MLB Prime 9: Greatest Comebacks

[Music] welcome to prime nine the countdown show that covers the very best in baseball guaranteed to start arguments not end this week it's the nine greatest comebacks of all time why nine that's baseball nine players nine innings prime nine people are heading for the exits to beat the traffic i don't blame them nine five padres the accidental philosopher and hall of fame catcher yogi berra once said it ain't over until it's over and when it comes to baseball wiser words have never been spoken the dodgers win it the most amazing game i have ever seen for if we've learned anything from watching this game unbelievable it's that anything can happen expect the unexpected or the last guy on the block left he'd expect to hit a home run jesse even when it looks like you've got no chance greatest comeback in the history of the game so here then are the nine greatest comebacks of all time starting with number nine on prime9 boy this uh babe ruth has already uh stated that the yankees of the pennant uh already won but they feel that it's up to you boys to show him that he's all wrong and the philadelphia a's did just that in 1929 but after all owner and manager connie mack had assembled a powerhouse team featuring five future hall of famers maybe we'll all have more to say after we play the cup chicago won game three of that world series to trail two games to one and then took a seemingly insurmountable eight to nothing game four lead we're getting to the bottom of the seventh and the cubs have got eight runs on the board and the a's are already looking ahead to game five what happened in the bottom of that seventh inning is a tragic comic cubs outfielder hack wilson provided the tragedy with two key misplays he could run but he couldn't run very far or very fast because he only had size five and a half feet wilson's second gaffe led to an inside the park homer by mule haas and a two-run double by jimmy dykes later in the inning put the a's i had for good ten hits ten runs the ten run rally uh almost unimaginable but in a world series uh had to be seen to be disbelieved but the greatest world series rally ever was very real indeed as the a's won both games four and five to capture the championship this whole deal in 64 was a wild pennant race here are the cardinals who are out of it st louis was 11 games back in mid-august thanks to gene mark's phillies in what appeared to be a magical year the 64 season was a great year for the phillies dick allen came up with the team and ultimately was named rookie of the year it was also the year in which jim bunning pitched a perfect game on father's day and the fills were perfectly poised to capture the pennants on september the 20th the phillies flew home from los angeles with a six and a half game lead 12 games to play and world series tickets were being printed they were making arrangements at connie mac stadium what happened next defied belief i don't think that there's any formula for a team to come back when they're six and a half games out with with 13 games to play maybe not but there was the questionable pitching strategy employed by mock down the stretch so he wanted to go with these aces jim bunning and chris short two days rest they'd pitch almost every other day and it did not work at all and while the phillies lost ten straight games the cardinals won eight in a row so we go in and dump the pirates five games in a row and then beat the phillies three games in a row a bouncing ball they should do it the cardinals are in first place i don't think i've ever seen a group of able-bodied men walk off the field a cider spectacle incredibly the fills were eliminated with one game to go but the cards still needed a win and the cardinals do manage to win uh on that sunday [Applause] and they win the pennant by a game the cards went on to beat the yankees in the world series and 1964 offered proof that with every great comeback there is often an equally ignominious collapse that was a collapse that had the likes of which had never been seen before in major league baseball it became a trademark for the city of philadelphia and it was the biggest disaster and maybe the biggest collapse in baseball history until the last outs made of the last game you're still in it if the 1964 season doesn't teach you that what does it teach you welcome back to prime 9 featuring the greatest comebacks of all time you've seen the ninth and eighth best who now continue with number seven [Music] it was september of 2007 and the colorado rockies were behind three other teams in a desperate wild card race with just two weeks to go what the rockies did in 2007 is my something we might not see for another hundred years the rockies and clint hurtle have now won ten in a row you know the common theme just kept going as a bunch of guys it had one goal in mind was to finish this thing off in a really positive fashion good teams do this in september that stretch where they lost one game over a period of about 30 days is something i don't think you'll ever see again one two to help swung on and hit high and deep for right that's rocky's win in the bottom of the night [Applause] incredibly the rockies bypassed everyone to tie the san diego padres for the wild card on the season's final day and set the stage for a one-game playoffs when you think about the colorado rockies in their great run in 2007. what about game 163 that's where down by two against all-time saves leader trevor hoffman the rocky scored three 13th inning runs that play when carroll hits the fly ball to right field that's bringing everything you can down the line you're thinking oh man this is going to be close you're looking for something there's no sign there's a lot of dust you see the ball and the safe call and it's just it was very special feeling that pretty exciting i could still see jake peavy the padres ace pitcher saying that he thought that some sort of higher force was guiding the rockies and then no matter what you did you weren't you weren't going to beat the rockies and no one in the national league did stop him the rockies just kept winning ball games [Applause] leading up into the 1995 season there was uncertainty about the franchise even whether or not the ball club was going to be able to stay the mariners just needed to give the fans something to really cheer and rally around in which they did in 1995. 13 games back in august the mariners put it all on the line fueled in part by the return of their all-star slugger jr junior was gone for three months and now the mariners got the best player in baseball back the game is over and i think it was from that point on when junior hit that home run beat the yanks you know the mariners won 24 out of the next 35 ball games unbelievably once we pulled within about 10 games back everybody started focusing on hey man we got a chance here [Applause] seattle won 19 games in september and caught up to the free falling agent came to the point where we was head to head with the angels and we finished the season tied and we had a one game playoff it was as dramatic a game has ever been played in seattle because it was loser out one game to decide the american league west and that game was one when randy johnson was on the mound blowing away the angels the mariners couldn't lose it got to the playoffs for the very first time in their 19th season of history of the franchise so seattle had reached the playoffs but now they would have to escape from new york so they go to new york and lose the first game nine to six game two was just crushing this they've got to beat the yankees three wins in a row we gotta win tonight not worry about tomorrow we gotta win tonight the mariners came back again that season and won the next two in preposterous fashion once again seattle's comeback season came down to a single game game five was our advantage we were playing at home and i thought the yankees were going to have a tremendous amount of pressure the game went into the 11th where the mariners ensured that baseball was alive and well in seattle [Applause] said it best when he said that was the hit the run the game and the season that saved baseball in seattle welcome back to prime 9 featuring the greatest comebacks of all time those 29as checked in at number nine followed by the 64 gardens then came the rampaging rockies and those not-so-ancient mariners which means it's time for number five the fierce rivalry between the dodgers and the giants was going brooklyn's way in 1951 for the doctors appeared to be running away with the pennant the dodgers were cruising in 1951 they were leading by 13 and a half games in the middle of the second full week of august there was no reason to suppose that any part of that lead was going to dissolve but the giants had other plans all you can say is that the giants caught fire the last 44 games the giants won 37 37 and seven that's playing some ball and every time the dodgers lost the game the the giants snatched that away and would not give it back the season concluded in the tie and a three-game playoff was mandated giants won the first game at ebbets field ralph branca pitch a credible game bobby thompson hit a home run which was a glance into the future the dodgers won the second but trying to surprise starter clem levine threw a 10-nothing shutout it set it up for game three out of the subway into the polo grounds poor fans by the thousands for the sudden death game in the playoff between the faltering dodgers and the stretch-running giants in game three they called upon don nukem their ace newcomb pitched fantastic ball the brooklyn ace held the giants to one run through eight while his teammates thrived just like in august the dodgers appeared to be in command then bill cox plans ahead into the left field corner scoring robinson and the dodgers lead four to one giants are trailing four to one going into the bottom of the nine whitey lochman smashes the double to left field while recording one out they bring one run home and they've got men on second and third the giants had never stopped fighting since they were 13 games back but time was running out then with ralph branca on the mound bobby thompson unleashed a shot i jumped on it i knew i made good contact with it and i thought home run [Music] [Applause] the final chapter of this comeback was so amazing it needed a title all its own for this was indeed the shot heard round the world in the 86 alcs the angels staged a heroic comeback against boston in game four putting them one game away from the world series as we go to the top of the ninth inning and security at the ready this was a watershed moment in the history of the california angels looked like they had it won they had a big lead in the ninth inning and i really don't know what happened that made it a one-run game but still the angels held the lead and with two outs they called on their closer donnie moore to face dave henderson let me set the stage a little bit for you if i can two strikes two outs boom here's the tumbling split finger [Music] what i can remember is brian downing running back to the green tarp wall and he just laid on the fence it just took the wind out of our sails and now that was a huge moment or turning point for us and the game went on and they tied it up and we went on to win that game we still had what were we up three to at the time and all we had to do was win one more ball game but we had to go back to boston where the red sox won game six and were one out away from finalizing their amazing comeback the red sox are trying to go from last right to the world series and they do but we came back to boston and took that series and then we came into the world series we can talk about that later actually we can talk about it right now for in baseball what goes around has a tendency to come around five three red sox and the mets are down to their last out so here are the red sox 1986 and they still haven't won a world series since 1918 and now it appears that it's finally gonna happen they're up three games to two they lead five to three the mets come up in the bottom of the tenth we really really felt that this was it and then uh lined into left field base it for carter and the mets are still alive to everybody all of a sudden they grabbed a bat and said well i'm not making the last out ball and that's going to be hit the center base hit another base hit still not worried we're two runs up and now suddenly with two out in the 10th inning the time runs are aboard and ray knight will be the batter what happens next is that ray knight fists one over marty barrett's head drive it'll be a base hit in the center field harder around third will score it is now five to four and the nets refused to go quietly [Music] all these guys affirmative got hit and now the end result rests on what i do and it's up to bob stanley and it's up to [Applause] i really had a little sign of relief because now i come to the plate we're down now i'm still at the plate and the score is time you know then all of a sudden you get to a point where the game is tied and you go oh you know we're going to win this game little roller up along [Applause] you see ray knight coming across to play to score when that happened we realized that we had just won the ball game most remarkable ball game i've ever played in the mets have won what must be the most amazing game of their 25 year history [Applause] we now return to prime nine where this week we're focusing on the nine greatest comebacks in the history of baseball these are teams that appear to have no hope yet somehow they managed to defy the odds come back from nowhere so now it's time for the greatest comebacks of all would you believe they both involved the same two teams we begin with number two 1978 was a tale of two seasons for the defending champion yankees and the boston red sox here's how that season went beginning of the year we were healthy firing on all cylinders and we were blowing people out and the game is over the red sox win it while boston flourished the yankees were the walking wounded and by july 19th they were way behind we were 14 or 15 back and catching them at that time seemed like an insurmountable thing to do but come late july new york began to make its move it started to turn around when guys started to get healthy and then the red sox started to have some guys go down at that time everybody on the team felt like that if we could pick up one game a week by the time we got to september we'd have a good chance of catching them the yankees actually played 720 baseball from the end of july on and that's almost unheard of the boston lead would dwindle to four but not for long for an early september the yankees went to fenway park for a four-game series the one that's known today as the boston massacre the whole series everything just went our way it's unbelievable the way they're swinging the bats in the four game series here in boston they beat the heck out of us they really did and it looked like they were surging and were going the wrong way the yankees were relentless outscoring boston 42-9 the yankees the yankees didn't only catch us the yankees went ahead of us we actually won the last 10 11 ball games of that season just to tie these guys now it came down to a playoff game one one game playoff game in 1978. and so after 162 games new york and boston has settled nothing at all it was winner take all and the red sox drew first blood [Applause] oh he really put a charge into that one down by two in the seventh the yankees were in familiar territory they needed a comeback they needed a hero this is another key situation for bucky dent runners in first and second two outs yankees down two nothing you watch bucky come up to the plate you know come on keep the left yes i never saw the ball land into the net i rounded and i saw the umpire signaled it was a home run three run home run for bucky then the yankees now lead by a score three to two then of course i stepped on the plate as i started back to the dugout everybody came out and it was just a tremendous feeling on to the ninth with the yankees up five to four looking to complete their summer-long comebacks over in third phase he'll squeeze it and it's over and look at those yankees they have come here in boston and they have beat the red sox again we came from 14 games down they kept saying they had a bad streak uh if they could get another crackheads they beat us they've got a better front nine than we had and we came up and beat them all over again and tell you it really feels good here we go it's game four we'll see if the boston red sox can take that first step toward a monumental comeback in this alcs here tonight people forget we got destroyed game three the next thing i remember is going to the field having to keep my attitude high we'll be all right we just don't make it easy on ourselves and truthfully feeling that if we win game four don't let the sox win this game that we have a chance to win the series because then you're gonna get paid or tomorrow and then you're gonna get shield game six in game seven anything happens but that all seemed unlikely for down by one in the ninth of game four boston was facing the very best red sox are three outs away from being swept bottom of the ninth inning mariano reveres on the mound and kevin millar comes up and has a graded bat [Applause] as kevin takes his ball forward and he throws his back tito looks out the end of the dugout and gives me a wink a pinch runner dave roberts is gonna come in for boston he can run that was my cue to go out there and you know make something happen he goes you know the 24 of the guys did so much to get us there and i wanted to do my part and contribute [Music] roberts will come to the plate bill miller has tied it and tied it would stay until the bottom of the 12th when a man who was forging a reputation for himself as one of the most clutch hitters in the game added to his legend ortiz so many times the hero for the red sox and the very next night big papi once again got to play mr clutch two on two out david ortiz with another chance to win it ortiz fights it off center field david run into the plate and he can keep on running to new york they're heading for new york and curt schilling the injured kurt chilling will try and get them into a seventh game schilling's performance tonight will long live in new england baseball lore schilling's blood stained effort brought boston one step closer to a baseball miracle the 3-2 pitch swinging a miss game seven coming up tonight gotta make it interesting when we win tomorrow we shock the united states of america what about the world the world all right in the world there you go until the red sox is here no team had come from behind three games and even force a game seven we were down 0-3 it's never been done but no one had us beating the yankees in this series after losing the first three games but that's precisely what they would do and they even won the final two in the yankees backyard let's come back to boston's amazing comeback one more time everyone remembers all the clutch hits in those four straight wins but the red sox could not have pulled it off without an amazing effort from their bullpen in those final four games against the yankees the boston relief corps combined for a 1.83 earned run average in 19 and two thirds the red sox bullpen striking out the side in the 11th a tour to fourth performance from the red sox bullpen and in their next four games as they swept the cardinals the red sox and their bullpen came through again ensuring they would all be folk heroes in boston forever that's our primeknit what's yours [Music]

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Views: 14,587

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Id: jVGGzvBUUmc

Length: 25min 4sec (1504 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 16 2020