Now we move on to the colossal postseason series implosions. With the addition of the Wild Card in 1995, the expanded format has seen four of the six comebacks (or should we say, chokes) in a best-of-five series after a team was down two games to none. There have also been several comebacks from three games to one in the 39 years of divisional play.
A few franchises featured on the first list of regular-season collapses are also prominently featured below. The No. 1 pick was never in doubt, but picking spots 2 through 4 was mighty difficult and an argument can easily be made for readjusting the order of those slots.
One other note: I only briefly describe some of the crucial individual "game chokes" within these five series, as several of these games will be featured Thursday in part III of this series.
CHOKES OVER A POSTSEASON SERIES
No. 5 - New York Yankees, 1995. I hesitated at first to include these Yankees on this list because - as noted above - there have been several teams that have lost a series after gaining a seemingly insurmountable two-games-to-none lead. But the tussle between these Yankees and the Ken Griffy Jr.-led Seattle Mariners was so important, if only for the fact that many believed these games "saved" baseball following the 1994 strike. Sports Illustrated said as much with its cover immediately following the series, depicting Ken Griffey, Jr. as the "Yankee Killer" who "hit one out for baseball."
These were also the first postseason games for the Yankees in 14 years and the playoff debut of Yankee legend Don Mattingly. So with this emotional backdrop seared into the proceedings, the Yankees got off to a 2-0 Division Series lead thanks mainly to a clutch hit by Ruben Sierra to tie the game in the bottom of the 12th of Game 2, followed by Jim Leyritz' stadium-shaking home run in the 15th to win the game - one that is considered among the best ever played. Lost in the offensive heroics was the postseason debut of one Mariano Rivera and he struck out five in holding the Mariners scoreless over the last three innings in that second game.
But things turned ugly after that for the Yankees when they left the Bronx for the air-conditioned hell of the Kingdome - after all, the Yankees have never felt comfortable playing on the West Coast (see Angels, Anaheim). The Bombers went on to blow leads in each of the next two games, including a five-run cushion in Game 4 to leave the series knotted at two. But it is Game 5 that will forever be remembered as Buck Showalter's most inglorious moment as Yankee manager - a game that cost him his job, however unfairly.
David Cone had already thrown 118 pitches before even stepping on the mound in the eighth inning but Showalter let him pitch another 29 more - as Yankee fans screamed at their televisions in vain - and the result was the Yankees losing their two-run lead. Rivera came in and recorded a crucial strikeout to end the inning but the damage had been done. And though the Yankees went ahead in the 11th inning, Jack McDowell could not record an out when the Mariners came up to bat in the bottom of the inning and Griffey and his teammates had that giddy celebration at home plate.
No. 4 - California Angels, 1986. The word tragic is not one to be used lightly - especially when discussing something as trivial as sports. But the horrific coda to the Angels' collapse in the 1986 American League Championship Series against the Red Sox was a tragedy - but I'll discuss that in greater detail in the next installment.
First of all, the entire 1986 MLB postseason is without comparison - it is peerless among ALL postseasons, baseball or otherwise. We may never witness a postseason as rich for another century. As the New York Mets were battling the Houston Astros in an epic NLCS encounter, the Red Sox took on the Angels. The Red Sox's famous slide in 1978 and previous heartbreaks like 1967 were well documented. However, the Angels, though still a young franchise at the time, had already accumulated a degree of ignominy themselves as they were the first playoff team to lose a best-of-five series after being up 2-0 when they succumbed to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1982.
For Angels fans this all seemed to be in the distant past when they rushed ahead of the Red Sox 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and were ahead by three runs in the 9th inning of Game 5 at Anaheim Stadium. The improbability of what occurred and the resulting, immediate reversal of fortune was too much for the Angels to overcome.
Though California did manage to tie Game 5 with a run in the bottom of the ninth, it was couldn't salvage the game in extra innings. Games 6 and 7, back in Fenway, were exercises in anti-climax as Boston routed the Angels, outscoring them, 18-5, en route to its first pennant in 11 years. About the only consolation for Angels fans that year was the ensuing doom that would face the Red Sox - an even more calamitous outcome than what befell California.
No. 3 - Chicago Cubs, 2003. Earlier I stated that the 1986 MLB postseason was the greatest ever played. That is still true. But the 2003 championship series in both leagues come close (the only difference being the 2003 World Series wasn't the thriller that the 1986 Series was). As the Yankees and Red Sox engaged in an historic battle between the most celebrated rivals in all of sports, Cubs fans felt that this was indeed their time.
Gone were the ghosts and demons of 1969 when they lost that huge lead over the Mets or 1984 when they became the first National League team to blow a two-games-to-none lead in the NLCS. When the Cubs took a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series, it appeared a certitude that the Cubs would make the World Series - perhaps against the Red Sox, a dream match-up for many baseball purists. And with the Cubs seemingly in total control with a three-run lead and one out in the eighth inning in Game 6 and young phenom Mark Prior on the mound at delirious Wrigley, who could have imagined what would transpire in the next several minutes.
The events that unfolded were so bizarre and have been recounted on many occasions - and indeed I'll go into it in greater detail - but needless to say it was the worst defeat in the history of a franchise that has suffered innumerable heartbreaking losses. And don't forget, as most Cubs fans will tell you - blame Gonzalez not Bartman!
No. 2 - Boston Red Sox, 1986. Game 6 of the World Series contains, arguably, the most famous highlight - aside from Bobby Thomson's 1951 swing - in postseason history. But what so many forget about this series is the totality of the Boston choke. Though they had assembled a potent offense and a young superstar pitcher in Roger Clemens, the Red Sox were nevertheless clear underdogs when facing a confident and cocky Mets team that won an extraordinary108 games that year.
But shockingly, the Red Sox took the first two games of the series at Shea and headed to Fenway with a chance to close out their first World Series championship in 68 years at home. But the Sox offense got cold fast, with Bobby Ojeda and Ron Darling (Dwight Gooden was a non-factor for the Mets, losing two games in the series) limiting the Red Sox to a total of three runs in Games 3 and 4. Back came Boston in Game 5 behind solid pitching. So the teams headed back down I-95 for the final two games at Shea.
We all know what occurred late in Game 6 but many forget that the Red Sox had the lead on three different occasions in the game. But the Mets fought back each time before the other-worldly events of that 10th inning. Even after that most bizarre of finishes the Red Sox were given a 24-hour reprieve when the seventh game was postponed by rain.
Many Sox fans saw this as a chance for the team to regain its confidence and stem the Mets' momentum. And sure enough, the Red Sox led, 3-0, in the sixth inning of the deciding game. However, the pitching couldn't hold up for Boston as the bullpen failed again and yielded to the Mets' offensive onslaught - and New Englanders were once again forced to contemplate God's cruel tricks.
No. 1 - New York Yankees, 2004. The Yankees became the first team in baseball history to surrender a three-games-to-none lead in a best-of-seven series. That's it. That's all that needs to be said. Forget the fact that Games 6 and 7 of this ALCS were not close and there were only a couple of great games. This was the purest choke of them all.
And when I say a true, authentic choke I mean the Yankees got tight and scared and tense. Alex Rodriguez looked like an irritated child on the playground when he swiped at Bronson Arroyo's glove in Game 6. Manager Joe Torre was obviously tense as he refused to start playoff-battle tested El Duque, instead opting for dreadful Kevin Brown in Game 7. El Duque wasn't even brought in to relieve Brown, as Torre reached out for that ever-so-reliable arm of Javier Vazquez.
The Red Sox can gloat over this one for a century. Was it the start of the A-Rod curse? After all, the Yankees haven't won a postseason series since and the Red Sox have now won two world championships in that time. And how did the unraveling begin? With a lead-off walk from Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4. Rivera never walks anybody! One could argue the choke started the next night when Torre, with the Yankees nursing a two-run lead in the 8th, decided not to bring in Rivera even though Mariano had only pitched one inning (though it was 25 pitches) the night before. It's former Red Sox Tom Gordon who came in and surrendered the lead.
Honorable Mention - The following teams are also deserving of the dubious choking distinction in a series: The Oakland A's, twice. The A's blew a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five ALDS in 2001 against the Yankees - the year of the spectacular "Jeter play" amidst the backdrop of 9/11 - and in the 2003 ALDS against the Red Sox. ... The 1984 Cubs, who became the first NL team to drop a series - in the NLCS against the San Diego Padres - after taking a commanding two-game lead. ... The St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 led the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, in the World Series before that Don Denkinger missed call at first base in Game 6 and the collapse of the Cardinals pitching in Game 7 gave the Royals their only world title.
Thursday - The top five postseason game chokes.
Tuesday - The top five regular-season chokes.