You gotta love 163..

You gotta love 163... When 162 is not enough, 163 is fine by me anytime. I love baseball!!!! If i could go to any sporting event and watch it for 24 hours it is baseball. The one game playoff in baseball is more exciting than the actual playoff series that ensues. There have been 8 one game playoff games that i can remember. Usually the home team wins. The Mets and the Astros i Know won their one game playoff game. Usually the two teams playing in the one game playoff have one team that is on fire and one team that is swooning. This year the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers are playing for the right to meet the New York Yankees. I know very little about the two teams because basically they play in a very underachieving division. Each Team has two star players. The Twins have Joe Nathan, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The Tigers have Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander. Both teams have really good managers. The game should come down to the late innings because both pitcher throwing today are really pitching quite well these days. Last year the Twins lost 1-0 to the White Sox in the same scenario. The tension in this game is like no other.
Remember some of the classic one game playoff games: In 1978, the new york yankees defeated the Boston red sox 5-4. Bucky "bleeping" Dent hit the most famous home run in the volatile rivalry between the two teams. What people don't remember is that Reggie Jackson hit a home run in the 8Th inning that provided the margin of victory. Bob Stanley who gave up the homer to Jackson is also infamous for the wild pitches to Mookie Wilson that allowed for the Mets to tie and win the game in the 1986 world series. Reggie is more famous for hitting 3 home runs in the 1977 world series but the blast he hit in the 1978 playoff game is way underrated.
How about randy Johnson in 1995 lighting up the Anaheim angels in a win or go home playoff game. He struck out Tim Salmon to end the 2 hit masterpiece. Or how about Edgardo Alfonso's big hits leading the Mets in a play in victory over the Cincinnati reds. Al Leiter was magnificent as the overachieving Reds have not recovered from that season. They went out the following winter and signed Ken Griffey jr. and imploded. How about Sammy and the cubs beating Barry and the giants in the magical now referred to as steroid year of 1998. And of course the epic finish in the San Diego Colorado game where Matt Holliday still has not touched home plate vaulting the Rockies to the post season. The Rockies had won 21 straight games in September and forced this series to happen Unfortunately for them, they went to the Wold series and got swept by the Red Sox.
The most famous playoff game is of course the 1951 game between the dodgers and the giants. I wasn't alive to see that game but i guess it was the most significant game ever played by both teams. When Bobby Thompson hit the "shot heard round the world" no one could believe it. The Giants in those days just couldn't beat the Dodgers. Each year they would sit at home and watch the Yankees and Dodgers play for the championship and bragging rights in the crowded New york sports scene. Unfortunately, even though the Giants won the pennant but lost to the Yankees in the world series that year. In fact only the 1978 yankees have won a one game playoff game and went on to win the world series. Good luck to the winner today!!! The yankees are hungry and cant wait to meet you in the next round....