The 20 most notorious gaffes and blunders in MLB history

At the beginning of modern-day baseball, fans rushing the field in celebration of a victory -- regardless of the point in a season -- seemed relatively commonplace. So hardly anybody noticed when 19-year-old New York Giants rookie Fred Merkle, sitting on first base during a game against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 23, 1908, failed to take second base on Al Bridwell's single that brought up the winning run from second. Well, legendary Cubs infielder Johnny Evers did, grabbed a ball and touched second base -- after the play with umpire Hank O'Day in tow. O'Day consulted with his umpiring crew, Merkle was called out and the game eventually ended in a tie. The result mattered, as the Cubs and Giants were vying for the NL pennant. They finished the season tied for first, the game had to be made up and the Cubs won.

Fred Snodgrass was a solid hitter and above-average fielder during his MLB career (1908-'16). However, the New York Giants' outfielder might be best remembered for dropping a relatively easy fly ball that led to a two-base error for Boston's Clyde Engel during the 10th inning of the decisive Game 8 (that's right) of the 1912 World Series. New York led 2-1 at the time, and Snodgrass actually made an exceptional catch moments later, but the Red Sox scored two more times in the frame and went on to win 3-2.

Hank Gowdy was a respected major league catcher and a two-time World Series champion. However, Gowdy and the New York Giants fell short of winning the 1924 Series against the Washington Senators. Gowdy has long been considered a big reason the Giants failed that season, as he was unable to catch a foul out behind the plate in the 12th inning of Game 7 when his foot got stuck in the catcher's mask he discarded while trying to make the play, and lost his footing. That opened the door for the Senators to score the game-winning run.

Babe Ruth's postseason achievements are truly legendary. However, there was one not-so-special moment that Ruth experienced that is often forgettable amid his greatness. In the ninth inning during Game 7 of the 1926 World Series against St. Louis, Ruth drew a two-out walk with the Yankees trailing 3-2. With the winning run at the plate, Ruth tried to better the team's chances of scoring by trying to steal second base. But, the throw from Cardinals catcher Bob O'Farrell was right on the money for Rogers Hornsby to tag out Ruth and clinch the Series for St. Louis.

The Brooklyn Dodgers, and their fans at Ebbets Field, thought they'd won Game 4 of the 1941 World Series, 4-3 to even the series after the Yankees' Tommy Henrich chased a Hugh Casey breaking pitch for the final out of the ninth inning. But, as the Ebbets' faithful roared the presumed victory, the pitch kicked off the mitt of Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen and rolled to the backstop. An alert Henrich safely made it to first base on the dropped third strike. Though still one out away from victory, the wheels fell off for the Dodgers, who allowed four runs in the inning and eventually lost 7-4.

One of the great characters in Major League Baseball history -- for better or worse. One of Randle's more innocent antics, within the broader context of his controversial arsenal, occurred in 1981. While playing third base for Seattle, Randle tried to make a batted, slow-rolling ball, from Kansas City's Amos Otis, go foul by blowing it out of fair territory at the Kingdome. Of course, it was deemed interference by Randle, and Otis was awarded first base. 

Whether the great George Brett thought he was getting a competitive advantage by loading his bat with pine tar or not, his reaction to his go-ahead, ninth-inning home run at Yankee Stadium on July 24, 1983. After being called out by crew chief Tim McClelland, following a lengthy deliberation by the umpires that his pine tar exceeded designated areas of the bat, Brett stormed out of Kansas City's third-base dugout, completely irate and ready to physically attack McClelland. In the end, the game was protested by Kansas City, ultimately suspended and finished at a later date (with the Royals winning 5-4), while various legal cases came to light due to the famed incident.  

Over the years, it's been affectionately referred to, simply, as "The Call." Perhaps the most infamous umpire blown call in MLB history came during Game 6 of the 1985 World Series between St. Louis and Kansas City. In the top of the ninth of a tie game, the Royals' Jorge Orta was ruled safe by umpire Don Denkinger, on a grounder to first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped to pitcher Todd Worrell, who clearly stepped on the bag before the runner. Mayhem ensued, but the play stood, and the Cardinals unraveled and eventually lost 2-1 to set up a Game 7. Denkinger became Public Enemy No. 1 for Cardinals fans and even received death threats because of the play, which opened the door for Kansas City to win the series.

The most casual baseball fans of a certain age -- or any age for that matter -- remember the slow roller from New York Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson making its way through the legs of Boston first baseman Bill Buckner in the 10th inning of a tie contest in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The error allowed Ray Knight to score the winning run from second base, capping a three-run 10th inning for New York, which snatched a World Series title from the Red Sox by forcing a Game 7 -- which it won. Sadly, the play defined a stellar big-league career for Buckner.

One of the good guys in the game, Steve Lyons was a serviceable major leaguer for parts of nine seasons. So it was natural that Lyons was able to laugh it off when he beat out a bunt single at Detroit on July 16, 1990, by sliding head first into first base. In an attempt to shake the dirt out of his waistline, Lyons spaced and unbuckled his pants, which fell down in front of the Tiger Stadium crowd. It was a harmless gaffe, but memorable nonetheless. 

Jose Canseco clubbed 462 home runs, but he was never known as a great fielder. That was never more evident than May 26, 1993, when Canseco was playing right field for the Texas Rangers. Cleveland's Carlos Martinez sent a ball deep to right field, where Canseco went back toward the wall, only to have the ball bounce off his head and over the fence for a home run. Despite the outcome, Canseco was able to laugh it off.

Tony Fernandez was a five-time All-Star and won four Gold Gloves. However, he failed to field Craig Counsell's grounder in the bottom of the 11th inning in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. Instead of a potential double play, the play opened the door for the Florida Marlins to win the game and capture the franchise's first title.

Sure, it might be unfair to claim Rivera's ninth-inning performance in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series at Arizona was a true blunder. However, prior to that moment, the legendary Yankees closer had converted 23 consecutive save chances in the playoffs since Game 4 of the 1997 Division Series. He had allowed only one earned run in 15 2/3 innings during the 2001 postseason entering the bottom of the ninth. But his errant throw to second on Damian Miller's bunt set the stage for the Diamondbacks to overcome a 2-1 home lead in the inning. Rivera then allowed the tying double to Tony Womack and, of course, Luis Gonzalez's flair single that brought home the World Series-winning run. 

One of the great characters of the game, Sammy Sosa was also linked to the MLB's steroid era of the 1990s and into the 2000s. However, he also sought a competitive, yet illegal, advantage in other areas of the game. The baseball world saw proof of the latter on June 3, 2003, when Sosa broke his bat during an at-bat versus Tampa Bay, and cork was discovered inside the lumber. Sosa, who claimed he mistakenly grabbed a batting practice bat, was suspended for eight games. 

Chicago Cubs and baseball fans chastised fan Steve Bartman to no end for his alleged interference with Moises Alou's unrealistic chance of catching Luis Castillo's foul ball in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. However, moments later, in a 3-1 game the Cubs led in the eighth inning -- five outs away from their first World Series berth since 1908, Chicago shortstop Alex Gonzalez botched Miguel Cabrera's bouncer right to him with one out. He didn't get anybody out on the play, and the Florida Marlins went on to score seven of their eight runs in the frame. The Marlins eventually won to force a Game 7, which they also claimed to continue the Cubs' World Series drought

Manny Ramirez is one of the true characters to ever grace a MLB diamond. Boston Red Sox fans can't forget the time Ramirez, while playing left field at Fenway Park in 2004, cut off a throw from center-field teammate   Johnny Damon, on the warning track, during a game against Baltimore. Ramirez's intercession on the play eventually allowed the Orioles' David Newhan to circle the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

It's still hard to tell if Angels catcher Josh Paul cleanly caught Kelvim Escobar's ninth-inning pitch during Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS. While home plate umpire Doug Eddings initially didn't make a ruling, but Paul rolled ball back toward the mound and the Angels left the field. However, the White Sox's A.J. Pierzynski darted down to first on the dropped third strike, which was the official call. Instead of an inning-ending strikeout in a tie game, Pierzynski was lifted for Pablo Ozuna, who stole second and scored the winning run on Joe Crede's double.

Armando Galarraga's bid for a perfect game ended because of umpire Jim Joyce's imperfection. With two out in the ninth inning at Detroit's Comerica Park on June 2, 2010, the Tigers' starter appeared to have completed a perfect game when he took a toss from first baseman Miguel Cabrera on a grounder by Cleveland's Jason Donald, and stepped on the bag ahead of the runner. However, veteran umpire Joyce called him safe, stunning players and fans alike with the obviously wrong decision. In a rare display of humanity, Joyce admitted after Detroit's 3-0 win that he had blown the call and even met with Galarraga, who settled for a one-hit complete game shutout, about the matter.

On May 27, 2021, then-Chicago Cub Javier Baez made the Pittsburgh Pirates look like a bad Little League team. On a grounder to third base in the third inning, Baez stopped running halfway down the first-base line and backtracked toward home plate, with Pirates first baseman Will Craig casually chasing him. While this seemingly amusing scenario was happening, Chicago's Willson Contreras successfully managed to score from second base as Craig was late with the throw, and never tagged Baez, who raced safely to first and took second on catcher Michael Perez's errant throw. It was one of the most miraculous and comical baserunning plays in MLB history.

Toronto's George Springer is a fine player, a four-time All-Star and World Series MVP. However, one of his most memorable major-league moments came for all the wrong reasons. At home against the Athletics on June 1, Springer reached third on Alejandro Kirk's run-scoring double with two out in the fifth inning. But, he opted to bounce up and down on the bag, where A's third baseman Max Schuemann took the throw from left field and promptly tagged Springer mid-bounce. Originally called safe on the play, the A's challenged and the decision was overturned, thus ending the inning. Toronto still won the contest.