Thursday, January 7, 2010

Greatest Games of the 1980s: Detroit Edition

21. Tigers: 4 Blue Jays: 2 (October 2, 1985): The oldest home run champ. 1985 was a disappointing season. The Tigers won the World Series the year before and fell to 84 wins. In a game attended by yours truly, Darrell Evans launched his 40th home run. He was the oldest player to lead the league in homers (back when that mattered). Kirk Gibson followed Evans and hit an inside-the-park shot. Jack Morris beat Dave Stieb.

22. San Francisco: 24 Lions: 23 (December 31, 1983) Monte says a Prayer. NFC Divisional Playoff. The Lions had this won. In an iconic Lion moment, Coach Monte Clark went into prayer as Eddie Murray, one of the most accurate kickers ever, missed a 43 yard FG with 5 seconds to go. 49ers win. Lions go home. Happy New Year!

23. Lions: 48 Bears: 17 (October 19, 1981) Night of the Hipple. Eric Hipple was the third string QB for the Lions. The others struggled, so Hipple got the start and lit up the Bears. Hipple ran for two scores, threw 4 more, and passed for 336 yards.

24. Kansas: 96 Spartans: 86 (OT) (March 21, 1986) The Clock Game. In the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State led the Kansas Jayhawks. With 2:21 left, the clock stopped for nearly 20 seconds. With 9 seconds left, Kansas scored the tying basket. The game should have been over and MSU should have advanced to the next round. However, the game went into overtime and the Sparties lost.

25. Red Wings: 3 Oilers: 1 (May 5, 1987) Night of the Dead Things. Campbell Conference Finals Game 1. The Red Wings finished under .500 for the season, but won the first two rounds of the playoffs. In Game 1 of the Conference Finals, they went into Edmonton and defeated Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers. Edmonton newspapers called it the “Night of Dead Things.” The Oilers won the series in 5.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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