MLB: Why We Love Sports Vol. 5
Here at Sports Posts, our writers have a passion for sports like nothing else, and during our childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, we've been treated to exhilarating, inspiring, intoxicating, and stimulating sporting events that have created an addiction for each of us. We spend countless hours reading and writing about our favorite athletes - We endlessly debate our contemporaries on who's the Greatest of All-Time - We spend our hard earned dollars to watch our favorite teams face their rivals. And because of that, each one of us decided to put together our most memorable moments that started that fascination for athletics, competition, and sports.
HERE ARE BILLY COLLINS' TOP MOMENTS:
Watching sports is one of the last great escapes we have in this world. There is not much like kicking back, grabbing a beer, and watching the big game on TV. As long as I have been a sports fan, one of the biggest things I have realized is that nothing is predictable. The Cleveland Indians all but had the World Series wrapped up until the Chicago Cubs decided they wanted to be on the right side of history for once. The San Antonio Spurs were well on their way to their fifth world title in 2013, but Ray Allen had other plans. The point is, one of the greatest things about sports is its ability to suspend our, the fans, disbelief.
1. Steve Bartman (2003): Never tell a sports fan to not be superstitious. With five outs until their first pennant since 1945, the Chicago Cubs were in firm control of Game 6 of the NLCS against the Florida Marlins in 2003. Up 3-0 with their ace Mark Prior on the mound, the positive energy and optimism inside Wrigley Field was unprecedented. That energy soon turned to tension when a popup down the left field line was deflected away from left fielder Moises Alou by a fan named Steve Bartman. What happened next can only be described as a nightmare for Cubs fans. The Marlins scored eight runs that inning, won the game, and, eventually, the series. After all the talk of how the team is cursed, it looked like this Cubs team would be the one to buck that trend. Nope. Instead, this is still talked about to this day as one of the darkest moments in the history of the franchise.
2. Boston Strong (2013): In 2013, the city of Boston was brought to its knees. They had just been the subject of a terrorist attack during the Boston Marathon. Two people died, and many others were injured. But that never killed the city’s spirits. As is usual when terror strikes the United States, people were more brought together. We know that if we stay afraid, then the terrorists win. Instead, we rise above and show the rest of the world how strong and united we truly are. That’s why when the Red Sox came out of nowhere to have the best record in baseball that year, the entire city rallied behind them. The peak of their miracle run came in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers. To that point, Detroit’s pitching staff had completely shut down the Sox's offense. But then, they managed a rally. Down 5-1, they loaded the bases for David Ortiz. On the first pitch, he lined a grand slam into the right field bullpen to tie the game. Pandemonium. The most famous picture of this moment captures a BPD officer throwing his hands up in elation as Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter jumps over the wall to try and make the catch. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
3. LeBron Leaves the Land (2010): The NBA free agent class in 2010 was as stacked as we had ever seen. The headliner of this class was, of course, LeBron James. It seemed to make practical sense that he would re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers and capture that elusive NBA championship in what is essentially his home town. However, when Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh signed with the Miami Heat, rumors started circulating that the three men had colluded to form a super team. Little did James know, in just a few years he would be the one trying to topple a super team. Him signing with Miami set off a ripple effect, as every team tried to do one of two things: build their own super team or get a top draft pick. The reality is, the Golden State Warriors are as good as they are now because they were designed to beat LeBron’s team. “The Decision” created parity in the NBA that had not been seen since the 1990s.
4. Super Bowl XLII (2008): Anything can happen in sports. In 2007, the New England Patriots were untouchable. They went 16-0 in the regular season and rolled their way to another Super Bowl appearance. This time, they had to deal with the New York Giants, whom they had just defeated in Week 17. Nobody gave the Giants a chance. This was a low scoring affair, especially considering the Patriots had a historically good offense. Entering the fourth quarter, they led 7-3. Then, down 14-10, Eli Manning led the Giants on an incredible scoring drive. The highlight of this drive was possibly the greatest catch of all-time. Manning hit receiver David Tyree, who pinned the ball against his head as he went to the ground. Then, Manning hit Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown. Giants win 17-14. Never count out the underdog.
5. Moneyball (2002): I am cheating a bit here, because this is not as much a moment as it is a movement. Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane was looking for ways to recover from the loss of two of his best players, Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon, in the offseason. In came Paul Depodesta. Beane hired him as his assistant GM as he was proficient at player evaluation. Depodesta introduced a new way of evaluating players, valuing numbers over narratives. They had to do this as they could not afford to give out large contracts to big name players. They had to find diamonds in the rough, like Jeremy Giambi, Scott Hatteberg, and David Justice. In 2002, the beginning of this movement, the A’s won 103 games, one more than they did the year before. Though this movement was not appreciated immediately after, its influence has turned baseball evaluation on its head. This was the birth of saber-metrics, or advanced baseball analysis. Now we look at every aspect of a player’s game when evaluating, not just batting average and home runs. It cannot be understated the influence Billy Beane and Paul Depodesta had on the game of baseball.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated & USA Today.
