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The Stud 400 has been going on for years and we have finally reached the final turn. The end is so close that the flagman has raised the checkered flag and is prepping to wave the bejesus out of that thing when the top moment in Major League Baseball history is revealed next week.

The past few installments have featured some of the most incredible moments on the field and some off-field moments that not only helped shape baseball – but also had real world implications.

The biggest challenge in creating this list was measuring impactful off-field moments against on-field heroics and accomplishments. In the first installment of The Stud 400, published at BallNine on November 30, 2021, the ground rules were laid out and to make things more complicated, pop-culture impact was also included in the ranking criteria. Basically, if someone asked the question, “How and why has Major League Baseball captured the imagination of America?” this series lists 400 reasons why, in order.

In my opinion, anyway.

So this week we come across one of the biggest home runs in baseball history, an incredible hitting streak that nobody has even approached before or since and then three off-field moments—two of which changed the game forever and one that provided one of the most iconic scenes and speeches in American history.

Among those items is Curt Flood and Marvin Miller challenging the Reserve Clause, which ranks as the #9 moment in The Stud 400. This was the very first step towards free agency, which not only changed baseball, but changed the business of sports worldwide. Some people may think this is ranked too low, and they can be absolutely right about that. Theoretically, there would be little protest if this was ranked in the top three moments. We ran into the same quandary last week with the invention of Tommy John Surgery, which saved countless careers in professional and amateur baseball.

So, what elevates a moment like Lou Gehrig’s speech—a legendary American moment to be sure—over something with much further impact like Miller and Flood? It’s all about baseball lore.

While many of the “mom’s basement” baseball fans of today like to have their baseball experience tied to a spreadsheet and calculator, the real soul of the game is its history and how certain moments transcend generations. Mention the Summer of ’61 to a real baseball fan, and they immediately picture the drama of Mantle and Maris together chasing the ghost of Babe Ruth. Say the number “56” around someone who really loves the sport and you’ll get a response like, “nobody will ever do it again.”

We’re in rarified air here at The Stud 400 as we start to take a look at the moments that have had the greatest impact, evoked the most emotion and have captured the imagination of fans more than any other moments in baseball history.

Outside of a moment or two, you can shuffle the Top 10 just about any way you’d like and not get much pushback from those in the know. That’s what makes The Stud 400 and baseball history so great.

So as we hit the Top 10, let the debates begin!

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:

15: Joe Carter World Series walkoff (1993)

14: Bill Mazeroski World Series walkoff (1960)

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

12: Tommy John has his surgery (1974)

11: Pete Rose sets career hits record (1985)

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

10. Roger Maris tops The Babe (1961)

For nearly the entire 20^th century, the single most prestigious record in sports was the single-season Major League Baseball home run record. The career home run and career hits record were also up there, but the pressure of trying to break a record in the constraints of a single season added to the drama. Steroids have now tainted the record and modern baseball has juiced balls and bats, smaller ballparks and crappy pitching, so things just aren’t the same. It was much different when legitimate ballplayers were out there chasing the ghost of Babe Ruth. There was something magical about the fact that only one person ever reached 60 home runs and it was the greatest home run hitter who ever lived.

The plot was perfect for a chase during the 1961 season. Mickey Mantle was always a threat to The Babe’s record and 1961 was the first year the schedule expanded to 162 games, so he was going to have more at bats. Additionally, the Angels and Senators were brought into the American League as expansion teams, so that was 36 games against two teams starting from scratch.

As things turned out, Mantle wasn’t going to be the only one chasing Ruth. He was joined by Roger Maris, the 1960 AL MVP, who was in his second year in The Bronx. Having two teammates, one of them already an immortal figure, chasing Ruth added so many layers to the chase. There’s a reason there are multiple books, movies and documentaries about this topic. Through the end of June, Maris had 27 homers while Mantle had 25 over the course of the season’s first 73 games. Ruth had 26 homers through 73 games in his record-breaking season, so Maris and Mantle were ahead of the pace considering the expanded schedule. The Summer of ’61 was about to get into full swing.

Mantle and Maris jockeyed for position alongside each other in a race that was hastened by comments from Commissioner Ford Frick, who was a good friend of and ghostwriter for Ruth. Frick said that for the record to be legitimate, it would have to be beaten in 154 games, which is the schedule that Ruth played under. Maris passed Mantle for the final time on August 15 and became the first player to reach 50 homers by the end of August. Mantle ended up missing time due to an abscess on his hip, essentially leaving Maris alone to chase Ruth. Maris hit homer number 59 in Game 154, leaving him eight games to reach 61. He tied Ruth in Game 159, then went homerless in the next two games giving him one more shot at 61 on the season’s final day. After flying out deep to left his first at bat, Maris cranked one into the right field stands in his second at bat off Tracy Stallard for the record breaker and a place in history.

9. Marvin Miller and Curt Flood challenge the Reserve Clause (1969)

Last week on The Stud 400 we looked at The Green Light Letter, which was penned by Franklin Roosevelt to encourage commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to continue Major League Baseball throughout World War II. This week, another letter is at the forefront of our discussion. On December, 24, 1969, Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood sent a letter to commissioner Bowie Kuhn. It was just two complete paragraphs and started, “After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold, irrespective of my wishes.” The letter was written by Curt Flood and CC’d to Marvin Miller. Together, the two would change the game as much as any pair ever had.

Books have been written about this and documentaries made – and the details are too complex to get into in a restricted space, but essentially, Flood sacrificed his career—which was potentially on track to end in Cooperstown—for the financial benefit of every player that came after him. It started during the 1969 season when Flood was quibbling over $10,000 in salary with Cardinals owner August Busch. At the end of the season, Flood received a letter stating that he was traded to the Phillies. That prompted Flood’s letter to Kuhn and within that letter, Flood stated that his services would be available to any team in Major League Baseball and that he has “the right to consider offers from other clubs before making a decision.” If you think that sounds like the definition of free agency, you’re right! The only issue was that free agency didn’t exist in 1969. Flood sued Major League Baseball based on this premise, challenging the reserve clause in court. Miller advised Flood that not only did he have no chance to win, but that even if he did, he would be blacklisted from the sport. Flood’s response was that if it was going to benefit current and future players, he would move forward with the lawsuit.

The Supreme Court ruled against Flood by a 5-3-1 vote in June of 1972. Aside from a 13-game stint with the Washington Senators in 1971, Flood never returned to baseball. His final full season was 1969, when he won his seventh straight Gold Glove while batting .285 in the top of the lineup for the Cardinals. Although he lost his own court case, Flood’s lawsuit opened the door for others to challenge the reserve clause, which they eventually—and successfully—did. This ushered free agency into the sport, setting up a free market in which players have been able to increase their salaries exponentially over the generations. As far as off-field influence on the history of the sport, not many people have been as impactful or sacrificed as much as Curt Flood.

8. Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak (1941)

It took us until we got into the top 10, but we have finally reached what we are ranking as the top “unbreakable record” in the history of baseball. It doesn’t mean that this is the most unbreakable record—I’d probably put Cy Young’s 511 wins in that spot—but when you combine accomplishment with aura, it’s hard to beat Joe D’s streak. This entry has one of the absolute immortal inner-circle Hall of Famers who was a celebrity A-lister married to perhaps the most iconic blonde bombshell in the history of blonde bombshells accomplish something on a baseball diamond that seems totally unfathomable. Yeah, that’s gonna rank pretty high.

The streak itself started on May 15 with a routine RBI single in the first inning of a 13-1 Yankees loss. DiMaggio’s streak first gained notoriety in the media when he reached 13 games. There was more press the next day when the streak came perhaps the closest it ever did to ending. In a game against the Senators, DiMaggio beat out an infield single in the fourth inning by the slimmest of margins. He got a hit later in the game as well, but the game was never completed due to rain and all statistics that happened after the fifth inning were erased. If DiMaggio hadn’t beaten that throw in the fourth, his streak would have been over. Game 15 was close too as DiMaggio needed a ninth-inning hit to extend the streak. That was one of 10 times he extended his streak in his final at bat of a game.

As DiMaggio’s streak reached heights few have ever seen, people zeroed in on the idea of him passing George Sisler, who held the modern record at 41 games. Willie Keeler had a 45-game streak over the course of the 1896-97 seasons, but passing Sisler’s mark was what drew fan and media attention as if it was the record. He of course blew past Sisler and topped Keeler’s mark on a home run over Ted Williams head against the Red Sox. Finally, on July 17, the streak came to an end. DiMaggio grounded into a double play against Jim Bagby in his final at bat. During the streak, DiMaggio hit .408 (91-223) with 55 RBIs and 15 home runs. Perhaps the most amazing part of the streak is that once it ended, he immediately went on a separate 16-game hitting streak, so when both are combined, he hit safely in 72 of 73 games!

7. Lou Gehrig’s Luckiest Man speech (1939)

Imagine walking up to a microphone, speaking for less than two minutes, and creating one of the most iconic moments in American History? When you’re Lou Gehrig, that’s all you need to do. Aside from the Gettysburg Address, which was just 272 words, you’re not going to find a speech that packed more bang for its buck than Gehrig’s famous “Luckiest Man” speech, which checked in at 277 words. The speech itself came on July 4, 1939, just a little over two months after Gehrig played his final game for the Yankees as part of their Lou Gehrig Day ceremonies. That day, the Yanks were set to play a doubleheader against the Washington Senators. The Senators won the first game, but the 61,808 fans in attendance that day didn’t care. They were there to honor their Yankee captain. The ceremony took place in between games of the doubleheader. Teammates such as Tony Lazzeri, Waite Hoyt, Earle Combs, Herb Pennock—all eventual Hall of Famers—returned to honor Gehrig. Everett Scott was on hand as well; he’s the former Yankee who had his consecutive games streak broken by Gehrig and a former teammate of his too. Another teammate key to the streak was on hand as well—Wally Pipp. And of course, there was Babe Ruth.

For nearly an hour, Gehrig was feted with gifts from everyone from the Yankees front office to his teammates to the stadium ushers to New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and many others. Postmaster General James Farley spoke about Gehrig’s legacy saying, “for generations to come boys who play baseball will point with pride to your record.” Indeed they will. Gehrig was then introduced and the crowd predictably went wild for him, chanting his name and screaming out. Gehrig stood silent, head bowed during this. He whispered something to emcee Sid Mercer, the longtime sportswriter, who in turn said to the crowd, “Lou has asked me to thank you all for him. He is too moved to speak.” Of course Gehrig gathered himself and came through in a huge moment, just as he always did. It only took 277 words and lasted just a couple of minutes, but his words still ring poignant from this iconic moment in American history 86 years later.

6. Dodgers and Giants leave New York (1957)

Former Commissioner Bart Giamatti has a famous quote in which he said that baseball is “designed to break your heart.” While true, it didn’t say anything about ripping your heart out of your chest and punting it into the Hudson River. If you talked to any die-hard fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers or New York Giants from previous generations—those who were children during the Boys of Summer era of the 1950s, that’s exactly what they felt when the Dodgers and Giants relocated to California in 1957. Teams had relocated before, but there was something much different about the Dodgers and Giants. Since the inception of MLB, New York had always been the center point of the baseball universe. It was the only city in which there were simultaneously three teams competing and one of them was the Yankees, who had been the standard bearer of the sport since Babe Ruth’s days. New York baseball was Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Jackie, Campanella, Hodges, Ott, Hubbell, Mathewson, Mays and so many more. The city saw so many phenomenal players during the first half of the 20^th century that Hall of Famers like Earl Combs, Burleigh Grimes, Zack Wheat, Travis Jackson and Bill Terry often get lost in the shuffle. Both the Giants and Dodgers had iconic stadiums and incredible identities. They were beacons of the National League and were as much New York as the Statue of Liberty or hookers in Times Square. New York was the Mecca of baseball for such a long time that it was impossible to think the teams would ever leave. Then they did.

The Giants won the 1954 World Series and the Dodgers won a historic title in 1955 and by 1957 they were gone. How and why could that possibly happen? It started with the Giants, who had seen attendance plummet. In 1947, they drew 1.6 million fans and in their World Series year of ’54, they drew 1.1 million. That number dropped to 600,000 by 1956 though as many fans began to move out of the city to the suburbs. At the same time, while the Polo Grounds were a beloved ballpark, they were built in 1880, were becoming dilapidated. The Dodgers were in a different position. They were the only National League team to turn a profit from 1952-1956 and were still ripe with superstars. However, owner Walter O’Malley wanted a new stadium. He had pushed for a 55,000-seat domed stadium where the current Barclay’s Center sits. City planner Robert Moses, one of the most powerful men in New York, thought the Dodgers would be better off in Queens near where the Mets ended up and for about a decade the two men argued over the future. Eventually, O’Malley teamed up with Giants owner Horace Stoneham and began exploring the move.

On May 18, 1957 MLB owners voted unanimously to allow the Dodgers and Giants to leave New York with the stipulation that they both had to find a new place to play. If only one was going to relocate, the vote would have been voided. Initially, the Midwest was considered as a new location as the Boston Braves had successfully moved to Milwaukee. Instead, the Dodgers and Giants of course moved to California, which opened the sport to the entire country. At the time, the team that was furthest west was the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Giants and Dodgers desertion was a dagger in the hearts of New York baseball fans, it was a boon for baseball overall, especially in the west. The Pacific Coast League was popular, but it wasn’t Major League Baseball. The Dodgers and Giants moves led to further expansion and relocation of teams to the region and the eventual establishment of the New York Mets.

Next week will be Mountaintop Week at The Stud 400 as we finally reach the top of the countdown. We’re doing this over the course of four days as entry numbers 5 and 4 get a combined article next week with entries 3, 2 and 1 each getting a separate article. By the end of the week, you’ll all know what the greatest moment in baseball history is. In the top five we have two on-field moments, two off-field moments and one moment that is a little bit of both and transcends sports completely. Can you guess what will make up the top five? What do you think is the greatest moment in baseball history? Follow along next week as we reveal our choices.