When the Yankees play in their wild-card showdown on Tuesday, many will no doubt recall the team’s most famous one-game do-or-die affair, Game 163 in Boston in 1978, when Bucky Dent hit a three-run homer over the Green Monster to win the division for New York.
But before Dent was even born, the Yankees were involved in a similar make-or-break game. It came on the final day of the season and capped a pennant race with enough drama to rival that of 1978.
The 1949 American League race included a big blown lead, a controversial call and a superstar leaving his hospital bed to help rescue his team.