The 17 Most Pathetic Pennant Race Collapses in MLB History

With each team in Major League Baseball now facing less than 50 games each as they march, or stumble, to the end of the regular season, pennant races have clearly taken shape in each division.

Only in the National League East is there a team that enjoys a lead larger than four games. The Phillies hold a nine game advantage over the Atlanta Braves, however as we have seen in previous years, that lead can be wiped out easily.

While we peruse through the standings and see what we might assume are large leads, such as the Arizona Diamondbacks with an 8.5 game lead over the Colorado Rockies, we know from experience that the Rockies are more than capable of mounting a comeback, winning 21 of their final 22 games in 2007 to march into the postseason and all the way to the World Series.

So while a lead of the magnitude may look significant with time running out, history has certainly shown us that any team within 15 games or so at this point in the season can create their own magical run.

With that in mind, here are the 17 most pathetic pennant race collapses in MLB history.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.

17. 1914 New York Giants

In early August 1914, it certainly appeared as if the New York Giants were on their way to winning their fourth straight National League pennant. With a 6.5 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Boston Braves, and with 33-year-old star pitcher Christy Mathewson leading the way, it seemed like no one could catch the Giants.

However, the Boston Braves starting getting hot. In fact they won an incredible 43 of their last 56 games, while the Giants went 27-31 the rest of the way. With their finish, the Braves easily won the National League pennant by 10.5 over the Giants, and then went on to defeat the Philadelphia Athletics to win the 1914 World Series.

16. 2008 New York Mets

Everyone loves to talk about another famous collapse by the New York Mets right around the same era, however the 2008 Mets had a swoon of their own.

After the Mets had gotten off to a lethargic start, manager Willie Randolph was fired after posting a record of 34-35, and replaced by Jerry Manuel. The Mets seemed to be rejuvenated by the switch, and by Sept. 10 the Mets had climbed to 18 games above .500 and enjoyed a 3.5 game lead in the NL East over the Philadelphia Phillies.

However, like another time in the same era, the Mets slumped down the stretch with a 7-10 record, while the Phillies won 13 of their last 16 games to win the National League East by three games.

15. 1993 San Francisco Giants

The 1993 San Francisco Giants were a loaded team. With slugger Barry Bonds playing his first season in the Bay Area, a terrific pitching staff led by John Burkett and Bill Swift, and Rod Beck as their closer, the Giants were flying.

On August 22, the Giants were 83-41 and had the best record. With a 7.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves, things appeared to be in hand.

However, from that point on, the Giants limped to the finish line with a 20-18 record, while the Atlanta Braves got hot, winning 28 of their final 37 games.

On the final game of the regular season, after winning three in a row to stay even with the Braves, the Giants got crushed by the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-1, while the Braves defeated the Colorado Rockies 5-3 to win the National League West division.

The Giants won 103 games overall, but they were still one short.

14. 1996 Los Angeles Dodgers

One could have forgiven the 1996 Los Angeles Dodgers if they had limped through the second half of the season. Manager Tommy Lasorda suffered a heart attack after 76 games, and the Dodgers were taken over by former shortstop Bill Russell.

However, the Dodgers responded under Russell, and the Dodgers led the National League West division by 2.5 games with four games to play. A final weekend series with the second place San Diego Padres would decide the division, with the Dodgers only needing to win one of the three games.

However, the Dodgers were swept by the Padres, with closer Trevor Hoffman saving all three games, giving the division to the Padres by just one game. The Dodgers ended up as the wild card team, however they were promptly swept by the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. The Dodgers ended up losing their final seven games of the season.

13. 2007 San Diego Padres

Going into the last weekend of the 2007 regular season, the San Diego Padres, who had kept pace with the Arizona Diamondbacks at the top of the NL West for the better part of four months, were only one game out of the race for the National League West division title, and were one game ahead of the surging Colorado Rockies for the NL Wild Card.

All the Padres had to do was win one game over the weekend and they were at least in as a Wild Card team. However, the Padres dropped their final two games to the Milwaukee Brewers, losing the division to the D-Backs and in a tie with the Rockies for the Wild Card.

In a one-game play-in game to decide the Wild Card, the Padres and Rockies duked it out and were tied at 6-6 heading into extra innings. In the top of the 13^th, Scott Hairston hit a two-run homer to give the Padres an 8-6 lead.

However, in the bottom of the 13^th, the Rockies stormed back against closer Trevor Hoffman with a run-scoring double by Troy Tulowitzki and a one-run triple by Matt Holliday. After issuing an intentional walk to Todd Helton, Jamey Carroll hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Holliday with the winning run, and the Padres hopes for any playoff spot were completely dashed.

12. 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers

On Aug. 5, 1942, the Brooklyn Dodgers were on fire. With a record of 74-30, they threatened to run away with the National League pennant, carrying a 10-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals at the time.

However, the Cardinals started to heat up. Actually, the Cardinals were on fire. They won 43 of their final 52 games, and in spite of the Dodgers playing .600 ball the rest of the way, they were unable to push back the tide that was the Cardinals, losing the NL pennant by two games.

The Dodgers’ 104 wins on the season represented the most wins of any team in MLB history that didn’t make the postseason.

11. 1934 New York Giants

On Sept. 6, 1934, the New York Giants, under manager Bill Terry, were gliding along, seemingly on their way to the National League pennant. A record of 85-47 and a seven-game lead at hand certainly seemed safe with only three weeks left to the season.

However, the Giants swooned and the St. Louis Cardinals surged. The Giants lost 13 of their last 21 games, including their last five, while the Redbirds won 18 of their final 23 games to overtake the Giants on the last weekend of the regular season, winning the NL pennant by two games.

10. 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburg Pirates had been in existence in the National League since 1887, originally named the Alleghanys before switching to the Pirates moniker in 1891. The Pirates played in the very first World Series against the Boston Americans in 1903 after winning the NL pennant for the third consecutive season.

However since that time, they had only been back to the postseason three times in the next 34 seasons, so when the 1938 season started out so well for the Bucs, hopes were raised in Pittsburgh once again. After being the New York Giants 6-0 on the first day of September, the Pirates enjoyed a seven-game lead over the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.

But things took a bleak turn for the Pirates. They limped to the finish line, losing 16 of the next 28 games, including a crucial three-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs in late September, with one game featuring the famous “homer in the gloamin’” by Gabby Hartnett. The Cubs took over the top spot in the NL after the sweep, and the Pirates’ collapse was complete.

9. 1995 California Angels

In 1995, after the lockout of the players finally ended, it was time for baseball again. With realignment of divisions and a new Wild Card format, the 1995 season brought about much change.

The California Angels seemed to adapt pretty well to all the changes, charging off to a terrific start, and by Aug. 9 the Angels had an 11-game lead over both the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

But the Angels went into steep decline, going 18-31 the rest of the way, while the Mariners found their groove and won 30 of their final 49 games to tie the Angels at the top of the AL West at the end of the regular season.

In a one-game playoff to decide the division winner, the Mariners pounced on Angels’ ace Mark Langston early and often, easily winning the game 9-1 and winning the AL West division.

8. 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers’ franchise started in the National League back in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. That year, the Bridegrooms placed first in the National League, however for the next 65 years, the Brooklyn franchise, which became known as the Dodgers in 1932, didn’t win again until finally breaking through and winning the World Series in 1955.

After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, it only took two seasons for the Dodgers to win again, taking the 1959 World Series over the Chicago White Sox. Now, in 1962, the Dodgers once again seemed poised to win again.

On Sept. 22, the Dodgers had a four-game over the San Francisco Giants with just ten games to play. However, the Dodgers lost eight of their last ten games while the Giants won seven of their last 10, propelling them to the National League pennant by just one game.

Seems like the Dodgers just can’t get away from the Giants on either coast.

7. 1987 Toronto Blue Jays

With seven days left to the regular season in 1987, the Toronto Blue Jays held a 3.5 game lead over the Detroit Tigers with just seven games left to play. Problem was, the Blue Jays decided to take the rest of the season off.

The Jays lost their final seven games, including being swept by the Tigers in the final series of the season, handing the AL East title to the Tigers in a nicely gift-wrapped package.

6. 1969 Chicago Cubs

With the expansion that occurred in the 1969 season, divisions were in play for each league for the first time in history, with the Chicago Cubs playing in the newly-formed National League East division.

The Cubs got off to a phenomenal start, led by Ferguson Jenkins and Ron Santo, and by Aug. 16 had a nine-game lead in the NL East over the St. Louis Cardinals and the surprising New York Mets.

The Mets continued surprising, winning 36 of their final 47 games, while the Cubs imploded, losing 26 of their final 43 games, allowing the Amazin' Mets to capture the AL East, and of course their first-ever World Series championship.

5. 1978 Boston Red Sox

In 1978, the Boston Red Sox enjoyed a 14-game lead in the American League East over the New York Yankees in mid-July, standing at 62-28. The Red Sox proceeded to lose 28 of their next 52 games, and by Sept. 10, the Yankees had caught the Red Sox in the standings, accentuated with a four-game sweep of the Sox.

The Red Sox needed to win their last eight games of the regular season to pull back into a tie atop the American League East Division, forcing a one-game playoff with the Yankees at Fenway Park.

No need to explain what happened next, as Bucky “Bleeping” Dent ended the Sox’ hopes with a three-run homer in the game that MLB Network recently rated the 11th greatest game in MLB history.

4. 2007 New York Mets

On Sept. 12, 2007 the New York Mets were flying high. With a record of 83-62, the Mets enjoyed a seven-game lead in the National League East over the Philadelphia Phillies. While Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins had boldly predicted earlier in the season that the Phillies would win the division, it certainly appeared unlikely at that point in time.

The Mets, however, would go on to suffer one of the worst collapses in major league history, losing 12 of their last 17 games and losing the NL East title to the Phillies on the last day of the regular season. Mets manager Willie Randolph, who had won several championships as a player with the New York Yankees, was poignant in his remarks after the Mets’ historic collapse.

“I told my players this is a life lesson in baseball and in how to become champions,” Randolph told the New York Times. “And, when you get to that road, you have to seize it because you never know when it’s going to come again.”

Randolph would be gone the following season, replaced by Jerry Manuel.

3. 1964 Philadelphia Phillies

In 1964, the Philadelphia Phillies, who had been mired in mediocrity for the previous five decades, were in the midst of their best season since 1950, the last year they won the National League pennant. With just 12 games to play in the season, the Phillies had a 6 ½ game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals.

On Monday, Sept. 21, the Phillies lost to the Cincinnati Reds 1-0, the only run coming from a rare steal of home by Reds third baseman Chico Ruiz.

That loss started a slide for the Phillies that would see them lose ten games in a row, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals, who clinched the pennant with the final win of the series.

It marked one of the single worst collapses by any team in major league history, forever becoming known as the “phold.”

2. 2009 Detroit Tigers

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009, the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 7-2 to take a three-game lead in the American League Central Division with just four games left. While not mathematically eliminated, it certainly seemed as if the Twins’ chances of reaching the postseason were next to impossible.

However, the Tigers lost their next three games while the Twins won their next three, creating a tie at the top of the division on the final day of the season. The Tigers and Twins both won their final games, and a tie-breaker game was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the Metrodome.

The Tigers would go on to lose the tie-breaker 6-5 in the bottom of the 12th inning.

It marked the first time in history that any team had relinquished a three-game lead with four games to play.

1. 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers

In 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers held a 13-game lead on Aug. 11 with a record of 70-36. However, the Bums were only four games above .500 for the rest of the season, while the New York Giants won 50 of their final 62 games to catch the Dodgers. The Dodgers needed to beat the Giants on the final day of the season to force a three-game playoff, and they came through, winning 10-0.

After the Dodgers and Giants split the first two games, the the teams met once again to decide the National League pennant. The Dodgers once again appeared to have victory within their grasp, heading into the bottom of the ninth with a 4-1 lead. However, Dodgers’ starter Don Newcombe tired, and after giving up two singles and a run-producing double, handed the ball off to Ralph Branca to preserve the victory.

For the Giants, Bobby Thompson was at the plate with one out and two runners on. Thomson took Branca’s second pitch and drove it into the left field bleachers for a three-run home run, giving the Giants the 5-4 victory and the National League pennant.

The “shot heard round the world” became one of the most famous radio calls in history with Giants’ broadcaster Russ Hodges’ voice being immortalized.