Top 6 Most Shocking MLB Events of All-Time: The Games

2.  Bartman

Chicago Cubs fans blame a nerdy fan with headphones and glasses for interfering with left fielder Moises Alou in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, ruining his chance to catch a ball falling into foul territory.  Steve Bartman is still one of baseball's all-time most famous fans.  The error in judgment - let's face it, if you were in his shoes, what would you have done with 1-second to think? - led to a series of catastrophic events for a Cubs team cruising on its way to a World Series berth. 

But what fans forget is shortstop Alex Gonzalez booting a sure double-play ball later in the inning, opening the floodgates for a Florida Marlins team to eventually steal their 2nd World Series title in 6 years.  And fans also forget Kerry Wood's game-tying home run in Game 7, as well as a short-lived 5-3 lead.  The Cubs had other chances.  Maybe it wasn't poor Steve's fault after all.

3.  The Jeffrey Maier Game

Bartman interferes and he's crucified.  Young Jeffrey Maier does it and he's praised.  See what a home crowd can do?  In Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, 12-year old Jeffrey Maier reached over the right field wall to seemingly grab a Derek Jeter ball from landing in the glove of Baltimore's Tony Tarasco.  Umpire Rich Garcia called it a home run, not fan interference, and the Yankees eventually captured their first World Series title since 1978.

Here's another But: Was the ball really going to be a home run?  Scott Erickson recently said HERE that there was no doubt.  The ball was going to be caught.  But look at where the ball was caught.  Look at its trajectory as it fell toward earth.  Then look at Tony Tarasco's glove.  And look at his feet.  They were planted on the ground.  Was the ball really going to go over the wall?  Possibly not.  But the ball just as possibly wasn't going to be caught, either.  Remove Jeffrey Maier from the equation and we might have had a double instead of a game-tying home run.  Look at the video and pictures and decide for yourself.

One additional thought: Armando Benitez was on the mound.  Orioles and Mets fans know full well that if the Maier mess hadn't occured, Benitez likely would have still found a way to blow the save.  Sorry Mr. Erickson, but the Yankees would have tied the game that inning no matter what.

4.  The Pine Tar Game

Just a regular game in 1983.  Reliever Mike Armstrong got the win.  Dan Quisenberry got the save.  Game-winning home run by George Brett in Yankee Stadium.  Only Brett got ejected after the home run, as did manager Dick Howser, coach Rocky Colavito and pitcher Gaylord Perry.  Why was Perry ejected?  For giving Brett's home run bat to a bat boy and telling him to hide it.  Why did they hide the bat?  Pine Tar.

What is Pine Tar?  It's a sticky substance that's source is pine tree stumps and roots that, after an intensely high-heating process, "has a long history as a wood preservative, as a wood sealant for maritime use, in roofing construction and maintenance, in soaps such as Packer’s Pine Tar Soap and in the treatment of skin diseases, such as psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea (pronounced roh-ZAY-sha)." [source: Wikipedia]

Pine Tar is also used on baseball bats to give hitters a better grip.  The rules state Pine Tar is allowed on a bat from the knob up to 18 inches.  In the Pine Tar game, Brett was accused by Yankees manager Billy Martin that the Pine Tar on Brett's bat exceeded what the rules allow.  Brett was ejected and his home run disallowed after the umpires discussed the rule.  Famously, Brett stormed out of the dugout and had to be restrained.  If you read his lips as he erupted, you can see his choice of language was not appropriate for too many churches or mosques.

The Pine Tar Game is most famous for Brett's eruption, Martin's protest, and the resumption of the game 25 days later after the umpire ruling was overturned by the American League office.  Approximately 1,200 fans showed up to watch the final four outs of the game, one in which the Royals would win 5 to 4.

For an interesting viewpoint by winning pitcher Armstrong, read THIS.

5.  Midget At The Bat

It was 1951.  Bill Veeck, owner of the St. Louis Browns, was desperate.  His ballclub was lousy and nobody was coming to the games.  Looking to give fans a reason to see a game - and pay - Veeck thought up the idea of a birthday party.  1951 was the 50th anniversary of the American League, as well as the 50th anniversary of Falstaff Brewery, one of the team's sponsors.  Nobody could actually prove that it was also Falstaff's 50th anniversary, but as Veeck wrote in From Veeck - As In Wreck, his autobiography, "If we couldn't prove it fell on the day we chose, neither could anyone prove that it didn't."

For years, Veeck had had the idea of using a midget to promote his team (he owned 3 different MLB teams during his lifetime).  He called a booking agent who found Eddie Gaedel.  While at first "dubious," after some selling by Veeck, Gaedel agreed to appearing at the birthday game.  And Gaedel would more than appear.  He'd sign a contract and become a member of the team.  Better yet, he'd come to the plate and actually bat.

Gaedel knew virtually nothing about baseball besides "I know you're supposed to hit the white ball with the bat.  And then you run somewhere."  Veeck spent time teaching Gaedel how to stand in the box and how to crouch (making the already tiny strike zone tinier).  When Gaedel pretended to swing, Veeck got scared, telling Eddie all he had to do was crouch in the box, take four balls, and trot to first base.  And if Gaedel did swing?  He was met with this warning from Veeck.  "I'm going to be up on the roof with a high-powered rifle watching every move you make.  If you so much as look as if you're going to swing, I'm going to shoot you dead."

Eddie was paid $100 for the day.  Veeck took out a life insurance policy on him for $1,000,000 to protect the team in case of sudden death or "sudden growth."

The whole plan was a secret.  Even the Falstaff Brewery folks only knew they were part of a big surprise.  The contract Gaedel signed was mailed to league headquarters on a Saturday night, so by the time it was opened on Monday morning, the game would have already been played (in case of expected protest from the league). 

A crowd of more than 18,000 showed up for the game, the largest to see a Browns game in 4 years.  In between games of the doubleheader, Gaedel made his grand entrance by popping out of a birthday cake.  Then he went back into hiding until the bottom of the first, when it was announced number one-eighth was batting for Frank Saucier.  Home plate umpire Eddie Hurley questioned the stunt and Browns manager Zack Taylor showed the signed contract, a telegram to league headquarters (time stamped) proving proper procedures had been followed (just followed at the very last second, before plans could be thwarted), and a copy of the active roster, which included number 1/8, Eddie Gaedel.

Gaedel got into the batters box and the crowd was alive.  The Falstaff people were besides themselves with joy at the promotion they were sure to receive from all of this.  But Veeck was beside himself for another reason.  Gaedel wasn't crouching, like he had been taught.  "He was standing straight up, his little bat held high, his feet spraddled wide in a fair approximation of Joe DiMaggio's classic style.  I was thinking," wrote Veeck in his autobiography, "I should have brought that gun up here.  I'll kill him if he swings.  I'll kill him, I'l kill  him."

But by the third pitch, pitcher Bobby Cain was laughing so hard he could barely throw.  Balls three and four floated about three feet over Eddie Gaedel's head.

Eddie trotted to first base, his image captured by snapping cameras.  He stood on the bag until a pinch runner could take his place, and then he ran across the infield, waving to the crowd, toward the St. Louis dugout.  He was now one of the most famous footnotes in one of the most famous games in the history of baseball. 

And the Browns lost, 6 to 2.

6.  Bill Buckner & Mookie Wilson's Future Card Show Appearance Game

In other words, this is Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  Note this followed Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS, in which the Angels Donnie Moore gave up a game-tying home run to Dave Henderson of the Red Sox.  Moore would eventually commit suicide, partially because of his pitching error (he pitched the following inning without the Sox scoring).  But compare Moore's fate to Bill Buckner's.  Buckner, a very good hitter, was hobbled and usually replaced for defense.  But on the field in the bottom of the 10th at a packed Shea Stadium with two outs in Game 6, Buckner "let" a ground ball hit off the bat of Mookie Wilson go past his glove and through his legs.  Ray Knight scored the winning run from second base, the Mets came back from the brink of a long and cold winter to win not only Game 6 but Game 7 as well.

But again, fans forget other circumstances.  Buckner wasn't the only man to blame.  Boston manager John McNamara, to this day, is criticised for not making the defensive switch, like he did in the regular season.  And while Calvin Shiraldi got two quick outs in the bottom of the 10th, he then gave up consecutive singles to Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight.  Bob Stanley relieved and promptly threw a wild pitch during the Wilson at-bat, which led Kevin Mitchell to score the tying run from third and Ray Knight to get into scoring position at 2nd base.  Buckner made the error and Game 6 was won by the Mets. 

It was a swift victory, completely surprising.  And because it involved a New York team, because Vin Scully was doing the play-by-play for NBC, and because it was against Boston, one of baseball's most storied franchises, Game 6 goes down as one of the most shocking games of all-time.

Honorable Mentions: There are other games that produced shocking results, or shocked the country.  There was Bill Mazerowski's home run to win the 1960 World Series.  There was Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard Round The World" in 1951.  There was Jackie Robinson's first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.  There was the first game at Yankee Stadium in 1979 after Thurman Munson's death.  What do you think is the most shocking game of all-time?