The catch that Mike Moustakas made on Tuesday night in Kansas City, where he reached over into a dugout suite, gave himself a boost on a railing, fell into the suite, and somehow held on to the ball, has gone down as one of the most iconic moments of the playoffs this season. In fact, let’s look at it again, shall we?
Whew, that was an awesome catch. And while history will eventually determine just how iconic this play becomes, we have to ask the question – what are some of the other great catches in Postseason history? Here are some of the best (that we have video for), and we’ll let you determine if the catch by Moustakas is worthy of being placed alongside of these.
1954 World Series, Game 1 – Willie Mays.
It’s known simply as “the catch”, and for good reason – Willie Mays robbing Vic Wertz of extra bases and keeping the game tied at two is simply put, one of the most amazing plays we’ve ever seen in baseball.
1982 World Series, Game 3 – Willie McGee.
This is one of those plays that has kind of faded into baseball history, but it was truly impressive. The 1982 World Series was tied at one game apiece, and the Brewers were down 6-2 in the ninth inning. With a man on first and none out, Gorman Thomas hit a rope to left center at County Stadium, and Willie McGee made this unreal catch to rob him of a home run (or possibly just extra bases, depending on how the physics worked out). The Cardinals went on to win Game 3 6-2, and that was a good thing – they lost the next two games in Milwaukee before winning a pair back in St. Louis to claim their ninth World Championship.
1991 World Series, Game 6 – Kirby Puckett.
The Braves were up 3-2 in the 1991 World Series, and had a chance to win their first World Championship in Atlanta in Game 6. Minnesota took an early 2-0 lead, but with a man on first and one out in the third, Ron Gant hit a deep fly ball to left center field. Kirby Puckett scaled the wall and brought the ball in, keeping the deficit at two runs. The Braves ended up tying the game at two in the fifth, and each team scored another run before Puckett hit a walk off homer in the tenth to send the series to a Game 7. The Twins won that one, and you could argue that Puckett’s catch was instrumental in them winning their second title in five seasons.
2001 ALDS, Game 5 – Derek Jeter.
This is a play very similar to the Moustakas catch – pop fly down the line, infielder flying into the crowd. We give Derek Jeter a lot of hell, but this play was simply incredible. It came with one out in the eighth inning of a 5-3 game, and Terrance Long represented the tying run for Oakland. You simply can’t deny how huge of a play it was for the Yankees, even if the chances of the A’s tying the game were slim with Mariano Rivera on the hill.
2005 World Series, Game 4- Juan Uribe.
The second to last out of the World Series, and there was no way that Juan Uribe was letting this pop-up by Chris Burke drop into the stands. The White Sox only had a 1-0 lead, and Houston had the tying run on second base – any hit would have tied the game. Four pitches after this catch, the White Sox were World Champions.
2006 NLCS, Game 7 – Endy Chavez.
The Endy Chavez catch. Man. If the Mets were able to scrape more than one run across the plate, or held the Cardinals in the ninth inning…Chavez would be a folk hero in Flushing for robbing Scott Rolen of a two-run homer.
2012 NLCS, Game 2 – Jon Jay.
Jon Jay has come up huge for the Cardinals on multiple occasions in the Postseason, but this may have been the best one – even if the game ended in a blowout in favor of St. Louis.
Alright, so let’s hear it – where would you put the Moustakas catch on this list?
