Being a baseball fan means dealing with a fair share of heartbreak. Sometimes it creeps up on you when you least expect it: A beloved player has a season-ending injury or is traded away, or your team’s starting pitcher randomly gives up 15 runs in three innings. But the rest of the time, you have a sinking feeling that the heartbreak is coming: Only one team can win the World Series every season, after all, and even great teams with high expectations can find themselves ringless at the end of the season. But some devastating games hit harder than others, and we’ve put together a list of the most devastating baseball game losses of all time.
Some of the most devastating losses were just extremely lopsided games. If your team has even been down by more than 10 runs, then you probably know the feeling, finding yourself wondering why there’s no “mercy rule” in baseball. But teams can’t just cut their losses and forfeit, so they’ve got to tough it out through the full nine innings, no matter how torturous it gets.
While the losing team can just brush themselves off and play the next day after an embarrassingly lopsided loss, some losses can’t be forgotten – or forgiven – so easily. These are the games that go down in infamy, the ones that fans remember for decades after the final out. They’re ones that give fans hope that their team could really go all the way, only to have those dreams shattered in devastating fashion. Of course, for the winning team and its fans, the opposite holds true, but for those on the losing side, the less said about these games the better.
For today’s purposes, we’re running down the worst of both worlds: the one-off games that teams lost by an embarrassingly, historically wide margin, as well as the games that dashed dreams of glory in a fashion so devastating it’s downright era-defining. And if you’re looking for something a little more uplifting, these are the most legendary – in a good way – baseball games of all time .
Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles, Aug. 22, 2007
The highest-scoring game by one team in modern MLB history, this game saw the Rangers score 30 runs against the Orioles in a 30-3 blowout. It set a post-1900 record for most runs scored by a team in a single game.
Chicago Colts vs. Louisville Colonels, June 29, 1897
The Chicago Colts (now the Cubs) demolished the now-defunct Louisville Colonels by a margin of 36-7 back in 1897, one of the largest margins of victory in MLB history. The Colts’ 36 runs was also a record at the time.
Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Browns, June 8, 1950
Tying the then-record for the most runs scored in a single game, the Red Sox outscored the St. Louis Browns 29-4 in a game that also saw Red Sox superstar Ted Williams hit two home runs and bat in seven runs.
Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees, Aug. 31, 2004
In one of the most lopsided shutouts in modern MLB history, this game saw the Indians score 22 runs to the Yankees’ zero. This game was also the worst shutout loss in Yankees history.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies, May 17, 1979
One of the modern era’s highest-scoring games, this 1979 game saw the Reds score 26 runs against the Phillies’ six.
Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles, April 19, 1996
The Rangers hit two grand slams in this massive offensive outburst, in which they scored 26 runs against the Orioles’ seven.
New York Yankees vs. Washington Senators, May 24, 1936
In one of the most significant shutouts in MLB history, the Yankees scored 24 runs against the Senators’ zero on May 24, 1936.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Detroit Tigers, Sept. 9, 2020
In this lopsided game, the Brewers scored 19 runs while shutting out the Tigers.
Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers, Sept. 9, 2004
The Royals scored 26 runs during this late-season game in 2004, demolishing the Tigers, who only scored five.
Boston Red Sox: 1986 World Series, Game 6, Oct. 25, 1986
Now on to the real heartbreakers. Quite possibly the most infamous and devastating loss in baseball history, this game saw Boston being one out away from winning their first World Series since 1918. An easy ground ball went right through first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs, allowing the Mets to come back and win the game. They also went on to win the Series.
New York Yankees: 2004 ALCS, Game 7, Oct. 20, 2004
The game that Yankees fans would probably prefer to forget about more than any other, the finale of the 2004 ALCS saw the Red Sox come back from being down three games to none to win four games in a row – and the pennant. This was the first time in baseball history that a team had come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series, and Boston went on to finally end the fabled Curse of the Bambino that year.
Cleveland Indians: 1997 World Series, Game 7, Oct. 26, 1997
In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, the Indians were two outs away from winning when the Florida Marlins tied it up. The Marlins went on to win the game (and the Series) in extra innings.
Chicago Cubs: 2003 NLCS, Game 6, Oct. 14, 2003
The game that went down in history as the “Steve Bartman Game,” this game hit the skids when the Cubs were five outs away from winning the pennant for the first time since 1945. Moisés Alou was about to catch a foul ball when a fan named Steve Bartman stuck out his hand and interfered; instead of an out, the Cubs went on to have a full-blown meltdown, giving up eight runs to the Marlins and losing the game, and the series.
Brooklyn Dodgers: 1951 NL Tie-Breaker Series Game 3, Oct. 3, 1951
Before the Playoffs were instituted, the teams with the best records at the end of the season went on to play each other in the World Series, and a three-game playoff would be played if two NL teams had the same record. In 1951, the Dodgers and New York Giants had the same record, so they faced off in a dramatic playoff series that culminated in Game 3 when the Giants rallied for a come-from-behind victory capped off by a home run by Bobby Thomson (pictured) that came to be known as “The Shot Heard Round the World.” The Giants won the pennant but went on to lose to the Yankees in the World Series.
Texas Rangers: 2011 World Series, Game 6, Oct. 27, 2011
The Rangers were one strike away from winning the first World Series in franchise history not once but twice in Game 6. The Cardinals tied the game up in the ninth inning, the Rangers retook the lead in the 10th before allowing the Cardinals to tie it up again, and they finally won in the 11th. The Cards went on to win the Series in Game 7.
Atlanta Braves: 1996 World Series, Game 4, Oct. 23, 1996
The Yankees were off to a bad start in the 1996 World Series, down two games to one heading into Game 4 against defending champions the Braves. The Yankees were down 6-0 in the game, but they mounted a stunning comeback, winning 8-6 in extra innings and shifting the momentum of the Series in their direction. They famously won the Series, launching their “Dynasty” era.
St. Louis Cardinals: 1985 World Series, Game 6, Oct. 26, 1985
The Kansas City Royals were losing Game 6 of the 1985 World Series 1-0 until first base umpire Don Denkinger (pictured) made a terrible call at first base in the bottom of the ninth inning (calling batter Jorge Orta safe even though he was clearly out by half a step), allowing them to come back and win the game against the Cardinals. They won the Series in Game 7, and to this day the infamous “Denkinger Call” (or just “The Call”) still haunts Cardinals fans.
Boston Red Sox: 1978 AL East Tiebreaker Game, Oct. 2, 1978
The Yankees and Red Sox finished the 1978 season with identical records, setting the stage for one of the most dramatic, and infamous, tiebreakers in history. With the Yankees down, Bucky Dent (pictured in 2023) hit a three-run home run to give the Yankees the lead, and they went on to win the game and the World Series. Red Sox fans still can’t say Dent’s name without inserting an expletive between his first and last names.
Yankees: 1960 World Series, Game 7, Oct. 13, 1960
The Yankees had won their 10th pennant in 13 years and were the clear favorites heading into the 1960 World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Yankees scored 55 runs in the series (the most scored by any team in World Series history) to the Pirates’ 27 and won three blowout games but lost three by tight margins heading into Game 7. The game was tied heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Pirates’ Bill Mazeroski (pictured in 2016) hit a walk-off home run to give the Pirates the win and bring a shocking end to the series. This remains the only walk-off to ever win a World Series, a record that may never be broken .
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