The Greatest Moments in Baseball History

Baseball is considered America’s pastime. It moves far slower than other American professional sports but requires a level of critical thinking and strategy akin to chess. Just when you think the game is dragging on, however, a miraculous moment will occur and solidify itself in the halls of baseball history.

The greatest moments in baseball history run the gamut. Some require decades of commitment to simply showing up like Cal Ripken’s. Others like Willie Mays’ historic catch, however, occur in a split-second and require improvisation mixed with precision thinking. As such, let’s take a look at some of the greatest moments in baseball history. The 140-year MLB history has surely provided some unforgettable instances of athleticism. (For more baseball trivia, discover 19 things even the biggest baseball fan didn’t know about the MLB. )

To compile a list of the greatest moments in baseball history, 24/7 Tempo consulted several sports publications including ESPN.com , Baseball Almanac , and Headbanger Sports . We selected several standout moments or plays from these resources. After that, we confirmed aspects of our research using sites like Action Network and MLB.com .

Babe Ruth’s Called Shot

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No moment defines baseball history quite like Babe Ruth’s called shot. On Oct. 1, 1932, the stage was set. Nearly 50,000 people packed into Wrigley Field in Chigaco. Normally, the stadium held fewer fans but the Cubs front office recognized the pull of a Cubs-Yankees World Series game so they temporarily expanded seating. By October 1st, the Yankees led the series by two games. Ruth started out the game strong, blasting a three-run home run. The Cubs came back, however, tying the game 4-4 by the 4th inning. During the next inning, Ruth took to the plate again. After a called strike, he pointed out beyond the wall, as if calling to the heavens.

After a few more pitches, Ruth swung and rocketed the ball over the center field wall. As he ran around the bases he broke into laughter, presumably amazed at his prediction. That moment defined a generation of baseball but even eyewitnesses disagreed on the exact circumstances. Chicago pitcher Charlie Root said he didn’t. Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett, however, said he did. Whatever happened, the argument lives on in tandem with Ruth’s stunning prediction. Even though no one who was there that day is still alive, it remains a singular, great moment in baseball history.

The Miracle Mets, 1969 World Series

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It seemed like from the outset the New York Mets had the cards stacked against them. For their first few years as a professional ballclub, the Mets endured loss after loss and became a running joke in the MLB. A few more years down the road, the Mets were worse off than ever, routinely finishing in 9th or 10th place. At the start of the 1969 season, their reputation was so bad that bookmakers gave them a 1-in-100 shot of winning the World Series. Much to everyone’s surprise, however, the Mets stood firm through the season before beating out the Cubs to win the National League East. After that, they beat the Braves in the National League Championship. With the pennant secured, many figured the Mets had used up their supply of luck. Instead, they surprised everyone.

During the World Series, they faced off against the favored Orioles. They lived up to expectations at first after losing the opening game in the series. Then they won three games in a row. During game five on Oct. 16, 1969, nearly 60,000 fans packed into the Mets’ Shea Stadium. The Orioles held the game with a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Cleon Jones missed a low-breaking ball, which rocketed into the Mets dugout. Though the ump called it a foul a Mets player appeared to illustrate the ball actually hit Jones’ foot.

With Jones on first, Donn Clendenon hit a homer and put the Mets in a better position at 3-2. In the eighth inning, the Mets scored two more runs, bringing the match to 5-2. Finally, in the ninth inning, Orioles second baseman Davey Johnson hit a screaming line drive but Jones caught it above his head in the nick of time. After the game, Jones told reporters, “ Some people still might not believe in us. But then, some people still think the world is flat.”

Dodgers, 1955 World Series

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The Dodgers endured spectacular highs and abysmal lows throughout the 1950s. During the 1955 season, they found themselves at one of their peaks when they made it to the World Series. The first two games, however, went in the New York Yankees’ favor. After the Dodgers won game three, the team brought out pitcher Johnny Podres for the finale, game seven of the World Series. Despite facing a Yankees crowd of 62,465 people, Podres kept his cool and gave up eight aimless hits but kept the Yankees from scoring. In the sixth inning, however, Dodgers’ greatness began to rear its head.

The Dodgers led 2-0 when Yogi Berra took to the plate for the Yankees. Outfielder Sandy Amoros anticipated Berra hitting one way but he hit the opposite way instead. Scrambling across the field, Amoros made a spectacular catch at the left-field line. He fired the ball like a missile to Pee Wee Reese who quickly turned it to first to make a double play. The Yankees lost their scoring chance and the Dodgers held onto their 2-0 to win the Series. Beyond beating their tri-state area rivals, this remains the first and only World Series win for the Dodgers franchise.

Bucky Dent vs. The Green Monster

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By 1978, the curse of the Great Bambino was well in effect. The Boston Red Sox had tried but failed to win the World Series several times in the decades following Ruth’s controversial trade to the New York Yankees. While the curse had seemed to quell a bit, considering the Red Sox’s playoff placement, it reared its ugly head on Oct. 2, 1978, at Fenway Park. By all accounts, the match-up was well-earned. The New York Yankees had made a remarkable comeback that season by going from 14 games behind to three-and-a-half games ahead. For their part, the Boston Red Sox had won eight straight games to tie with the Yankees for first in the league division. Only one team could win first, however, so the Yankees and Red Sox faced off.

By the top of the seventh inning, the Red Sox led 2-0. The curse seemed like a distant memory until Yankees player Chris Chambliss hit a single. Roy White, next up, hit another single. With two on and two outs, Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent walked up to home plate. Upon reaching a 1-1 count, Dent realized his bat had cracked and quickly swapped it out for a fresh one. Now ready, Dent swung at the next pitch and rocketed it over the imposing green wall on the right side of the field known as the Green Monster.

In an instant, the Red Sox lost their lead. The Yankees scored two more runs and the Red Sox gave them a run for their money, but the Yankees won in the end. After the game, Red Sox Pitcher Mike Torrez said to reporters, “I was so damn shocked. I thought maybe it was going to be off the wall. Damn, I did not think it was going to go out.”

Cal Ripken Jr.’s Perfect Attendance

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Some of the greatest moments in baseball history are just that: moments. Others like Cal Ripken Jr.’s attendance record, however, take years of meticulous crafting to come to fruition. Years before Ripken showed the ultimate commitment, Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig broke the all-time consecutive games played record by showing up for 2,130 games in a row. It seemed like an impossible record to beat. No one knew that when Cal Ripken was hired by the Baltimore Orioles he would go on to smash it. Starting at third base for the Orioles in 1982, Ripken was no slouch. He won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. All the while, however, he quietly began working on a much harder record.

For years he continued to dominate at third base, winning Home Run Derbies, scoring more MVP awards, and even securing a Golden Glove Award. On September 6, 1995, however, Ripken took home his most impressive record of all: most consecutive games played. Gehrig held the record for 56 years until Ripken smashed it by playing 2,131 games in a row. While rumors abound regarding the lengths the Orioles franchise went to keep Ripken from missing a game, including cutting the power to the stadium one night , such allegations remain unverified. Accusations aside, the night Ripken took home his record remains one of the greatest moments in baseball history and the most memorable moment for Orioles fans. (For impressive athletes with small windows of opportunity, discover the greatest athletes with short-lived careers. )

Dock Ellis’ No-Hitter

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Not all of baseball history’s greatest moments come by way of record-breaking or phenomenal comebacks. Some, like Dock Ellis’ infamous no-hitter, come from the perfect mixture of athleticism, focus, and the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Major League pitchers throw several no-hitters a season, but they are nothing compared to Dock Ellis’ performance in 1984. Before his defining moment, Dock Ellis had kicked around both Major and Minor League baseball. In the process, he earned league office detractors for his on-field antics and bad publicity due to his struggles with drug addiction. Heckling from racist fans and the pressure of performing well in the Major League led Dock to develop a daily speed addiction.

Indeed, by the end of the 1960s, he was taking amphetamine pills before every game. Eventually, this evolved to increasingly hard drugs such as hallucinogens like LSD. On Friday, June 11, 1970, Ellis took several tabs of acid at a friend’s house. He still thought it was Thursday, however, and only after the acid began to take effect was he informed of his scheduled pitching engagement that night. Dutifully, he boarded a plane and landed just in time for the Pittsburgh Pirates series against the San Diego Padres.

Despite his condition, Ellis managed to throw a no-hitter. It wasn’t an elegant achievement, however. He walked eight batters, hitting one, and let several balls fly into dangerous territory. Luckily for Ellis, Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski and centerfielder Matty Alou kept any runs from scoring. The anecdotes about his performance that night remain legendary. With the LSD coursing through his veins, Ellis could not feel the ball in his hands, much less see the batters or his catcher clearly. To aid his pitching, catcher Jerry May even put reflective tape on his fingers. As Ellis later put it, “The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes, I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder.”

Despite becoming a legend for burnouts everywhere, Ellis expressed regret about his miraculous no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. While he remained happy to field interviews about the incident until his death in 2008, more than once Ellis remarked that the incident “ robbed him of his greatest professional memory. “

Don Larsen’s Perfect Game

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No-hitters are an impressive feat but they happen pretty regularly. Perfect games, however, are as rare as rubies. While a no-hitter requires pitchers to give up no runs even if they walk every player, a perfect game means not even a single batter has managed to get on base. In fact, there have only been 23 official perfect games thrown in the MLB’s 140-year-long history. The greatest perfect game, arguably, goes to Yankees pitcher Don Larsen. During game five of the 1956 World Series, Larsen took the mound to face off against rivals the Dodgers. By that time, both teams had two games each, tying the series. When Larsen took the field he showed some initial weakness after Pee Wee Reese managed to secure a three-ball count in the top of the first inning.

In the second inning, Dodgers Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson came close to getting on the board when he hit a sharp line drive. It tipped off of Yankees third baseman Andy Carey’s glove before rolling to shortstop Gil McDougald. Luckily, McDougald rocketed the ball to first base before Robinson touched it. After that, however, Larsen effectively stopped the Dodgers from making any progress. Thanks to runs scored in the fourth and sixth innings, the Yankees won the game and Larsen got his much-coveted perfect game. Eventually, the Yankees would win the World Series. It remains the only perfect game thrown during a World Series. As for his performance, Larsen told reporters: “I had great control. I never had that kind of control in my life.”

“The Catch,” Willie Mays

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During the first game of the 1954 World Series, outfielder Willie Mays made one of the greatest defensive moves of all time. It easily goes down as one of the greatest moments in baseball history. The New York Giants (before their historic move to San Francisco) faced off against the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The game progressed pretty normally, with the teams tying up at 2-2. In the eighth inning, however, Cleveland Indians player Vic Wertz took to the plate. He hit a powerful fly ball deep into center field. With multiple runners on base, the Clevelands were positioned to score. Instead, New York Giants outfielder Willie Mays refused to give up the points.

Running at a full sprint, Mays made it to the warning track next to the far wall and made a miraculous catch over his shoulder. Furthermore, he quickly gained his footing and threw the ball into the infield, preventing any on-base runners from scoring. This gave the Giants the space they needed to win, which they did 5-2 during extra innings. After that, the Giants easily swept the series and became World Series Champions. In the aftermath, many eyewitnesses and commenters claimed Mays’ play to be the best defensive play in the history of baseball. The play grew into such a legend that even scientists got in on the action. In 2007, a physicist suggested that if the temperature that day had been only one-degree cooler, the ball would have traveled an extra two inches and possibly prevented “The Catch.”

For his part, Willie Mays showed some type of modesty or selective memory in response. When asked about his famous catch, Mays would suggest that previous plays in his career, including a bare-handed catch in Pittsburgh in 1951, upstaged it easily. Mays’ opinion aside, many consider it to be the best defensive play in MLB history.

Kirk Gibson’s Walk-Off

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When the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the now-hallowed 1988 World Series, Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson wasn’t doing too hot. During game one of the series, the Dodgers kept Gibson out of the starting lineup because he was suffering from injuries to both his legs. Throughout the game, the Dodgers scored first before the Oakland Athletics earned a grand slam and a two-run lead. The Dodgers followed up with an Runs-Batted-In (RBI) single but it wasn’t enough to secure victory. Meanwhile, Gibson sat in the Dodgers clubhouse, undergoing physical therapy as he watched the game on television. When Gibson heard commentator Vin Scully say that Gibson was nowhere to be found, he called up manager Tommy Lasorda in the dugout and told him he could pinch hit. Despite suffering from injuries, Gibson immediately headed to the batting cage and warmed up.

By this time, the Oakland Athletics had put in Hall of Famer closer Dennis Eckersley to keep the Dodgers from scoring. In a surprise move, Lasorda called up Gibson to the plate. He hobbled up and fouled off three balls in successive fashion. Just then, he heard the voice of Dodger scout Mel Didier in his head saying, that if Eckersley had a 3-2 count against a left-handed hitter, he would throw a backdoor slider. Heeding the ethereal advice, Gibson swung and smashed the expected backdoor slider over the right-field fence. After limping around the bases, his teammates took to the field in celebration. Despite this clutch play, Gibson would not bat again in the World Series, which the Dodgers won 4-1.

Red Sox Break the Curse

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As mentioned earlier in the article, the Boston Red Sox suffered a historic championship drought through the entire second half of the 20th century. Indeed, the Red Sox failed to win the World Series for 86 disappointing years. Many blamed bad management or bad luck. Most, however, chalked the drought up to the Red Sox’s historic trade of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Either way, the Red Sox endured upsetting losses time and again. The supposed curse also fomented a long-standing rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees. One gaff during game six of the 1986 World Series resulted in Boston first baseman Bill Buckner having to move to another state for fear of reprisal.

Finally, in 2004, the Red Sox silenced critics when they beat the Yankees and took home World Series Rings. Besides the curse-breaking happening against their long-standing rivals, the Red Sox became the only team to win a best-of-seven playoff series after losing the first three games. Something shifted, no doubt, as the Red Sox became one of the best teams in the MLB after that. They won the World Series again in 2007, 2013, and 2018. (For other sports moments, discover the greatest moments in NFL history. )

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