F

#1 -- '92:    Mighty Rey Sanchez hits a pinch-hit grand slam in Game One of the Series versus Brooklyn to win it for the B-Sox.  Alas, though, for this would be the Sox' only win in the series, as the dominant Thunder of '91 won in five.  During the season, Rey Sanchez had been only 1 for 6...the one hit in the regular season?  A homer.  Also, the fact that Sanchez had been pinch-hitting for the league MVP, Matt Lemler, at the time makes this moment the most unexpected and, at least in my mind, the most memorable event in playoff history.  Even the fact that I still remember most of the details of the infamous play make it all the more amazing..

#2 -- '99:    Forever to be known as the 'Bonehead Nettles' play, Houston was playing Brooklyn in game seven of the league championship series and down 2-1 to the Thunder in the eighth innning.  With one out, Craig Nettles hits a deep double to center.  The next batter, Don Zimmer, hero of playoffs past, hits a bloop single into right.  Nettles makes third, and as he does, for some inexplicable reason, rounds the bag like he was going home.  The Brooklyn right-fielder, who was going to throw to third all along, makes a pinpiont throw and catches Nettles hanging the wrong way for the second out.  Ironically, the next Houston hitter comes up with a single, which would have scored Nettles and tied the game.  Houston goes down in order in the ninth, and fails to make the World Series for only the first time in the last five years.  from 95' to '00, Houston appears in five series, winning three.

#3 -- '96:    In the second and final Dallas-Houston intrastate battle, Don Zimmer averages .444 in the series, hitting several clutch extra-base hits to propel Houston past the muscle of the LoneStars.  This ends the short-lived dominance of Dallas.  Though they would continue to annually lead the league in homers, Dallas' fortunes plummet with the '97 realignment of LA, Colorado, Houston, and themselves all going into the same division.

#4 -- '92:    Los Angeles is robbed once again in the dying moments of the season.  NY's Tiger Kahn wins 11 straight ballgames in the 2nd half of the year; and ties LA on the last day of the season.  NY throws out the Cy Young winner Kahn on three days rest in the one-game playoff, and LA uses left-hander Scott Radinsky to shut down Tatum Bell and company.  NY wins the sudden-death playoff in a blowout, but goes on to lose in the only Crosstown "Subway Series" to the Brooklyn Thunder.

#5 -- '97:    New York and Brooklyn renew their Crosstown rivalry, only this time it's in a one-game playoff played at the Polo Grounds in Brooklyn.  Unlike the '92 World Series, the downtown Black Sox claim the victory and the East Division in a mild upset of the talented Thunder.

#6 -- '92:    The Brooklyn Thunder catch the strong Avatar team with a 50-25 second half run.  At the all-star break, a huge "fire-sale" trade was made between Little Rock and Brooklyn which swung the momentum to Brooklyn.  In the trade, Brooklyn recieved such then-All-Stars as Mark Lemke, Steve Avery, Dave Justice, and Deion Sanders; while the Dreams received such "big-name(?)" pitchers as Al "Bonus" Hill and Ken Benson along with other unmentionables.  In a sidenote, Benson would go on to a superb career with the expansion Heifers.

#7 -- '96:    In Atlanta Braves fashion, Houston comes back from an eight-game deficit with two weeks to go and catches the young and explosive Nappanee Nubs.  The Nubs feature shortstop Micheal Jordan, who has perhaps the greatest single offensive season of all time, hitting .380 with 54 homers and 170 RBI's.  Houston goes on to win the second of three championships.

#8 -- '91:    Brian and Mark Feldman make a trade with four weeks left...Steve Avery for Jack McDowell, straight-up.  Avery wins his next 8 starts in row to pull the Bombers ahead of Los Angeles by three games to win the pennant.  The trade itself is what is so memorable here.  At the time of the trade, McDowell was hands-down the best pitcher in baseball, and leading the league in wins.  Steve Avery, on the other hand, was eight games under the .500 mark, but rolls off eight consecutive wins to finish the season at 16-16, leading the league.  On the other hand, McDowell fails to win another game the rest of the season, and finishes the season with a rather disappointing 12 wins.  For this prophetic and daring trade, Feldman was unanimously awarded GM of the Year.

#9 -- '95:    In an unprecedented event, both the expansion Dallas LoneStars and Houston Heifers make the Series after only their second seasons of play (Brooklyn had made the series in its first season, but all the teams in that league had been expansion).  Houston wins this epic battle between good-and-evil, power-and-pitching in 5 games behind a stellar pitching staff and scrappy offense.  Houston goes on to two more consecutive championships, defeating Dallas once again in the next season.

#10 -- '94:    For the first and only time, two teams owned by the same person met in the Series.  Brian Feldman's pitching-powerful Bourbon Bomber and Chicago Crusties met in the Series.  The Crusties had an exceptional starting staff that season; putting three starters under 2.00 ERA.  The Series was won by the Bombers, making them the first team to multiple championships.  That would change with expansion...

TIE #11 -- '97:    A most improbable series matchup occurs when the 82-80 Little Rock Dreams defeat Brooklyn in five close ballgames to take the eague pennant.  Perhaps the weakest league champ ever, the young and star-struck Dreamers give Houston all they want in a five-game series.

            #11 -- '98:    Taking the title of most unexpected divisional winner ever, the expansion Maple Grove Crimson win the Hamlet West with an unimpressive 79-83 record.  This group of overachievers are immediately slaughtered by the Nubs in the League Championship.  That season, Nappanee records a monstrous 129-33 record and boasts three 20-game winners.

 Note:  If anyone has any other great playoff memories, then let me know.  The Heifer Dynasty period is somewhat foggy in my memory, and I'm pretty sure that the Heifers or perhaps the Dreams may also have been involved in a one-game playoff.  Anyway, as you can see, it's still hard to get 10 REALLY great playoff moments when we've only finished eight seasons.  Other fantasy leagues I read about have completed over twenty seasons; I think that gives us something to shoot for.
 
World Series Year-By-Year:

'91:  Bombers defeat LA (regular season title)
'92:  Thunder defeat NY
'93:  Bluebirds defeat NB
'94:  Bombers defeat CR
'95:  Heifers defeat DL
'96:  Heifers defeat DL
'97:  Heifers defeat DR
'98:  Nubs defeat HF
'99:  Nubs defeat TH
'00:  Nubs defeat HF