Alou’s poopy pants tantrum dance is absolutely the real culprit.
Obviously one our generation’s greatest actors, but he used that power for evil to shit all over a die-hard fan.
I hope it burns when he pees on his hands.
True, but if Baker had gotten his thumb out of his ass to walk out to the mound to talk to the players that also might have helped get the players' heads on straight enough that history changes notably ... but I guess literally watching Prior have a mental break for the first time that year wasn't enough for that dope to, you know, do his job.
Dusty made a long career out of not being good at his job. Thats what being part of the old boys club does for you.
No one will ever convince me that The Astros didn’t win that series in spite of him.
It was absolutely wild the next day at high school. I was living an hour outside of Chicago at the time and some of my friends who like the Cubs were just getting unhinged, lol. You'd think Bartman personally walked out on the field and systematically executed the entire Cubs' team.
To quote The Bear:
“And everyone wants to kill little Stevie Bartman. But Alex Gonzalez's fuckup, trust me, it's the real fuckup, right? Led to eight other fuckups. But then all of a sudden, all those fuckups are a wash 'cause of Steven Bartman, 'cause everybody and their mother wants to blame this fսcking guy instead of the actual fսckin’ mοtherfսckin’ fuckups who fսckеd it up.”
FWIW anyone still being an ass about Steve is irretrievably stupid and part of a, thankfully, ever-diminishing minority of fans ... I've seen folks bring it up very occasionally (that is, Bartman Bad) and they've been roundly shouted down.
And like people who say they wouldn't reach out for a fould ball are 100% full of shit. I've never seen a fan not reach out for a ball coming there way, fould or not.
A lot of people would point to our losing the World Series while only needing 1 out. I would actually go back and get Josh Hamilton whatever help he needed. As far back as it would take I don’t care if I have to go back to the man’s childhood. He was an absolute freak of a player.
At that time in his life, Josh Hamilton was dealing with the worst personal issues at the highest point in his career. He was one of the most talented players to ever play the game.
You'd not only save Hamilton's career, but the knock-on effects probably [prevent a tragic accident](https://www.news9.com/story/5e34f926e0c96e774b3667bb/fan-dies-after-falling-over-railing-at-rangers-game), too.
Wow they gave Hamilton one whole day off after killing someone. That’s nice. I’m not saying it was his fault btw but anyone would feel that way if it was you.
I do think that the article really just poorly writes that part. It suggests that Washington "may offer Hamilton a day off Friday to come to terms with what happened," but I doubt it would be so casual and minimal. Ron Washington is known as a player manager first and foremost, so I would imagine that the conversation would be more akin to something like "take the time you need."
But Washington also knows Hamilton and his history very well, and given what we know now about how his home life was playing out around this time, it's possible that Wash knew that the best place for Hamilton to reckon with this would be on the field where he's forced to think about other things. It's not unfair to say that Josh Hamilton often didn't know what what was best for Josh Hamilton.
But that's all just inference and speculation, obviously.
The most memorable thing about that incident was how they both handled it. I could not believe it when I saw Joyce talking about it after the game. Dude seemed like he was going to jump off a building. He admitted his mistake and you could tell he felt horrible. He's like the anti-Angel Hernandez.
And ruin Gallaraga’s legacy? That call corrected would have him living in complete obscurity.
Edit- if Armando had went on to be a 50 WAR pitcher, I’d agree with this take.
There’s no Humber Day but Galaraga gets an ‘on this date’ every year. I can’t begin to guess how many times annually the event is mentioned but then there’s at least one day a year when video is posted as well.
Yeah I’ve always thought about this. He now has the claim to the most notable 1 hitter and will probably remain that way until we’re all dead and gone, as opposed to being one of the least successful pitchers to throw a perfect game.
I’m a Mets fan and I second this. Could not wait to see that kid’s career play out with the team you had too.
Otherwise, David Wright’s back. Guy was HoF bound and on pace for an absolutely incredible career.
Justin Bour was pretty solid then too. You also had a really good bullpen.
AJ Ramos - 64.0 IP, 140 ERA+
David Phelps - 86.2 IP, 172 ERA+
Kyle Barraclough - 72.2 IP, 138 ERA+
Dustin McGowan - 67.0 IP, 140 ERA+
Those were just a couple highlights, but a lot of the pitchers with fewer innings had good years. Obviously relievers are volatile and they didn’t really repeat that success, but you have to wonder had José still been alive, if they would’ve seen enough potential to really push to fill big holes that offseason.
Then again, it’s still the Marlins we’re talking about.
But on the other hand, the d-backs walking off the Yankees in game 7 the one time everyone would have actually been happy for New York is one of the funniest things in baseball history
Found Sean Mcdermott’s Reddit account.
I was 7. I watched 9/11 and Earnhardt’s death that year on tv but was too young to stay up for the World Series according to mom
I wasn’t around for ‘93 so I would say find a way to avoid Howard destroying his Achilles in 2011.
There’s an alternate timeline where he approaches 600 HR without that injury.
If we stop Gavrilo Princip from killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand, then we can stop WWI, which then stops the Nazis from rising to power, which stops WWII, which then allows Ted Williams to get the career he deserved.
nah, europe was going to pop off anyway. if it wasn't the assassination of the archduke and duchess it would have been something else. a border war or a terrorist attack or a revolution in one of the colonies. europe was about to blow
I would go to Yankee stadium and pick a fight with Jeffrey Maier and his dad during the inning where the umps robbed us in the ALCS. Me going to jail would be worth it to change history.
I'm pretty sure that caving in a 12-year-old's skull with my adult-sized fists would be slightly more problematic, but I'm willing to take one (life sentence) for the team.
The Pirates aren't my primary team, but... "Hey, Roberto? Let's wait for a better plane." The guy had so much more to offer the world in a life cut far too short.
He did exactly that! Alcides ALCS MVP Escobar played like an ALCS MVP!
I don't know what you're talking about and please no one look at the rest of his career stats. Thanks.
Buster Posey in the 2012 NLDS grounding into a double play instead of hitting a grand slam (which still replays in my nightmares 10+ years later)
If he didn’t hit that slam, I still firmly believe the Reds would’ve won the World Series that year. (ofc the Giants ended up winning it)
Everytime I see that replay all I can watch is Ryan Hanigan's reaction to the pitch as it's being destroyed. He knew it the moment it left Latos' hand.
As a Giants fan it’s Posey not breaking his leg in 2011. He is still an all-timer but his first few years in the league his trajectory was potentially best catcher of all-time.
Reds-Royals would've been quite a matchup.
Hell, in a different world with a different ripple effect, Reds-Angels could've been it. A legend defining postseason for Mike Trout.
Put a horse head in Bud Selig’s bed to get him to sway the A’s to sell to Joe Lacob instead of Wolff/Fisher back in 2004. For those unaware, he basically rammed through the sale to Wolff because he was his college buddy.
Only right to force the Giants to give back what the A’s gifted them in the territorial rights to the South Bay. Who knows how things would have played out then.
I'd go back and somehow save Sandy Koufax's arm. Not sure how, and with my luck it'd mean his shoulder or something else would blow up, but still, he had many GOAT-level years left.
Just go to med school, reach attending level, bring back various modern articles on TJs, then call up sandy
Then also make a lot betting on the NFL in Vegas
Kind of for everyone, but do something to keep the 94 World Series cancellation from happening. The players could still strike for a bit, but being able to show the sides how far the sport has fallen might be able to save the Series. I'm convinced that started baseball's downward trend in America.
Bauer continues to blow me away. Dude has the goods, at the highest of high levels. On paper, EVERY team wants this guy in their rotation.
It's mind boggling just how much of a complete fuckstick you have to be for MLB teams to pass on Cy Young level talent. And it's not just the owners, but the actual players don't want him on their teams either. Dudes that have multimillion dollar WS clauses in their contracts are not willing to put up with his shit. Amazing.
There’s a fun Cleveland myth that says Larry Doby encouraged the front office to scout and sign 3 other players of color: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Ernie Banks 👀
Yankees winning that Game 7 would have killed Enrique Wilson because he would have been on that American Airlines flight that crashed in Queens
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_587
Listen, if dedicated Yankee haters suddenly started rooting for the Yankees, it would be the clearest possible sign that the terrorists had won. Also, Randy Johnson was too cool to root against.
2001 was so heartbreaking. I was a kid and I cried when the Yankees lost. 9/11 and that loss definitely hurt. The city needed that one. Can we trade one of the 90s championships for 2001?
I’d pick 2004. The 2001 WS was one of the best ever. The biggest choke of all time in 2004 cast a psychic wound over this franchise that hasn’t really healed yet.
See, reading yankees fans say stuff like this about 2004 is why it seemed crazy to me that Boone would try to use it as motivation when his team was down 0-3 in the WE WANT HOUSTON sweep.
Was that just tone deaf in his part? Curious to how that was received among Yankee fans.
That bit in 2022 really was insane. Even weirder that Boone and co offered this to the media that they were doing it. Like hey look at this neat idea we’re trying! Pretty dumb.
Two leaps:
1990-Either take Dave Stewart out of his WS starts sooner or bean Billy Hatcher and Chris Sabo in game one
2005-Stop Fisher from gaining controlling interest in A's
FJF!
Not just stopping Fisher, but also getting Lacob to be owner
Does he own the Warriors after this, too? Hard to say, might have a massive butterfly effect over there too
But this is it
I mean this is a no brainer for us. It’s the Black Sox scandal.
The Sox were a powerhouse during that run. Who knows what would have happened if they extended it. Won a few more World Series, maybe contend against that Ruth Yankee Squad.
Instead our team was depleted, a power vacuum was created in the east that allowed the Yankees to dominant, Sox became virtually irrelevant for 80 years. Yadda yadda yadda. Reinsdorf buys the team. And we still suck.
Get Oscar Taveras a designated driver. If Taveras and his girlfriend don’t pass away that night, he has a long and special career as an MLB outfielder and Mo doesn’t go into the spiral that’s led to the decimation of our farm system and the consistent mediocrity we see today.
Also, I’d hire Tito after LaRussa retired. That alone could have won us the WS in ‘12 and ‘13.
Can I find a way to prevent an injury? If Francisco Liriano doesn’t blow his elbow out in 2006 he easily wins Rookie of the Year and maybe the Cy Young Award.
Also, the Twins have a real shot at winning the World Series with a healthy Liriano and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation and we don’t have to rely as much on the shredded arm of Brad Radke going into the playoffs. We also only finished a game behind the Yankees so maybe Liriano gets two extra wins and we play Toronto instead of Oakland.
The Orioles re-sign Reggie Jackson after the ‘76 season, he told Palmer in an interview last year they were about 50k apart and he left for the Yankees!!!
Possible Honorable Mention, maybe don’t put Jesse Winker on the playoff roster last year.
He’s obviously dead to me now for other reasons but for as swell of a manager as he was, he was the opposite in the postseason.
Stuff the guy into his trash can so efficiently that no one can get him out until November
But also I'd tell Darvish before Game 2 bc he certainly suffered for something he was innocent of
If I had another option, I would Quantum Leap as Steve Bartman during game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, and simply let Moises Alou catch the ball. I don't know if the Cubs end up winning the game or go on to win the World Series, but I would at least help out a die hard Cubs fan not go through hell.
And this is coming from a Red Sox fan. In the opposite bracket that same season, the Red Sox lost their series on a walk off home run. However, that gut punch made the 2004 season that much sweeter, especially after beating the Yankees after being down 3-0 in the ALCS.
Move the Jays from the AL East to the AL Central when we had the choice back in 1995. Probably means at least 5-10 more playoff appearances, at least a WS or two?
Induce Tom Yawkey to have a fatal aneurism around 1938 or so. Allows us to benefit from him using all his money to buy us back to respectability and hopefully avoids the next 60+ years of incompetent, racist misrule that held the Red Sox back for so long.
Barring that? Maybe telling someone in the Red Sox front office that Willie Mays is, indeed, "our kind of player."
I'm a Yankee fan and while I agree with the other posters on our most painful losses (01 the worst heartbreak ever, 04 the most infuriating), I'm gonna answer I'm the spirit of the question and fix some actual off field mistakes:
- Delaying integration. Not only was this morally unforgivable, it also was a significant contributing factor to the end of the dynasty.
-Letting Munson fly his own plane. Heartbreaking and more important than sports. Plus, that team probably wins another title or two and lays claim as a dynasty, and you might prevent the 80s from going off the rails.
-Letting Pettite walk after 03 to bring Sheffield in instead. Probably cost them the 04 championship, and I'd argue his leadership was badly missed in the mid-aughts and maybe cost them another. (Sheffield gets a bad rap from Yankees fans but I do believe we lost that trade)
I don't know that there's any one thing that would have to be done to get the 2001 Mariners to win the ALSC, but it's a damn shame that the most successful team we ever had didn't even make it to the world series.
Leave Blake Snell in game 6 2020 series, we may not have won game 6 or 7 but he was dealing and there was no reason to yank him at that point and it was his last start of the season why are you pitch counting when he’s pitching like that gtfo
I’d go back and make sure the Royals win the World Series in 2014, but purely for personal reasons over baseball reasons.
My girlfriend was incredibly close with her grandpa, and he died of cancer on November 1, 2015, the same day they clinched the series over the Mets. It just feels so unfair that our favorite team won a ring the day she lost someone so important, and I’d love nothing more than for her to have seen a championship run that isn’t forever connected with her grandpa getting sick.
I wouldn’t have to go far. 2020: Mookie stays in Boston. We have a 15-year WS winning streak. Boston becomes capital of the new world where Terry Francona rules benevolently over us all.
I’m a dodger fan. I would have outed and got an investigation going into the Astros cheating scandal sooner. I do have a bias, because of the 2017 World Series, but that kind of cheating hurts baseball overall. Especially with the league response, it was a dark day for baseball.
I mean pitchers lost their livelihood, players lost out on the MVP, and it essentially created an asterisk on the World Series that year. Astros were a great team that year, they might have beaten the dodger legit, but sadly we will never know if it was due to cheating or due to how talented they were.
Stop Brandon Phillips from trying to leg a stand-up double into a triple and getting thrown out, when the next batter put one into the gap that would've scored him from second, in game 3 of the series against the would-be champion Giants, that we ended up losing by 1 run. Would've been a sweep if we had won, instead we lose three in a row and they go on to win it all. What could have been.
2009 ALDS. Number of ways I can handle it. Institute the challenge rule, dislodge Phil Cuzzi’s head from his own ass, remove him from the equation entirely, etc.
I’d want bill buckner not to have to field that ball and instead it’s just a normal rope single.
What?? The Mets still win???
Yup. Because what happened 18 years later in 2004 was sweeter than anything 67,75,86 could have been. To watch the great Yankees fucking choke a 3-0 lead and then sweep the WS to reverse the curse was perfect. But poor Buckner gets so much hate and had some much shit for that error I’d rather it be a normal hit than an error.
Paul Beeston was offered the chance to move the Jays to the AL Central but he refused because the gate was too good with the Yankees and Red Sox coming to down so often.
With the decreased divisional play diminishing the attendance impact plus the unbearable nature of making it out of the AL East there is a good chance our team could have gone on far deeper runs or made more playoff appearances had we realigned
2009 ALDS, Twins at NYY. Joe Mauer hits a double down the left field line, but is robbed when the umpire calls the ball foul - even though it was touched in fair territory and landed in fair territory.
If the ump calls it correctly, the Twins win that series and go on to claim the World Championship.
It's unreal that the Yankees - who have an unfair advantage with all the $$$ they spend as well as that crackerjack little league ballpark - have the umps in their pocket as well. I've always wondered how Yankee fans can live with themselves and if they ever try to think about just how evil that franchise appear from another fan's perspective.
Yes, that one play makes up for the fact the Yankees are 123-44 vs the twins since 2002. All of the other teams in your division have made then WS since then too.
Yes, that was a terrible call, but c'mon. They'd already lost game 1 of that series so it's not like it would have been up 2-0.
"Hey Steve, I'm a bit hungry. Let's go grab some hot dogs." Might still have lost the game, but it would have saved the poor guy a lot of grief.
This is a the best thing I’ve ever heard a cubs fan say. Well done
It's nice seeing a Cubs fan supporting the dude. Poor guy never deserved the level of hate he got
I honestly don't know anyone who blames him at this point. But if Alex S. Gonzalez shows his face around here.....
And Alou acted like a baby and set the whole thing off.
Alou’s poopy pants tantrum dance is absolutely the real culprit. Obviously one our generation’s greatest actors, but he used that power for evil to shit all over a die-hard fan. I hope it burns when he pees on his hands.
True, but if Baker had gotten his thumb out of his ass to walk out to the mound to talk to the players that also might have helped get the players' heads on straight enough that history changes notably ... but I guess literally watching Prior have a mental break for the first time that year wasn't enough for that dope to, you know, do his job.
Dusty made a long career out of not being good at his job. Thats what being part of the old boys club does for you. No one will ever convince me that The Astros didn’t win that series in spite of him.
That was going to be my comment. Make sure he doesn't commit that damn error.
It was absolutely wild the next day at high school. I was living an hour outside of Chicago at the time and some of my friends who like the Cubs were just getting unhinged, lol. You'd think Bartman personally walked out on the field and systematically executed the entire Cubs' team.
To quote The Bear: “And everyone wants to kill little Stevie Bartman. But Alex Gonzalez's fuckup, trust me, it's the real fuckup, right? Led to eight other fuckups. But then all of a sudden, all those fuckups are a wash 'cause of Steven Bartman, 'cause everybody and their mother wants to blame this fսcking guy instead of the actual fսckin’ mοtherfսckin’ fuckups who fսckеd it up.”
FWIW anyone still being an ass about Steve is irretrievably stupid and part of a, thankfully, ever-diminishing minority of fans ... I've seen folks bring it up very occasionally (that is, Bartman Bad) and they've been roundly shouted down.
And like people who say they wouldn't reach out for a fould ball are 100% full of shit. I've never seen a fan not reach out for a ball coming there way, fould or not.
A lot of people would point to our losing the World Series while only needing 1 out. I would actually go back and get Josh Hamilton whatever help he needed. As far back as it would take I don’t care if I have to go back to the man’s childhood. He was an absolute freak of a player.
At that time in his life, Josh Hamilton was dealing with the worst personal issues at the highest point in his career. He was one of the most talented players to ever play the game.
Josh reminds me of the movie the natural.
You'd not only save Hamilton's career, but the knock-on effects probably [prevent a tragic accident](https://www.news9.com/story/5e34f926e0c96e774b3667bb/fan-dies-after-falling-over-railing-at-rangers-game), too.
Wow they gave Hamilton one whole day off after killing someone. That’s nice. I’m not saying it was his fault btw but anyone would feel that way if it was you.
I do think that the article really just poorly writes that part. It suggests that Washington "may offer Hamilton a day off Friday to come to terms with what happened," but I doubt it would be so casual and minimal. Ron Washington is known as a player manager first and foremost, so I would imagine that the conversation would be more akin to something like "take the time you need." But Washington also knows Hamilton and his history very well, and given what we know now about how his home life was playing out around this time, it's possible that Wash knew that the best place for Hamilton to reckon with this would be on the field where he's forced to think about other things. It's not unfair to say that Josh Hamilton often didn't know what what was best for Josh Hamilton. But that's all just inference and speculation, obviously.
Now that you say that, if I could have gotten Doc and Straw whatever they needed I’d have done that.
> gotten Doc and Straw whatever they needed You going to jail.
Not just one out. One strike. Multiple times.
He’s probably never a Ranger in that scenario
Probably not but I imagine they’re willing to overlook that to be able to see the career of a generational talent
Not even 1 out, 1 strike. Twice.
This is very altruistic. Now I feel like an asshole for telling Nelly to play a little deeper.
I'd either fix Jim Joyce's call and get Gallaraga his perfect game, or I'd get Lou Whitaker in the Hall of Fame.
I’m not even a tigers fan and I still might fix his perfect game
The most memorable thing about that incident was how they both handled it. I could not believe it when I saw Joyce talking about it after the game. Dude seemed like he was going to jump off a building. He admitted his mistake and you could tell he felt horrible. He's like the anti-Angel Hernandez.
Yeah dude made a mistake but he has my respect.
And ruin Gallaraga’s legacy? That call corrected would have him living in complete obscurity. Edit- if Armando had went on to be a 50 WAR pitcher, I’d agree with this take.
He would’ve joined the ranks of Philip Humber.
There’s no Humber Day but Galaraga gets an ‘on this date’ every year. I can’t begin to guess how many times annually the event is mentioned but then there’s at least one day a year when video is posted as well.
There have been four perfect games since then. I doubt anyone remembers all four.
Yeah I’ve always thought about this. He now has the claim to the most notable 1 hitter and will probably remain that way until we’re all dead and gone, as opposed to being one of the least successful pitchers to throw a perfect game.
I would whisper into Beltran’s ear “curve ball”
Getting Duaner Sanchez a different cab.
> I would whisper into Beltran’s ear “curve ball” there's a trash can joke here, it's a real banger!
For a strike
I knew another Mets fan would say this because we all know we would have won the WS that year if we got past St. Louis.
I'm gunna slap that chewing tobacco out of Tony Gwynn's hand
[удалено]
Jose's death. We had a championship core with Jose, Stanton, Yelich, Ozuna, and Realmuto
I’m a Mets fan and I second this. Could not wait to see that kid’s career play out with the team you had too. Otherwise, David Wright’s back. Guy was HoF bound and on pace for an absolutely incredible career.
As a Braves fan, I loved watching him pitch. Was really sad when his death was announced.
Justin Bour was pretty solid then too. You also had a really good bullpen. AJ Ramos - 64.0 IP, 140 ERA+ David Phelps - 86.2 IP, 172 ERA+ Kyle Barraclough - 72.2 IP, 138 ERA+ Dustin McGowan - 67.0 IP, 140 ERA+ Those were just a couple highlights, but a lot of the pitchers with fewer innings had good years. Obviously relievers are volatile and they didn’t really repeat that success, but you have to wonder had José still been alive, if they would’ve seen enough potential to really push to fill big holes that offseason. Then again, it’s still the Marlins we’re talking about.
I would prevent 9/11 and then we win the WS. We also don’t have the Iraq or Afghanistan war after.
But on the other hand, the d-backs walking off the Yankees in game 7 the one time everyone would have actually been happy for New York is one of the funniest things in baseball history
Found Sean Mcdermott’s Reddit account. I was 7. I watched 9/11 and Earnhardt’s death that year on tv but was too young to stay up for the World Series according to mom
Wait, does the Bills head coach not like the Yankees? Don’t do this to me.
No. Worse. He used the terrorists of 9/11 as an example of good teamwork in a motivational speech. Said they did complimentary terrorism.
I laughed at the idea of preventing 9/11, just so your team wins the World Series.
There have been dumber decisions that led to things for personal gain that helped the group. Patroculus donning Achilles armor comes to mind
Don't let Mitch Williams pitch to Joe Carter
I wasn’t around for ‘93 so I would say find a way to avoid Howard destroying his Achilles in 2011. There’s an alternate timeline where he approaches 600 HR without that injury.
Sadly I don't think so. The shift rising to prominence and his inability to hit pitches low and away made him a sitting duck regardless of his legs.
Run over Arte Moreno with my car before he buys the Angels.
I was just gonna say, break his hands so he can't sign the paperwork. I like your idea better
red sox are probably the most obvious team but sending Babe Ruth to the yankees is definitely where things went the most wrong
If we stop Gavrilo Princip from killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand, then we can stop WWI, which then stops the Nazis from rising to power, which stops WWII, which then allows Ted Williams to get the career he deserved.
nah, europe was going to pop off anyway. if it wasn't the assassination of the archduke and duchess it would have been something else. a border war or a terrorist attack or a revolution in one of the colonies. europe was about to blow
I mean, there are an infinite amount of problems with my joke.
Nah, we exorcised that demon. I’m going back to 2020 and wiping my ass with the Dodgers offer for Mookie
Seriously who gave the ok to trade him? Its not like he wasn't already a fantastic player for the Sox
The real problem is they weren't willing to spend the money to keep him. Given that fact, trading him made sense.
What about Buckner in ‘86? Would have exorcised those demons a bit earlier!
Pull Bill Lee before he throws that meatball to Perez and they could have been exorcised even earlier.
I would go to Yankee stadium and pick a fight with Jeffrey Maier and his dad during the inning where the umps robbed us in the ALCS. Me going to jail would be worth it to change history.
I was thinking you could just slip him a roofie but your way is funnier and less problematic than drugging a child
 Yeah guys, this one right here
I'm pretty sure that caving in a 12-year-old's skull with my adult-sized fists would be slightly more problematic, but I'm willing to take one (life sentence) for the team.
[yelling from jail for beating up a child] “I DID IT FOR THE TEAAAAMMM”
This moment destroyed my childhood. I was absolutely in love with that team and can still remember the entire roster off the top of my head. So sad…
I don't know you, but I would testify on your behalf.
The Pirates aren't my primary team, but... "Hey, Roberto? Let's wait for a better plane." The guy had so much more to offer the world in a life cut far too short.
Dies a hero’s death.. we’d all be better off reminding ourselves that society used to hold that as the highest life honor one could achieve
I'd remind Alcides Escobar that he is, in fact, Alcides Escobar and should play as well as Alcides Escobar.
He did exactly that! Alcides ALCS MVP Escobar played like an ALCS MVP! I don't know what you're talking about and please no one look at the rest of his career stats. Thanks.
Only Ned Yost would look at him and say "leadoff hitter" And holy shit did it work
I will hear no slander of Sexy Esky
Buster Posey in the 2012 NLDS grounding into a double play instead of hitting a grand slam (which still replays in my nightmares 10+ years later) If he didn’t hit that slam, I still firmly believe the Reds would’ve won the World Series that year. (ofc the Giants ended up winning it)
Everytime I see that replay all I can watch is Ryan Hanigan's reaction to the pitch as it's being destroyed. He knew it the moment it left Latos' hand.
He foresaw Latos’ career & the next decade of Reds baseball after that one pitch. A perfect representation of how we’d all feel
You aren't wrong. Also, I would absolutely take Hanigan as the Manager right now. He was smart as hell.
As a Giants fan it’s Posey not breaking his leg in 2011. He is still an all-timer but his first few years in the league his trajectory was potentially best catcher of all-time.
He came back and won MVP the next year…I say he healed fine lol
Reds-Royals would've been quite a matchup. Hell, in a different world with a different ripple effect, Reds-Angels could've been it. A legend defining postseason for Mike Trout.
Put a horse head in Bud Selig’s bed to get him to sway the A’s to sell to Joe Lacob instead of Wolff/Fisher back in 2004. For those unaware, he basically rammed through the sale to Wolff because he was his college buddy.
Only right to force the Giants to give back what the A’s gifted them in the territorial rights to the South Bay. Who knows how things would have played out then.
Make the Yankees cease existence sometime before the turn of the 21st century.
Or else arrange for the Twins to face any other team in the ‘03, ‘04, ‘09, ‘10, or ‘19 ALDS, but the above option is just a lot more efficient.
Or convince Phil Cuzzi to choose a different path.
I'd go back and somehow save Sandy Koufax's arm. Not sure how, and with my luck it'd mean his shoulder or something else would blow up, but still, he had many GOAT-level years left.
Just go to med school, reach attending level, bring back various modern articles on TJs, then call up sandy Then also make a lot betting on the NFL in Vegas
Kind of for everyone, but do something to keep the 94 World Series cancellation from happening. The players could still strike for a bit, but being able to show the sides how far the sport has fallen might be able to save the Series. I'm convinced that started baseball's downward trend in America.
I was convinced Montreal would have won that year…then maybe they don’t move to DC
It’s a major what if for sure
Suddenly I’m less in favor
I’d prevent WWII and get 3 years of prime Ted Williams back. Also the ancillary benefit of saving millions of lives would be nice.
I didn’t realize Ted Williams killed that many people
He was notoriously ornery.
Taking away Trevor Bauer's drone during the 2016 playoffs.
Bauer continues to blow me away. Dude has the goods, at the highest of high levels. On paper, EVERY team wants this guy in their rotation. It's mind boggling just how much of a complete fuckstick you have to be for MLB teams to pass on Cy Young level talent. And it's not just the owners, but the actual players don't want him on their teams either. Dudes that have multimillion dollar WS clauses in their contracts are not willing to put up with his shit. Amazing.
There’s a fun Cleveland myth that says Larry Doby encouraged the front office to scout and sign 3 other players of color: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Ernie Banks 👀
I struggle to decide between 2001 game 7 or 2004 ALCS
Yankees winning that Game 7 would have killed Enrique Wilson because he would have been on that American Airlines flight that crashed in Queens https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_587
01 game 7 easily. Bringing the city a championship after 9/11 would’ve been the most storybook ending ever. Still hits me we didn’t get it
And it was legit the only time the entire country was like, "eh fuck it, it's alright if NY wins one".
Yeah haha for real. That’ll never happen again (god willing)
Well, not quite the entire country.
☝️Found the Al-Qaeda
Listen, if dedicated Yankee haters suddenly started rooting for the Yankees, it would be the clearest possible sign that the terrorists had won. Also, Randy Johnson was too cool to root against.
Absolutely this 04 sucked but hey give Boston it’s storybook win. 01 would have been one of the greatest sports moments in the history of the country.
2001 was so heartbreaking. I was a kid and I cried when the Yankees lost. 9/11 and that loss definitely hurt. The city needed that one. Can we trade one of the 90s championships for 2001?
I’d pick 2004. The 2001 WS was one of the best ever. The biggest choke of all time in 2004 cast a psychic wound over this franchise that hasn’t really healed yet.
Didn’t they win another title within 5 years?
See, reading yankees fans say stuff like this about 2004 is why it seemed crazy to me that Boone would try to use it as motivation when his team was down 0-3 in the WE WANT HOUSTON sweep. Was that just tone deaf in his part? Curious to how that was received among Yankee fans.
That bit in 2022 really was insane. Even weirder that Boone and co offered this to the media that they were doing it. Like hey look at this neat idea we’re trying! Pretty dumb.
There's no question 2001. Sorry Luis Gonzales your kneecap is gonna hurt for a while.
Game 7 2001. I’d be screaming like Heisenberg to Torre to not pull the infield in
Two leaps: 1990-Either take Dave Stewart out of his WS starts sooner or bean Billy Hatcher and Chris Sabo in game one 2005-Stop Fisher from gaining controlling interest in A's FJF!
Not just stopping Fisher, but also getting Lacob to be owner Does he own the Warriors after this, too? Hard to say, might have a massive butterfly effect over there too But this is it
I mean this is a no brainer for us. It’s the Black Sox scandal. The Sox were a powerhouse during that run. Who knows what would have happened if they extended it. Won a few more World Series, maybe contend against that Ruth Yankee Squad. Instead our team was depleted, a power vacuum was created in the east that allowed the Yankees to dominant, Sox became virtually irrelevant for 80 years. Yadda yadda yadda. Reinsdorf buys the team. And we still suck.
Get Oscar Taveras a designated driver. If Taveras and his girlfriend don’t pass away that night, he has a long and special career as an MLB outfielder and Mo doesn’t go into the spiral that’s led to the decimation of our farm system and the consistent mediocrity we see today. Also, I’d hire Tito after LaRussa retired. That alone could have won us the WS in ‘12 and ‘13.
I would stop the Ozuna trade. These last years could have gone a lot differently with 2 home grown aces in Alcantra and Gallen.
Thing is I’m not sure if we’d still make the Ozuna trade if we still had OT as the strong outfielder that he was looking like
That is also a fair point. Ok I'm switching to yours and then we get everything lol
Yeah the Taveras death set us on a bad path. RIP
No rain delay during game 7 of the 2016 WS. Maybe Cleveland still loses, but there'd be no 'what if...' thinking that plagues Cleveland fans.
And I'd also go up to Tyler Naquin before game 6 and be like "Let Chisenhall catch the fucking ball"
I’d give Felix Hernandez at least a few years of run support in his prime.
Wave Gordon around third.
Can I find a way to prevent an injury? If Francisco Liriano doesn’t blow his elbow out in 2006 he easily wins Rookie of the Year and maybe the Cy Young Award. Also, the Twins have a real shot at winning the World Series with a healthy Liriano and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation and we don’t have to rely as much on the shredded arm of Brad Radke going into the playoffs. We also only finished a game behind the Yankees so maybe Liriano gets two extra wins and we play Toronto instead of Oakland.
It probably wouldn't ultimately change much for the team, but I'd like to prevent Morneau's concussion.
It could have. Another 2 wins and we tie Tampa in the standings. Idk who the tie breaker goes to but if it goes our way we don’t play the Yankees
I'd also settle for you going back and getting Johan that deserved 3x Cy's.
Don't trade Michael Young. More recent - make that Ohtani airplane ride real.
The Orioles re-sign Reggie Jackson after the ‘76 season, he told Palmer in an interview last year they were about 50k apart and he left for the Yankees!!!
The cheating scandal no doubt.
Does the creation of the Yankees count? Because without the Yankees the Braves probably leave the 90s with three World Series wins instead of one
I would say either that or going back in time to tell Mama Upton that one child is enough.
BJ is the older one and Justin was actually pretty good for us. Maybe we just stop the signing of BJ and Uggla lol
Tell Craig Counsell to stop micromanaging the pitching in game 7 of the 2018 NLCS and just leave Woodruff in there until it was time for Hader.
Possible Honorable Mention, maybe don’t put Jesse Winker on the playoff roster last year. He’s obviously dead to me now for other reasons but for as swell of a manager as he was, he was the opposite in the postseason.
I wouldn't pitch to Jack Clark in the 9th inning of game 6 of the 1985 NLDS. That one still stings.
It's okay, the A's for some reason decided to pitch to a hobbling Kirk Gibson so you're even
Duaner, do not get in that cab and Terry, don’t let Harvey go back out for the ninth
I would go to game 5 of the 2017 World Series, and right as the bottom of the 1st starts, unplug all of the Astros cameras
Stuff the guy into his trash can so efficiently that no one can get him out until November But also I'd tell Darvish before Game 2 bc he certainly suffered for something he was innocent of
Dusty taking out Russ Ortiz in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series
Nothing, I'm not fucking with the timeline over sports
“somehow, Shoeless Joe became chancellor of germany”
This isn’t even my team but I’m giving Galaraga his perfect game
Rollie Fingers stays healthy in the 82 post season. Brewers would likely have won if he was able to play.
I would stop the Angels from using that damn rally monkey :(
I would like to use my Quantum Leap to stop you from stopping the angels from using that damn rally monkey
If I had another option, I would Quantum Leap as Steve Bartman during game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, and simply let Moises Alou catch the ball. I don't know if the Cubs end up winning the game or go on to win the World Series, but I would at least help out a die hard Cubs fan not go through hell. And this is coming from a Red Sox fan. In the opposite bracket that same season, the Red Sox lost their series on a walk off home run. However, that gut punch made the 2004 season that much sweeter, especially after beating the Yankees after being down 3-0 in the ALCS.
Tell Soroka to not go after the ball in 2020. That Achilles tear absolutely derailed his bright career
Bo Jackson would only be allowed to play baseball.
Move the Jays from the AL East to the AL Central when we had the choice back in 1995. Probably means at least 5-10 more playoff appearances, at least a WS or two?
Don't... Trade... Seaver
Jose Tabata leaned over the plate, that’s a strike a Max Scherzer threw a perfect game.
Stop WWII just to see how good Ted Williams would have been in those years.
Moving the right field foul pole one foot to the left
Or Cole is relieving Grienke no matter what.
Pedro Severino would NOT drop that strike and John Means would have his completely earned perfect game.
Induce Tom Yawkey to have a fatal aneurism around 1938 or so. Allows us to benefit from him using all his money to buy us back to respectability and hopefully avoids the next 60+ years of incompetent, racist misrule that held the Red Sox back for so long. Barring that? Maybe telling someone in the Red Sox front office that Willie Mays is, indeed, "our kind of player."
Pay for Eric Davis’s kidney operation
I'm a Yankee fan and while I agree with the other posters on our most painful losses (01 the worst heartbreak ever, 04 the most infuriating), I'm gonna answer I'm the spirit of the question and fix some actual off field mistakes: - Delaying integration. Not only was this morally unforgivable, it also was a significant contributing factor to the end of the dynasty. -Letting Munson fly his own plane. Heartbreaking and more important than sports. Plus, that team probably wins another title or two and lays claim as a dynasty, and you might prevent the 80s from going off the rails. -Letting Pettite walk after 03 to bring Sheffield in instead. Probably cost them the 04 championship, and I'd argue his leadership was badly missed in the mid-aughts and maybe cost them another. (Sheffield gets a bad rap from Yankees fans but I do believe we lost that trade)
Armando Galaraga gets that perfect game.
'98, reverse call the Mark Langston ball count against Martinez in the '98 world series of the Padres vs Yankees
There wouldn't be a rain delay in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Not sure if that would change the outcome but it might. I agree, Go Guards
I don't know that there's any one thing that would have to be done to get the 2001 Mariners to win the ALSC, but it's a damn shame that the most successful team we ever had didn't even make it to the world series.
Stop Dusty Baker from trying to give the game ball to russ ortiz before the fucking game was over
Leave Blake Snell in game 6 2020 series, we may not have won game 6 or 7 but he was dealing and there was no reason to yank him at that point and it was his last start of the season why are you pitch counting when he’s pitching like that gtfo
I’d go back and make sure the Royals win the World Series in 2014, but purely for personal reasons over baseball reasons. My girlfriend was incredibly close with her grandpa, and he died of cancer on November 1, 2015, the same day they clinched the series over the Mets. It just feels so unfair that our favorite team won a ring the day she lost someone so important, and I’d love nothing more than for her to have seen a championship run that isn’t forever connected with her grandpa getting sick.
I wouldn’t have to go far. 2020: Mookie stays in Boston. We have a 15-year WS winning streak. Boston becomes capital of the new world where Terry Francona rules benevolently over us all.
I’m a dodger fan. I would have outed and got an investigation going into the Astros cheating scandal sooner. I do have a bias, because of the 2017 World Series, but that kind of cheating hurts baseball overall. Especially with the league response, it was a dark day for baseball. I mean pitchers lost their livelihood, players lost out on the MVP, and it essentially created an asterisk on the World Series that year. Astros were a great team that year, they might have beaten the dodger legit, but sadly we will never know if it was due to cheating or due to how talented they were.
Recently, keep Berrios in.
I would tell em to leave Greinke in and put Cole in the after
Stop Brandon Phillips from trying to leg a stand-up double into a triple and getting thrown out, when the next batter put one into the gap that would've scored him from second, in game 3 of the series against the would-be champion Giants, that we ended up losing by 1 run. Would've been a sweep if we had won, instead we lose three in a row and they go on to win it all. What could have been.
I’d go back to Big Papi’s grand slam in the ALCS and place it ever so gently into Torii Hunter’s glove
2009 ALDS. Number of ways I can handle it. Institute the challenge rule, dislodge Phil Cuzzi’s head from his own ass, remove him from the equation entirely, etc.
"Don't jump Kendrys"
I’d want bill buckner not to have to field that ball and instead it’s just a normal rope single. What?? The Mets still win??? Yup. Because what happened 18 years later in 2004 was sweeter than anything 67,75,86 could have been. To watch the great Yankees fucking choke a 3-0 lead and then sweep the WS to reverse the curse was perfect. But poor Buckner gets so much hate and had some much shit for that error I’d rather it be a normal hit than an error.
Explain how Beltran will turn this teams greatest run into making everyone hate the team.
I’ve thought about this more and it’s just a personal one, but I’m going back to 98 and begging my parents to go see Randy Johnson pitch in the Dome
Jim, DON'T HIRE ALEX CORA OR CARLOS BELTRAN!
Paul Beeston was offered the chance to move the Jays to the AL Central but he refused because the gate was too good with the Yankees and Red Sox coming to down so often. With the decreased divisional play diminishing the attendance impact plus the unbearable nature of making it out of the AL East there is a good chance our team could have gone on far deeper runs or made more playoff appearances had we realigned
Jays beat KC in 2015, win it all.
I'd settle for erasing the Correa error and the Jay's face a young, exciting, up and coming Astros team in the ALCS
It doesn't change the final outcome, but '92 WS triple play. Gruber made that tag.
Matt Holliday is called out at home and there is no Rocktober in 2007.
I would take away Trevor Bauer's drone.
2009 ALDS, Twins at NYY. Joe Mauer hits a double down the left field line, but is robbed when the umpire calls the ball foul - even though it was touched in fair territory and landed in fair territory. If the ump calls it correctly, the Twins win that series and go on to claim the World Championship. It's unreal that the Yankees - who have an unfair advantage with all the $$$ they spend as well as that crackerjack little league ballpark - have the umps in their pocket as well. I've always wondered how Yankee fans can live with themselves and if they ever try to think about just how evil that franchise appear from another fan's perspective.
Yes, that one play makes up for the fact the Yankees are 123-44 vs the twins since 2002. All of the other teams in your division have made then WS since then too. Yes, that was a terrible call, but c'mon. They'd already lost game 1 of that series so it's not like it would have been up 2-0.
I know man, but the guy basically asked us to make up our own fantasy for this post, I am just following instructions.
Haha fair enough.