Fred FontzThere is plenty of debate about what the greatest baseball games ever played are.
Generally, looking for a list of the greatest games ever will almost exclusively include post season games because they’re the games that matter the most.
That’s the case with our list – we left out the regular season perfect games and record breakers. In this list, we looked at the most entertaining games that also had the most meaning.
Were there a bunch of score changes? Was there a dominant performance? Was the season hanging in the balance? Those all secured a spot here.
To be honest, it’s tough to beat a walk off homerun in the post season. Without further delay, here are our favorite MLB games ever.
The best MLB games of all time:
- Cincinnati Reds @ Boston Red Sox, October 21, 1975
- Atlanta Braves @ Minnesota Twins, October 27, 1991
- Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees, October 16, 2003
- New York Yankees @ Arizona Diamondbacks, November 4, 2001
- Florida Marlins @ Chicago Cubs, October 14, 2003
- New York Mets @ Houston Astros, October 15, 1986
- Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets, October 25, 1986
- Oakland Athletics @ Los Angeles Dodgers, October 15, 1988
Cincinnati Reds @ Boston Red Sox, October 21, 1975
This Reds/Red Sox World Series matchup was an easy choice for the best game ever. It had everything you could hope for.
In 1975, there was no interleague play, so the World Series was the only opportunity to a matchup where the American League faced off against the National League.
To put things in perspective, both teams lead their respective leagues in scoring. Both had swept the League Championship series.
To make that even more impressive, the Red Sox swept the Oakland Atheletics who had won the World Series each of the previous three seasons.
This was the Reds third World Series appearance in six seasons. So, this truly was a clash of the titans in every sense of the phrase. Three of the first five games were decided by one run.
Now, let’s focus on the game itself. Jim Rice was injured which was a huge benefit to the Reds. We got to see Gary Nolan face off against one of the all-time greats in Luis Tiant.
Early in the game, Fred Lynn tried to make a jumping catch that left him unable to feel his legs. Fortunately for the Red Sox, he was able to shake it off and continue through the game.
In the middle of the 8th inning, the Reds had a 6-3 lead, but the Red Sox weren’t finished. Bernie Carbo came up with runners on first and second. After fouling off two great pitches, Carbo took a 2-2 pitch deep to center. It was a three-run homerun that tied the game.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox had the bases loaded and looked like they’d take the lead. Fred Lynn hit a fly ball right down the Left Field line. George Foster managed to line the play up perfectly and unleash an absolute missile to home to double off Denny Doyle.
In the top of the 11th inning Joe Morgan came up with Ken Griffey (Sr.) on first. Morgan smoked a ball deep to Right Field where Dwight Evans made one of the best defensive plays you’ll ever see.
Griffey had decided he was scoring on an extra base hit. By the time that Evans made his leaping catch, Griffey was already passed 2nd. Evans threw the ball in and doubled Griffey off to end the inning.
The bottom of the 12th inning brought one of the most famous moments in baseball history. Carlton Fisk came up to lead the inning off. He had a single and two walks as he stepped to the plate.
On a 1-0 count, Fisk took a low fastball deep to left field. Fisk, seemingly, willed the ball to stay fair as it soared of the Green Monster. The 12-inning game ended with the Red Sox winning 7-6.
This game had everything you could hope for. Luis Tiant struggled through 7 innings, but the bullpen threw 5 shutout innings. You had fantastic defensive plays from each side. The Red Sox had key homeruns with the game on the line.
No matter who you ask, this is one of the greatest games you’ll ever see. It’s absolutely worth taking the time to find the full replay online.
Atlanta Braves @ Minnesota Twins, October 27, 1991
This was a special World Series. In 1990, both the Braves and the Twins finished in last place. It was truly a “worst to first” series for the ages.
Oddly enough, it was also a home series. In the first six games, each game went to the home team, so the Twins had that going in their favor.
Leading up to game 7, we saw three walk off victories (in game 3, 4, and 6). To be sure things weren’t getting to comfortable, in game 5 the Braves took off to win 14-5.
Game 7 featured an outstanding pitching matchup of a young John Smoltz facing an aging, but still dominant, Jack Morris. Morris won 18 games in the regular season and won two games in the ALCS.
Smoltz was in his third full season in the majors and was on fire in the second half of the season. From August 1 to October 5, he had a 1.49 ERA. Entering game 7, he had a 2.01 ERA in the playoffs across 22.1 innings.
This game was a masterpiece of pitching and nothing else. Smoltz dominated over 7.1 IP with six hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. He only allowed one extra base hit.
Unfortunately for him and the Braves, Jack Morris decided he was going to enter history. He became one of only three players in Major League history to go ten innings with zero runs during the World Series. It was the first time since Clem Labine in 1956.
In the bottom of the 10th, Dan Gladden hit a line drive to Right-Center Field. He was able to hustle his way into a double, beating the throw by a fraction of a second.
Chuck Knoblach came up and the Twins opted for a sacrifice bunt to move Gladden to third. After intentional walks to Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbeck, Gene Larkin hobbled his way to the plate with the bases loaded.
There was plenty of confusion in the Braves defense as they couldn’t figure out if the infield should prepare for a play at the plate or a double play. They opted to play the in-between. In the end, it didn’t matter as Larkin hit a deep fly ball toward the gap.
The run would have scored whether an outfielder had caught the ball or not. Gladden tagged up just to be safe and lept his way home, celebrating long before he ever reached home plate.
We realize that this game isn’t for everyone, but the pitching and defense that was featured is unbelievable. Jack Morris came into the World Series and went ten innings with no runs allowed.
It’s only happened three times in the history of the World Series. If you’re someone who can appreciate a pitcher’s duel, this is one for the ages.
There’s no famous moment like the Fisk homerun mentioned in the first game or the Buckner ball that we’ll discuss later.
This game, and honestly, this series, was incredible from the first pitch to the last. It was one of the tightest, most well-played you’ll ever see.
Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees, October 16, 2003
This is our first non-World Series game and it’s a good one. The Red Sox and the Yankees were taking their rivalry to the next level.
That 2003 Boston team is top 5 in the franchise’s history for runs (2nd – 961), hits (2nd – 1667), doubles (2nd – 371), HR (2nd – 238), RBI (2nd – 932), average (5th – .289), slugging (1st – .491), and OPS (1st – .851).
The Yankees offense wasn’t quite as potent, but did features guys like Soriano, Jeter, Williams, Matsui, Posada, and Giambi. Taking the rubber, Boston had guys like Pedro, Wakefield, and Byung-hyun Kim.
Pitching is where the Yankees had an advantage with guys like Mussina, Wells, Pettitte, Clemens, and Rivera.
There series had been another great one with teams trading games back and forth. The Red Sox won games 1, 4, and 6 while the Yankees took games 2, 3, and 5. So, both teams were pretty evenly matched and gearing up for game 7 was something special. The history, the rivalry, the passion; it all came down to this.
It would be Roger Clemens (17-9, 3.91 ERA) against Pedro Martinez (14-4, 2.22 ERA). This was the first time that two former Cy Young pitchers would face off in a game 7. These two had nine Cy Young awards between the two of them.
Both pitchers managed to get through the first without any issue. Then Boston attacked Clemens. Kevin Millar singled and Trot Nixon hit a 2-run homerun to give the Red Sox the lead.
Jason Varitek would score on an error to make it 3-0 after 2. In the top of the 4th, Kevin Millar went deep to make it a 4-0 game. Statistically, the Red Sox had an 87% chance of winning.
Jason Giambi hit a homerun to make it 4-1 in the bottom of the 5th. Pedro was still rolling- easily finishing off the rest of the Yankees’ hitters in the 5th and 6th . In the 7th, Giambi struck again hitting his second home run of the game. Pedro allowed back to back singles after that.
The pitching coach came out and chatted with Pedro, telling him that he could get through it. Pedro managed to strike Alfonso Soriano out to end the 7th. As he walked off, he pointed to the sky; signaling that his night was over. In the years since this game, Pedro has admitted that he thought his night was over as he walked off the mound after the 7th.
David Ortiz his a big fly in the 8th, making the score 5-2 and giving the Red Sox a 92% chance to win. Boston was feeling good. Then, in the 8th inning, Pedro folded. He gave up a double to Derek Jeter. Bernie Williams followed it with a single to drive Jeter in; making it 5-3.
Matusi and Posada both hit doubles to drive in two more runs making it a 5-5 game. Finally, Pedro was pulled for a reliever after giving up 4 hits, all with 2 strikes.
The lead was gone and the Yankees had come storming back. In the 8th inning, they went from having an 8% chance of winning all the way to having a 65% chance of winning when Pedro was pulled.
Things calmed down in the 9th as Mariano Rivera was the Hall-of-Fame-level pitcher that we had come to know and love. Tim Wakefield (a starter) came in to pitch the 10th without issue. Rivera shut down the Red Sox again in the top of the 10th (completing his 3rd inning of work).
As Tim Wakefield took the rubber in the 11th, he’d face off against Aaron Boone. Wakefield had always done pretty well against Boone. But that would change. Boone jumped on the first pitch that he saw and sent the ball deep into the Left Field seats; giving the Yankees a walk-off 6-5 victory to punch their ticket to the World Series.
This game offered everything you could ever hope for. It started with one of the greatest sports rivalries and featured a historic matchup of two generational talents on the mound.
Mariano Rivera cemented his legacy as a dominant bullpen arm. After the Red Sox took a huge lead, they just couldn’t hold up to the pressure and star power of the Yankees.
New York Yankees @ Arizona Diamondbacks, November 4, 2001
This is another classic David vs. Goliath matchup. 2001 was the fourth consecutive World Series appearance for the Yankees and their fifth in six years. The Diamondbacks were in their fourth full season, but brought in a great group of players.
Consider this: the Diamondbacks, as a franchise, hadn’t seen a season that the Yankees weren’t in the World Series. So, it was literally one of the most storied franchises against one of the league’s newest franchises.
The Yankees roster featured four future Hall of Famers in Jeter, Mussina, Clemens, and Rivera. The Diamondbacks had Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. They featured a great group of veteran players, but it was hard to believe that they had a chance against the titans that were the New York Yankees.
The home team won every game on the way to game 7, including a monstrous 15-2 victory for the Diamonbacks in game 6. We got to enjoy a matchup of dominant pitchers as Roger Clemens (20-3, 3.51 ERA) squared off against Curt Schilling (22-6, 2.98 ERA). Boy did these guys live up to the expectations.
The game was a shutout on both sides through five innings. Steve Finley led the 6th off with a single and Danny Bautista followed up with an RBI double. It was 1-0 at the end of 6. The Yankees refused to give in and pieced together three singles to bring Derek Jeter around to tie the game.
Curt Schilling came back out in the 8th inning, only to give up a leadoff HR to Alfonso Soriano. He managed two more batters before getting pulled for a reliever. Miguel Batista retired the one batter that he was brought in for and then Randy Johnson took over to finish the 8th.
Arizona could muster any offense in the bottom of the 8th with Mariano Rivera striking out the side. By the time that the Yankees came up to bat in the top of the 9th, they had an 82% chance of winning the game. Randy Johnson shut them down to set up one of the greatest moments in World Series history.
With Mariano Rivera trying to close out the Yankees fourth consecutive World Series title, Mark Grace led the inning off with a single. The next two batters were quick outs, including Mariano Rivera making a great defensive play on an attempted sac bunt. That made it a 2-1 game with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.
Tony Womack came to the plate and drove a line drive down the Right Field line to bring in Midre Cummings and tie the game.
In a tie game, Craig Counsell came to the plate and was hit by a pitch; loading the bases. Luis Gonzalez literally got to live every young boy’s dream. He came up in a 2-2 game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning, game 7 of the World Series.
It was his time to shine. As Arizona’s most valuable offensive player, Bob Brenly couldn’t have asked for a better setup.
Inexplicably, Joe Torre had the infield in; despite there being two outs. Rivera threw his patented cutter and Gonzalez fouled it off. Pitch two was a middle high fastball that Gonzalez fought off to the outer grass of the infield.
Gonzalez defeated Goliath, and the Diamondbacks won a World Series in the fourth full season as a franchise.
Personally, this is my favorite game of all time. I remember watching it as a kid. We saw both Cy Young winners (Clemens and Johnson) and the NL runner up (Schilling) started the game for the Diamondbacks. It was a pitcher’s duel that featured timely hitting.
The pure ecstasy in Gonzalez’s face as he skipped, jumped, and hopped his way to first base was incredible. It was seeing a boyhood dream come true and allowed us to see a perfect example of David defeating Goliath in real life.
Florida Marlins @ Chicago Cubs, October 14, 2003
This game highlights just how mental baseball is. It may be the most important part of the Marlins run to their World Series title in 2003.
The Marlins featured a number of great players but not many could really strike fear into your heart. Sure, there was Ivan Rodriguez and a 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera, but the rest of the offense was highlighted by names like Derek Lee, Mike Lowell, and Juan Pierre.
The Cubs on the other hand pitchers who dominated that season like Zambrano, Prior, and Wood. The Cubs’ offense was led by Sammy Sosa (40 HR, .358 OBP), Moises Alou (35 2B, .357 OBP) and Kenny Lofton (.327 BA, .381 OBP with CHC).
Entering the game, the Cubs had a commanding 3-2 lead with wins of 12-3, 5-4, and 8-3. For the Marlins to have get to the World Series, they’d have to win games 5, 6, and 7. It would be Carl Pavano vs. Mark Prior in this game win or go home game for the Marlins.
The Cubs scored first with an RBI double from Sammy Sosa in the 2nd. Then the Cubs struck again in the 6th to make it 2-0. They added another run in the 7th.
By the time that the Marlins came up to bat on they had a 7% chance of winning the game. If you’ve learned anything from this article, we’re only writing about teams that overcome incredible odds!
Mark Prior started the inning by getting Mike Mordecai to fly out to left. With the Marlins seemingly living in Left Field that inning, Juan Pierre fouled off multiple pitches down the Left Field line before finally hitting a double to the same area.
It was the 7th pitch of Luis Castillo’s at bat that would make history. It was a high fly ball down the left field line. Moises Alou tried to make a leaping catch at the wall and a fan got in his way. It was the Bartman ball!
Steve Bartman reached up catch the fly ball. It was deemed that there was not fan interference because the Alou was reaching into the stands. Alou lost his mind – almost throwing his glove on the ground and yelling at the fan.
Prior tried to refocus but walked Castillo with a wild pitch that allowed Pierre to go to third. With men on first and third Ivan Rodriguez singled to (you guessed it!) Left Field to drive in one run. To continue the melt down, Alex Gonzalez made an error on a routine bounder to SS from Miguel Cabrera.
Derek Lee did his job with an RBI double to Left Field. There’s a theme with the Marlins attacking one part of the field more than anywhere else! With one out and men on second and third in a tie game, Dusty Baker pulled Mark Prior out of the game. Kyle Farnsworth came into the game and intentionally walked the first batter.
I’ve got to say, I whole-heartedly disagree with having a pitcher intentionally walk the first batter they face. Why not let Prior take the IBB before pulling him? Ultimately, I think that could have contributed to part of the issue.
With the bases loaded and one out, Jeff Conine came to the plate. He hit a fly ball to Right Field and Miguel Cabrera was able to tag and score to give the Marlins the lead (4-3). The Marlins brought in a pinch hitter who was intentionally walked. So, the Cubs opted to have Farnsworth intentionally walk two of his first three hitters. Both intentional walks would load the bases.
Now, with the bases loaded, Mike Mordecai came to the plate. Following the Marlins game plan, he managed a double to deep Left Field. Three runs would come around, including Todd Hollandsworth managing to come around from first. Ensuring that he wouldn’t miss out on the festivities, Juan Pierre chipped in an RBI single to bring Moredecai in.
Ultimately, the Marlins scored eight runs in the 8th inning and increased the odds of winning from 10% to 98%. Ugueth Urbina came in for a two-inning save where he gave up no hits and struck out two batters. It capped off one of the biggest post-season mental collapses.
The game itself was incredible. It was a great pitcher’s duel for the first seven innings. It featured three Marlins’ pitchers combining for seven innings, three ER and seven strikeouts. The Cubs’ Prior had six strikeouts and zero ER through seven innings.
It was the Bartman play that changed the history of baseball. Unfortunately for him, it led to Bartman receiving death threats and ultimately moving out of Chicago for at least a year.
Seeing the Cubs fold under pressure just goes to show how easily things can change for a baseball team. The Marlins went on to beat “those damn Yankees” in the World Series and win their second championship.
New York Mets @ Houston Astros, October 15, 1986
The 1986 Mets were one of the most dominant teams in baseball history. They won their division by 21.5 games and were a team that led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and ERA.
They were a team that narrowly missed the playoffs in 1985 when they won 98 games but still couldn’t quite win their division. So, they came back in 1986 with a vengeance.
The Astros had come out of nowhere in 1986 after they finished 3rd in their division with 83 wins in 1985. They won the NL West in 1986 in large part to Mike Scott’s emergence as an elite pitcher. He managed a 2.22 ERA across 275.1 innings.
The team as a whole ranked 2nd in ERA and 4th in complete games in the National League. Their offense was a bit closer to average, but they put the ball in play and got on base at a solid rate.
The Mets were already up 3-2 in the series. Both of their losses had come in games against Mike Scott who had managed to go 18 innings with one ER and 19 strikeouts in his two starts – something no player has ever matched in the League Championship Series.
What really makes this game stand out is that it was a marathon. Early on, this seemed like it was going to be a pretty boring game as it quickly became a pitchers’ duel. The Astros jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. The Mets couldn’t muster any offense until they scored three runs in the 9th.
Imagine – going almost eight fully innings without seeing any offense. In all that time, there were only four total base runners.
With the Mets tying it up in the 9th, the 10th inning became a brand new game. Roger McDowell and Larry Andersen traded shutout innings in the 10th, 11th 12th, and 13th. Finally, in the 14th the Mets were able to scratch a run.
Feeling good about that run, the Mets brought in Jesse Orosco to shut the door. Orosco gave up a home run to Billy Hatcher that tied the game.
Once again, things started over. The Mets were shut down in the 15th inning and the Astros couldn’t manage any offense against Orosco. Exhausted, the Mets came to bat in the 16th inning. It was a crazy inning that featured two wild pitches and three runs scored. By the time they were finished, the Mets had a 7-4 lead and felt confident that the game was over.
The Astros did their part to fight back. After a walk and two singles, Glenn Davis stepped to the plate. It was 7-5 and there were men on first and third and two outs. He managed a single to Center that drove in a run. The score was now 7-6.
Kevin Bass stepped in with men on first and second. Any hit would have likely meant a tie ball game. Instead, Bass couldn’t muster any offense. He struck out swinging to end the game and send the Mets to the World Series.
This is another instance where you have to be a fan of great pitching. This 16-inning game is the longest in League Championship History. Even with 16 innings, we only saw a total of 29 base runners. By today’s standards, there were a ton of strikeouts (20).
The beauty of this game is that despite how many pitches were thrown, every single pitch mattered. One hanging curve or one flat slider could have changed the outcome. When considering how dominate the pitching was on that day, consider this: the Mets led the NL in Batting Average and On-Base Percentage. The Astros were 4th in both categories.
It was a marathon to sit through the game, but fans that were dedicated enough to watch were rewarded with an incredible game throughout.
Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets, October 25, 1986
The 1986 World Series was another whirlwind of star power. The Red Sox featured names like Boggs (.357 BA, .453 OBP), Evans (.376 OBP, 26 HR), Rice (.324 BA, .384 OBP), and, most importantly, Clemens. 1986 was the year that Clemens won the Cy Young and the MVP with 24 wins, 238 strikeouts, and a 2.48 ERA.
The Mets featured guys like Dykstra (.377 OBP & 27 HR), Hernandez (.413 OBP), Strwaberry (.358 OBP & 27 HR) and Gooden (17-6, 200 K, 2.84 ERA). There was plenty of star power to go around.
Coming into game 6, Boston had a 3-2 lead in the series and felt confident putting their ace on the mound. Clemens was taking the rubber with extra rest. The Mets were putting Bobby Ojeda on the mound on three days rest. Secretly, Ojeda was struggling with elbow pain and actually flew to Washington DC to get cortisone injections in the middle of the series.
Wade Boggs led the game off with a single. He’d later come around to score on a double by Dwight Evans. The most exciting part of the first inning was actually someone sky diving/parasailing into the stadium with a “Go Mets” sign.
In the second, Marty Barrett singled in Spike Owen to make it 2-0. Things were pretty quiet until the bottom of the 5th. That’s when the Mets managed to score two runs to tie the game up. In the top of the 7th Dwight Evans drove in Marty Barrett to put the Red Sox back on top.
We always love a game that goes back and forth. In the bottom of the 8th, Gary Carter managed to drive a run in and tie things up again. As is the case with most of these games, this game went into extra innings. Things were all tied at 3 when the Red Sox struck.
Dave Henderson led off the inning with a home run deep to Left Field. Leading 4-3, Wade Boggs doubled and later scored. By the time the Mets came to bat in the bottom of the 10th, the Red Sox had a 5-3 lead.
The bottom of the 10th is when things really got interesting. Statistically, the Mets had an 8% chance of winning when they stepped to the plate. Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez flied out, leaving the Mets with a 1% chance of winning.
That’s when Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell, and Ray Knight all singled. Knight’s singled brought Carter around to score making it 5-4. As Mookie Wilson stepped to the plate, the Red Sox absolutely folded under the pressure of the game.
Bob Stanley came in to try to shut the door. On the 7th pitch of the at bat, Stanley threw a wild pitch that allowed Kevin Mitchell to score; making it 5-5. It also allowed Ray Knight to move up to second base.
To Mookie Wilson’s credit, he fouled off 6 pitches during this at bat. It was the 10th pitch of the at bat that would go down in history. A simple bouncer to the first baseman shouldn’t have been an easy out.
With two outs, that ball should have ended the inning. Instead, a hobbled Bill Buckner misplayed the ball, allowing it to go through his legs. Because of the Wild Pitch, Ray Knight was already on second and easily able to score.
A forgotten question in this game is whether Ray Knight could have scored had the wild pitch never happened. We’ll never know for sure, but I doubt he would have. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Ray Knight was on second and he was able to score to win the game.
The Mets went on to win game 7 and the World Series. Losing the 1986 World Series is what led to Boston talking about the Curse of the Bambino.
Oakland Athletics @ Los Angeles Dodgers, October 15, 1988
1988 was the year that started a dominant run by the Oakland Athletics. It was their first of three consecutive American League Pennants.
The Dodgers weren’t interested in hearing about the legend that could have been. They knocked off a powerful Mets team to make it to the World Series. As much as a 94 win team can be, the Dodgers were paying David to the Athletics Goliath.
Ultimately, this is one of the greatest games of all-time because of one player- Kirk Gibson. Before we get to him, let’s set the stage. The Dodgers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a home run from Mickey Hatcher. Not to be out done, Jose Canseco lived up to his name as part of the “Bash Bros” when he hit his first career grand slam in the top of the second.
The A’s thought that would be all of the offense they’d need as Dave Stewart was dealing. With an RBI single from Mike Scioscia in the bottom of the 6th, the A’s still led 4-2. Stewart continued on through the bottom of the 8th. Tony La Russa decided that he wanted to bring in his All-Star closer, Dennis Eckersley to close things out in the 9th.
Now we reach the legend that is Kirk Gibson. Gibson was battling a bad knee injury throughout the playoffs and wasn’t expecting to play. In fact, he initially didn’t get dressed for the game. Midway through, he decided to get his uniform on and go into the cages to take a few swings. It was in the bottom of the 8th when he approached manager Tommy Lasorda saying that he could pinch hit if needed.
In prepping for the game, the Dodgers scouted that Eckersley consistently threw a back door breaking ball when he got to a 3-2 count. Gibson stepped in and battled his way to the fated 3-2 count.
As he stepped in, that scouting report loomed large in his head. He called time, stepped out and prepared for a back door breaker. Just as expected, the ball was low and away and Kirk Gibson managed to take it deep to Right Field for a 2-run, walk-off homerun.
It was a key piece of the Dodgers taking the World Series in five games. This game, more than any other, is proof that the greatest moments stick out as the greatest games.
Dave Stewart is forgotten despite dominating for eight innings. Even Canseco’s grand slam is lost in the moment of Gibson’s walk-off. The post season creates its own lore and when you can live up to the moment, you’ll be remembered for ever.
Conclusion
There’s sure to be some debate over what the greatest games ever are. Don Larsen threw a perfect game in the World Series and he didn’t make our list. There are 23 total one-pitcher perfect games and they didn’t make it. There have been 16 times where a player hit 4 HR and none of those make the list.
Ultimately, we decided that the game had to meaningful and, for the most part, there had to be a good story behind the game. Whether that was taking down a titan of the sport like the Diamonbacks did or seeing how mentally taxing the game can be like the Marlins defeat over the Cubs. Each of these games had a key moment, but we’re not convinced that a single moment makes the greatest game ver.
What do you think? Do you have a favorite game? Do you take issue with any of the games on our list?