A Look Back at the Greatest Day in Baseball History

[Music] so my dad asked me the other day what my favorite baseball game was and there's no way a single person watching could guess what that was it actually came on September 25th 2008 between the Mets and the Cubs but that's not the point one thing led to another and the question brought back memories of what I've always thought was the best day in baseball history in my opinion the single greatest day in baseball history was on September 28th 2011 in order to talk about what went down on that date we first have to talk about where the Leafs stood on September 27th in order to set up the stakes for the following day the date is September 27th 2011 the final day of the regular season is tomorrow there are four teams we're gonna focus on in this video the Braves the Red Sox the Cardinals and the Rays now I know we're talking about the day before but if you take a look back only three weeks earlier both the Cardinals and the Rays we're both at least eight games back in their wildcard races so for the both of them to even get to this point was pretty remarkable it's also important to remind you that the second wild-card spot wasn't a thing at this point in time because had it been this would have been a completely different story those four aren't even the only teams that had something to fight for in game 162 there were some smaller storylines to follow here and there to the AL West clinching Rangers were only a game ahead of the central clinching Tigers for the second-best record in the American League and the NL Central winning Brewers were only a game ahead of the NL West clinching Diamondbacks for the second-best record in the NL still we're only gonna focus on those four teams that I mentioned before but I think it's important to show you how much was on the line in game 162 big or small to make my case why this day trumps all other days in baseball history now in the American League the Rays and Red Sox were tied at the top of the wildcard standings and the Braves and Cardinals were tied at the top of the NL wildcard standings each fighting for their playoff live with only a day left in the regular season as the Sun set on September 27th players on several major league teams were left speculating about what was to come the following day I don't think them or anybody on the outside looking in could have possibly guessed what was to come after what I'm sure was a restless night for some the Sun rose on September 28th 2011 the greatest day in baseball history there were many different possible outcomes for the day any two of these four teams could have made it to the playoffs and either pair or both could have gone to a game 163 now the first of these four games was between the Red Sox and Orioles and was scheduled to begin at 7:05 Eastern followed by the Phillies Braves and Yankees raised games at 7:10 with the Cardinals in Houston an hour later let's start in the National League with the least memorable of these four games right from the get-go the Cardinals had this game locked down with a five run opening the Astros who were 56 and 106 at the time didn't really stand a chance Chris Carpenter threw a 2 hit 11 strikeouts shutout and st. Louis took care of business they were the only one of the four teams who really didn't break a sweat in their game and now it was up to the Braves to see whether or not game 163 was needed Braves unlike their adversary had their work cut out for them against the 101 and 60 division leading Phillies after an RBI double from Ryan Howard in the first inning the Braves had ground to make up right away and did so in the bottom half on a Chipper Jones sac fly after a two-run dan Uggla homer in the third inning the Braves took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning Braves closer Craig Kimbrel comes in looking to extend the regular season an extra day he gives up a hit a sac fly three walks and the Phillies had tied the game to extras we go back and forth scoreless innings from both bullpens brings us to the 13th inning where Hunter Pence singles in Brian Schneider and gives the Phillies their first lead since the first inning all hope seems to be lost for the Braves and it definitely showed in the bottom half of the inning a strikeout a walk and a double play later and the Braves playoff hopes were destroyed the Cardinals were advancing to play the Phillies in the NLDS after an exciting yet disappointing game 162 showing by the Braves and the story in the American League was even better in Baltimore the Red Sox were on the board first after a base hit from Dustin Pedroia in the top of the third they immediately coughed it up in the bottom half and plated two runs in the following inning to go back up 3-2 to on the Orioles now even though they were only up by a run they could breathe a little bit because they looked up to the scoreboard and saw that the Rays were trailing the Yankees 7 nothing it seemed like at the very least they would live to see another day and then the rain came Boston had to sit through a one hour and 26 minute rain delay in the 6th inning and sat there with their jaws on the floor while watching what was going on in Tampa Bay Rays David Price gets the ball for Tampa at home against the 100 win Yankees as we know now David Price is pretty bad against the Yankees and today was no exception the Yankees were up 5 nothing by the bottom half of the second inning on the back of to Mark Teixeira homers and would tack on another run before prices day was over the Yankees had a seven nothing lead heading into the bottom of the 8th inning it looked like all hope was lost for the Tampa Bay Rays until franchise star Evan Longoria stepped up to the plate with runners on against the we say Allah [Applause] so the Red Sox are getting pretty scared they went from feeling really good before the delay to that feeling you get after watching a season eight of Game of Thrones now they have to go back out there and get the job done regardless of what's going on in Tampa they can't count on the Yankees lead anymore now the rate only finally ends they get through a clean 7th and 8th don't score any runs in the ninth and send out Jonathan Papelbon with a one-run lead to close it out they're hoping for at the very least a tiebreaker game 163 with the Rays should they win Papelbon strikes out his first two batters it looks like the Red Sox have this game in the bag but not so fast what's this it's 2011 not 2019 Chris Davis knows how to make contact he hits a long double to keep this game alive next batter comes up no one Reimold what a name he's got ground rule double and just like that the game is tied and the Orioles have the winning run in scoring position if you're a Red Sox fan at this point you've gone through like four packs of tums and a quarter gallon of mylanta the Orioles had two outs and nobody on and like five seconds later now they're a base hit away from winning the game this inning was pretty symbolic of the entire month of September for the 2011 Red Sox now here comes Robert and Ino with the winning run on second and two outs with Boston season on the line and here we go [Applause] [Laughter] the game heads to the bottom of the ninth but the Yankees leading 7 to 6 just as in Baltimore there are 2 outs and nobody on up steps Dan Johnson I know who the heck is this guy we really didn't know at the time either Dan Johnson up to this point in 2011 had 84 at-bats during the regular season and o-p-s of 389 and an o ps+ of 11 imagine if you took Jeff Mathis blindfolded him and made him bat lefty you get the stats resembling those of 2011 Dan Johnson yet even still and what was a day full of magic and surprises Dan Johnson did exactly what you'd expect him to and just like that the game was tied and after a few scoreless innings evan longoria doesn't again in the bottom of the 12th and ends the final game in the greatest day in baseball history [Applause] this was without a shred of doubt in my mind the single greatest day in all of baseball history and just think about the crazy symmetry here both leagues had two teams tied for the wild-card lead going into the final day of the season both leagues had two teams within a game of each other for the second and third spots and the league standings the Cardinals and rays both came back from eight game plus deficits and their wild card races and were the two teams to win them the two losing wild-card teams Atlanta and Boston both blew three to two leads in the ninth inning with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth inning the Red Sox blew a one-run lead and lost the game and with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth inning the Yankees blew a one-run lead and lost their game the left fielder who couldn't make the catch on the Orioles walk-off hit was Carl Crawford who was in his first year of a major contract with the Red Sox after spending his first nine seasons where Tampa Bay Carl Crawford must have felt like really crappy that his former brothers in Tampa ruined his team's season well family this day will without a doubt be remembered as one of the greatest in baseball history and I know I keep saying that but I really do mean it and I hope this video solidifies that for me though it is the greatest day it's not just one of and I think you guys get that point by now just think about all of the things that had to go right for this day to play out the way it did the Cardinals and Rays had to both make up at least eight games in the standings and the final month of play the teams in front of them had to cough up that big lead the Red Sox and Braves had to blow three to two leads in the last inning the Yankees had to blow a seven run lead late in the game you know the hundred win Yankees and they had to give up a pinch hit Homer with two outs and nobody on base to somebody who went from Jeff Mathis to Jerome from family guy in the blink of an eye I'm gonna tear the cover off this ball but hang on first I gotta adjust myself on this night careers were changed players were immortalized in their franchises histories and fans of the game of baseball had the ride of a lifetime while it's unlikely we'll see anything like this again anytime soon this day shows us that in baseball truly anything is possible and it's one of those days that proves to me that baseball is the greatest sport in the world I'd like to thank you very much for joining me today let me know what you thought about the video in the comment section down below and I'll see you next time [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Stark Raving Sports

Views: 138,606

Keywords: Baseball, major league baseball, mlb, 2011 game 162, sports commentary, baseball analysis

Id: IxdHPYHjy3M

Length: 10min 34sec (634 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 25 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/bad__sects]

There are many moments in history I didn't witness or missed. I still can't believe I was able to watch all of these games unfold in real time. I know it's absolutely cliche to say but this is easily the greatest day in baseball I will ever see. It's exactly why this sport so great and why I feel so passionately for it. I fucking can't wait for opening day.

[u/[deleted]]

Thanks I hate it. Made a badass intro on MLB The Show 12 though.

[u/[deleted]]

Never been so happy to watch the Yanks lose

[u/colwell25]

Dan Johnson hit two homeruns that year: one a 3 run game winner in the 9th to give the 0-6 Rays their first win of the year, and one a game-tier down to their last strike in game 162

[u/beneath_the_wheel]

One of my fondest baseball memories. I had the day off the following day because it was my birthday, so I just bought a case of beer, sat on the couch and enjoyed the ride.

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/batting_1000]

2-2 and a line shot down the left field line...

[u/BookishAshley]

My 30th birthday and what a gift it was.

[u/appleatya]

I'm still partial to Bobby Bonilla Day