what is the biggest lead ever blown by a major league baseball team heading into the playoffs?

Question

Before the new wildcard formatt, and present

Answer 1

like 14 1/2...and it happened this YEAR .. Yankees will win the division for sure. Look at there record in the last 4 months, about 70 - 35... Amazing

Answer 2

As far as I know, it's the 13 1/2 games the Brooklyn Dodgers led the New York Giants by on August 11, 1951.

As a Yankee Fan, I feel obligated to explain 1978: While the Red Sox led the Yankees by 14 games as late as July 20, and blew it, the largest distance between them and the second-place team was 9 games, between the Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. Which doesn't make the 14-game swing any less disastrous, though. (It was actually 17 1/2 games, as the Yanks got to be 3 1/2 up at one point, but the Sox won 12 of their last 14 and the last 8 to set up the Boston Tie Party, a.k.a. the Bucky Dent Game.)

The White Sox were up by 15 games on the Indians in 2005, and the lead dropped to 1 1/2 before they finished the Tribe off. That would have been a new record had they blown it. I'm not sure what the Tigers' lead was last year, but they blew it, but it didn't matter since they won the Pennant anyway.

The guy who said '77: The Sox might have had a 6-game lead at one point, but '78 was the real disaster.

The guy who said the '64 Phils: I don't think they ever had more than a 10-game lead. They led by 6 1/2 with 12 to go, then dropped 10 straight and lost the Pennant by a game.

Answer 3

The 1914 Boston Braves were 15 games back -- eighth place, dead last -- on July 4-5, and ended up winning the National League pennant.

They didn't just squeak to the World Series -- they buried everyone. The NY Giants finished in second (after having been in first on that same July 4th), 10.5 games back.

date // Boston // New York (NL teams, remember)
7/4 26-40 40-24 (Boston -15)
9/2 65-51 63-51 (Boston +1, takes over first place)
10/7 94-59 84-70 (Boston +10.5, end of season)

The Braves then swept the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series.

They weren't called the "Miracle Braves" for nothing. Playing 68-19, .782 ball for three months is well beyond amazing.

Answer 4

Well, in 1951 the Brooklyn Dodgers held a 13 game lead as late as August. However, a late season surge by the N.Y. Giants forced the famous 3-game tiebreaker series. The final game in the series ended with Bobby Thomson's dramatic ninth inning home run off Dodger reliever Ralph Branca and won the pennant for the Giants and was immortalized as the Shot Heard 'Round the World. I don't know if that was the biggest lead ever blown in history, but it is certainly one of most well-remembered blown leads, particularly considering its dramatic end. That all happened prior to the wildcard format which you mentioned as a condition in your question. It also happened prior to the re-organization of the American and National leagues into multiple divisions within each league. I don't know whether or not you were referring to that condition when you set forth ", and present".

Answer 5

In 1964 the Phillies had a 6 1/2 game lead with 10 games left to play...they wound up tied with I think Cincinatti a game back of the St Louis Cardinals who wound up winning the WS in 7 over the Yankees that year and that was before the playoff format

Answer 6

I think it was the Phillies. They blew a huge lead and gave it completley up on the last day of the season.

If that is completley not true, its the '77 Yankees. The Red Sox had a 14 or something game lead in August and the Yankees came back to tie the Red Sox for the division. Then a one game playoff was held and the hero of that game was light hitting Bucky Dent whos homer lead them to the playoffs and world series.

Answer 7

um in one game? don't know, but series wise the Yankees dropped a 3-0 lead in the ACLS to have the Red Sox's come back and win 4 strait to go to the world series and then 4 more in a row to break the curse.