Do not crowd the plate against the ace of today's Birthday Team. Consider yourself warned.

C: Jody Davis
1B: Bruce Bochte
2B: Homer Bush
3B: Donnie Hill
SS: Greg Gagne
LF: Harry Hanebrink
CF: Gary Thurman
RF: Sammy Sosa

SP: Carl Mays
SP: Ed Killian
SP: Ron Bryant
SP: Mike Leake
SP: Andy Hansen
RP: Joe Hoerner

Go The Distance: Moonlight Graham

Up at THT, it's The 10 greatest LCS Games Threes ever.

You wouldn’t expect Vizquel to do something heroic to win the game with his bat. And you would be right. The end had nothing to do with him. It had everything to do with the man on third, Grissom. He stole home to end the game.

According to MLB.com's recap of the game, it did actually have something to do with Vizquel, who missed the called squeeze bunt. It had more to do with Lenny Webster, who thought the bunt had been fouled off and therefore did not put full effort into chasing it down while Grissom cruised into home.

This game is half of one of my favorite pitching performances ever, Mike Mussina in the '97 ALCS: 15 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 25 strikeouts, and no decisions (with his team losing both of his starts). The Orioles scored one run in his two appearances, and it came after he left the game. In Game 6, Baltimore had 10 hits (including 3 doubles), 5 walks, a hit batter, and a stolen base; they had a total of 12 at bats with a runner in scoring position, and got hits in none of them. Mussina, meanwhile, gave up only one hit (and two walks) in 8 innings, striking out 10; the Indians had only 3 total hits in the game, but the third was an 11th-inning homer by Tony Fernandez.

Anyway, Game 3 of the '97 ALCS is first on my system's list of Game 3's, and that's without the system giving it any extra credit for the walkoff steal. The list, along with the respective placement in Dag's:

'97 AL (2)
'03 NL (8)
'09 AL (10)
'76 NL (7)
'75 NL
'95 AL
'92 AL
'78 AL (5)
'77 NL (6)
'87 AL

6/10 agreement, which I think is lower than usual. Part of that, of course, is the fact that my system doesn't care for Dag's #1 choice, ranking it 26th. As it happens, I don't think that necessarily means either list is wrong; I might not list Holtzman-Cuellar #1, but I'd be inclined to put it in the top 10 on a subjective list of the "greatest" LCS Game 3s ever. A game can be great (impressive, enjoyable, awe-inspiring) without necessarily being constantly exciting, and my system is meant to capture pure excitement, which isn't necessarily easy to come by in an 11-inning game in which the teams combine for 11 baserunners all day.

Chris,

Fun list to read, just one note - There was only one out when Dykstra homered in 1986.

if you are capable of laughing this link will take to a video that will cause you employ that capability on a repeated basis

i want to believe it is staged. nobody actually umpires in this manner. credit to brewcrewball

http://60ft6in.com/2012/11/10/umpiring-in-beast-mode/

Thank you, Harvey! That is freaking hysterical.

Can't watch it at work, unfortunately. Will try again when I get home.

John Cleese, Baseball Umpire.

The pitch shown from directly behind him shows that he has a good strike zone for kids that age. Two feet off the plate and just barely over the ground? Yes, emphatic strike.


Great video!

You put seeds in dirt, make sure they get water, and then they turn into vegetables.

Add a little radiation and you can get some killer tomatoes.

Question: Is that ump a comic genius, drunk, or both?

John Cleese, Baseball Umpire.

Don't mention WAR.