OpenTube

Baseball's Biggest Bad Luck Charms

A Brand New Ball Game

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Follow me on Twitter if you'd like: https://x.com/abrandnewballg
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Who are the biggest bad luck charms in Major League Baseball? Is it the guys who have missed the most playoffs? Lost the most World Series? Never made the playoffs? In this video I lay out a set of criteria to see if I can track down the biggest bad luck charms in MLB history, and decide on a single player as the king of them all. What's crazy is, more often than not, these bad luck charms are household names and legends. So, who's at fault here, and is baseball just a sport of pure luck at every level?
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Chapters
Introduction: 0:00
Most Games Without a Playoff Appearance Part I: 1:54
A Breakdown of Playoff Opportunities: 3:36
Most Games Without a Playoff Appearance Part II: 4:52
Most Playoff Misses: 6:22
Most Seasons Without a Playoff Appearance: 11:49
Most World Series Losses: 18:15
Most World Series Losses Without a Single Win: 22:15
Conclusion: 34:18
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Resources Used
MLB:
Baseball Reference:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/
FanGraphs:
https://www.fangraphs.com/
Baseball Savant:
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/
Aparadvila
Arnie Lee:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Baseball Almanac:
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/play...
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/play...
Chicago Sun-Times:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/202...
Chuck Anderson
ESPN:
https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=36...
Flickr
HBO
MCubed: http://mcubed.net/mlb/mfpm.shtml
Jim Acordino
Metsmerized Online:
https://metsmerizedonline.com/mets-to...
SABR:
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-g...
https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/septe...
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fred-...
SportsLogos:
http://Sportslogos.net
WorldSeriesRings:
http://WorldSeriesRings.net
YouTube:
680TheFanAtlanta
baseballruski6047
classic-twins
classicmlb1952
classicsfgiants7201
danielhuddleston7527
falco2911
ForeverExpos
Francisco64able
MadMarkTVOfficial
Myfootage
petegoodwinboston4825
pheniafilmsthemlbarchiveso9229
Scoclamor
SportsOdyssey2015
StephensBaseballArchives
ThisIsWhereYouFindBaseball
yankeeclassics7932
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Music Used: https://x.com/ABrandNewBallG/status/2...

18 Comments

@wq7170 4 months ago

Immense relief for Merkle

@dunkelmonkey 4 months ago

Not a "bad luck charm" but Ted Williams and Mike Trout have run into a lot of bad luck

@JoanofBark-n8l 4 months ago

Thanks for mentioning Rusty Staub. When he played in Montreal he was probably the most popular player among Canadians.

@backsgl 4 months ago

My new headcanon is that Terry Pendleton was so pissed at losing two World Series to the Twins that he cursed them to never win a Series again.
Well we broke the postseason curse in 2023, so we're getting there. Or rather we WERE getting there before the Polhads struck again...

@micklemore 2 months ago

fun fact Elston howard is the grand uncle of Josh Hart on the Knicks!

Also these videos are some of the best baseball stuff on yt

@big8dog887 4 months ago

Thing is, Merkle's play was every bit as much due to common custom as it was to "boneheadedness". In that situation, teams often walked off the field when the runner crossed the plate without bothering to touch all of the bases. This is particularly true in a place like the Polo Grounds, where fans had to walk onto the field to leave, and the clubhouses were located in the deepest part of centerfield over 500 feet from home plate. Merkle just did what a lot of players did, namely try to beat the crowd. This wasn't "Merkle's Boner" so much as it was Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers genius. Earlier in the year the situation came up and Evers tried to retire the runner, and, while the umpire agreed that was the rule, he didn't actually see the play to call it. This time Evers tipped the ump off to watch for it. There is a lot of dispute as to whether the ball that Evers used to retire Merkle was, in fact, the live game ball, as a lot got lost in the crowd, but Evers got the call and the rest is history.

@nickbovi 4 months ago

Love the random Jung Hoo Lee, little league homerun for Giants against the Dodgers. This was a fun and informative video.

@JohnSmith-zw8vp 4 months ago (edited)

OMG if I was sitting on that '69 Cubs bench I would've been sent back to Des Moines (or whatever their AAA team was at the time) before the game was even over...upon seeing that black cat I would've been like KITTY!! :D And I'd want to get down on my knees and try cuddle and play with the kitty! What can I say, after my late wife introduced me to cats in 2010 I've been a "wannabe crazy cat lady" ever since! And like that nun in Sound of Music would say, the fur of a black kitty is just as warm and soft and cuddly!

@portalmasterjake5267 4 months ago

This video deserves way more love, this was an amazing watch!

@russellst.martin4255 2 weeks ago

Probably for the best most of these guys aren't around to see a potentially sub .500 Al team make the playoffs

@timsmith9536 4 months ago

Good video and interesting choice of music from one of the Zelda video games. Thanks for posting

@davidalexander8996 4 months ago

Terry Pendleton was a third baseman. Fred Merkle doesn't deserve as much blame for the 1912 World Series due to Fred Snodgrass dropping a fly ball to start the Boston rally. Had the play been made, the Giants likely would have won the series, Merkle would have been forgiven much sooner, and Pendleton would have had the worst World Series luck of all. I hope the Braves gave Pendleton an honorary ring for the 1995 title.