During every baseball season, there is one team that has a lead so large, that in June they are declared the winning of their division. Other teams in their division are left for dead and the first place team is already selling playoff tickets. However, every so often one of those teams fail. One of the teams left for dead gets red hot and somehow overcomes the projected winner. This week, I take a look back at some of the worse collapses of all time.
#1 – Philadelphia Phillies, 1964.
Led by 6.5 games with only 12 to play. They lost ten games in a row and won their last two to finish one game behind the Cardinals and in a second place tie with the Reds.
#2 – 2007/2008 New York Mets
The 2007 Mets led by seven games on September 12. They then lost five games, won four of five and lost six of their final seven games to finish one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Needing a win on the last day, Tom Glavine gave up seven runs in only one-third of an inning. The 2008 Mets led by 3.5 games with 17 to play. Once again, the Mets collapsed winning only seven of their final seventeen games. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time ever that a team with a 3.5 game lead in September in two consecutive seasons failed to win their division.
#3 – 1995 California Angels
On August 20, they Angels had a 9.5 game lead. In the first year of the Wild Card, they were 12.0 games up on the Wild Card team as well. From that point forward, the Angels won twelve of their final thirty-eight games. The Angels had two different nine game losing streaks in that time, while the second place and wild card teams each played over .650 ball from August 20 until the end of the season. Those two teams were the Mariners and the Yankees, who played the memorable five game playoff series.
#4 – 1978 Boston Red Sox
On July 4, the Red Sox had a fourteen game lead on the Yankees. With 32 games to go, the Red Sox lead was only 7.5 games. The Yankees won fourteen of seventeen games, including the four game sweep of the Red Sox known as the “Boston Massacre”. After that point, the Yankees had the lead in the division. The Red Sox won their last eight in a row, but lost the one game playoff to the Yankees in the game that included the Bucky Dent homerun.
#5 – 2009 Detroit Tigers
The Tigers led for nearly the whole season. With four games to go, the Tigers had a chance to clinch the division with a win over the second place Twins. They lost. The Twins won each one of their games while the Tigers faltered on all but one game to end in a regular season tie. The Tigers lost 6-5 in 12 innings making the Tigers the only team in history to not make the playoffs with a three game lead and four games to play.
There have been many collapses in history. These are five of the more memorable ones and in time there will be many, many more. In any case, until that happens have a great week and I will see you on the other side.
