The Daily News had the headline today that read, “Worst Weekend Ever.” Is that true? Well, I decided to look back on some previous baseball disappointments to see what the football team did that weekend. As far as I can tell, it looks like this weekend was the worst ever.
-On Sunday, September 20th, 1964, the Eagles fell to the 49ers 28-24. It hardly dampened the spirits of Philadelphians, however. The baseball team beat the Dodgers that day and had a 6 1/2 game lead with but 12 games left to play, and World Series tickets were beinng printed. On September 21st, Chico Ruiz stole home, and by the next weekend they were in a freefall. It certainly didn’t help the city’s mood when the Eagles fell to the Browns 28-20 on September 27th, the same day that the Phils lost the lead in the National League. The next Sunday, the 4th of October, the Phillies beat the Reds 10-0. It was too late, however, as the Cards won that evening to win the National League. It was of small consolation that the Birds beat the Steelers 21-7 that day.
-Friday, October 7th is known as Black Friday in Philadelphia, as the Phillies choked in the 9th inning of Game 3 of the NLCS against the Dodgers in 1977. They had a 5-3 lead with 2 outs in the 9th. But then Vic Davillo laid down a perfect bunt, Luzinski ran into the wall, Sizemore misplayed the throw in, the umps blew a call at first, and suddenly it was a tie game. An errant pickoff throw put Davey Lopes of the Dodgers at 2nd, and Bill Russell drove him in with a single. The Dodgers would win the game 6-5, and win the series in 4 games. Many people think that the ’77 team was the best Phillies team ever. Two days later, the Eagles would defeat the Giants 28-10 to go 2-2 on the season. They would end the year 5-9.
-On October 26th, 1993, Mitch Williams gave up that infamous home run to Joe Carter, allowing the Blue Jays to win the World Series. There was nothing to distract Philly sports fans from their misery, either. The Eagles had a bye week that week.
