Pennant Race Collapses
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Pennant Race Collapses
1995 <br> California Angels
On Aug. 9, the Angels led Texas and Seattle by 11 games in the AL West. Seattle and California ended up tied, and the Mariners won a one-game playoff when they pounded Angels ace Mark Langston 9-1.
1993 <br> San Francisco Giants
On July 22, the Giants led Atlanta by 10 games. The Braves went 49-16 down the stretch to win the NL West by one game despite an MVP season from Barry Bonds, the third of his career.
1987 Toronto Blue Jays
They held a 3 1/2-game lead on the Tigers with seven games left, but the Blue Jays failed to win another game. Detroit swept Toronto in the final series of the season, winning all three games by one run. Lloyd Moseby (pictured) hit 26 home runs and stole 39 bases for the Jays.
1978 Boston Red Sox
On July 19, the Red Sox led the Yankees by 14 games. New York went 52-21 down the stretch to tie Boston for first place in the AL East. The Yankees won a one-game divisional playoff on Bucky Dent's three-run home run.
1969 Chicago Cubs
On Aug. 14, the Cubs led the Mets by 9 1/2 games in the NL East. Chicago then went 8-17 in September and finished eight games behind New York despite the presence of Hall of Famers Ernie Banks (pictured), Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams.
1964 <br> Philadelphia Phillies
On Sept. 21, slugger Johnny Callison and the Phillies led St. Louis and Cincinnati by 6 1/2 games with 12 to play. Philadelphia lost 10 in a row and lost the NL pennant to St. Louis. If the Cardinals had lost on the final day of the season, an unprecedented three-team playoff between St. Louis, the Reds and the Phillies would have resulted. Of course, the Cards won.
1962 <br> Los Angeles Dodgers
Even the awesome duo of Don Drysdale (25-9) and Sandy Koufax (14-7) couldn't stave off this fade. The Dodgers lost 10 of their final 13 (including their last four in a row) to blow a four-game lead to the Giants in the final week of the season. A three-game playoff for the NL pennant ensued, won by the Giants.
1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
On Aug. 11, the Dodgers led the Giants by 13 1/2 games, but the Giants won 16 in a row at one point and went 37-7 overall before winning a three-game playoff, which culminated in Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round the World.
1942 Brooklyn Dodgers
On Aug. 5, Pee Wee Reese and the defending NL-champion Dodgers were 10 games ahead of the Cardinals, who won 43 of 51 games on the way to the NL pennant. The Cardinals won 106 games to the Dodgers' 104, which is the most wins ever by a club that didn't make the playoffs.
1938 Pittsburgh Pirates
On Sept. 4, the Pirates led the Cubs by seven games, but thanks to Gabby Hartnett's "homer in the gloamin'," Chicago won the NL pennant by two games despite the efforts of Pittsburgh's Arky Vaughan (pictured) and brothers Paul "Big Poison" and Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner.
1934 New York Giants
This was the first team to enter September with a seven-game lead and lose the pennant. The Giants played .500 for the month while the Gashouse Gang Cardinals finished 33-12. Future Hall of Famer Mel Ott belted 35 home runs for the second-place Giants.
1914 New York Giants
On July 21, the Christy Mathewson-led Giants held a 10 1/2-game edge on the Boston "Miracle" Braves, who ended up winning the pennant by 10 1/2 games thanks to a 34-10 run to finish the season.