HEARTBREAKING LOSSES ON THE ROAD: THE FULL LIST

1. Bill Mazeroski homers his way into history, October 13, 1960, Forbes Field

       To the bitter end, the Yankees believed they would outslug the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series. The Pirates had eked out victories in the lower-scoring games, winning 6-4 in Game 1, 3-2 in Game 4 and 5-2 in Game 5 but the Yankees had bombarded the Bucs with a fearsome attack in their wins: 16-3 in Game 2, 10-0 in Game 3 and 12-0 in Game 6. They had outhit Pittsburgh 78 to 49 and had eight homers while Pittsburgh had only one, by light-hitting second baseman Bill Mazeroski and that was back in Game 1.

So in Game 7 when the Yankees bashed out seven runs in the fifth through the eighth innings, it felt like yet another Yankee win, another Yankee championship, the eighth of the Casey Stengel era. A 7-4 lead with only six outs to go and Pittsburgh hadn’t scored off Bobby Shantz in five innings of relief.

But fate grabbed the Yankees by the throat as the Pirates plundered the Yankees’ good fortune. With one on in the eighth, Bill Virdon hit a perfect double-play ball to shortstop Tony Kubek…perfect until a bad hop sent the ball flying into his larynx. After Kubek was rushed to the hospital Pittsburgh made it 7-6 on two more singles, the second a roller by Roberto Clemente in which reliever Jim Coates failed to cover first. With two outs, backup catcher and ex-Yankee farmhand Hal Smith stunned New York by rocketing a full-count fastball for a three-run homer and a 9-7 lead.

Just as the Pirates had discovered the long ball the Yankees reversed roles and played the scrappers, getting back a run on three singles and a second on an infield out.

The Yankees had the momentum back. But the close games had gone to Pittsburgh and a ninth-inning tie is as close as it gets. This tie was extraordinarily short-lived. On Ralph Terry’s second pitch to lead-off hitter Bill Mazeroski, the Pirate second baseman smashed a long home run to left. In baseball terms it was perhaps second only to Bobby Thomson’s 1951 shot for pure excitement but in Yankeedom it was one they’d just as soon not have heard or seen.

2.  Mariano Rivera is revealed to be human after all, November 4, 2001, Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix

       Game 7 of the 2001 World Series was more than just another big game. The Yankees were on the verge winning their fourth straight title for the third time but if they lost, they knew it might the end of the line since crucial players like Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius were moving on.

The Yankees generally played with the confidence of winners, a poise that emanated from the three constants in the 1996-2001 era: Derek Jeter, Joe Torre and Mariano Rivera. But as Buster Olney revealed in his superb “Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty,” Rivera expressed a surprising uncertainty before this game, a fatalism that seemingly translated into a shocking stumble right at the doorstep of history.

The quiet Panamanian never spoke at meetings but this time he declared, “Just get the ball to me and we will win.”

       It was a classic Yankee moment. But Rivera ruined it, veering off-course with an unsteady finish, “Whatever happens tonight is in the hands of God.” The Yankees, of course, preferred thinking that Rivera would be the one in control as he had been so many times before.

       And there was Rivera in the ninth, with the team’s fate in his hands. Roger Clemens allowed just one sixth-inning run while Curt Schilling (who credited Clemens’ motivational advice with turning his career around) didn’t give up a run until the seventh. In the eighth, the Yankees snatched a 2-1 lead and turned the ball over to baseball’s greatest closer. Rivera, who had 14 straight post-season saves, struck out the side. Three more outs.

       But after yielding a bloop single to start the ninth, Rivera-- the steadiest hand of all-- wavered, throwing a bunted ball into centerfield. It was only the second error in his storied career. One out later he yielded a game-tying double then uncharacteristically hit a batter to load the bases.

       That brought up lefty Luis Gonzalez, the Diamondback’s best hitter. Rivera threw one of his darting cutters, which jammed Gonzalez, breaking the hitter’s bat as he lifted a soft flare… one that might have been catchable were the infield not drawn in. But it was and the winning run scored. One of the greatest World Series ever was over and Rivera had let it slip away.

3. Red Grange slams down the Giants’ hopes, December 17, 1933, Wrigley Field

       Live by the trick play, die by the trick play.

       In the first NFL championship game, on December 17, 1933 at Wrigley Field, the New York Giants, whose 244 points scored was 74 more than the second-highest team, knew they needed something special against the supremely stingy Chicago Bears, who had allowed just 6.3 points per game.

So they innovated and improvised and very nearly pulled out the championship. But not quite.

       In the first quarter the Giants had all six linemen lineup to the right of center Mel Hein, making him an eligible receiver. Quarterback Harry Newman took the snap but surreptitiously slid the ball right back to Hein who slipped it into his jersey and casually sauntered downfield while Newman dropped back to “pass” then faked a fumble. Most Bears fell for it but 12 yards downfield Hein got excited too soon and broke into a run without waiting for his blockers, Bear safety Carl Brumbaugh caught on and caught up to the big man at Chicago’s 15. The Giants failed to score.

       Trailing 16-14 in the third, the Giants ad-libbed their way to a stunning score on a play that gave birth to the flea flicker. Ken Strong running wide on a reverse, realized he was trapped and lateraled the ball back to Newman, who passed it to him in the end zone for a touchdown. pass.

       But with three minutes remaining the Bears used the lateral themselves for a 36-yard touchdown and a 23-21 lead. Down 23-21 with time for just two plays from their own 40, the Giants reverted to form. They made Hein eligible again but this time sent him deep while Newman pitched to Dale Burnett who heaved the bomb. But under pressure the pass floated and the play was broken it up.

On the last play Newman fired to Red Badgro, who grabbed the ball and turned upfield ready to lateral to Burnett if he ran into trouble. But he ran into more than trouble, he ran into Red Grange, one of the greatest players of all time. Nearing the end of his career Grange had lost much of his remarkable speed but none of his smarts—he read Badgro’s mind and instead of going for the sure tackle at the legs he wrapped his arms around the Giant, preventing the lateral. When he dragged Badgro down the first championship belonged to Chicago.

4. Knicks come all the way back… for naught, April 25, 1951, Edgerton Park Sports Arena, Rochester

       The 1951 NBA finals was just what professional basketball needed and, until the final moments of the nerve-wracking final game, just what New York hoop fans needed as well.

       With college basketball stained, especially in New York, by the point-shaving scandals, that spring provided a perfect opportunity for the struggling pro league to show its stuff. With perfect timing, the Knicks, coached by Joe Lapchick, the popular former coach of St. John’s, stomped past Boston in the playoffs then snuck past Syracuse with a thrilling comeback win in the decisive fifth game to reach their first NBA finals. This run  attracted the press, which began expanding its coverage. 

But the Rochester Royals, who had whupped George Mikan’s powerful Minneapolis Lakers in the Western Division, made this confrontation seem anti-climactic, handily winning the first three games.

They crushed the Knicks in Edgerton Park Sports Arena 92-65 and 99-84 then commanded a 3-0 lead with a 78-71 win at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. The Knicks also frittered away a 17-point Game 4 lead and had to rally in the fourth to win. They headed back to Rochester where they hadn’t won in three years. There they overcame a 10-point third quarter deficit  to win their second game. After they returned home and captured Game 6 too—boosting the league’s profile legitimacy by forcing the first Game 7--team president Ned Irish filled the plane back north with champagne.

The bubbly would remain unopened.

Rochester barreled out to a 32-18 lead. But the Knicks found their footing and pulled even in the fourth quarter. With 1:29 left they were tied at 75. Rochester star Bob Davies drew a foul and hit both shots. Had the game taken place a few years later New York might have come back again but the rules of the time worked against them. Instead of the Knicks gaining possession, a jump ball followed successful foul shots in the final two minutes. Rochester controlled the jump and with no 24-second clock it was essentially over—a young Royal named Red Holzman killed the clock and killed the Knicks’ championship dreams. Rochester’s Jack Coleman added a last-second bucket for a 79-75 final. 

“You just felt very confident you were gonna get it done,” Knick star Harry Gallatin said afterwards, sounding like the 1990s Knicks. “It just didn’t happen.” The Knicks would make the finals for the next two years, again falling just short both times.

5. Giants lose fifth NFL championship in six year, December 29, 1963, Wrigley Field

       The 1963 NFL championship pitted the game’s best defense against its most explosive offense, with the Chicago Bears, who had held foes to just 144 points, trying to shut down the New York Giants, who had scored a whopping 448 points, 79 more than the next highest total. In that sense it was a replay of the very first NFL championship game thirty years earlier. The results would be similar too.

The Giants had flown to their 11-3 record on veteran Y.A. Tittle’s aerial attack—the league’s top quarterback had flung 36 touchdown passes-- so the kickoff temperature of 11 degrees and frozen field were a hindrance. But it was when Tittle got hurt that the aging team—hoping to finally capture the title after losing four championship games in five years—watched its dream crack and shatter.

Tittle put the Giants on top with a 14-yard touchdown toss to Frank Gifford but Bear linebacker Larry Morris hit Tittle, battering his left knee. In the second quarter with the Giants leading 10-7, Morris again nailed the quarterback’s leg. Tittle felt his knee pop and had to be helped off the field.

In a brief appearance rookie backup Glynn Griffing looked tentative and coach Allie Sherman lacked confidence in him. At halftime Tittle took novocain and cortisone shots, got his leg taped and declared himself ready to resume firing, although some Giants felt he should step aside or at least alter the game plan.

With Tittle throwing off his back foot the Giants offense came unhinged. The Giants had scored fewer than 24 points just once since the season’s second game but after Chicago grabbed a 14-10 lead, Tittle couldn’t manage one last score. In the final minutes he moved the ball from his 16 to Chicago’s 39 only to badly overthrow his last pass, producing his fifth interception of the day. Once more, the Giants had come up short.

6. The Mets can’t finish off Oakland, October 20, 1973, Oakland Coliseum

The Mets weren’t supposed to win anything in 1973. Yet  the comeback champs of the NL East, the David who slew the Cincinnati, the league’s Goliath in the NLCS, found themselves in Oakland, one game from the World Series crown against the defending champion A’s.

Both teams played their aces for Game 6: Catfish Hunter vs. Tom Seaver. The Mets had Cleon Jones and John Milner, batting .380 and .350 respectively against A’s pitching, up with two on and one out in the first but Hunter got them both. In the bottom of the inning, Reggie Jackson showed what clutch play in October looked like with a two-out RBI double. Jackson replicated the feat in the third while the Mets didn’t get another base runner until the 5th.

In the eighth New York knocked Hunter out, making it 2-1. But with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first, Rusty Staub, batting .429 in the Series, struck out and Jones flied out. Jackson sealed matters that inning when he singled and scored an insurance run.

The Mets were never really in Game 7 (despite one desperate flurry in the ninth that brought the tying run to the plate), as if knowing they’d let their last, best chance escape.

7. Yankees come so close in their return to the post-season, October 8, 1995, Seattle Kingdome

       Tasting success only whets your appetite for more. Reaching the post-season in 1995 for the first time since 1981 was great—a fine retirement present for Don Mattingly—but once in the new best-of-five Divisional Series the Yankees wanted to go beyond it. After Jim Leyritz’s 15th-inning home run put them up 2-0 against the Mariners they were brimming with confidence.

       Then they went to Seattle where Randy Johnson’s pitching and Tino Martinez’s hitting won Game 3 and Edgar Martinez smashed a three-run homer and a grand slam to win Game 4.

       October 8 was New York’s last chance. And they seized it… twice. They took a 4-2 lead into the 8th when David Cone gave up a homer to Ken Griffey Jr. then walked in the tying run. Then, in eleventh, after enduring Johnson’s two tough innings of emergency relief, New York scratched out a run.

But the Yankee’s starter-turned-reliever Jack McDowell couldn’t close it out. Joey Cora bunted his way on and Griffey upped his ALDS average to .391 with a single. That brought up Edgar Martinez, who was 11-for-20 (with six walks)… until he killed the Yankees season by doubling in both the tying and winning run with one final blow.

8. Brooklyn Robins rally is one run shy of success, October 7, 1916, Braves Field, Boston

       For eight innings, Brooklyn looked like Bums in Game 1 of the 1916 World Series against Boston’s Ernie Shore. Trailing 6-1 in the ninth, however, they picked up two runs on an error, another on a two-out, bases-loaded walk; Carl Mays replaced Shore, and yielded a single to make it 6-5 with the bases still loaded and Brooklyn’s best hitter Jake Daubert up.

A hit by Daubert, who had started the inning with a walk, might have changed history’s perception of Brooklyn but his ground out began a legacy of losing the close ones. They lost Game 2 in 14 innings to Boston ace Babe Ruth then dropped the Series in five.

9. Nippy Jones shows off his shine job, October 6, 1957, Milwaukee County Stadium

If not for a good shoeshine, Milwaukee might not have won the 1957 World Series.

In the ninth inning of Game 4 the Yankees were down to their last strike but Elston Howard bombed a two-out, full-count, three-run homer off Warren Spahn to tie the game at 4-all.

In the 10th, Hank Bauer tripled home the go-ahead run and the Yankees seemed headed for a 3-1 advantage in games. Then they got smudged.

Tommy Byrnes’ first pitch to Milwaukee pinch-hitter Nippy Jones was a ball, said umpire Augie Donatelli. No, it nipped my foot, Jones countered. He got the ball, which had rolled away. The tell-tale polish mark changed Donatelli’s mind, putting Jones on base. One out later Milwaukee tied it and then Eddie Mathews blasted a game-winning two-run homer. The Yankees’ momentum was gone and soon enough so was the championship.

10. St. John’s can’t quite make the Final Four, March 20, 1999, Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville

Under new coach Mike Jarvis St. John’s began the 1999 season unranked. Yet they came tantalizingly close to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since their glory days of the 1980s, a surprising turnaround that made their 77-74 Elite Eight loss to Ohio State bittersweet.

Star Ron Artest had an awful game with just nine points and five turnovers but Lavor Postell took over as St. John’s stormed back from nine down. But they could never quite pull even. Down 76-74 point guard Erick Barkley, looked for one final shot. Barkley hadn’t turned the ball over all game when suddenly the ball squirted away and Ohio State grabbed the ball, ending the comeback one shot shy of success.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

1.  Yankees fail to defend their crown, October 6, 1997, Jacobs Field, Cleveland

The Yankees had their chance and blew it. That was frustrating. But then they had another chance and blew that too. That was devastating.

Six outs from winning the 1997 ALDS against Cleveland, the defending World Champs imploded after set-up man turned closer Mariano Rivera surrendered a game-tying home run in Game 4 and the Yankees lost in the ninth. Then in the decisive Game 5,  the Yankees, once and future symbol of winning with clutch performances, fell behind 4-0 and just could not come up with a timely blow. They managed 15 baserunners--12 hits and three walks—yet needed two Indian errors just to patch together a two-run fifth.

In the sixth, they closed the gap to 4-3 but Jorge Posada and Tim Raines left the tying run on; with a man on in the seventh, Paul O’Neill was robbed of a hit by Jim Thome and Bernie Williams bounced into a double play; in the eighth, Posada failed again, this time with two men on; in the ninth, O’Neill hit a two-out double but when Williams flied out their hopes finally ran out. A dynasty would have to wait.

2.  Knicks get clutch four-pointer but lose anyway, May 19, 1989, Chicago Stadium

       When Trent Tucker went up for a three-point shot with six seconds remaining in Game 6 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Semifinal it didn’t seem like the shot would make much difference. After all, Michael Jordan had reeled off eight points, helping transform a 101-101 tie into a 111-107 Bulls lead. But as Tucker drained his shot the refs stunned everyone by calling a foul on Craig Hodges; Tucker converted the free throw for a rare four-point play, tying the game and giving the Knicks hope.

       But in the waning seconds Jordan drew a foul and calmly buried both free throws, reaching the 40-point mark for the third time that series. Johnny Newman’s desperation three-pointer clanged off at the buzzer and the Knicks’ miracle comeback had turned into the first of many playoff defeats at Jordan’s talented hands.

3. Willie Randolph never makes it home, October 9, 1980, Royals Stadium, Kansas City

The Yankees needed to win Game 2 to even the 1980 ALCS. But first they needed to even the score, trailing 3-2 in the eighth inning. Speedy Willie Randolph was on first when Bob Watson drilled a two-out double to left at Kansas City’s Royals Stadium. But Randolph never made it.

       Yankee third-base coach Mike Ferraro claimed he signaled Randolph to run on the pitch. Randolph said it didn’t happen. Either way, he broke late from first and then stumbled. Still Ferraro waved him around to try for the tying run. Left fielder Willie Wilson overthrew cut-off man U.L. Washington but third baseman George Brett, employing a tactic introduced a few years earlier by college coach Bobby Winkles, had positioned himself as a trailer 50 feet beyond the shortstop. He gathered in the errant toss and pegged the ball home where Darrell Porter tagged Randolph out.

       The Yankees had another chance with two on in the ninth but Graig Nettles grounded into a double play. “My players didn’t lose this one,” George Steinbrenner fumed afterwards, After his players did lose Game 3, Ferraro was gone and manager Dick Howser was soon also forced out the door.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: HEARTBREAK RANGERS STYLE

1. Rangers get kicked out of the Garden and lose in one of the closest finals ever, April 23rd, 1950, Olympia, Stadium Detroit

       Hockey has always been a second-class citizen in this country but Madison Square Garden often took this attitude to unfortunate extremes banishing their own team, the Rangers, in favor of the circus… right in time for the Stanley Cup Finals. And if it’s fair to presume that home ice advantage might be worth even just one game in a close seven-game series then that policy cost the Rangers the 1950 Cup.       

       The Rangers had finished fourth in a six-team league and had the weakest offense. But their stellar defense got them to the finals against the Detroit Red Wings where they had to play Game 1 in Detroit, two “home” games in Toronto, then the last four back in Detroit.

Still, the Rangers pushed Detroit all the way, with overtime wins in Games 4 and 5. But they squandered a third-period lead in Game 6 and an early 2-0 lead in Game 7. The Red Wings tied it at 3-3 before both teams stepped up defensively—the final period was scoreless as was the first overtime, although the Rangers came heartbreakingly close in overtime with both Dunc Fisher and Jack Gordon banging shots off the post.

Before a face-off in the second OT, Detroit center George Gee told left wing Pete Babando to shift more directly behind him. Gee got Babando the perfect feed and he slapped home a 35-foot wrist shot to win the Cup.

Detroit’s Ted Lindsay began a new tradition when he skated around the arena carrying the Cup, something the Rangers—who would not win another playoff series for twenty years—would not get to do until 1994.

2. Rangers come almost all the way back, April 30, 1972, Boston Garden

       Game 1 of the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals: The favored Boston Bruins opened a 5-1 lead against the Rangers after two periods when New York suddenly started playing like champions, firing in four goals in a third period rampage to tie the score. The previous year the Bruins had blown a 5-1 lead to Montreal in Game 2, after which they fell apart and lost the Finals. But this time with 2:16 left, Bruin journeyman Ace Bailey faked out Brad Park then knocked a backhander over the glove of goalie Eddie Giacomin. The Bruins won 6-5. Without any miracle momentum, the Rangers fell in six games.

3. Mike Richter misses the soft 65-footer, May 9, 1992, Civic Arena, Pittsburgh

       In 1992 the Rangers produced the NHL’s best record for the first time since 1941-42 and finally seemed poised to capture the elusive and coveted Stanley Cup. Then everything went wrong: a work stoppage threw the team out of its groove; Mark Messier tore a back muscle in the opening round so the Rangers needed seven tough games to get past the Devils; and in Game 2 of the Eastern finals against Pittsburgh Adam Graves got suspended for slashing Mario Lemieux’s hand.

But the breaking point was Game 4 when the Rangers seemed on the verge of a 3-1 lead in games. after missing two games Messier had returned and scored twice, giving the Rangers a 4-2 lead. But they frittered away a five-minute power play and then Pittsburgh’s Ron Francis, who’d replaced Lemieux, hit an impossibly soft 65-footer that somehow eluded goalie Mike Richter to make it 4-3.

The Penguins scored again to forced overtime and then Messier got trapped with the puck near his own net, Larry Murphy knocked it away and Francis completed a hat trick with the game-winner. Deflated, the Rangers dropped the next two games.

4. The Rangers fail to capitalize on their triple-overtime win, May 2nd, 1971, Chicago Stadium

       On April 29, 1971, the Rangers gave Garden fans their biggest thrill in a generation in their semifinal series against the Chicago Blackhawks-- a 3-2 victory triple-overtime in Game 6 to force a seventh and deciding game, bringing the Rangers to the brink of their first Stanley Cup finals in twenty-one years. It was, of course, all a big tease. Back in Chicago on May 2, the Rangers went down meekly 4-2, rendering their great win moot and leaving their fans waiting once more.

5. The Islanders send the Rangers home… again, April 10, 1984, Nassau Coliseum

1981: The Islanders swept the Rangers in the semifinals en route to the Stanley Cup.

1982: The Islanders downed the Rangers 4-2 in the second round en route to the Stanley Cup.

1983: The Islanders knocked off the Rangers 4-2 in the second round again en route to the Stanley Cup.

1984: The Islanders took a 2-1 lead in the deciding Game 5 of their first round match-up and history looked ripe for repeating.

Then with 39 seconds left and the puck flying through the air Don Maloney took a shoulder-high swing (or maybe even illegally higher) and connected, smacking the puck past Islander goalie Billy Smith to tie the game. And in overtime Bob Brooke found himself alone with the puck but Smith made a miraculous save.

Moments later the Rangers’ dreams were dashed when Ken Morrow grabbed a ricochet off the boards and fired the puck home from the right circle. After out-shooting the Islanders 44-25 but falling yet again nearly the entire team wept in the locker room.

       “This was a landmark series, game and overtime,” wrote Joe Gergen in Newsday, “something to measure other hockey moments against in the foreseeable future. It was professional hockey at its best, played by a team with something to prove and another with something to preserve.” Top of Page

Back to Cutting Room Floor