Legendary Sports Moments Had Things Gone Differently

[Red Comet]

1 hour ago, TrueYankee26 said:

Should have made it clearer then from the jump

 

I can understand the confusion with the alternate history tag. Wish I could've come up with a better tag. 

 

However, the example I listed made it clear (from my point of view anyway) that I was looking for moments that could've been legendary had the player who accomplished that feat not been overshadowed by their own team (or themselves if we're talking golf/tennis/racing/other individual sports) then losing. It's more of an appreciation for losing efforts thread than anything IMO.

[TrueYankee26]

46 minutes ago, Red Comet said:

 

I can understand the confusion with the alternate history tag. Wish I could've come up with a better tag. 

 

However, the example I listed made it clear (from my point of view anyway) that I was looking for moments that could've been legendary had the player who accomplished that feat not been overshadowed by their own team (or themselves if we're talking golf/tennis/racing/other individual sports) then losing. It's more of an appreciation for losing efforts thread than anything IMO.

Got it

 

Aaron Rodgers hail mary pass against the Cardinals, which was of course negated by Fitzgerald's two big plays back in the 2015 divisional round

[OnWis97]

Had the Eagles defeated the Patriots in their first Super Bowl meeting, I think TO's performance, a couple months removed from significant injuries goes down as one of the all-time great/gutty performances.

[colinturner95]

On 5/1/2020 at 5:59 AM, Kramerica Industries said:

Jermaine Kearse catch towards the end of Super Bowl XLIX is high up there. Right up with Tyree and Manningham but lacked the ending those other catches had.

 

in my 100%, totally unbiased opinion as a Seahawks fan, had the play following the Kearse catch gone better, might have unseated at least the Manningham catch. I hesitate to say it would be more iconic than the Tyree catch but who knows. 

 

On 5/1/2020 at 6:00 AM, crashcarson15 said:

I feel like the Rajai Davis home run in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series has to be one of the best entries this category can have. That dude, that situation, off Chapman, as a key play to give the Indians their first title in 68 years and deny the Cubs their first in 108, would've been an all-time moment.

 

To go a slightly different route in the category -- LeBron dunking over Draymond Green to secure the win in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals would've been one of the great moments in NBA history (and I don't think that's a biased view). Would've been an iconic play.

 

Sort of the same tangent here, but i firmly believe that if Iguodala dunks that ball in Game 7, Cleveland would have never completed the 3-1 comeback and 2016 GSW is the best team in NBA history. 

 

On 5/1/2020 at 10:43 PM, Cujo said:

 

After reading the topic, this is the first play that comes to mind. But they just had to throw the ball on the one...

 

I'll defend it to the day I die, but after seeing football minds smarter than me discuss that play, that was the right play to run in that exact scenario. 

[Kramerica Industries]

Maybe it was just me trying to blot this game out of my memory, but this just came back to me.

 

 

That was so ridiculously clutch and I liked the Yankees chances in Game 7 had it gotten to that point, given the pitching matchups. Instead, it gets forgotten because of the home run that followed in the bottom half of the inning.

[Shumway]

On 5/3/2020 at 7:58 PM, habsfan1 said:

What if Barry Bonds won the World Series in 2002?

Well, for one, I wouldn't have knocked over a lamp as I jumped for joy when the Angels won.

[TrueYankee26]

2 hours ago, Kramerica Industries said:

Maybe it was just me trying to blot this game out of my memory, but this just came back to me.

 

 

That was so ridiculously clutch and I liked the Yankees chances in Game 7 had it gotten to that point, given the pitching matchups. Instead, it gets forgotten because of the home run that followed in the bottom half of the inning.

The wound is too fresh for me to bring that back up

[sportsfan7]

Might be too soon for some of you, but if the Dodgers beat the 'Stros and Sox in the World Series, how big of a deal is the sign stealing scandal?

[Sport]

On 5/2/2020 at 2:27 PM, Buc said:

 

 

- Speaking of best chances to win a title, that's exactly what the Nashville Predators were robbed of two or three years back. Y'all saw the Finals...y'all seen how they took two Predators goals off the board, one claiming P.K. Subban's toe was on the line, negating the ensuing goal, and my man Colton Sissons getting broad-daylight robbed in front of the crease, having a wide open goal waved off because the ref "couldn't see the puck". Either or both of those goals stand, and Lord Stanley would've had a great chance of parading through lower Broadway. But alas...

 

 

The 2017 Penguins got an insanely high number of bad calls to go their way that postseason to the point that there was this sense of resignation like "fine just hand them another cup. We're all watching. We all know what you want". They were a good team who was hard to beat on a level surface. A good team, hard to beat on a level surface plus they get the benefit of every bad call? Nearly impossible to beat. I had a running total of bad calls they benefited from versus bad calls that went against them through those four playoff series and it was something like 22-3. 

[SFGiants58]

Homer Bailey almost no-hitting the Giants in the 2012 NLDS would've been bigger, if the rest of the team didn't decide to take a dump at the end of the game and "Dusty being Dusty" didn't see them lose the next two home games. I seriously believe that had the Reds beaten the Giants and Cueto not been injured, the 2012 Reds would've won the title. 

[Sport]

6 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Homer Bailey almost no-hitting the Giants in the 2012 NLDS would've been bigger, if the rest of the team didn't decide to take a dump at the end of the game and "Dusty being Dusty" didn't see them lose the next two home games. I seriously believe that had the Reds beaten the Giants and Cueto not been injured, the 2012 Reds would've won the title. 

 

I agree. They had all the parts you need to win a world series and the field was pretty wide open that year. You could make a compelling argument the winner of that NLDS series was going to win it all. 

 

Another example for this thread's purpose that nobody remembers from that series: Mat Latos was a hero in Game 1. Cueto goes down in the first inning after throwing 6 pitches (lights the fuse on the ticking time bomb that ultimately led to their demise), Latos volunteers to go in with no pregame routine, no starter's day routine, no real warmup, essentially starts the game with zero notice and gives up 1 run in 4 innings and the Reds bullpen does the rest. Reds win the game. Nobody remembers this because Mat Latos is a world class piece of :censored: so who wants to celebrate anything that turd did?, blew game 5, and the Reds lost the series. 

 

I was pretty upset at the time. With the benefit of some distance it's probable that if they'd gotten past San Francisco without Cueto they'd lose to the Cardinals and that would've been 10 times more upsetting and literally zero people alive wanted that dogcrap baseball team to fall assbackwards into back to back world series wins. 

[Red Comet]

 

How am I the OP of a topic like this and not remember this moment in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series? Salvy doesn't pop up and Alex goes home. This then topples Madison Bumgarner's best postseason performance by a pitcher since Sandy Koufax. 

 

Instead, we had to settle for making the Mets go Full Mets the next year. 

[BC985]

If Nelson Cruz makes this catch, the Rangers win the World Series and David Freese is just the last out.

 

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

* What if Yogi had held Seaver until game 7 in the 1973 World Series, instead of pitching him on three days' rest in game 6 against Catfish?  (I actually agree with Yogi's decision; he went for the kill against the better team.  And Seaver insisted on pitching.  So it's kind of unfair that this question dogged Yogi for the rest of his life.  But it is a question.)

 

* What if Bob Lemon had let Tommy John hit in game 6 of the 1981 World Series, instead of removing him for a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning of a 1-1 game? John had already shut out the Dodgers over seven innings in his first start, had thrown two innings of scoreless relief in another appearance, and had not allowed an extra-base hit in this game when he was removed. I would bet that John had a better chance of holding the Dodgers than Burt Hooton had of holding the Yankees.

 

* What if Gossage had walked Gibson in the "He don't wanna walk you" moment in game 5 of the 1984 Series?  The Padres were down by only one run when Gibson came up; as it was they had a man on base when Gwynn made the last out. Perhaps if the Goose walks Gibson he gets the next man, and the Padres pull out game 5 and make it a new Series.

 

* Sticking with Gibson: what if the Eck had busted him inside with a fastball in game 1 of the 1988 World Series, instead of trying to get cute with the backdoor slider? The big, bad A's would likely have smothered the overmatched Dodgers in that Series.

 

* What if Jim Leyland had brought in Stan Belinda to start the 9th inning in game 7 of the 1992 playoffs, instead of waiting until there were bases f-ing loaded with no f-ing outs, all in a ridiculous attempt to get Drabek a meaningless complete game?  I blame this decision partly on mindless machismo and partly on Jack Morris.

[colinturner95]

 

This one still stings a lot, but what if that isn't called a 5 minute penalty? What if that is just a two minute minor penalty? 

[OnWis97]

On 5/2/2020 at 2:47 AM, sportsfan7 said:

If the Cubs win the game or even lose but win game 7, nobody knows who Steve Bartman is.

Similarly, imagine Bill Buckner's legacy and the Red Sox won Game 7.  His error is largely forgotten and he's not as well remembered but for those do do remember him, he was a very good ballplayer with a nice long career and not the guy who made "that" error.

[AustinFromBoston]

Grady Little pulls Pedro in the 8th of Game 7 in the 2003 ALCS. 

Red Sox win. 

-No one knows who Aaron Boone is

-Do the Red Sox break the curse 1 year earlier?

-Is Little still fired?

-Do Red Sox repeat in 04? 

[TrueYankee26]

Super Bowl LII: Tom Brady throws for a SB record 505 yards, 3 TDs, but forgotten by the Patriots loss and by the most memorable play of the game, Philly Special.

[waltere]

10 hours ago, TrueYankee26 said:

Super Bowl LII: Tom Brady throws for a SB record 505 yards, 3 TDs, but forgotten by the Patriots loss and by the most memorable play of the game, Philly Special.

My heart bleeds for the guy, the idea people won't remember arguably the best of his 9 super bowl performances because it wasn't one of the 6 he won 

[DnBronc]

On 5/1/2020 at 9:30 PM, BringBackTheVet said:

f the referee doesn't miss a blatant offsides in the Flyers v Islanders Stanley Cup Final, the Flyers win another cup and have that momentum behind them going into their rivalry with the Oilers (even without that momentum, they took the Oilers to 7 games twice) and the Islanders aren't the 4-in-a-row dynasty that they're most known for now.  Hell - maybe even Gretzky doesn't become the superstar he is, because it's possible the Oilers don't become the dynasty they were (though they'd certainly have won a bunch of cups... so maybe that's not a good point.)

 

Had there been coaches challenges at the time, NHL history might be dramatically different.

 

Take that goal away, along with the play where Randy Carlyle let the puck bounce over his stick (game five of the 1982 Patrick Division Semis against the Isles. Pens had a one-goal lead with about a minute left in the game when that happened), and the Isles probably have two less titles (although, if Bossy somehow stays healthy, maybe they make that up later in the decade somehow).