15-11

The Stud 400 countdown has quite literally been going on for years and we’re finally close enough to the summit that we can see the top of the mountain. That’s appropriate for today’s installment of the countdown as you can say three of the five entries deal with reaching a pinnacle in the baseball world.

First up, we’re looking at two of the most iconic home runs ever hit and they both clinched a World Series victory for their respective teams. We’re talking about Joe Carter and Bill Mazeroski – and baseball fans need no further information than that. They’re the #4 and #5 ranked home runs in baseball history as far as this countdown is concerned. If you stretch your brains just a little bit, you can probably think of which home runs were bigger and will appear in the top 10.

Both Carter and Mazeroski’s home runs put their teams atop the baseball world and it was hard to decide which blast to rank over the other. On one hand, Carter’s homer came with his team down in the bottom of the ninth, so he played a large role in pulling that game out of the fire. Mazeroski’s homer came with the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, so even if he doesn’t hit it, extra innings was still on the table.

However, Maz’s homer came in Game 7 and the Pirates were huge underdogs against a stacked Yankees team. Keep in mind that the Yankees outscored the Pirates 38-3 in their three wins in the series. The Yankees had scored eight runs over the final four innings of Game 7 and the Pirates had already used Roy Face, their ace closer. Harvey Haddix, the Game 5 starter, had to be called on to pitch the ninth and it was unclear how much longer he would have been able to go after that, especially since the Yankees touched him up pretty good the previous inning.

The Blue Jays were in a much different situation than the Pirates. They were stacked with Hall of Famers like Paul Molitor, Roberto Alomar, Jack Morris and Rickey Henderson and had legitimate stars in their prime like John Olerud. Tony Fernandez, Devon White and of course, Joe Carter. Nothing against the Phillies, who were very good and an underrated National League champion, but the Blue Jays were a more talented team.

The third entry that deals with getting to the mountaintop comes in the form of Pete Rose and his pursuit of the all-time hits record. Aside from the career home run record, the career hits record is the second-most coveted career record in the sport. Before his death earlier this year, Rose had spent the past 30 years as a divisive figure to put it mildly. Many people couldn’t separate Rose’s on-field accomplishments from his transgressions as a player, manager and human being, and that’s their prerogative. Rose certainly gave them plenty of ammunition.

However, if you were a baseball fan in 1985, when Rose lined that single to left center off Eric Show on September 11, you knew you were witnessing an event that many thought was absolutely impossible. Rose wasn’t only on top of the baseball world, but it was one of those moments that transcended the sport.

So, as we get close to the top of The Stud 400, we’re celebrating a couple of players who got their teams to the top with one swing and one man who spent 23 years getting to his own mountaintop.

Before we move on to this week’s edition of The Stud 400, here’s a look at the last five entries as we count down the 400 greatest moments in Major League Baseball history:

20: Babe Ruth quits pitching full time (1918)

19: Ted Williams hits .406 (1941)

18: Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash (1973)

17: Black Sox Scandal (1919)

16: Brooklyn Dodgers finally win it all (1955)

And now, here’s Episode LXXXIV of The Stud 400:

15. Joe Carter World Series walkoff (1993)

There have only been two instances where a World Series ended on a walkoff home run – and we’re starting this installment with the last time that happened. If the phrase, “Touch ‘em all Joe!” means anything to you, you don’t have to read any further. Of course we’re talking about Joe Carter’s insane blast off Mitch Williams to clinch the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was the 90^th World Series and the Jays were looking to go back-to-back after beating the Braves in the 1992 World Series. The Blue Jays were up three games to one through four games in the series, but a shutout by Curt Schilling kept the Phillies alive in Game 5. That proved lucky for The Stud 400 and for fans who enjoy iconic sporting moments

The Jays jumped out early in Game 6 with three runs in the first inning. The Phillies got their first run in the top of the fourth, but the Jays answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Things became even bleaker for the Phillies when Paul Molitor homered in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-1. Being down by four runs late in the game to Dave Stewart in the postseason isn’t where you want to be, but somehow the Phillies came to life in the top of the seventh. The Phillies got their first two men on and a three-run homer by noted postseason hero Lenny Dykstra made the game 5-4. The Phillies scored twice more in the inning, taking a lead on a Pete Incaviglia sacrifice fly. That lead carried over into the bottom of the ninth when the Phillies brought on Mitch Williams to try to nail down the save.

Williams may have been a white-knuckle closer, but he generally got things done and wasn’t a walk in the park to hit against by any means. He had saved 43 games for the Phillies in the regular season, but had a tall task ahead of him with the top of the Jays lineup due up. That meant he had to face Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson and Molitor again with All-Stars Devon White, Joe Carter and John Olerud also looming. Henderson walked on four pitches leading off the inning and Molitor stroked a one-out single as he is wont to do. That brought up Carter, who worked the count to 2-2. Williams mistakenly threw one into Carter’s wheelhouse and the man who was known to have a knack for driving in runs and getting the big hit, got the biggest hit of them all. He launched one out deep to left and initiated a dance around the bases that was pure joy, suitable for one of the biggest moments in baseball history. To this day, it remains the only walkoff home run to win a World Series when a team was trailing in the bottom of the ninth.

14. Bill Mazeroski World Series walkoff (1960)

Imagine outscoring your opponent 55-27 over a seven-game series and still losing the series? Well, that’s exactly what happened as the Pirates knocked off the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. Pirates fans can thank Bill Mazeroski for making that statistic possible as he cranked what we’re calling the fourth biggest home run in baseball history on The Stud 400.

The 1960 Yankees were a powerhouse, featuring a 28-year old Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, who was the American League MVP that season, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford. The Pirates weren’t slouches either. A young Roberto Clemente batted .310 in the World Series and Dick Stuart was the National League home run leader that year. Their pitching was led by the National League Cy Young Award winner Vern Law, 18-game winner Bob Friend and closer Roy Face, an All-Star who appeared in 68 games that season. And, oh yea, that Mazeroski guy too. In the Series, the Yankees outscored the Pirates 38-3 in their three wins, but had lost Games 1, 4 and 5 by close scores. This set up what would be a wild Game 7 at Forbes Field; one which many considered the greatest game ever played.

The Pirates jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but the Yankees rallied and were up 5-4 going to the eighth. The Yankees tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth to take what looked to be a commanding 7-4 lead with just six outs to go in the World Series. Pittsburgh mounted a wild rally in the bottom of the inning though and scored five runs, three of which came on a Hal Smith home run. With the Pirates now up 9-7, the Yankees rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth as Berra and Mantle drove home runs off Harvey Haddix, the Game 5 starter who was on in emergency relief, to tie the game. Mazeroski, the eight batter in the Pirates lineup, was due to lead off the bottom of the ninth and the lineup didn’t matter one bit beyond him. After taking a first pitch ball, Mazeroski sent the next pitch from Ralph Terry sailing over the fence at Forbes Field to nail down the improbable World Series win for the Pirates. It was the first World Series to end on a home run and it set off a wild celebration among Pirates players and fans. The Yankees stood on the field in stunned disbelief. Years later, Mantle said it was the only time he cried on a baseball field. It was also Casey Stengel’s last game as Yankees manager.

13. FDR pens the “Green Light Letter” (1942)

Looking at the Top 20 of The Stud 400, this entry might be the one that holds the least amount of clout from a baseball pop culture perspective, but it is without a doubt one of the most impactful moments in the history of American sports. Without it, as many as four historic years of baseball may have never happened. Possibly more. The Cardinals would have missed out on a couple of World Series and the Yankees would be light one title too. The Browns would have never made their historic World Series appearance either. Without this, who knows if Satchel Paige ever gets his shot at the Majors. The same goes for Pete Gray and many others as well. Hal Newhouser likely wouldn’t have won back-to-back MVPs and that would have cost him his shot at Cooperstown. You also would have chopped off another year to the already war-shortened careers of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial would have been robbed of three additional years. All of this was avoided in a one-page letter and one swipe of the pen from Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

On December 7, 1941, the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor and that propelled America directly into the World War II. Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis was known as a stern and decisive authoritarian, but even he was unsure of what the status of Major League Baseball would be. He understood the importance of the sport, but also recognized that a World War was pretty much bigger than anything, baseball included. After wrestling with his own ideas for over a little over a month, Landis decided to go right to the top. He wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt asking what he should do. As Landis put it in his letter, he asked, “inasmuch as these are not ordinary times, I venture to ask what you have in mind as to whether baseball should continue to operate.” He also acknowledged the fact that all able-bodied players of the appropriate age would serve their country as they were called.

FDR didn’t take long to respond. In fact, it took just one day. On January 15, 1942, FDR penned what is known as the Green Light Letter, urging Landis to continue to operate Major League Baseball as scheduled. He wrote, “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer and harder than ever before. And that means they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.” FDR agreed with Landis that all qualified players should serve in the military as well. With an agreement in place between Landis and Roosevelt, Major League Baseball was able to continue uninterrupted with players admittedly less qualified than the many who were off becoming war heroes, but the main point was that it was able to continue.

12. Tommy John has his surgery (1974)

We are all becoming numb to this song and dance. You hear of a pitcher leaving a game due to “forearm tightness” then a few days later we learn that his UCL is blown out and Tommy John Surgery has been scheduled. We say, “ah man, that sucks,” and file that guy in the back of our minds hoping to see him 12-18 months from now with our fingers crossed that he is able to bounce back.

Some do, some don’t – and the baseball world continues to turn. The current baseball structure from youth through college and from the minors through majors has changed dramatically over the past decades and those changes have coincided with the meteoric rise in Tommy John surgeries. You’d figure at some point things would have to reach a tipping point and things would change, but there’s too much money being made at the expense of these elbows, so don’t count on it. The nerd system has pushed the pitching world in a direction that resembles cows being shuffled down a conveyor belt to the slaughter. Just a bunch of interchangeable dudes maxing out the physical limits of their elbows until they burst and then right onto the next one. We’re not here to espouse on all that’s wrong in the baseball pitching world, though. This entry is about the surgery itself and how the invention has shaped baseball history.

In mid-1974, Tommy John felt that dreaded pop in his elbow and it seemed like the end of his pitching career. He was 31 years old at the time and in his 12^th big league season. That September, Dr. Frank Jobe proposed an experimental UCL reconstruction and with nothing to lose, John agreed. Against the longest odds you can imagine, John returned to the Major Leagues in 1976 and made all 31 of this starts, carrying a 3.09 ERA across 207 innings. He went 10-10 and threw six complete games in his first season back. John’s surgery was a rousing success. He stayed active through his age 46 season and showed no ill effects of the surgery which bears his name. John was 124-106 before his surgery and 164-125 after it. Think about that, John won 164 games after a shot-in-the-dark surgical procedure. Sandy Koufax won 165 games in his entire career! The procedure has saved countless careers across every level from youth through the Major Leagues, and as much as we lament today’s horseshit modern pitching theory, the procedure itself has made an impact on the game that has lasted over 50 years.

11. Pete Rose sets career hits record (1985)

It’s hard to explain to fans who weren’t there prior to Pete Rose’s downfall, but you cannot understate how huge Rose was when he was an active player. He was literally the guy people pointed at and said, “That’s the way the game should be played.” It’s what people said about Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays and Stan Musial. Before those heroes, it was what people said about Ty Cobb as well. It was just one of the things that connected Charlie Hustle with the Georgia Peach. As Rose continued to crank out 200-hit seasons well into his late 30’s, it became a real possibility that he could break Cobb’s all-time hits record, a mark most assumed was unbreakable; it had never even really been approached. At the conclusion of the 1979 season, the final 200-hit season of Rose’s career, he had 3,372 career hits, which put him in seventh place all-time and 819 shy of Cobb. It was clear Rose was going to have to play into his mid-40s for a shot at Cobb, but knowing how much the record meant to him, it was a plausible reality.

Rose needed 95 hits coming into the 1985 season and as the season wore on, he looked to be right on track to reach that total before the end of the year. Coming into the season’s final month, he needed just eight hits to pass Cobb and a hot start to the month made it clear that he was going to reach the mark easily. After a quick five-game road trip, Rose’s Reds returned home for a series with the Padres. After going 0-4 in Game 1, Rose went 2-4 in the second game of the series, knocking an opposite field hit off Eric Show for the record breaker. It set off a lengthy tearful ceremony at Riverfront Stadium that served as a coronation for the extraordinary career Rose had authored. The downfall came shortly after, but at this point in time, Rose surpassing Cobb’s hit record placed him squarely on the American sports mountaintop.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode of The Stud 400 when finally reach the top 10 moments in the history of baseball! We’re going very New York-heavy in this entry with two of the game’s greatest single-season accomplishments and two of the all-time tear-jerking moments in sports. We’re also checking in with two men whose impact didn’t just change baseball, but changed the business of sports as a whole. It’s time to stand brave as multiple entries test our mettle physically and mentally. Pack your bags, we’re hitting the road on next week’s installment of The Stud 400. We’ll see you in court if you’re not there!