For only the 37th time in history, we’re being treated to a winner-take-all Game 7 of the World Series.
Of the 36 games of this magnitude that are already in the books, more than a couple have featured game-winning heroics. Let’s take a look at some of the best ahead of Wednesday night’s matchup between Cleveland and Chicago.
1960: Maz walks it off
In 1960, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski did what every baseball-playing kid dreams of.
The stage was set perfectly: The New York Yankees had scored two in the top of the ninth, rallying to tie the game at 9-9. Then up came Mazeroski, facing right-hander Ralph Terry.
Mazeroski then blasted one over the scoreboard in right field at Forbes Field, and it was game over. Season over. The Pirates had won their third World Series.
He ran the bases with both of his arms out, and his hat in one hand, before he was mobbed by teammates at home plate. There’s now a statue of Mazeroski outside PNC Park depicting a moment from that historic trot around the bases.
Just how rare is a moment like that? Mazeroski, who’s 80 years old, remains the only player in World Series history to hit a Game 7 walk-off homer. It’s known as the greatest home run ever.
1991: ‘It’s only a game’
The 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves was one for the ages. Three of seven games went to extra innings. Four of seven games came down to the final at-bat. And five of seven were decided by one run, including a 1-0 Game 7.
In that decisive game 7, Twins right-hander Jack Morris went 10 innings. He threw 126 pitches. And it was his third start of the series.
Morris said Wednesday on the Jeff Blair Show that he knew he was going to win that game when Kirby Puckett hit a home run in Game 6 to keep the Twins alive and force Game 7.
“There was a peace that came over me. I don’t even know how to describe it,” Morris told Blair on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. “It’s almost like I knew—I had been totally prepared to take on the task of pitching the next day. I knew it was gonna go well.”
That’s not to say Morris didn’t get into trouble. It was 0-0 in the eighth, when, with one out, he intentionally walked David Justice to load the bases and bring Sid Bream to the plate. But Morris’ shut-out continued when Bream hit into a double play to end the inning.
Morris and manager Tom Kelly had a conversation before the ninth.
“He gave me an opportunity to take myself out basically—he gave me an out, if I was done,” Morris told Blair. “I wasn’t done, and I wanted to make sure that he knew that I was gonna go until the end, because I was getting stronger, I felt great, I was more into the game, my velocity was up, my command was up. Everything was better in the 8th, 9th, 10th inning than it was in the middle innings.”
Morris says Kelly consulted with Twins pitching coach Dick Such, and Such said Morris looked good.
“That’s when TK turned around, threw his hands in the air and kinda looked at me and said, ‘Hey, what the hell. Go get ‘em. It’s just a game,’” Morris said.
In 10 innings, Morris gave up seven hits, struck out eight and walked two. The Twins won 1-0, and he was named World Series MVP.
1965: Koufax against the odds
He’d had just two days of rest. His arthritic left elbow hurt like hell. And then Sandy Koufax went ahead and pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to the 1965 World Series.
It reads like a movie script, really. Koufax, who is Jewish, declined to start Game 1 against the Minnesota Twins, because it fell on the same day as Yom Kippur, and his decision garnered international attention.
He went on to win the next three games he pitched: He gave up two runs in Game 2, and pitched a complete game shutout in Game 5.
In Game 7—on just two days of rest, and battling that constant pain in his arm that would force him to retire at age 30—Koufax led the Dodgers to a World Series title. His elbow hurt so badly and he was so tired that he gave up on his curveball after the second inning, and pitched almost exclusively fastballs after that.
Still, the Minnesota Twins managed just three hits and Koufax was named World Series MVP.
2001: Diamondbacks end Yankees’ reign
The New York Yankees were looking for their fourth straight World Series title in 2001, and they were up against Arizona, a team that had only been in existence for four years. It all came down to Game 7.
Leading the Diamondbacks 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, in came New York’s ace closer, Mariano Rivera, for the two-inning save. You had to figure this one was over. Especially after Rivera clinically retired Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams and Danny Bautista in order in the eighth. At that point, his postseason ERA was a sparkling 0.70.
But then came the ninth, and Arizona’s bats heated up. Mark Grace led off with a single, Damian Miller reached on a bunt when Rivera’s throw to second was off the mark, then Tony Womack hit a one-out double down the right-field line to tie the game 2-2.
With the winning run on third, up came Gonzalez, who was 0-for-4 on the day. He’d struck out an inning earlier when he faced Rivera the first time.
With the Yankees infield in to try and protect that one-run lead, Gonzalez lobbed a single over shortstop Derek Jeter that just barely reached the outfield grass, scoring Jay Bell from third.
1967: Bob Gibson dominates everything
The 1967 World Series finale between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox was a dream matchup on the mound: Cardinals ace Bob Gibson against Red Sox ace Jim Lonborg. Both pitchers were 2-0 in the series entering Game 7, though Lonborg was starting on two days of rest, compared to Gibson’s three.
Not only did Gibson pitch a gem and surrender just three hits and two runs, but the right-hander also hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning off of Lonborg to help St. Louis to a 7-2 win and a World Series title.
1946: Slaughter’s Mad Dash
This play is pure chaos. It was October 15, 1946, and the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox were tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth.
Cardinals right fielder Enos Slaughter led off with a single that hit pitcher Bob Klinger. But two batters later, Slaughter stood at first, still, with two out.
The fourth batter of the inning was left-fielder Harry Walker, who worked the count to 2-1. That’s when Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer called for a hit-and-run.
Slaughter took off, and Walker lined one to left-centre. The ball came in from centre fielder Leon Culberson (he was playing in relief of Dom DiMaggio, who’d been injured) to shortstop Johnny Pesky. Slaughter kept running. He rounded third, ignoring the third base coach’s sign to stop, and headed for home.
What happened next is up for debate. When Pesky turned around, some say he checked on Walker at first, assuming Slaughter would be stopping at third. Some say Pesky was so shocked to see Slaughter on his way to score that it delayed his throw. Some say Culberson’s weak throw from the outfield delayed everything. Whatever it was, the throw home was late and Slaughter scored. The Cardinals were up 4-3, and the run stood as the winner.
2014: Bumgarner saves the day
With a one-run lead in the 2014 World Series finale, the San Francisco Giants called on their ace, Madison Bumgarner. He’d pitched a shutout in Game 5 and also earned a win in Game 1.
On two days’ rest, Bumgarner pitched the final five innings of Game 7 to give the San Francisco Giants the win over Kansas City. He held the Royals to zero runs over that span for the longest save in World Series history.