Was this the greatest collapse in history ?

zsz70 · October 21, 2004 1:23AM

The Red Sox were favored, so it wasn't an upset.

The four game comeback was never done before.
It was done on the Yanks home turf with a payroll
close to 200 million.

Was this the greatest collapse in sports history ?

Dallas88 · October 21, 2004 1:29AM

Well, the collapse of the Roman empire was close, but I'll give it to the '04 Spankees.

goodriddance189 · October 21, 2004 1:37AM

up 3 games to 0, 3 outs from elimination

only to lose the next 4 games to your hated rivals, the last 2 in "The House That Ruth Built"

yeah, the biggest choke in the history of sports, by far

mintluster · October 21, 2004 6:33AM

I think this was easily the biggest choke in the history of sports.

How many people here can HONESTLY say after game 3 they thought the Red Sox would be goin to the WS?

I bet nobody.

ctsoxfan · October 21, 2004 7:49AM

The Red Sox were clearly the better team, and deserved to win (heck, they were favored to win, remember?). But, for exactly the reasons mentioned, this has to be viewed as a monumental collapse by the Yanks. And, from listening to their fans today (many of them are leaping off the bandwagon as we speak), you better believe they realize how monumental this is.

Long cold winter ahead.

Gemmy10 · October 21, 2004 8:00AM

They were discussing this on "Mike and the Mad Dog" today as well as across America. I would say it is probably #1 but Chris Russso said saying it was a total collapse was taking away fron the fact that this is a great Red Sox team.

What about the 1986 Red Sox? They were 1 strike away from winning the World Series. If my memory serves me correctly, the MVP Award had already been announced. I think it was either Roger Clemens or Bruce Hurst. The network broadcasting the game (I think it was NBC) was in the midst of giving closing credits. The Sox had already taken starting pitcher Clemens out of the game, and he went into the locker room and shaved, so he'd look nice on TV in the postgame celebration.

ibmichaud · October 21, 2004 8:31AM

Gemmy as much as it hurts to correct you.....in 86 we were in the world series . played against the mets . I cant bring myself to type his name but do you remember ground ball up the first base side? I am sure others will fill in the blanks.......

Axtell · October 21, 2004 9:06AM

The thing about the play at first was that wasn't game 7 (most people forget this)....the red sox had a chance to still win it in game 7, so I wouldn't call that a choke...people make mistakes.

But the yankees completely tanking it in 4 games in a row shows just how full of themselves they were....after their shelling of game 3, the red sox easily could have just packed it up and called it a season.

I think this was equal parts heart and courage on the sox and complete meltdown by the yankees.

Gemmy10 · October 21, 2004 10:15AM

ibmichaud, I meant to say 1 strike away from winning the World Series. I corrected it. It must have been a freudian slip...I must have been thinking of the Yankees winning one more game this year to go to the WS. LOL

abmluce · October 21, 2004 10:31AM

Buckner finally spoke about the grounder in 86. For years he would not talk about it.
According to him the ball went in his glove, and the stitching in his web gave way, and the rest
is history. He was actually a pretty good player but has to live with the infamous play

ibmichaud · October 21, 2004 10:38AM

No problem gemmy, i knew what you meant . But i figured i would corrected ya before eberyone else jumps on ya

He was a great player.....

DirtyHarry · October 21, 2004 11:38AM

Greatest comeback. Sox were favored and beat the Yanks at the same rate they did in the regular season. There have been a few other collapse's in the home stretch of the regular season that come to mind that were equally significant. Outstanding and unreal nonetheless.

kuhlmann · October 21, 2004 11:49AM

Mookie would of beat it out regardless! buckner no way would of hobbled to the bag and mookie had a step on the pitcher. look at the replay and remember how fast mookie was.

interchanges · October 21, 2004 12:18PM

Biggest collapse in history?
It IS painful losing one game at a time in baseball....but what about that 35 point defecit the Bills overcame in that playoff game. Wasn't it against Miami?

That's pretty stinkin' bad

Gemmy10 · October 21, 2004 12:23PM

Buckner was a great player and it's a shame he was remembered for the "in between" rather than his almost HOF career. I recently saw a documentary on him.

ms700 · October 21, 2004 2:42PM

The worst collapse in history?????????

The Cleveland Indians with the best winning percentage record ever in the history of baseball (110-43) getting humbled by Willie Mays and his famous bread basket catch and then folding 4-0 in the World Series.

Even more shocking was the Seattle Mariners with the SECOND BEST record ever in baseball (116-46) getting humbled by an inferior Yankees team and didn't even make the World Series!!!!

Gemmy10 · October 21, 2004 2:47PM

<<Seattle Mariners with the SECOND BEST record ever in baseball (116-46) getting humbled by an inferior Yankees team and didn't even make the World Series!!!!>>

That was a humongous choke also.

Skinpinch · October 22, 2004 3:29AM

People keep giving Buckner the blame for the '86 World Series. If blaming certain plays, or certain players for a team loss is your thing, THEN the finger would have to be pointed at the Red Sox bullpen for the blown game six in '86! By the time Buckner made his error, the lead had already been blown, and the game was tied! Schiraldi and Bob Stanley are the cause of that loss, not Buckner. They give up the lead. I tell people this all the time. So whenever you hear somebody speak of Buckner 'blowing' the '86 series, please remind them that it was the bullpen that blew it. Not to mention the rest of the team, especially since there was still another game that could have been won.

stevek · October 22, 2004 3:44AM

The 1964 Phillies blew a 6.5 game lead with only 12 games left in the season. It can't get much worse than that but this Yankees choke is right up there.

mercurynut · October 22, 2004 4:47AM

It has to be becaue nothing like it has never happened before in the 3 major sports!

Gemmy10 · October 22, 2004 6:04AM

<<It has to be becaue nothing like it has never happened before in the 3 major sports!>>

WRONG. It's happened in hockey twice. Not something to be proud of.

zsz70 · October 22, 2004 6:20AM

I think when he said the 3 major sports,
I assume he was talking about Football, Basketball, and Baseball.

With the hockey lockout, some have dropped it as a major sport.
It actually does worst in the 4 sport TV ratings.

Gemmy10 · October 22, 2004 6:27AM

I think it also happened in NBA once.

Jersey · October 22, 2004 6:47AM

>>I think it also happened in NBA once.<<

I heard it never did in the NBA.

DirtyHarry · October 22, 2004 12:14PM

Great comeback by the Sox in the play off this year - never done.
Drubbed the Yanks, excitingly, at the same pace they did during the regular season.

Collapses? 1978 if high up there. Sox lead the league by 10 games in July (14 games ahead of Yankees). You know the rest. Just as big a fold as this year's Yanks.

I wish the Sox good luck and congrats on the great comeback.

phreakydancin · October 22, 2004 2:59PM

<< <i>The worst collapse in history?????????

The Cleveland Indians with the best winning percentage record ever in the history of baseball (110-43) getting humbled by Willie Mays and his famous bread basket catch and then folding 4-0 in the World Series.

Even more shocking was the Seattle Mariners with the SECOND BEST record ever in baseball (116-46) getting humbled by an inferior Yankees team and didn't even make the World Series!!!! >>

The 1906 Cubs had the best ever record: 116-36. They didn't win the World Series either.

jaxxr · October 26, 2004 9:23AM

The 1951 Dodgers had a 13 1/2 game lead on the Giants in eary August.

Bobby Thompson's "Shot heard round the world" in the last bat of the fnal game of a 3 game playoff concluded the gratest collapse in Baseball history, as the Giants win the penant, the Giants win the penant.................

.

Gemmy10 · October 26, 2004 9:30AM

The 1978 Yankees when the Boston Red Sox had a 14 game lead at the All-Star Game has to be up there. That was the year Bucky put one over the Green Monster during the 1 game playoff.

Axtell · October 26, 2004 9:59AM

There's no comparison with losing a lead of 14 games over the course of several months to choking in the biggest 4 games of the year-in a row.

It'd have been a completely different picture had the yankees not been up 3-0...but to not be able to put away a team when you're up 3, with only needing one to win, is absolutely the biggest choke in history.

Only twice in professional sports has a team come back from down 0-3...and the last time it happened was in 1975 (both times was hockey).

The yankees choked, the curse is over, and I seriously think we've seen a shift of power from the yankees and their ridiculous payroll to the red sox and their kind of ridiculous payroll.

Gemmy10 · October 26, 2004 10:09AM

I still rank 1986 Boston vs. the Mets when the Red Sox were 1 strike away from winning the World Series, and Roger Clemens had already been named the MVP of the Series.

Was this the greatest collapse in history ?

Comments