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10 greatest pennant chases in Major League Baseball history

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Oct 18, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Members of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate on the field after game six of the National League Championship Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Members of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate on the field after game six of the National League Championship Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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2. 1951 National League: The Shot Heard ‘Round the World

The 1951 season started terribly for the New York Giants as the team quickly fell to last place in the National League after losing 10 of their first 12 games. It took more than a month for the club to climb above .500, and by that time the Brooklyn Dodgers had taken control of the NL standings. By August 11, the Dodgers had opened up a 13-game lead over a now second place New York.

Arguably the most amazing comeback in Major League Baseball history, the Giants posted a 37-7 record, which included a 16-game winning streak, to erase Brooklyn’s deficit to set up a winner-take-all three-game series to finish the regular season. The teams split the first two games, and with identical 97-59 records, squared off on October 3 in the first nationally televised baseball game with the NL pennant hanging in the balance.

The Dodgers struck first for a run in the opening frame on an RBI single by Jackie Robinson. Starter Don Newcombe held the lead until New York tied the game in the seventh inning when Bobby Thompson recorded a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one. Brooklyn answered immediately with three runs in the eighth inning, and took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

The Giants opened the frame with back-to-back singles. With one out, Whitey Lockman doubled, which drove in Al Dark and knocked Newcomb out of the game set the stage for one of the greatest moments in baseball history.

With the tying run on second, Thompson stepped in to face Ralph Branca. After a first pitch strike, Thompson drove Branca’s second pitch down the left field line and over the wall to end the season with a 5-4 victory.

After Thompson hit his improbable “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” Giants announcer Russ Hodges gave the famous call, “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” as Thompson leapt around the bases. The crowd at the Polo Grounds spilled out of the stands and carried Thompson off the field.

Unfortunately, the magic of the pennant race didn’t carry over to the World Series, and the Giants lost to the cross-town New York Yankees in six games.

Next: 2011 AL and NL Wild Card

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