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The List: Greatest baseball season ever By Rico Longoria Page 2 | ||||
| This week, Page 2 lists the 10 greatest baseball seasons in history.
Here's Page 2's list: 1. 1991The Braves and Twins both go from worst-to-first and meet in the World Series, with the Twins winning a 1-0, 10-inning thriller in Game 7. Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock's stolen-base record, Cal Ripken wins the AL MVP and becomes the first AL shortstop with a .300-30 HR-100 RBI season, Dennis Martinez pitches a perfect game, Nolan Ryan throws his record seventh no-hitter and Lee Smith sets an NL record with 47 saves. The Angels (81-81) also become the first team ever to finish in last place without a losing record. 2. 1998 Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa put on an epic home run race, finishing with 70 and 66 homers, respectively, and Sosa drives in 158 runs. Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Astros, Cal Ripken's streak ends at 2,632 games, Alex Rodriguez hits 42 homers and steals 46 bases, and the Yankees set an American League record with 114 wins, which included a David Wells perfect game at Yankee Stadium. 3. 1941 Ted Williams hits .406 and wins the All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium with a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. Joe DiMaggio hits safely in 56 straight games while leading the majors in RBI and total bases. Lefty Grove wins his 300th game and Taffy Wright of the White Sox collects an RBI in an AL-record 13 consecutive games.
Both pennant races are decided in the final game of the regular season, with the Giants losing the NL race to the Cubs in a game played as a makeup because of "Merkle's Boner." The Cubs go on to win the last World Series in team history. Ed Walsh of the White Sox wins 40 games and pitches 464 innings, Christy Mathewson of the Giants wins 37 games, Cleveland's Addie Joss throws a perfect game and finishes with a 1.16 ERA, and Washington's Walter Johnson pitches three shutouts in four days against New York. 5. 1986 Roger Clemens starts 14-0 and goes on to finish 24-4, striking out 20 Mariners on April 29. Mike Scott clinches the NL West for the Astros by throwing a no-hitter, Don Sutton wins his 300th game, Steve Carlton tops 4,000 strikeouts and Bob Horner homers four times in a game -- although his team still loses. A much-heralded rookie crop is headed by Jose Canseco and Bo Jackson, while a postseason featuring Angels-Red Sox and Astros-Mets championship series and a Red Sox-Mets World Series is one of the most memorable ever. 6. 1951 Bobby Thomson hits the "Shot Heard 'Round the World," Ralph Kiner leads the NL in homers for the sixth straight time, Willie Mays wins the NL Rookie of the Year award after starting the season in the minors and Mickey Mantle debuts in the majors in Joe DiMaggio's last season. Allie Reynolds tosses two no-hitters, Bob Feller also pitches a no-hitter, and Warren Spahn throws 26 complete games. Bill Veeck sends a 3-foot, 7-inch midget named Eddie Gaedel to the plate against the Tigers. 7. 1967 The Red Sox defeat the Twins and win the AL pennant on the last day of the season when the Tigers split a doubleheader with the Angels. Carl Yastrzemski wins the Triple Crown (.326-44-121), Mickey Mantle hits his 500th home run, and Lou Brock gets 12 hits and steals seven bases in the World Series, helping Bob Gibson to three victories as the Cardinals win in seven games.
Gibson continues his dominance, posting a 1.12 ERA, while Detroit's Denny McLain wins 30 games. The Tigers' Mickey Lolich goes 3-0 in the World Series as Detroit overcomes Gibson's 17 strikeouts in Game 1 to defeat St. Louis in seven games. Don Drysdale pitches 58 consecutive scoreless innings, Hank Aaron hits his 500th homer, Cesar Tovar plays all nine positions for the Twins, and Mickey Mantle retires. 9. 1924 John McGraw wins his record 10th pennant as a manager, Rogers Hornsby hits .424 (highest average this century) and leads the majors in hits, runs and slugging percentage on his way to the MVP, the Cardinals' Jim Bottomley collects a major-legue record 12 RBI in a game against Brooklyn, while Babe Ruth hits for a .378 average with 46 homers. Walter Johnson pitches 12 innings in Game 1 of the World Series and finishes Game 7 with four scoreless innings of relief as Washington wins in the bottom of the 12th. 10. 1985 Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's all-time hits record, Rod Carew gets his 3,000th hit, Wade Boggs collects 240 hits, Willie McGee sets a record by batting .353 as a switch hitter, Dwight Gooden goes 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA, and Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver each win their 300th games. Rico Longoria is a researcher for ESPN.com. |
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