The baseball player who pulled his pants down in front of the crowd was Steve “Pyscho” Lyons, then of the White Sox and I believe he did it in Detroit.
The player who was caught under the automatic tarpaulin roller was Vince Coleman of the Cardinals in the 1985 playoffs. Coleman suffered a broken leg as a result of the incident. Coleman would later go on to engage in hijinks like throwing firecrackers in the face of small children.
I’m not a Ram fan anymore, but I would be pretty upset at Az-Zahir Hakim dropping the punt at the end of Saturday’s playoff game. If he had let it go, it probably would have rolled into the end zone.
I’m surprised no has mentioned Chuck Knoblauch’s wig out when he failed to recover an errant throw in Game 2 of the 1998 ALCS against Cleveland. He argued the call instead of picking up the ball while the Cleveland runner circled the bases.
I definitely agree with this, and I would have posted the same thing. Buckner may have suffered a lapse in concentration, or maybe he just screwed up, but either way he was trying to make the right play. It wasn’t a stupid play any more than Mitch Williams serving up the game winning homer to Joe Carter in the WS was a stupid play.
As for my contribution to this therad, I’m not a golf fan at all, but I recall John Daily repeatedly trying to make a shot over water a few years ago. I think it may have been in a major tournament, and he kept hitting into the water, and he refused to take a drop. He just kept teeing up again and again and hitting into the drink every time. I’m sure someone who knows golf can post the real details of this situation.
Another one, this time just for Bucks fans, is what happened recently this year against the Knicks. The Knicks were down 3 to the Bucks in the final seconds of regulation, and Tim Thomas decides to double team someone in the post and leave his man (Eric Strickland) wide open to hit the game tying shot. Had the inside guy scored the Knicks still would have lost by one. The Bucks lost in overtime.
Jean Van de Velde’s second shot at the final hole of the British Open.
He only needs a double bogey, he’s facing a notoriously risky final hole (the Burn alone crosses the fairway twice), so he decides to hit a driver off the tee. A driver on a hole where he only needs a double bogey. He nearly slices it into the next hole but manages to avoid serious trouble. Just some light rough; no unplayable lie, no Burn, no drop or stroke penalty. The hole is still about 240 yards away with the Burn and some nasty rough clearly visible.
In golf, when you take an enormous gamble on a dangerous hole and screw up, but don’t get punished too badly, and especially with the championship at stake, you’re supposed to take the hint and play it safe the rest of the way. That’s just sane, sensible golf, and anyone on the PGA Tour who doesn’t understand it is in for a lifetime of frustration (see Daly, John). So what does Van de Velde do? He shoots for the green. Which is 240 yards away. On a really, really dangerous hole.
You know the rest. Truly one of the more gut-wrenching moments in a sport that’s already had enough to fill a canyon.
As a Rams fan, I file this as the same situation as Buckner’s fielding error. Hakim signaled for a fair catch, tried to make the right play and then made a goof. But that didn’t cost the Rams the game anymore than the other 4 turnovers in the game, which resulted in 17 points for the Saints. If those other 4 turnovers hadn’t occurred, there probably wouldn’t have been such a huge hole for the Rams to dig out of in the first place.
A couple that haven’t been mentioned yet, and that my memory may be fuzzy on:
someone, I think it was Magic Johnson, in the 1984 NBA Finals dribbled out the clock, WHILE THE GAME WAS TIED, sending the game into overtime instead of trying for the winning shot.
in the late 1980’s in a critical late season football game between the Browns and the Oilers, Browns’ linebacker Clay Matthews intercepted a pass which would have clinched the win for the Browns, except for the fact that while being tackled Matthews lateralled the ball 10 yards backward to no one in particular. I was a Browns’ fan watching the game with a bunch of friends, and we went from yelling for joy to yelling for Matthews’ head on a platter in about nothing flat.
The latter one is correct, but the first one is off. In that situation, it was Derek Harper of Dallas dribbling out the clock in a tie game in an early round playoff game against the Lakers. I doubt that Magic Johnson ever screwed up that bad on a basketball court. One of his strengths was that he always knew what was going on and was very aware of game situations.
I think this was a baseball game played in the 50s or 60s, but I remember hearing a story about a batter who hits it out of the park, circles the bases and on his trot home his foot never actually touches the plate. He casually jogs into the dugout and meanwhile the ump is just standing there with his arms crossed–he hasn’t ruled the play safe or out yet. Eventually, the catcher figures out what’s going on, grabs the ball and runs into the opposing team’s dugout where he tags the dumbfounded runner out. I’m not even sure if this is true or not…anybody remember a play like this??
Anyone remember when Chris Webber called a time out when he had none, for Michigan against North Carolina in the NCAA Championship game.
Or Fred Brown( i think) of Georgetown passing the ball to James Worthy of North Carolina as time was running out, with UNC in the lead, in the NCAA Championship game.
North Carolina’s two recent NCAA Championships, both cemented with bonehead plays.
In fairness to Chris Webber (who’s really taken far more flack than anyone should over that one moment of indecision), his team was down by 2, and IIRC there wasn’t anyone open for a pass. To me, forcing the shot and missing would have been just as bad as the errant timeout.
Likewise, I refuse to crucify Leon Lett over his fumble in a Super Bowl that his team won by about a gazillion points, and Bill Buckner’s error has been thorougly mitigated at this point as well.
Back in the mid 80’s, when the Yankees were the laughing stock of the AL, Dale Berra and Bobby Meachum both got thrown out at home plate on the same play. They were running about 10 ft apart and both ran through the 3rd base coaches stop sign. The catcher just stood there and tagged both of them. They didn’t even try to run over the catcher or anything so at least one of them could score.
This is well put. If I recall correctly, the Redskins barely got beyond midfield in that Super Bowl. In fact, they may not have done so, aside from the Yepremian play, more than once or twice. They may not have done so AT ALL.
Correct, this was “Psycho” Lyons. Who was also heavily criticized for ending a game getting caught stealing, at 3rd base, with Wade Boggs (the best hitter for average in the league) at the plate.
So what happened to this bonehead, who made at least two of the stupidest “plays” ever seen? He is (or was), a sports commentator for Fox!
I have to confess that I have only a vague recollection of this, even though I’m a Laker fan. What was Harper’s explanation for what he did? Misrecalling the score?
Gotta disagree here–forcing the shot or doing anything else would have been much better. Didn’t the timeout cause a technical foul which gave North Carolina free throws which put the game out of reach?
I agree that Webber’s a tremendous player who’s taken a lot of flack for that. But that was a terrible decision and cost Michigan a chance to catch up (which is not to say that they would have, so Webber didn’t turn a win into a loss).
Also in defense of CWebb, according to Mitch Albom’s novel about the Fab Five someone yelled for the timeout from the bench. I don’t know if it was a coach or not. I seem to remember that Albom didn’t say.
Good point. Think he hit the rough, the stands, and the water on consecutive shots. That hole wasn’t hard if you tried for 6. 8-iron, 8-iron, 8-iron would’ve been plenty.
What about the golfer c. 1960 who signed the wrong score on his card, forcing a playoff when he should’ve won? Di Lorenzo or something? It was a major, maybe the Masters. He lost the playoff.
Maybe someone can supply the finishing touches to this one:
Cincinnati Reds playing on the road, game tied, bottom of the ninth, speedy opposing player on second representing the winning run. The batter hits a soft liner for a single to right. The right fielder (Paul O’Neill) charges the ball for a play at the plate - and muffs it. He reaches for the ball twice more, frantically, and boots it repeatedly. Finally, totally disgusted and realizing the game is lost, winds up and takes a wild kick at the ball. What he doesn’t realize is that the runner at second was under the impression that the ball was going to be caught on the fly, and was still in a confused holding pattern near second base. By all rights, he should’ve scored anyway since the kick should have sent the ball careening wildly. Instead, it went on a perfect line to the cutoff man, the runner had to hold at third and did not score. The Reds went on to lose in extra innings.
Roberto Di Vencenzo (??) is how I think his name was spelled. By signing an incorrect scorecard, he didn’t force a playoff. He disqualified himself. The person who was keeping the scorecard, Tommy Aaron, ended up winning. It was the Masters.
NFC Championship game, score tied, ball just past mid-field, around 10 seconds left,(I’m tryin’ to block all memory of this game from my data base, details still fuzzy)still enough time for one more play, and… they take a knee.:eek:
Lose in OT.
Dennis Greene will never be able to live this one down, especially in these parts.
Oh, the pain.
Since we are talking dumb plays, not just mistakes, I have to nominate Mitch Berger’s pass on a busted field goal attempt in the Packers - Vikings game on Monday Night Football this season.
Although this play had no historical significance (at the end of the year, the Vikes still went to the playoffs with a bye, and the Packers stayed home), it did set up Antonio Freeman’s Monday Night Miracle catch.
The Vikes had the ball deep in Packer territory with only seconds remaining and were attempting to kick a chip shot field goal that would win the game. It was pouring rain, the snap was bad, and Mitch Berger (the holder) picked up the ball and looked for someone to throw to. What he forgot was that it wasn’t fourth down. All he had to do was throw the ball away and the clock would have stopped, giving the Vikes another chance to win the game. Instead, he threw a terrible pass which was intercepted by the Packers’ Tyrone Williams. The game then went to overtime, Freeman made his highlight reel catch, and the Packers won.
All I have to add at this point is: Thank you, Mitch Berger. Without you, there would have been no Packer sweep this year.
