The Greatest Sports Moments In New York History
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by user JuTMSY4
Thanks to one highly compensated LeBron James and his quality play in the 2007 NBA Finals, I had the pleasure of taking my first challenge loss to the New York happy JoshKross. Now, while I considered e-mail Mr. James with respect to the crap he put on display for 4 less than stellar games against an opponent less interesting than drying paint, I figured that maybe, just maybe, he had different plans. Never mind the fact that the finals not only rated low, but were the lowest rated finals…ever. I cannot even put my distaste in words and yet even I admit, I didn’t watch all of it. The hopes of seeing something amazing, or at the very least, entertaining were probably dashed by the end of game 2. LeBron’s performance was admirable, but less than amazing and the play of his teammates was down right disgusting. Just another nail in the NBA rating coffin.
Now in response to this, I am now required to write a New York support article. Don’t get me wrong, I love New York, it’s a great city, an exciting city and may in fact be the center of the United States universe, but personally, the sports scene is about par for the course. This isn’t because ‘’the city’’ isn’t huge (it’s the biggest) or doesn’t have great fans (take a trip to the Bronx), but because New York City is in fact…so large that its sports presence is actually diluted by its own size. Part of the problem is transplants, part of it is fame and part of it is just the general “take for grantedness” many New Yorkers have (like Yankees fans…). Now, those of you on this site are obviously going to take serious offense to this. I’m fine with that, but just know that I haven’t even mentioned you yet, so just relax and keep reading. Keep in mind that I’ve probably covered about 7-10 million people in my previous statement and you’re the remaining portion.
For the approximate 4 million real sports fans in New York (and that’s a lot), there’s a ton of excitement in this town and an absolutely mind boggling amount of sports related things to do. In any given year, at least…at least one team is in the playoffs and most teams in the city seem to care a little about winning (name another city that’s like that). JoshKross has asked me to provide a New York love fest of an article here and I’m not positive I can do that, nor that it will be all that interesting. His request was stated to me as this:
"NY is the best. blah blah. lots of reasons:
-The stadiums. blah blah Yankee, shea, MSG, etc - the history balh blah knicks/frasier/yankees/miracle mets/rangers/etc -the fans blah blah, crazyb - the heroes/stars balh "
Now, I’m fine with all of this except for me to provide the complete sports history of New York with everything he would want, would take years, would be considered a book and I might require a publisher. And I didn’t even mention compensation. The final piece of course is that most of these items are already well documented in the encyclopedia and Josh, if you’d like to see some encyclopedic entries instead, we can talk about it (or I can just cut and past that info here!). So what I’ve decided to do, in a fashion that I hope most of you don’t consider lazy but rather an avoidance to duplicate work already done and add an additional level of interest to this article is to provide my 10 defining moments in New York Sports History.
Before I start, let me first stress that this is my list and that I am a non-New Yorker so my opinions will most likely vary from, at the very least, those of you from the tri-state area as well as, most likely, all of you in general. Secondly, this list isn’t going to be just my top 10 favorite moments per se, but also what I consider 10 of the most influential or important moments in not only New York Sports History but in sports history. So let’s give my list a shot, and keep in mind, my list is in no particular order
9/11
No sports list of this type or magnitude would be complete without the current generation’s Pearl Harbor and served only as a harbinger for what the world would serve up to each and everyone one of us in the future. But, at the very least, sports, namely the New York Yankees shined through this moment when, arguably, the nation actually needed them most. Few legitimate non-New York serious sports fans will ever admit to being Yankees fans, but from late October and the first few days of November, most will admit to pulling for the Yankees a little, even some Sox fans. Unfortunately, it was not to be as the Yanks ran into the MVP duo of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and even as they battled to a showdown of a seventh game with a bloop Luis Gonzales single ending the Yankees bid. But the series, not just a championship run, but a reminder to a hurting nation that the world still turned captured everyone’s hearts for a few cold days in November.
Bobby Thompson’s Shot Heard ‘Round the World
Down by 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth, the New York Giants had won the first game of a three game series but had been controlled by a complete game shutout by Clem Labine of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now entering this last half inning with only a slim chance at winning anything, the Giants sent Alvin Dark to the plate. Dark singled, followed by Don Mueller, who also singled putting men on the corners. Monte Irvin, the league leader in RBIs was first pitch swinging and lined out. Whitey Lockman doubled to score Dark and put men on second and third (Mueller would slide awkwardly, break his ankle and be replaced with pinch runner Clint Hartung) with 1 out and sending Bobby Thompson to the plate and chased away 20 game winner (and league leader in strikeouts), Don Newcombe. Manager Charlie Dressen replaced Newcombe with Ralph Branca, the game one loser.
Perhaps rather than giving you the details, I’ll let Russ Hodges of WMCA-AM radio for Giants fans make the call
‘’ Bobby Thomson up there swinging... He's had two out of three, a single and a double, and Billy Cox is playing him right on the third-base line... One out, last of the ninth... Branca pitches... Bobby Thomson takes a strike called on the inside corner... Bobby hitting at .292... He's had a single and a double and he drove in the Giants' first run with a long fly to center... Brooklyn leads it 4-2... Hartung down the line at third not taking any chances... Lockman without too big of a lead at second, but he'll be running like the wind if Thomson hits one... Branca throws...
There's a long drive, it's gonna be, I believe... THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're going crazy, they're going crazy! Ohhhhh-oh!!!''
To me, this is probably the single greatest moment in Giants history and perhaps the redefining moment of post World War II baseball. And the call itself is one that, I would hope, sticks in the head of every New Yorker. But perhaps of my useful note are a few amazing details.
It is said that the Giants actually positioned their coach, Herman Franks in center field with a telescope and was stealing Dodgers’ catcher Roy Campanella’s signs and signaled Thompson as to what the next pitch would be. The on deck batter when Thompson hit the infamous walkoff was non other than Willie Mays. And finally, before being gunned down at the toll plaza, Sonny Corleone was listening to Russ Hodges in the top of the ninth, just a few minutes before Bobby Thompson would hit that fateful ball.
The Greatest Game Ever Played
Often marked as the start of the new, popular NFL, “The Greatest Game Ever Played” featured the untouchable Baltimore Colts and a star-studded New York Giants. It was also the NFL championship game of any kind to go into sudden-death overtime. The game featured 12 future hall of fame players, namely Frank Gifford, Sam Huff and Johnny Unitas and 2 future hall of fame coaches, the offensive coordinator for the Giants, Vince Lombardi and the Giants Defensive Coordinator Tom Landry. Just imagining that sideline is amazing and perhaps the only modern day equivalence would be Bill Walsh, who’s staff once featured Mike Holmgren and George Seifert and that still doesn’t really even come close.
The Giants drew first blood in the first quarter with a Pat Summerall field goal, but two Gifford fumbles led to two Colts touchdowns in the second quarter. The Colts came out in the second half firing, but fell short on a 3 rd and goal on the one and couldn’t convert the 4 th down on the Alan Ameche halfback option. The Giants drove 95 yards to score again, led by Gifford and the Gifford scored his first touchdown of the game in fourth on a 15 yard reception. The Colts received the ball with 2 minutes left on their own 14 and drove 73 yards, to the Giants 13 to tie the score at 17 at the end of regulation. The referees, slightly confused at the time, since overtime hadn’t really been used before, but was needed in this case, held a coin toss between captains to decide who got the ball. The Giants won the toss but were unable to convert. They punted and the Colts drove from their own 20 yard line to score the game winner on a 1 yard Ameche run.
The Miracle Mets
In 1969, the New York Mets were two months deep into the season and stood two games below .500, at 21-23. By mid-August, they were 9.5 games behind the division leading Cubs and in a stale third place position. But, the Mets went on a tear winning 75% of their remaining games, while the Cubs sank lower and lower, going 8-17 in September to sit 8 games behind the Mets at season’s end.
The ‘Amazins’, as the Times dubbed them went on to sweep a heavily favored Braves club in three games and won their first even National League Pennant and moved on to face an even more foreboding Baltimore Orioles club. Suprisingly, the Mets and Tom ‘Terrific’ Seaver were hammered in game one of the World Series but the Mets went on to win the next four in a row, giving up 5 runs total in those games. The “Miracle Mets” are recognized as one of the greatest turnaround seasons ever and a reason for most clubs to admit, the season is very, very long.
1927 New York Yankees’ Murderer’s Row
Perhaps the greatest single season lineup ever assembled was the Yankee’s 1927 edition that featured the infamous Babe Ruth and Iron Horse Lou Gehrig. The lineup featured four players who drove in over 100 runs (Ruth, Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and Bob Meusel), five players who batted over .300 (the aforementioned and Earle Combs), two power hitters in Gehrig (47 Home Runs) and Ruth (60 Home Runs), and four guys with an on base percentage over .400 (Ruth, Gehrig, Combs, and Pat Collins). The team batted .307, slugged .489, scored 975 runs, outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs and achieved a .709 winning percentage, third highest ever (second at the time) and is the only team of the group (1906 Chicago Cubs, 1954 Cleveland Indians) to win the World Series, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fight of the Century
The “Fight of the Century” was one of the most hyped fights, if not events, ever. Featuring conservative and promoted pro-war Joe Frazier and anti-establishment anti-war Muhammed Ali, the fight set a record for the highest purse ever, $2.5 million for each contestant. There was much to contest over who would win, admitting that Ali did in fact “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” while Frazier was know to be the best puncher Ali would face until George Foreman. The fight was hailed as a success, as most viewers admitted it was a well received bout. Ali dominated the early rounds, however due to his lack of fights recently, he slowed as the fight dragged on. By the fourth round, Frazier had begun to even it up and they battled for another 7 rounds. By the eleventh round, Frazier asserted himself and pressure Ali with a few left hooks. By the fourteenth round, Frazier was leading the bout, score-wise, and in the fifteenth round he knocked Ali down, only the third time ever for Ali, however Ali quickly recovered. As the fight ended, Ali was visably tired and clearly could not keep up for the entire fight. When forced to a judges’ decision, Frazier won the fight unanimously. Frazier and Ali would fight twice more, with the “Thrilla in Manila” being the most memorable of the following two, however most boxing historians will admit, this bout was one for the ages and established both Ali and Frazier as all time titans battling on the biggest stage in the world.
April 15 & 22, 1947
In need of a first baseman and being a deeply religious man, Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers was in need of an infusion. Knowing that he had recently scouted and added a young first baseman to his minor league affiliate in 1946, Rickey had Jackie Robinson called up to start at first base for his Dodgers. Robinson’s debut was rocky, an 0-3 day against the Boston Braves did not make him feel well and neither did the slight alienation from his teammates, and fans and players alike refused to play alongside or root for Robinson as the season started. The Dodgers stated that those players who refused to play with him were welcome to seek alternate employment. On April 22 of that year, Robinson received numerous insults and comments in Philadelphia, namely from Phillies manager Ben Chapman, and while the insults hurled were no different or greater than others he had or would receive, that moment would solidify a Dodgers unity that would help them reach the World Series. Led by Pee Wee Reece, the Dodgers soon welcomes their newest player and Robinson rewarded them by batting .297 with 12 homers, 48 RBIs , 29 Stolen bases and Rookie of the Year honors. He would eventually bat .311 (.409 OBP) for his career.
No more Curse of 1940
It had been almost 54 years since the New York Rangers had won the Stanley Cup and while the blueshirts had assembled a talented bunch, it didn’t appear as though they were heading into 1993 prepared to make a run the whole way to the cup. However, the Rangers geared up early and added a President’s Trophy to the cabinet that season with a 52-24-8 record, led by Mark Messier, Adam Graves and other staunch defenders such asBrian Leetch and a young Sergei Zubov. The Rangers then entered the playoffs and easily dispatched the cross-town rival New York Islanders in four games and the scrappy Washington Capitals in five games. The test came against the hated New Jersey Devils with future hall of famer Martin Brodeur, who would win the Calder Memorial Trophy that year as top Rookie.
This fateful series featured three multi-overtime games, two won by the Rangers’ Stephane Matteau with late goals. Matteau’s most important goal came in Game six, one Captain Mark Messier predicted the Rangers would win. Messier delivered on his promise, even as the Rangers were down 2-0 by registering a crucial assist of Alexei Kovalev and a hat trick to give the Rangers a 4-2 victory. The seventh game was tied 0-0 until midway when Brian Leetch moved the Rangers closer to the Cup by a score of 1-0. However, Valeri Zelepukin tied it up with 7.7 second to go by inserting a puck just past a sprawling Mike Richter to head into overtime. From there Matteau added his second vital overtime goal to propel the Rangers to the Cup Finals.
At the start of the Stanley Cup Finals, the New York Rangers appeared to be clearly superior to the seventh seeded Vancouver Canucks. The blueshirts took an opening game hit by losing in overtime 3-2, facing a tough 52 save performance by Kirk McLean. However they would rattle the next three games and take a foreboding 3-1 series lead. The Curse of 1940 would rear its ugly head causing losses in Games five and six sending the Rangers back to Madison Square Garden for a pivotal game seven. Trevor Linden would score two goals in the final game but Messier, Graves and Leetch each added a tally to give the Rangers the cup, the first MSG would ever see.
Game 6 of the ’86 World Series & the ’78 Divisional Playoff Game
One would argue that this had a much greater impact on the New England sports scene that it did for New York, however the impact of both of these events, symbolized by three men, Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner and, of course, Babe Ruth is a moment(s) the defines all that his holy in America’s pastime. Dent’s home run solidified the Red Sox as a backseat team to the Yankees and proved their supremacy yet again and Buckner’s error only bled Boston a little bit more as the city that never sleeps kept a title from them yet again. Mookie Wilson’s hit may have a special place in the hearts’ of Mets fans, but that Buckner error and the oh so infamous Vin Scully call will live in the hearts, minds and ears of all baseball fans.
Jeffrey Maier
In 1996, the Yankees has just finished the Curse of Donnie Baseball, reeling after 14 slow years, the Yankees, as we all know now, were primed to return to dominance. Game one of the American League Championship Series was only the beginning of a stroke of luck that seems to follow Derek Jeter to this day. Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning to the Baltimore Orioles, Jeter hit a deep fly to right that might have had just enough. Jeffrey Maier, a local twelve year old decided to take matter into his own glove as he reached just beyond the fence to pull the ball out of outfielder Tony Tarasco’s reach. The results are now infamous and even today O’s fans still protect. This game, while not having the same impact as any later games, set the stage for a Yankees run still continuing today. The results were simple, the Orioles were reeling the rest of the series and the Yankees went on to win the 1996 World Series and contend from then on.
Notes
Well, that’s the end of my list, but I’ve left a few off that you might disagree with. Here are some honorable mentions:
Jerry West’s most infamous posterizing against the Knicks, creating the logo we all know today
Scott Norwood’s Wide Right against the Giants in the Super Bowl
Willie Mays Over-the-Shoulder-Catch in the 1954 World Series
Of course I’ll be missing some. Add your thoughts, you New York Moments and your own moments.
