10 greatest pennant chases in Major League Baseball history

By Nicholas Ian Allen | Aug 29, 2015

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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1. 2011 National League and American League Wild Card

There was a lot of concern when Major League Baseball decided to split both the American League and National League into three divisions, which necessitated the addition of a Wild Card team to face one of the three division winners in the playoff. Many baseball purists hated the idea because they thought it would dilute the meaning of the regular season.

However, it also added a new level of intrigue to pennant races and gave us one of the greatest single days of baseball in the history of the game: September 28, 2011.

During the 2011 season, the Boston Red Sox started slowly before getting hot in June. Boston spent most of the summer jockeying for position in the AL East against the Yankees, and in late July Boston led the division by as many as three games. The Red Sox clung to a half-game lead as late as September 1, when they were 83-53, before the wheels came off.

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From September 1 to September 25 the Red Sox lost 17 of their next 23 games, which turned a half-game division lead into an eight-game deficit. No matter, though, because Boston would surely back into the playoffs as the Wild Card, right? Wrong.

Needing a win or a Tampa Bay loss to clinch the Wild Card, the Red Sox held a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning in Baltimore against a long-eliminated Orioles squad. With All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound, the game looked like a sure thing – especially once Papelbon struck out the first two hitters he faced. However, back-to-back doubles by Chris Davis and Nolan Reimold quickly tied the game, and a single by Robert Andino gave the O’s a stunning walkoff victory.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who were nine games out in the AL East on September 1, stormed back with a 17-9 record in the season’s final month, which included five straight wins to close out the season. That last victory was an 8-7 walkoff win against the Yankees in a game they trailed 7-0. As the night played out, the Red Sox lost and could only watch in horror as Evan Longoria’s line drive homer barely cleared the left field wall and put the Rays into the postseason.

Interestingly enough, a similar scenario was playing out in Atlanta. Trailing first place Philadelphia all season, the Braves set their eyes on the NL Wild Card spot and by August 26 had built a 10.5-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the fourth and final playoff spot.

However, by posting a 10-19 record the rest of the way, Atlanta saw their lead shrink smaller and smaller, until on the final day of the regular season, with their fifth consecutive loss, the Braves were knocked out of the pennant chase altogether.

The Cardinals won 20 of their final 28 games to surge into the postseason. St. Louis then upset the Phillies in the NL Division Series, and beat the NL Central champion Brewers in six games in the NLCS to win the pennant. In the World Series, St. Louis survived a two-run extra-inning deficit in Game 6 against the Texas Rangers, and won Game 7 the following night to claim the title.

Next: MLB Awards Watch: Trout and Donaldson Battle for AL MVP

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