The top ten baseball moments are...

[Guest bob_barron]

How about when in the middle of a bench clearing brawl Darryl Strawberry went into the Orioles clubhouse and started whooping ass.

 

Now that's a baseball moment

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Bah.

 

Best moment I ever saw was Kirk Gibsons HR.

SCREW YOU!!!

 

 

Unfortunately, that is the most memorable moment of my baseball watching life. I still get angry whenever I am compelled to watch that clip. I will never forget it. It sits in my head like I imagine the Bucky Dent homer sits in the heads of Boston fans.

 

And for the record, it is not "the Kirk Gibson home run." It's official name is "The God Damned Kirk Gibson home run." And I would argue, by the way, that it put momentum on the Dodgers side and set them up nicely to win the series, with Orel Hershiser's dominance on the mound and at the plate finishing it off.

 

As for the list, well, obviously the list was going to be "new stuff biased" because A) these things always are, because people are polled in the present day, and it's easier to remember the more recent stuff. Also, they weren't about to show memorable moments that they didn't have film footage of that they couldn't reroll over and over again (ergo, forget about just about any great and otherwise "worthy" moment from guys like Cobb, Matthewson, and most of the old legends). That's why the infamous Merkle blunder (which was THE undisputed champion of World Series errors/gaffes until Buckner came along) got buried on the list.

 

My contention with the list is that they didn't distinguish between MOMENTS and ACHEIVEMENTS. DiMaggio's streak is a remarkable achievment, and perhaps an unbreakable record. But it is not a moment. It was a streak built up over 56 games. When it came to an end with his bouncing out to third in his final at bat against the Indians...that's a moment. The streak coming to an end is a memorable moment. The streak itself is a great achievement, not a moment.

 

Similarly, the game in which Ripken breaks the streak of games played could be a moment. The streak itself is not.

 

Gehrig's Speech is a Moment.

Hank's breaking Ruth's mark is a moment.

Sosa and McGwire chasing Maris is NOT a moment. You could argue for McGwire homer #62 as a moment. But not #70, because we had already reached dramatic climax, as it were. And the chase was a months long quest. Achievement, not a moment.

The Mazeroski homer is a moment.

Don Larsen's perfect game in the 56 series is kinda in the fuzzy gray area, but I would throw it in with achievment.

Williams' performance on the last day of the 41 season is an achievement, as is the average.

Mays' catch is a moment.

The Shot Heard Round The World is a moment.

Robinson stepping onto the field for the first time is a moment (the whole season and the subsequent career would be an achievement, and a damn important one).

 

Having a record is an achievement. the instant in which you set it may (or may not, depending) be a memorable moment.

 

I think you get the idea.

 

My other problem is that they clearly didn't want any "bad" moments getting in. Well, apart from The God Damned Gibson Homer, but then I suppose there's actually some Dodger fans somewhere who may have sort of enjoyed that garbage... "Tragic" moments, which are often the most memorable, were clearly frowned on. Come on, the Buckner error is a memorable moment, one of THE memorable moments. As is hearing that Clemente died in a plane crash, or Munson dying in an air wreck (was it plane or helicopter, I can't remember). I bet you a lot of Pirate and Yankee fans of that generation remember clearly what they were doing when they heard that. The announcement of the cancellation of the 94 post season, that's pretty damn memorable and important, wouldn't you say? This is probably also why Pete Rose trampling Ray Fosse wasn't on there (probably a bigger factor than the fact that it was a Pete moment). Again, it's understanable why for PR/Propaganda purposes they would want to repress "bad" moments, but I still think it delegitimizes the list.

 

The Buckner Error? George Brett's "Pine Tar Incident?" Come on! Either one of those trumps Ryan's 7th no-hitter easily. [7 no hitters is an admirable achievement and a great record, but the 7th isn't necessarily a great moment. I mean, it was a regular season game between two teams that went nowhere that year. Whatever, man.]

 

As for "violent" moments, since that's come up, I always liked Nolan Ryan making Robin Ventura his bitch when he tried to charge the mound. Though my dad has me beat there; he went to the Giants/Dodgers game in 1965 where the Dodgers brushed back Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, and he turned around and whacked the Dodger catcher over the head with his bat. (If they master Time Travel technology, I'm going back in time to watch THAT fracas first). Ahh...the good old days of Giants vs Dodgers when they tried to kill each other in every game...

[Guest DrTom]

But the problem I have with "the streak" is that 7 years later it did not mean shit to anyone and just this last summer MLB went on other strike due to people being greedy and stubborn about money.

Actually, they didn't go on strike this summer. It's a good thing, too, since Baseball doesn't have anyone like Ripken playing right now. Barry Bonds is the one dancing with the immortals most often, but he's seen as surly and selfish by a lot of the fans. As for Ripken's streak meaning nothing seven years later, I don't think that's true at all. Anyone who was there, anyone who followed Cal's career, and the millions of people who saw Gehrig's record fall will never forget it. That moment IS baseball to a lot of people I know.

 

But it had no long term affects on the very things that nearly drove fans away from baseball which was greedy and lazy players/owners that just seemed to only be in the game for the money and nothing else.

A "moment," be definition, isn't going to have any long-term effects. They're just that: moments. What long-term effect has Fisk's home run had? Or Ryan's 7th no-hitter? Or McGwire and Sosa chasing Maris and each other in 1998? They're all great moments, but like all moments, they're fleeting, and any effect they have is on the memories of the people who saw them happen.

 

He broke the color barrier, which was looked at as something that would have never been broken in baseball at the time that he came in.

As meaningful as Robinson's achievement is, it would have been somebody else if not him. Baseball wasn't going to stay segregated much longer, and if Jackie Robinson hadn't been the first Black to play in the majors, someone else would have gotten the distinction. BTW, the first Black to play professional baseball was Moses Fleetwood Walker, who gets no pub despite doing the same thing, albeit not in the majors.

 

Seven years later, the players and owners go back to squabbling and are on the verge of having another strike

Because the owners and players, collectivly, are greedy, childish, and stupid. But for one night in 1995, baseball fans got the ultimate reminder that there are still people who play the game for the right reasons, and are truly excellent ambassadors for their sport.

 

The list is full of great moments, but I think 2131 deserves its spot above the rest.

[Guest bob_barron]

How the hell did Ryan's seventh make it? I mean I don't know anyone who remembers that one

[Guest Vern Gagne]

This is what you get when you let people vote on the internet. No Fisk, No Thomson, No Mazerowski, No Larsen. They should of divided the voting between fans, writers, and players.

[Guest Choken One]

We could go on and on about what is the true meaning of "Moment" but let's be honest here, was the list offensive? No, not all. Bonds, while it was a huge "moment", 73 homer does not have the impact that all the others had and beside it was too recent.

 

I strongly believe Cal's streak is the ONLY streak/record in the game that will go unbroken forever but it's not the greatest moment. Pete Rose record breaking hit stands out for me.

 

"As meaningful as Robinson's achievement is, it would have been somebody else if not him. Baseball wasn't going to stay segregated much longer, and if Jackie Robinson hadn't been the first Black to play in the majors, someone else would have gotten the distinction"

 

Sure but what if they went of Josh Gibson, "The black babe ruth" first? We all know what happened to him. Can you imagine what damage would have occured if he was #1. Stachal Paige was eventfully a star starting pitcher but his arrogance would have turned people off right away...Jackie Robinson and the type of person he was is what let Black people in.

[Guest Brian]

But the type of person allowed him to endure the problems over an amount of time. It's not like baseball suddenly opened its gates because Robinson had stepped through. They opened up because Robinson had endured the heckling and the death threats and the personal attacks by players on the field. Robinson's debut is not what stands out as the moment that the color barrier fell, it was the way he handled himsel over time and how people came to accept that.

[Guest Downhome]

Personally, game seven of the 1991 NLCS should be on there, but hey, I'm a Braves fan! Still though, that was truly a hell of a moment, and it remains my personal favorite MLB moment, that I have ever witnessed in my time, period.