Willie Mays, Derek Jeter And The Top 10 Defensive Plays In MLB Playoff History

Baseball history has been filled with famous home run shots, brilliant pitching performances, and of course, fantastic defensive plays.

In the postseason, everything is magnified and every play takes on a greater significance, so any time a player does something truly special it is not only celebrated and highlighted, in some cases it is etched in our memories forever.

The greatness of a particular play can be measured in different ways by different people and there is always going to be some subjectivity to the process. But one criteria with all ten of these plays is they came on the grandest stage in baseball, the postseason.

Have other web gems been better throughout history? Perhaps, but the fact that these came at such critical moments make them all the more incredible.

So, without further ado, let's get to it!

Note: The catch by Endy Chavez (pictured above) in the 2006 NLCS Game 7 was a great leap but didn't quite make the list.

10. Walt Weiss, 1999 NLDS Game 3

Shortstop Walt Weiss made an incredible diving stop with the bases loaded against the Astros to preserve a tie in the bottom of the 10th inning of the 1999 playoffs. Weiss and his Braves went on to win the game in 12 innings on their way to the World Series.

Weiss ranged hard to his left, dove to his stomach and threw to home to get the force out. After the game, Weiss said that the ball nearly ripped the glove off his hand.

Weiss was never much of a hitter, but he was known as a defensive wizard. But he made a costly error in the 1988 World Series in Game Four that allowed the Dodgers to win the Series in five games. So, this play helped atone for that error, though it was many years later.

9. Ivan Rodriguez, 2003 NLDS Game 4

I-Rod made a staunch heady play at home plate in the 2003 playoffs and ended the series by holding onto the ball in a collision with J.T. Snow. Good throw, excellent tag and what an exciting way to end a playoff series.

8. Willy Tavares 2007 NLCS Game 2

You probably have no recollection of this play since nobody outside of Colorado or Arizona cared, but Taveras' catch was really something worth watching. Tavares covered a lot of ground in the time it took him to run down Tony Clark's attempt at an extra base hit.

It was a great play in Colorado's 3-2 win in the league championship series back in '07.

7. Jim Edmonds, 2004 NLCS Game 7

This was a play that Edmonds made seem almost routine during his career, but this one was special because it happened during the league championship series.

By robbing Brad Ausmus, Edmonds helped keep the Cardinals close as they came back to win the game 5-2. The Cards went on to the World Series, and though they eventually lost to Boston, they may not have even made it there without this catch.

6. Ron Swoboda, Mets, 1969 World Series

Brooks Robinson was a good hitter but it's his defense that earned him a place in the Hall of Fame. Known as the greatest defensive third baseman in baseball history, Robinson often saved his best work for the spotlight. So it was ironic that this time a great defensive play went against him!

In the '69 World Series, the Cubs, er, I mean, the Mets (Freudian slip) were playing the Baltimore Orioles. In game four of the World Series, Robinson hit a sinking line drive to right that Swoboda dove and caught. While Frank Robinson tagged and scored, Boog Powell was stranded and the Mets went on to win 2-1 in 10 innings.

Check out this quote from USAToday.com: 

"That was the greatest catch I have ever witnessed," former Met Cleon Jones said in a 1994 interview. "I saw Mays' catch on film, but Swoboda's was the greatest I ever witnessed."

High praise, indeed.

5. Joe Rudi, A's, 1972 World Series

In game two of the 1972 World Series, A's outfielder Joe Rudi climbed the wall at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati to rob Denis Menke of a potential game-tying double.

Oakland went on to win 2-1.

So much for 'white men can't jump!'

4. Brooks Robinson, Orioles, 1970 World Series

At Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati in game one of the '70 World Series, Brooks Robinson made a diving stop that I still remember vividly to this day, even though I was a very young kid at the time.

The Reds' Lee May hit a screaming high bouncer to third, Robinson went into foul territory behind third base and threw out May with a one-hop throw to first baseman Boog Powell. The Orioles won 4-3.

According to USAToday.com: "Robinson told author John Eisenberg in 33rd St. to Camden Yards, "I'd never made a play like that. Most of the time, any time you backhand the ball, you catch it, stop, plant, and try to get the good, long, throw. This one, I just got it ... and then went ahead and threw it and one-bounced it to Boog (Powell)."

3. Derek Jeter "The Flip"

It was game three of the ALDS in the Oakland Coliseum. The Yankees were leading 1-0 in the seventh inning with two outs. Terrence Long hit a liner down the right field line and the outfielder, Shane Spencer, overthrew two cutoff men.

Jeter grabbed the ball and backhanded it to catcher Jorge Posada, who tagged the runner out by an eyelash at home plate.

According to Wikipedia, "Facing elimination, the Yankees went on to win the game, as well as the series. The play was later voted #7 in Baseball Weekly's 10 Most Amazing Plays of all time."

Captain Jetes comes through in the clutch once again!

2. Willie Mays "The Catch"

On September 29, 1954, during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds in New York, Willie Mays made what has come to be known simply as "The Catch."

Vic Wertz hit a ball about 420 feet, but in the spacious Polo Grounds Mays made an on-the-run over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track, then he immediately spun and threw the ball, preventing the runner on second from scoring.

The play prevented the Indians from taking the lead and, in the bottom of the 10th, the Giants won the game on their way to sweeping the Series. The Catch is often considered to be one of the best and most memorable plays in the history of baseball because of the difficulty of the play and the importance of the game itself.

Yet it's only No. 2 in this ranking.

1. Devon White 1992 World Series in Toronto

The fact that I am not a Blue Jays fan yet I still remember this catch is an example of how great this catch truly was.

In Game 3 of the '92 World Series, Blue Jays center fielder Devon White made the greatest catch I have ever witnessed, robbing David Justice of a two-run double.

No less an expert than Dodger legendary broadcaster Vin Scully had this to say, as ESPN's Jayson Stark reported in an article back in 2004.

"I saw Mays' catch," Scully said. "And this one, to me, was better.

"The big thing with Mays," Scully went on, "was that he had a wide-open area. He didn't have to be concerned with the wall. And that's a major concern. So I'm inclined to think that White's catch might have been better than Mays'."

Mays' catch was great in the sense that he traveled such a long way to get to the ball. The over-the-shoulder basket catch was not something you saw very often in those days but is a bit more commonplace now.

And the subsequent spin-around-and-throw was spectacular. Wait, am I arguing for or against Mays' catch being No. 1? Well, it's close but I'll take this catch as the best ever.