5 das viradas mais dramáticas do beisebol

Os transtornos são parte do que torna o beisebol interessante. Eles nos lembram que qualquer equipe - não importa de onde seja e quão pequena seja a folha de pagamento - pode vencer qualquer outra equipe em qualquer dia. Todos os esportes têm problemas, mas a história do beisebol está repleta de alguns dos mais dramáticos problemas de todos.

Parte da razão para isso é que o beisebol é um jogo de números e estatísticas. Temos métricas precisas (média de rebatidas, média de corridas ganhas, porcentagem de slugging, etc.) que descrevem exatamente por que os times bons são bons e os times ruins são ruins. Essas estatísticas podem nos ajudar a pensar que o resultado de um jogo às vezes é determinado antes mesmo de ser jogado. Além disso, com 162 jogos, a temporada regular da Major League Baseball é tão longa, e analistas e apostadores têm um rico conjunto de dados para determinar os favoritos e os azarões.

A classificação de transtornos é tanto uma medida de nossas próprias expectativas quanto de desempenho. Como fãs, às vezes tendemos a olhar além dos jogadores em campo, vendo apenas os números - médias de rebatidas, corridas marcadas, número de vitórias etc. o troféu. Como regra geral, quanto mais altas as apostas, mais dramática a virada, então não deve ser surpresa que três de nossas cinco maiores viradas tenham ocorrido na World Series, a competição anual melhor de sete para decidir o time da Major League Baseball. melhor equipe.

1. 2004 ALCS, Boston Red Sox sobre New York Yankees
2. 2009 World Baseball Classic, Holanda sobre República Dominicana
3. 1969 World Series, New York Mets sobre Baltimore Orioles
4. 1988 World Series, Los Angeles Dodgers sobre Oakland A's
5. Série Mundial de 1960, Pirates over Yankees

O Red Sox 2004 realmente merece um lugar nesta mesa? Será que supervalorizamos o que eles conseguiram mais porque ainda é história recente? Sim, e possivelmente sim. O Red Sox de 2004 conseguiu fazer algo que nenhum outro time havia conseguido antes ou desde então: vencer uma série de sete jogos após perder os três primeiros jogos. Parte do que fez a vitória do Red Sox na American League Champion Series de 2004 é que eles fizeram isso sobre o rival New York Yankees. Por jogar no maior mercado de mídia do país, e porque o time incluiu tantos jogadores lendários e conquistou tantos títulos ao longo dos anos, os Yankees tendem a ser um eterno favorito, então não é surpresa que eles tenham sido perdedores em algumas das viradas mais memoráveis ​​do beisebol .

No final da temporada regular de 2004, o Boston terminou apenas três jogos atrás dos Yankees, e os dois times terminaram em primeiro e segundo lugar na folha de pagamento da equipe, então, segundo a maioria das contas, eles estavam empatados entrando nos playoffs [fonte: ESPN ]. Depois de vencer os três primeiros jogos da série - dois jogos no Yankee Stadium e um no Fenway Park de Boston - parecia inevitável que os Yankees prevalecessem. Afinal, os analistas esportivos lembravam continuamente aos telespectadores, nenhum time na história conseguiu sair de um buraco de três jogos a zero.

Mas então algo engraçado aconteceu. Na verdade, você pode até identificar o momento em que o momento mudou. Na 9ª entrada do jogo 4, o aliviador do Yankee Mariano Rivera derrotou Kevin Millar, que acabou se tornando a corrida de empate (na forma do corredor de pitadas Dave Roberts), estendendo o jogo em entradas extras. Na parte inferior da 12ª entrada, o rebatedor David Ortiz acertou um home run, vencendo o jogo para o Red Sox e mantendo vivas as esperanças de Boston. Entrando nesse jogo, as chances eram de 58 para 1 contra o Red Sox vencer a série, mas eles ainda conseguiram retirá-lo [fonte: Silver ].

A repetição ALCS

A ALCS de 2004 teve um significado extra porque ambas as equipes se encontraram na ALCS de 2003, com os Yankees vencendo em uma série de sete jogos, esmagando as esperanças de Boston de vencer sua primeira World Series desde 1918. O Red Sox receberia o retorno em 2004, no entanto, eliminando os Yankees em uma reviravolta dramática e vencendo a World Series [fonte: Silver ].

Embora tenha o melhor time de beisebol da Europa, a Holanda não é normalmente conhecida como uma potência do beisebol. Como a maior parte da Europa, o futebol (futbol) é o esporte mais popular na Holanda, e a patinação no gelo também é muito popular - mas não o beisebol? Não muito. A maioria dos fãs de beisebol provavelmente teria dificuldade em nomear um único jogador holandês. É por isso que foi uma surpresa quando a seleção holandesa chocou a República Dominicana no Clássico Mundial de Beisebol de 2009.

One game can easily be written off as a fluke, but the thing that makes Holland's victory over the Dominican Republic such a notable upset is that they pulled it off twice in a period of four days. With a roster composed entirely of Major Leaguers, the Dominicans were considered tournament favorites in 2009. After winning the first game of the best-of-three series 3-2, the Dominicans stormed back and took the second game handily, by a score of 9-0. After such a lopsided victory, it was widely assumed that the Dominican Republic would prevail in the third game, but the Dutch team had other ideas [source: Curry].

The third and final game of the series was a low scoring affair. After nine innings, the score was still tied at zero, but things finally got interesting in the 11th, when a fielding error by Dominican Republic first baseman Willy Aybar allowed a run to score, ending the game in dramatic fashion. Sure, the Dominicans can make the excuse that Alex Rodriguez -- one of the most talented and highest-paid athletes in the world -- was injured and unable to play, but the team was still stacked with Major League All Stars. The Dutch team, meanwhile, featured just two Major Leaguers [source: AP].

The 1969 Baltimore Orioles were a juggernaut, but they couldn't top the Miracle Mets. The Orioles roster boasted the best pitching rotation in the majors, and with sluggers like Boog Powell and Frank Robinson, its offense wasn't anything to sneeze at either. The team cruised through the regular season, winning 109 games, which was the most any team had ever won up to that point. The New York Mets, meanwhile, won an impressive 100 games in the '69 season, but they were still a young franchise (the Mets were formed in 1962). Most analysts didn't expect them to be able to match the statistical advantages enjoyed by the Orioles.

When the series began, it looked like the oddsmakers would be proven right. Baltimore pitcher Mike Cuellar smothered the Mets lineup, pitching a complete-game victory. But then the Mets' starting rotation took over the series, allowing the Orioles to score just two runs over the next three games. The Mets then won the series in dramatic fashion with a home run off of Don Clendenon's bat [source: MLB.com].

One of the biggest intangibles in any team sport is coaching, because it's difficult as spectators to know how much of an impact a coach might have on the outcome of a game. But that wasn't the case in game 5 of the 1969 World Series. In the 9th inning, Mets manager Gil Hodges managed to convince the umpires that a low pitch had hit batter Cleon Jones in the foot by retrieving the ball and showing the shoe polish on it. The very next batter, Clendenon, hit a two-run home run, winning the game and the series for the Mets [source: SI.com].

Perhaps more than any other playoff series in the modern era, the 1988 World Series is remembered with one iconic image: MVP Kirk Gibson hitting the winning home run and limping around the bases. Morrison had injured both of his legs during the National League Championship Series against the Mets, and he wasn't expected to play in the series. But in the bottom of the 9th inning, he told manager Tommy Lasorda that he was available to pinch hit, and a few minutes later he sent a 3-2 slider from Oakland A's closer Dennis Eckersley over the right field wall [source: Weinburg].

Gibson's walk-off home run set the tone for one of the most improbable upsets in baseball history. Going into the series, the A's were a heavy favorite. Oakland's lineup featured the so-called "Bash Brothers," Mark McGwire and José Canseco, who were two of the more feared homerun hitters in baseball, and the team's pitchers were the finest in the American League. In comparison, the Dodgers looked weak heading into the series. In fact, on the air, NBC broadcaster Bob Costas even went as far as to call the Dodgers' Game 4 lineup one of the weakest in World Series history -- and yet they still pulled off the win [source: Wulf].

Outmatched though they did seem, the Dodgers reveled in their underdog status -- Lasorda reportedly reminded his players of David and Goliath throughout the series. On the field, Gibson wasn't the only Dodger to step up; Cy Young-award-winning pitcher Orel Hershiser started two of the five games, pitching complete games in both and allowing a total of just seven hits and two runs.

The worst to win?

The 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers are widely cited as the worst team to win a World Series, and many fans consider L.A.'s win over Oakland to be a fluke. With a team batting average of .248 and no position player with a batting average of more than .300, the Dodgers didn't have much offensive firepower, but it was quality pitching that brought them the title [source: ESPN].

No team has dominated American sports quite like the Yankees. Throughout the team's history, the Yankees have hoisted 27 World Series trophies -- far more than any other. 1960 marked the beginning of a golden era of Yankee baseball , as the team featured Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra, three of the best players in Major League Baseball history. By almost any measure, the Pittsburgh Pirates were an inferior team. Their pitching was inconsistent, and although the Pirates' lineup included batting title winners Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente in their prime, they couldn't quite match the Yankees' firepower.

The box score at the end of the series even seemed to suggest that the Yankees were the superior team -- New York scored more total runs and racked up more total hits than Pittsburgh, and they still managed to lose. Those numbers were skewed by the fact that the Yankees dominated the three games that they won, winning by a combined score of 38-3, while keeping the games they lost very close.

Apparently nobody told the Pirates that they didn't stand a chance against the formidable Yankees. Despite getting blown out in the second and third games of the series, the Pirates hung around, getting strong pitching from Harvey Haddix and Vern Law in the next two games. Game 7 of the 1960 World Series is generally considered one of the most memorable games in baseball history. The back-and-forth game went down to the wire, with each team taking the lead in the 8th and 9th innings. Then, in the bottom of the 9th, Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit the only Game 7 walk-off home run in World Series history -- one of the most unforgettable home runs ever [source: Schoenfield].

Author's Note: 5 of Baseball's Most Dramatic Upsets

Although I grew up in a part of the country that doesn't have its own Major League Baseball team, I've always been a big baseball fan. I always tend to root for the underdog, so this topic was a fun one for me. Of the five upsets listed here, the Netherlands victory over the Dominican Republic strikes me as the most surprising, and it goes to show that any team, no matter who they are and how well known they are, can beat any other.

Related Articles