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Best World Series Moments
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2009 -- Video Replay
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In 2008, major league baseball adopted instant replay for boundary calls. However, it wasn't until 2009 that umpires used the rule to overturn an original call. In the fourth inning of Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, Alex Rodriguez blasted an opposite-field drive into the right field corner and cruised to second base. A-Rod and Yankees manager Joe Girardi questioned the call and asked for a review. Replays showed the ball struck the lens of a television camera and the original call was overturned. A-Rod was awarded a two-run homer and that seemed to give the Yankees a boost, eventually winning the game 8-5. Game Recap
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2008 -- Wild and Wacky
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The 2008 World Series ending was among one of the wackiest in baseball history. Left in limbo by a two-day storm, a 46-hour Game 5 delay turned the best-of-7 series into a best-of-3½ showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2. Nearly 50 hours after Game 5 started after being stopped by rain, Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint to claim their first championship since 1980.
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2004 -- Reverse The Curse!
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The Boston Red Sox -- yes, the Boston Red Sox! -- are World Series champions at long, long last. No more curse and no doubt about it. They sure got you, Babe. Ridiculed and reviled through decades of defeat, the Red Sox didn't just beat the St. Louis Cardinals, owners of the best record in baseball, they swept them for their first crown since 1918.
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2001 -- Four-Peat Denied
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Luis Gonzalez hit an RBI single to cap a two-run rally off Mariano
Rivera in the bottom of the ninth, and the Diamondbacks won their
first championship by beating the New York Yankees 3-2 in Game 7
-- one of the greatest comebacks of all time. The Yankees were
only two outs from their fourth consecutive championship and fifth
in six years when it suddenly fell apart.
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1996 -- The King Of Swing
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The Braves had their closer on the mound trying to secure a 3-1
series lead in the eighth inning of Game 4, but Jim Leyritz
blasted a three-run home run off of Mark Wohlers to help send the
game into extra innings. The Yankees would win 8-6 on their way to
another World Series title.
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1993 -- Carter's Magical Blast
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Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter provided the dramatics as
he launched an offering from Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mitch
Williams over the wall in left field and gave the Blue Jays an 8-6
Game 6 win and their second consecutive World Series championship.
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1991 -- Larkin In The Clutch
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Game 7 was a scoreless contest through 9 1/2 frames. The Minnesota
Twins loaded the bases with a double and two intentional walks.
Minnesota's Gene Larkin stepped to the plate and looped a hit off
of Alejandro Pena that gave Minnesota their second World Series
triumph in four years.
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1988 -- Gibson In The Pinch
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In his only appearance against the Oakland Athletics in the 1988
World Series championship, injured Los Angeles Dodgers slugger
Kirk Gibson stroked a pinch-hit, two-run homer to give Los Angeles
victory in Game 1. The home run proved to be a demoralizing blow
as Los Angeles beat the heavily-favored Oakland four games to one.
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1986 - Miracle Mets
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In Game 6 of the 1986 Fall Classic between the Boston Red Sox and
the New York Mets, Boston was one strike away from their first
World Series championship since 1918. After several base hits and
a wild pitch that tied the game, New York had the winning run at
second base. What unfolded next was simply unbelievable.
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1980 -- A First For Philly
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Tug McGraw struck out Kansas City's Willie Wilson with the bases
loaded to secure a 4-1 victory in Game 6 and give the Philadelphia
Phillies the first World Series title in team history. McGraw had
also ended Game 5 with a bases-loaded strikeout. It was the
Royals' first trip to the World Series.
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1977 -- Three Pitches, Three Home Runs
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Reggie Jackson needed only three pitches to earn the nickname Mr.
October and win over the city of New York. The Yankees slugger
homered three times in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series to put the
Bronx Bombers back on top of the baseball world.
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1975 -- Fisk's Heroics
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The sight of Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk waving his drive
fair is one of the most memorable images in World Series history.
Fisk's home run, which came in the bottom of the 12th inning and
forced a Game 7, was hit off of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Pat Darcy.
That moment would prove to be the last celebration for Boston
fans, as the 'Big Red Machine' revved up in Game 7 and brought the
World Series championship to Cincinnati.
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1960 -- The Maz
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Locked in a 3-3 Series tie, the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh
Pirates met in Game 7 to determine the 1960 World Series
championship. The teams battled back and forth, trading four home
runs between them. After New York tied the game 9-9 in the top of
the 9th, Pittsburgh second baseman Bill Mazeroski knocked a home
run over the left-field wall that gave Pittsburgh the World Series
championship.
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1955 -- Stealing Home
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Jackie Robinson stole home in the opening game of the
Dodgers-Yankees Subway Series. Brooklyn lost the game 6-5, but
came back to finally beat the Yankees in seven games to end years
of World Series frustration. Roy Campanella was the hero in Game
3, bashing a single, double and home run in an 8-3 Dodgers victory.
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1954 -- The Catch
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Playing in the cavernous Polo Grounds, Cleveland's Vic Wertz sent
a deep drive to center field off New York Giants pitcher Don
Liddle. Giants star Willie Mays turned and sprinted backwards,
making an over-the-shoulder grab nearly 425 feet from home plate.
'The Catch' is regarded as the finest fielding play in the history
of the World Series.
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