seven,[/*:m:3qusgwv4]
[*:3qusgwv4]they came back from down 3-0 after seven against one of the toughest draws in baseball at that time, Mario Soto[/*:m:3qusgwv4]
[*:3qusgwv4]the two guys kicked to the bench that day --- Danny Heep and Hubie Brooks (Tucker Ashford came up along with Darryl and took Brooks' place in the lineup --- came off the bench as heroes,[/*:m:3qusgwv4]
[*:3qusgwv4]Seaver did yeoman's work, striking out seven in getting a no-decision,[/*:m:3qusgwv4]
[*:3qusgwv4]Jesse Orosco won the game with three gorgeous innings of spotless relief, as he tended to do that year[/*:m:3qusgwv4]
[*:3qusgwv4]Strawberry got no hits, but he walked twice, stole a base and scored, and nearly won the game with a shockingly long foul drive in extra inings, when I just got it --- having spent two years thinking of Strawberry as a hitting prospect with power and suddenly realizing that he was a prodigious power hitter that could make jaws drop.[/*:m:3qusgwv4][/list:u:3qusgwv4]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198305060.shtml

Did this make G-Fafif's elimination tourney of great games?

[G-Fafif]

• they had one hit through seven,
• they came back from down 3-0 after seven against one of the toughest draws in baseball at that time, Mario Soto
• the two guys kicked to the bench that day --- Danny Heep and Hubie Brooks (Tucker Ashford came up along with Darryl and took Brooks' place in the lineup --- came off the bench as heroes,
• Seaver did yeoman's work, striking out seven in getting a no-decision,
• Jesse Orosco won the game with three gorgeous innings of spotless relief, as he tended to do that year
• Strawberry got no hits, but he walked twice, stole a base and scored, and nearly won the game with a shockingly long foul drive in extra inings, when I just got it --- having spent two years thinking of Strawberry as a hitting prospect with power and suddenly realizing that he was a prodigious power hitter that could make jaws drop.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198305060.shtml

Did this make G-Fafif's elimination tourney of great games?

Edgy DC wrote: Let me tell you, for back and forth drama in an otherwise low-leverage regular season game, the 1983 game in which Darryl Strawberry debuted was tremendous. Among the cool things were

Tucker Ashford's first game...IN

The "Mr. November!" game...OUT

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

• they had one hit through seven,
• they came back from down 3-0 after seven against one of the toughest draws in baseball at that time, Mario Soto
  the two guys kicked to the bench that day --- Danny Heep and Hubie Brooks (Tucker Ashford came up along with Darryl and took Brooks' place in the lineup --- came off the bench as heroes,
• Seaver did yeoman's work, striking out seven in getting a no-decision,
• Jesse Orosco won the game with three gorgeous innings of spotless relief, as he tended to do that year
• Strawberry got no hits, but he walked twice, stole a base and scored, and nearly won the game with a shockingly long foul drive in extra inings, when I just got it --- having spent two years thinking of Strawberry as a hitting prospect with power and suddenly realizing that he was a prodigious power hitter that could make jaws drop.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198305060.shtml

Did this make G-Fafif's elimination tourney of great games?

Edgy DC wrote: Let me tell you, for back and forth drama in an otherwise low-leverage regular season game, the 1983 game in which Darryl Strawberry debuted was tremendous. Among the cool things were

I think I've said here before that this game was on the night before I was to take my SATs (early Saturday morning!) and that's what I blame it on.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The magic of of 1983 is that it connects Yogi's Mets (in the form of the returned Seaver, Staub, and Kingman -- and throw in Hodges for good measure) with Davey's Mets. A strangely thrilling identity-wrestling, two-manager, SAT-ruining 68-win team.

[G-Fafif]

A tilde will put a smile on anybody's face.

[HahnSolo]

G-Fafif wrote: � Game 5, 1977 ALCS � Game 4, 2004 ALCS

The Chambliss game is forever memorialized as a crushing loss to KC and a great win for the MFYs. But the 1977 loss in game five in Royals Stadium may have been worse...and it gets nearly none of the attention of the Chambliss game. Kudos to them for adding that game to this list.
Regarding 2004, I'd argue that game 5, when the Sox trailed by 2 in the 8th and won it in 14 innings, was a better overall game than game 4, but I do realize the significance of game 4.

G-Fafif wrote: � Game 4, 1988 NLCS

The Scioscia game, really that is top 50?

[Guest attgig]

I was watching the highlights of those games, and i had to stop before heilman delivered the pitch on that last game....

[G-Fafif]

The Scioscia game, really that is top 50?

As the clip shows, it was the Scioscia game, the Gibson game (before there was another) and the Mets loading the bases in the twelfth with Shelby making a very good catch on McReynolds's blooper game. I mean eff the Scioscia game, absolutely...but for those without a vested interest, a helluva game.

The one that intrigued me more than any other was the Tigers-A's game from 1972. Good call, but I barely remember it. Shows somebody did some homework. Mostly forgotten classic series.

Five off the top of my head in the omission category, non-Mets segment:

� Blue Monday (Dodgers beat Expos for pennant), 1981
� Pine Tar Game, 1983
� T#m Gl@v!ne's eight one-hit innings to clinch World Series 1-0, 1995
� Longest World Series Game (won on Geoff Blum's 14th-inning HR), 2005
� Armando Gallaraga's Perfect Game That Wasn't, 2010

I'd also throw in Game 6 from 1971 WS -- Clemente stars for Pirates, F. Robinson staves off elimination for Orioles with daring baserunning to win it in the bottom of the tenth.

[G-Fafif]

attgig wrote: I was watching the highlights of those games, and i had to stop before heilman delivered the pitch on that last game....

A lot of looking away after that pitch -- and a lot of regret for checking back on the final pitch from Wainwright. Watching the Scioscia highlights was worse if only because I've seen them less.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I'd forgotten just what an ever-lovin', Denny-Martinez-sized pain in the rear Mario Soto could be.

[G-Fafif]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I'd forgotten just what an ever-lovin', Denny-Martinez-sized pain in the rear Mario Soto could be.

Dennis Martinez vs. the Mets, 1987:

4 starts
4 wins
0.64 ERA
0.964 WHIP

If he stays off the wagon and Doc Gooden stayed on, the Mets' wagon would have rolled down Lower Broadway a second consecutive year (quite possibly).

[Guest Edgy DC]

Speaking of Dwight's wagon. Could be anything, of course.

[HahnSolo]

The one that intrigued me more than any other was the Tigers-A's game from 1972. Good call, but I barely remember it. Shows somebody did some homework. Mostly forgotten classic series.

There is probably a book to be written about the 1972 postseason. Twenty-five year anniversary of Jackie's first world series, he's there for game 1, and talks about the need for a black manager. Within weeks of the WS, Jackie is gone. Three years later the first African-American manager would happen.
And for pure baseball? Wow. All three series went the distance. Of the 19 games, 11 were decided by one run. There were four walk-off wins, in which the home team trailed when they came up to bat, including the decisive game 5 of the NLCS. Then think of all the great personalities: Billy Martin, Reggie getting hurt, Catfish, Fingers, Rose, Bench, Sparky, Clemente, Pops. Toss in the Campy/Lerrin Legrow bat-throwing incident and the fact that a WS berth was decided on a wild pitch. An argument can easily be made that it was the best postseason ever.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Finley, Williams, and a seriously dysfunctional dynasty-quality A's team, also.

[G-Fafif]

The one that intrigued me more than any other was the Tigers-A's game from 1972. Good call, but I barely remember it. Shows somebody did some homework. Mostly forgotten classic series. There is probably a book to be written about the 1972 postseason. Twenty-five year anniversary of Jackie's first world series, he's there for game 1, and talks about the need for a black manager. Within weeks of the WS, Jackie is gone. Three years later the first African-American manager would happen. And for pure baseball? Wow. All three series went the distance. Of the 19 games, 11 were decided by one run. There were four walk-off wins, in which the home team trailed when they came up to bat, including the decisive game 5 of the NLCS. Then think of all the great personalities: Billy Martin, Reggie getting hurt, Catfish, Fingers, Rose, Bench, Sparky, Clemente, Pops. Toss in the Campy/Lerrin Legrow bat-throwing incident and the fact that a WS berth was decided on a wild pitch. An argument can easily be made that it was the best postseason ever.

Interesting thought. Read a book on the 1921 season this summer that asserted every season from the past fifty years had gotten a book of its own, but I don't remember one specific to 1972 -- though the Tigers recently got one.

Joe Rudi made one of the great catches in WS history. Gene Tenace hit two home runs in his first two WS at-bats. Night WS games became the (midweek) rule. Hahn may be onto something.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

One of my earliest, favorite baseball cards. This one and TENACE SINGLES IN THE 9TH

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

[Guest Edgy DC]

How much foul ground is there between him and the front row?

[seawolf17]

Wasn't that the whole deal with the Oakland Coliseum, anyhow? A ton of foul ground?

[batmagadanleadoff]

The one that intrigued me more than any other was the Tigers-A's game from 1972. Good call, but I barely remember it. Shows somebody did some homework. Mostly forgotten classic series. There is probably a book to be written about the 1972 postseason. Twenty-five year anniversary of Jackie's first world series, he's there for game 1, and talks about the need for a black manager. Within weeks of the WS, Jackie is gone. Three years later the first African-American manager would happen. And for pure baseball? Wow. All three series went the distance. Of the 19 games, 11 were decided by one run. There were four walk-off wins, in which the home team trailed when they came up to bat, including the decisive game 5 of the NLCS. Then think of all the great personalities: Billy Martin, Reggie getting hurt, Catfish, Fingers, Rose, Bench, Sparky, Clemente, Pops. Toss in the Campy/Lerrin Legrow bat-throwing incident and the fact that a WS berth was decided on a wild pitch. An argument can easily be made that it was the best postseason ever. Interesting thought. Read a book on the 1921 season this summer that asserted every season from the past fifty years had gotten a book of its own, but I don't remember one specific to 1972 -- though the Tigers recently got one. Joe Rudi made one of the great catches in WS history. Gene Tenace hit two home runs in his first two WS at-bats. Night WS games became the (midweek) rule. Hahn may be onto something.

Joel Oppeheimer's "The Wrong Season" was a stream of conscousness, unusual prose book about the 72 Mets. I believe that RChuck wrote that it was his favorite baseball book.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Joel Oppeheimer's "The Wrong Season" was a stream of conscousness, unusual prose book about the 72 Mets. I believe that RChuck wrote that it was his favorite baseball book.

joel oppenheimer's the wrong season was one of my influences in writing faith and fear in flushing, except i used upper-case letters.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think that was one of the first books I ever read about the Mets. Actually, I think I had read some of those 1962-1969 histories that came out after the Mets won the World Series. I should probably say that that was the first contemporary book I read about the Mets. (I know... a book published in 1969 was hardly ancient in 1972, but from the perspective of a nine-year-old, 1969 was another era.) I remember thinking it was really cool to be able to read about the current Mets in a book.

I haven't read "The Wrong Season" since I was in elementary school. I should definitely try to track down a copy.

[ashie62]

My favorite baseball book is Josh Hamilton's "beyond belief" On the top 50 games, I made 2, yippee!

[Gwreck]

Strange but true: MLB Network was doing a "Top 15 Games of the Decade" countdown tonight. Yet of the 13 games nominated for the "50 best of the last 50 years," only 9 of them made their show tonight.

[G-Fafif]

Gwreck wrote: Strange but true: MLB Network was doing a "Top 15 Games of the Decade" countdown tonight. Yet of the 13 games nominated for the "50 best of the last 50 years," only 9 of them made their show tonight.

The inconsistencies among the MLBN countdown shows are harder to plow through than a Staten Island side street -- and like NYC, MLBN doesn't bother to try.