The 10 biggest and most memorable Division Series moments from the last decade
If the regular season is a predictable hum -- like the refrigerator in your kitchen or the cicadas on a summer night -- then the postseason is a crashing cacophony of sound. Everything is bigger, louder, more memorable.
Which makes picking out the most memorable moments all that much harder. Today, we're going to try. With the Divisional Series about to start, and plenty more did you see that? moments to come, let's look back at 10 of the biggest plays and performances from the last decade.
10. Pronk and the midges - Game 2, 2007 ALDS
Trailing the Yankees, 1-0, in the bottom of the eighth of Game 2, fate intervened for the Indians. Like something out of a biblical tale, midges stormed the field and pestered Yankees reliever
After the game, Chamberlain had the pun of the century as he said bluntly: "They bugged me. But you've got to deal with it."
(For what it's worth, when the Indians signed the reliever before the 2016 season, they promised it wouldn't happen again.)
The score would remain tied into the bottom of the 11th when, with the bases loaded and the bugs still swirling, the man nicknamed Pronk laced a game-winning single. Pronk and the midges -- that's a good title for a children's story.
9. Mark Kotsay gets very excited - Game 2, 2006 ALDS
Tied at 2 in the top of the seventh, things took a very strange turn.
With a runner on first base,
Unfortunately, the man who robbed Barry Bonds of a homer at the All-Star Game made the wrong choice when he decided to reach out and dive at the last moment.
Two runs scored on the inside-the-parker, giving the A's a 4-2 lead that they would not relinquish on their way to a 5-2 victory. One game later, the A's would win, 8-3, to finish the sweep.
8.
Entering the postseason, Beltre was on fire. He hit .374 with 12 home runs over the last month of the season as the Rangers ran away with the AL West. But then the playoffs came and, entering Game 4, Beltre was just 1-for-11. Fortunately for the golden gloved man with the untouchable head, the Rangers entered the day up two games to one. Thanks to Beltre, they would win the series.
Leading 1-0, Beltre extended the lead with a solo home run off
Sadly, none were hit from one knee:
As he is wont,
7.
While it was only Game 4 and the Dodgers were up two games to one against the Braves, it was pretty much a must-win game for the boys in blue. Not wanting to leave LA, they threw
Unfortunately for LA, they were trailing 3-2 into the bottom of the eighth. Fortunately, their hero emerged in the form of the high couture, ukulele-playing Uribe.
With his white batting gloves resembling Mickey Mouse hands, he hammered
Of course, this home run has some similarities to the Orioles-Blue Jays Wild Card Game from Tuesday night. Just as Zach Britton never made it into that game, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez never brought in closer
6. Belt ends the longest game in postseason history - Game 2, 2014 NLDS
Already up one game to zero in the 2014 NLDS, the Giants used some even year magic to both beat the Nationals and gift everyone in attendance a 2-for-1 ballgame.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the ninth, Nats starter
Here was a case where the bullpen move was the wrong idea. A
Only twice in those extras did a player reach second base and, from the bottom of the 14th to the top of the 18th, there were no hits and only one walk.
5.
The Twins can thank Alex Rodriguez for keeping them winless in the postseason since Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS (also against the Yanks, natch) -- a streak totaling 12 games. Leading the Yankees, 3-1, heading into the bottom of the ninth -- thanks to RBI singles from
After giving up a leadoff single to
The Twins had another chance to win the game, loading the bases with none out in the top of the 11th. Unfortunately for Minnesota,
In the bottom of the frame, Teixeira made them pay. The first baseman hit a laser beam into the left field seats and then proceeded to do less of a trot and more of a fancy horse's prance around the base (I believe this is called "dressage).
4. The Cardinals prove Kershaw is mortal - Game 1, 2014 NLDS
Through five innings, Clayton Kershaw was looking quite Kershaw-ian. He allowed a first inning home run, but had otherwise stymied the Cardinals -- even striking out five straight batters in the fourth and fifth innings.
In the sixth inning, the first crack showed.
Like a warning not to go to the haunted Richter Estate up the street, this omen would prove fatal.
The Cardinals started the top of the seventh with four straight singles to cut the lead to 6-3. After
Kershaw was lifted, but it was too late. With
3. Manny Ramirez throws his hands up - Game 2, 2007 ALDS
It's one of the most iconic Red Sox moments of the last decade and is still the avatar for many notable Red Sox fans (okay, fine, just one).
With the game tied at three in the bottom of the ninth,
Sadly, this was years before "Party in the USA," so no one was singing "Hands up, they're playing my jam," which would have been a most appropriate anthem for the crowd to break into.
2. Roy Halladay's no-hitter - Game 1, 2010 NLDS
Swinging on the first pitch of the game,
That would be the only baserunner the Reds got. Halladay struck out eight batters and walked that lone batter. His 94 game score is the fifth-best for a postseason game ever. (Oddly enough, it would be topped by
It's also only the second no-hitter in postseason history, with Don Larsen's 1956 perfect game in the World Series being the other.
1. The bat flip seen 'round the world - Game 5, 2015 ALDS
The seventh inning of the 2015 ALDS will be remembered as one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history. In a series already filled with drama, the Rangers took a 3-2 lead in the top-half of the inning in one of the weirdest ways possible as
The bottom half got even stranger. Karma intervened for Martin as he reached on an error by the usually sure handed Elvis Andrus.
Can anything top Bautista's homer? Tune in to watch Blue Jays take on the Rangers at 4:30 pm ET on TBS (Sportsnet in Canada) and the Red Sox battle the Indians at 8 pm ET on TBS to find out.