Most Painful Moment in Each Franchise's History?

[EdTarbusz]

Gotta be a worse one than Palmeiro for the Orioles - like a 109-win team losing to the Mets in the W.S.?

Or going 1 and 22 in April, 1988 after an 0 and 21 start.

[Blue387]

As a Mets fan, can I put down "large chunks of 2009 season" as the darkest moment in franchise history?

[Dick Groat's syndrome]

I think the permanent banishment of Pete Rose (deserved or not) still really upsets a lot of Reds fans. The Willard Hershberger is incredibly sad, but I wonder if it has lost some impact over the years.

[ian2813]

I'm humbled and glad you listed that event for the Yankees. I was about to say "being up by three in the 2004 ALCS, then losing in seven." Which would have been lame compared to Gehrig's illness and death as a truly "painful moment" for the organization and fans, even to this day. Thurman Munson dying in his plane crash in 1979 is a close second.

Munson's death was my second choice too.

I think the Little Lake Nelly accident was worse for the Indians. In 1920 the team was able to rally after Chapman's death and win the pennant. Steve Olin's death put a pall over a sports season in Cleveland that has probably not been equalled before or since.

Well, true, winning the World Series was probably more of a consolation than another losing Indians season. I guess being fatally injured on the field in front of all your teammates and a crowd of spectators just strikes me as more horrific. Another fatality from that '93 Indians team is Cliff Young, who died in a truck accident that November.

The article that you posted about Gehrig is not surprisng. When he was diagnosed infantile paralysis (polio) was well known (but not as common as people thought it was) in the US, but ALS was virtually unknown outside the medical community. It took a neurolgist at the Mayo Clinic to diagnose Gehrig. Gehrig's medical records at the Mayo Clinic are still sealed so it's unknown whether he was suffering from any other medical condirtions at the time of his death.

Perhaps I should've put "infantile paralysis" in quotes?

I would argue that the Mets most painful moment was the "Saturday Night Massacre." 2007 (and 2008) were bad enough but to have the man whose nickname was "The Franchise" be traded for a handful of quad A-ers was devastating. That day also saw the retirement of Joe Torre as a player due to the Mets needing room on the roster for their recent acquisition, Mr. Two Teams/Two Towns/One Day Joel Youngblood. For what it's worth they traded away strikeout king Dave Kingman for Mr. Fake Mustache Bobby Valentine.

I mean c'mon. . . it's called a MASSACRE!!!

That may be a better choice than the one I selected.

I think the permanent banishment of Pete Rose (deserved or not) still really upsets a lot of Reds fans. The Willard Hershberger is incredibly sad, but I wonder if it has lost some impact over the years.

Well, it only makes sense, since there are more Red fans today who saw Rose play than Hershberger. Hershberger, however, is still (I believe) the only MLB player ever to commit suicide in the middle of a season, and it was pretty shocking at the time. If Hershberger had died in an accident or from some sort of medical condition, he'd probably be remembered as just another unfortunate loss, but the fact that he took his own life is what makes his story painful.

At least Rose is still alive today, and despite his banishment, he's been able to participate in various baseball-related activities. Also, when Rose was first banned he had the option of applying for reinstatement after a year, so it wasn't clear at the time that he was going to miss out on the Hall of Fame. Like the sale of Babe Ruth, it's one of those moments that's more painful in retrospect.

[RuthMayBond]

I'll list my guesses then take a look at yours

Arizona Diamondbacks: 2004/07-25 lost 14th straight
Atlanta Braves: 1991 WS G 7
1958 WS G 7
1970
Baltimore Orioles: 1988/04-28 lost 21st straight
1967/09-08 lost fifth straight
Boston Red Sox: trading Ruth
1986 WS G 6
1975 WS G 7
1946 WS G 7
2003 ALCS G7
1978 playoff
Chicago Cubs: Bartman
1929 WS G 4
1984 NLCS G5 Durham
1877
Chicago White Sox: 1919 WS G 1
disco demolition night
1984/09-16
Cincinnati Reds: not in 1981 playoffs
trading Christy Mathewson, Frank Robinson
1988/04-30 Rose shove Pallone,junk on field
1971/
Cleveland Indians: 1997 WS G 7
1995
1954 WS G1
Herb Score
10 cent beer night
boat accident
Ray Chapman
1999 ALDS G5
crybabies
1908 game not made up
Colorado Rockies: 2005/09-29 lost 11-0
Detroit Tigers: 1934 WS G 7
1940 WS G 7 Oct 8
subs get beat in 1912
1972 ALCS G 5
1989/08-31 lost 12th straight
Florida Marlins: 1998/09-05 lost 9th straight
Houston Astros: 1980 NLCS
2000/
Kansas City Royals: 1977 ALCS
1976 ALCS
1990/09-11 lost 9th straight
Los Angeles Angels: 1986 ALCS G5
1995
1982 ALCS G5
1985 NLCS G6?
1980/06-19 lost ninth straight
1987/09-21 lost fifth straight
Los Angeles Dodgers: last Ebbets game
1951 playoff
1952 WS G 6/7
1962 playoff game
1978 WS G 4
Milwaukee Brewers: 1982 WS G 7
1983/09-19 lost tenth straight
Minnesota Twins: 1925 WS G 7
Puckett
1934/
New York Mets: 2007?
2006 NLCS G 7
1974/08-24
New York Yankees: 2003 ALCS G7
2001 WS G 7
1960 WS G 7
1926 WS G 7
1965/
Oakland Athletics: 2002 ALDS G5
1915/09-29 lost 11th straight
1993/09-05 lost 6th straight
1977/09-25 lost 4th straight
Philadelphia Phillies: 1964/09-30 eliminated
1942/09-07 lost 13th straight
1951/09-09 lost 6th straight
Pittsburgh Pirates: Clemente
1992 NLCS
1972 NLCS
1961/08-02
San Diego Padres: Ray Kroc microphone
1993/09-27 lost 6th straight
1999/08-13 lost 7th straight
San Francisco Giants: 1924 WS G 7
1912 WS G 8
Merkle boner
1962 WS G 7
2002 WS G 6
1989 WS quake
St. Louis Cardinals: 1985 WS G 6
1968 WS G 7
2001 NLDS G5
1965/08-11
Seattle Mariners: lost 2001 ALCS G4
Tribe game 2001/08-05
1983/09-18 lost 7th straight
2008/09-22 lost 12th straight
Tampa Bay Rays: 2006/09-19 lost 9th straight
Texas Rangers: 1994 season cancelled
2000/09-27 lost 5th straight
Toronto Blue Jays: 1985 ALCS G 7
end of 1987
Washington Nationals: 1994 season cancelled
1981 NLCS G 5
1976/08-27 lost 12th straight
1995/07-09 lost fifth straight

[Captain Cold Nose]

Great idea for a thread, and great list. I agree with many of your choices, but here are a few I'd throw out there:


Tigers: Mickey Cochrane's beaning. It took the wind out of the Tigers' sails. The 2003 season was also pretty dark.

2003 was bad, especially with Alan Trammell managing, but there was quite a buildup to those 119 loses. For me, 1989 was jut a shock, especially since that team seemed to have so much promise.

When things started to go against Denny McClain, it seemed all the joy of the '68 team was just taken away. Somehow thay almost won in 1972 under Billy Martin. Last gasp.

Sparky Andersons last couple of years with the team were bad. He just seemed so turned off at that point. And, man, did everyone turn against Tom Monahan. Who would have thought Bo Schembechler would become a villian? "Retiring" Ernie Harwell via napkin was not a smart move.

[StanTheMan]

Might I add that in Cardinals history, Game 7 of the 85 World Series - the utter collapse, ejected pitchers, emotions running wild, etc. Sure, the Dekinger call gets all the attention (and rightly it deserves a lot of it) but we're not Cubs fans, blaming Bartman and all that nonsense... or at least as a group of fans we tend to better recognize that there was a Game 7, and the Cards butchered it.

It should read - 1985 World Series - Dekinger Call and Game 7

Just one man's opinon though...

[EdTarbusz]

Well, true, winning the World Series was probably more of a consolation than another losing Indians season. I guess being fatally injured on the field in front of all your teammates and a crowd of spectators just strikes me as more horrific. Another fatality from that '93 Indians team is Cliff Young, who died in a truck accident that November.

I don't think Cliff Young's death is well remembered in Cleveland. He only pitched for a half season for the Indians, and I think he was a free agent at the time of his death. It may have been better remembered if happened after Jacobs Field opened.

[J W]

Or going 1 and 22 in April, 1988 after an 0 and 21 start.

That's a good one. But around here I suspect the answer among older fans would be blowing the 1979 World Series after being up 3 games to 1. Among younger fans, it would be the Jeffrey Maier incident.

There wasn't enough pride in the franchise at the time of Palmeiro's foot-in-mouth for it to hurt the fanbase much. But it was a *facepalm*.

[Victory Faust]

2003 was bad, especially with Alan Trammell managing, but there was quite a buildup to those 119 loses. For me, 1989 was jut a shock, especially since that team seemed to have so much promise.

Yeah, that one came out of the blue, didn't it?

When things started to go against Denny McClain, it seemed all the joy of the '68 team was just taken away. Somehow thay almost won in 1972 under Billy Martin. Last gasp.

The 72 season is my earliest memories of baseball, so I don't recall the Denny stuff first-hand, although I obviouly know about it now.

Sparky Andersons last couple of years with the team were bad. He just seemed so turned off at that point.

Yeah, the shameful way Ilitch handled Sparky after the replacement player debaucle is another dark spot on the franchise. Their retiring Sparky's #11 posthumously was a case of too little, too late. It rang hollow.

And, man, did everyone turn against Tom Monahan. Who would have thought Bo Schembechler would become a villian? "Retiring" Ernie Harwell via napkin was not a smart move.

Monahan was an idiot. Bo was a bully. Both were exposed as such.

[ian2813]

That's a good one. But around here I suspect the answer among older fans would be blowing the 1979 World Series after being up 3 games to 1. Among younger fans, it would be the Jeffrey Maier incident.

There wasn't enough pride in the franchise at the time of Palmeiro's foot-in-mouth for it to hurt the fanbase much. But it was a *facepalm*.

How did I forget the Jeffrey Maier incident? I considered the '79 World Series too, but I had a hard time putting it down because the Orioles seemed like they had enough success during that era to compensate for that one loss.

I'll admit my selection for the Orioles was one of the less-compelling ones. I guess when I think of the Orioles I think of an organization that prides itself on class (the "Oriole Way" and all that), so I assumed it must've been hard to see the career of one of the franchise's "good guys" end in disgrace. Perhaps it belongs in the aforementioned "public black eye" category rather than the "painful moments" one.

[EdTarbusz]

That's a good one. But around here I suspect the answer among older fans would be blowing the 1979 World Series after being up 3 games to 1. Among younger fans, it would be the Jeffrey Maier incident.

There wasn't enough pride in the franchise at the time of Palmeiro's foot-in-mouth for it to hurt the fanbase much. But it was a *facepalm*.

I didn't really think of the 1979 World Series loss. For tough World Series losses for the Orioles I always think of 1969 first, I think.

[EdTarbusz]

I'll admit my selection for the Orioles was one of the less-compelling ones. I guess when I think of the Orioles I think of an organization that prides itself on class (the "Oriole Way" and all that), so I assumed it must've been hard to see the career of one of the franchise's "good guys" end in disgrace. Perhaps it belongs in the aforementioned "public black eye" category rather than the "painful moments" one.

In considering the Oriole Way, maybe the most painful moment was when Peter Angelos acquired the club.

[Victory Faust]

One of the darkest moments for Chicago's NL franchise came relatively early in their history: the sale of Mike "King" Kelly to Boston.

[Victory Faust]

In considering the Oriole Way, maybe the most painful moment was when Peter Angelos acquired the club.

Yeah, that makes me mad, and I'm not even an Orioles fan. I always admired the O's because of the "way" they did things. It's a shame how Angelos ruined a great franchise in a great baseball town.