The 10 Greatest Games
What follows is a ranking of the ten greatest games (so far) in the history of the Millennium Baseball League. Read on to relive the drama!
Number One: Out at Home
Houston 6 Oakland 5 (16 innings)
In the 2001 playoffs, with a trip to the LCS on the line, the Houston Buffaloes had a 4-2 lead in the 9th inning of Game 7 only to see Cliff Floyd tie it up with a 2 run bomb. Things stayed knotted at 4 until the bottom of the 11th when Oakland’s Jason Giambi reached on an error. Cliff Floyd doubled to right and Giambi tried to sprint home with no outs only to be thrown out at the plate. In the bottom of the 15th Oakland nearly won it again. David Eckstein singled with one out to bring David Dellucci around third and, incredibly, he too was thrown out by the Buffaloes at home plate. Finally, in the 16th, Houston put across two runs on a Preston Wilson single. Up 6-4, Oakland made one last try. With one out they loaded the bases with Ron Gant coming to the plate. Gant hit a deep drive to right that brought home Giambi and cut the lead to one, but he had nearly hit a grand slam to win. When Jorge Posada struck out to end the game, it was Houston that was moving on, eventually to a title.
Number Two: Stouts Go Down
In 2001, the Baltimore Stouts set the record at that time for most wins in a season at 116. They were expected to win a championship --- or at least get to the Series to face the Rippers. However, both teams ran into trouble in the divisional series. Baltimore and the Minnesota Millers were knotted at three games apiece, when the Millers and hurler Mark Mulder took a 1-0 lead to the bottom of the ninth at Camden Yards. But with Jeff Zimmerman trying to close things out for Minnesota, Alex Rodriguez homered to left to tie the game at 1-1. And there the contest would sit until the 15th inning with neither team getting particularly close to taking Game 7. In the top of the 15th, the Millers finally got to Felix Rodriguez. Steve Finley walked and Tim Salmon tripled him home. Raul Mondesi then singled to put Minnesota up 3-1. In the bottom of the 15th, Baltimore got two runners on but Todd Helton struck out to end the game and the series. Minnesota had shocked the MBL world, upsetting the greatest team to date.
Number Three: Perfection
The only perfect game in MBL history was served up by Mike Mussina in 2000. Then pitching for the best regular season team of the inaugural campaign, Mussina would lead the San Francisco Quakers to a 3-0 win over Seattle in the middle of the year. Moose would face 27 batters and retire 27 batters, 9 by way of the K. Incidentally, the Lightning had a pretty good offensive club. Mussina had to retire Ken Griffey Jr., John Olerud, Javy Lopez, Glenallen Hill, Miguel Tejada and Chipper Jones on the way to perfection.
Number Four: Choke Job
In the 2000 Classic League Divisional Series, the Metro Division winning Boston Beaneaters went up against the Southeast Division champion Miami Panthers. Boston came in as the favorite and won the first two games at Fenway Park. But Miami would tie things up at 2-2 in Florida. Boston took Game 5 and Miami took Game 6, setting up a wild finish in Game 7. The Panthers rushed out to a 3-1 lead in the second inning but Boston would score a run in the 6th, 7th and 8th eventually tying the game 4-4 on a Ray Lankford homer in the bottom of the 8th inning. In the bottom of the 9th, Boston looked to put Miami away. Moises Alou singled and Ray Lankford doubled him to third with no outs. But three Beaners in a row made outs and sent the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Boston again got runners on base. Eric Chavez and Mitch Meluskey reached base but Boston Classic League MVP Moises Alou grounded out. In the bottom of the 11th, the Beaneaters had Eli Marrero and Rich Garces on first and second but Eric Chavez flied out to give Miami another chance. They took advantage --- Fernando Seguignol pitch hit for pitcher Chris Peters and sent a fly ball past Pesky’s pole in right and into the crowd to give Miami the lead. Boston would again threaten in the bottom of the 12th, putting a runner on base but Alou would again ground out, ending Boston’s season and sending Miami on to play Cleveland.
Number Five: Comeback
In the 2002 season, the NY Bombers went on an incredible playoff run. Down 5-0 to Boston in the Wild Card in the 7th inning, the Bombers would come back to win 6-5. They put the 122 win New York Rippers away in the Divisional Series and then met the Washington Tribe in the LCS. In Game 6, up 3 games to 2, it looked like the series would be headed to a Game 7. Heading into the bottom of the 7th, the Tribe were coasting to an 11-0 lead with Jimmy Haynes on the mound. Then the roof caved in. With two outs in the 7th, the Bombers got a double from Karim Garcia and a Timo Perez three run homer to make it 11-4. But the Tribe still had a 7 run cushion with two innings to go and Willie Banks on the mound. The Bombers would load the bases with 1 out in the eighth, only to have Corey Koskie hit a grand slam to make it 11-8. The Bombers kept at it. A couple singles put runners on base with two outs and Jason Giambi singled home Karim Garica --- 11 to 9. In the 9th, Mariano Rivera took the hill to close out New York. But the Bombers had other plans. Two walks put runners on second and third with two outs and Garcia again at the center of the action. He singled off Rivera to bring home Tim Salmon and bring Koskie to third. Richard Hidalgo then hit a ground ball to shortstop Chris Woodward. With cold temperatures at Fenway making fielding more difficult, Woodward threw the ball away, tying the game. In the bottom of the 10th, the Bombers would win the series on a Corey Koskie single, delivering a devastating loss to the Tribe.
Number Six: Awesome
Shawn Green of the Atlanta Stonecutters had the best offensive game in MBL history in 2001 in a mid-season contest against the Colorado Briar Jumpers. On a way to a 24-5 route, Green would homer five times and drive in an incredible 14 runs. Batting cleanup for Atlanta, Green hit dingers in the 1st, 3rd, two in the 4th and the 8th inning to cap an unbelievable offensive performance.
Number Seven: Upset
By regular season record, the greatest MBL playoff upset came in the 2001 season when 90 win Atlanta took out the 111 win New York Rippers. Atlanta took games 1 and 2 only to get broadsided 22-12 in game 3. The Rippers took game 4 behind Curt Schilling but lost game 5. Up 3 games to 2, Atlanta was down 5-3 in the top of the ninth against the Rippers’ Freddy Garcia. But Gary Sheffield would walk to lead off the inning and then Shawn Green homered to tie things up. The Rippers got men to second and third in the bottom of the frame but Ruben Rivera struck out. Finally, in the top of the 12th, Shawn Green would again be the Stonecutters’ hero when he singled in two runs to give Atlanta a 7-5 lead which would carry them into the LCS.
Number Eight: Comeback
In 2000, the Milwaukee Phantoms seemed to be running away with the Continental Division. As they pushed their mid-season lead to 10 games, there were some who questioned whether they could hold it. With a poor run differential, they were leading the unluckiest team in the league, the Baltimore Stouts. Baltimore continued to make deals, helped to sure up their bullpen and started their comeback. In late September they finally caught Milwaukee and then took a lead. Trying to clinch the division in a head to head game, Baltimore would do it in style with Jamey Wright on the mound. Wright would end up no-hitting the Phantoms to win the division for Balimore, going 9 innings, walking 5 and winning the clincher 4-0.
Number Nine: Offensive Explosion
The 2000 season saw more overall offense in the MBL then we have seen in the last few years. Case in point was one series between Boston and Cincinnati in August. As temperatures heated up at Fenway Park, so did the bats. Cincy took Game One by a score of 25-5. Boston took Game Two 16-2 and the rubber match went to the Beaners 14-10. A total of 72 runs scored in a three game series. In that first game, Tom Glavine managed to give up 10 earned runs and Eddie Guardado 11, while Mike Piazza had 10 RBI for the Red Stockings.
Number Ten: Game 7
World Series Game 7s are always special and we had one in our first season. Colorado and Miami, both dark horses to reach the finals, met in the final game of the inaugural campaign. The Briar Jumpers would send Greg Maddux to the hill at Marlins Park and he would lead the way, allowing just 4 hits and in a nine inning shutout to take the game 4-0 and give the MBL its first champion.
