Happy Sunday folks! Hope you’ve slept off the hangover from last night’s festivities. If your heads still pounding, give this a beat and make the morning coffee. Don’t worry though, this one’s nice and light compared to Saturday’s World Cup piece. Today, in keeping with our Fourth of July theme, we are carving out Mount “Clutchmore,” to celebrate the most clutch moments in New York sports history. So sit back, relax and enjoy the moments that made it into our big four. We’ll start with an honorable mention from back in 1996!

Honorable Mention: Jimmy Leyritz

We begin with a moment that is actually very similar to OG’s tip in (more on that in a bit), from game four of the 1996 World Series. Aside from taking place in the same numbered game, the homer you see above swung the series in the exact same way. The 96’ Yankees were the franchises best shot to win a title since the early 1980’s, with a new young core emerging to take over the American League. They won the AL East at 92-70 in Joe Torre’s first season in charge, and then they knocked out Texas and Baltimore in short order to win the pennant.

Waiting for them from the NL side though was an entirely different beast from those two teams, the Atlanta Braves, the decades most dominant team so far. The Bravos won the first two games in the Bronx, putting New York in a real hole as the series shifted to the soon to be closed Fulton County Stadium. They won the game three behind a gutsy effort from David Cone and despite trailing 6-0 early in game four, they had trimmed the Atlanta lead to 6-3. Cue Jim Leyritz who came up with two on and one out against Braves closer Mark Wholers, the first where were you moment of the 90’s dynasty.

Leyritz ability to spoil off tough pitches, was impressive, even more so was his continuing playoff track record that started the fall before against Seattle. In 61 playoff at bats, Leyritz has 8 homers, and 20 RBI’s, outstanding numbers for a guy who didn’t play a lot, but this dinger was the biggest. The Yanks would go on to win the game 7-6, and the series 4-2. This homer is the fork in the road moment in a postseason that was littered with clutch performances from Yankee players. If this doesn’t happen, the Braves very well may go on to win the series, their second straight title, Joe Torre probably gets fired and some of the core probably gets dealt. It’s huge but this being an honorable mention should say a lot about what’s ahead on the list.

“BEHIND THE BAG!”

Let’s go back ten years to the 1986 postseason, one bursting with expectations for the Mets. 86 was supposed to be THE year for this Mets core, and they checked every box in the regular season going 108-54, winning the East in the process. They were deep and firing on all cylinders, but as usual the playoffs are the great equalizer.

They battled a very talented and pitching rich Astros team in NLCS, eventually winning the series in game 6 in the Astrodome, avoiding a game 7 clash with ace Mike Scott in the process. That set up a date in the World Series with the Boston Red Sox, a team of destiny…or so they seemed to be. Boston had a deep lineup and a pitching staff led by Roger Clemens. They had overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the ALCS against the Angels and won the first two games of the series in New York.

The Mets did win game 3 and 4 at Fenway to force the series back to Shea, but trailing the series 3-2 and game six 5-3 in the tenth, the Sox had the champagne on ice. What happened from there, still feels like the baseball gods choosing not to smile on Boston, as the comeback you watched above took place. The fact that the Mets did all this while they were down to their last out for four consecutive batters and their last strike for two of those, is hard to fathom. Boston came as close as you possibly can to winning a title, or at least until Toronto did last year, without getting it done. As if the rally wasn’t cruel enough, Bill Buckner being the goat (not the good kind) for the next 18 years of his life was even more harsh. For the Mets this moment is even massively important as it kept them alive to win it all the next night. While this team didn’t end up becoming the dynasty everyone wanted, thank god they got this one!

MATTEAU! MATTEAU! MATTEAU!

Next up we jump ahead to 1994, a year that was very similar in terms of expectations for the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts entered the 54th season of their Stanley Cup drought with fans believing this was THE year. After coming somewhat close in 1992, they reset following a disappointing 93’ campaign, by loading up with more talent and hiring coach Mike Keenan. They dominated the regular season going 52-24-8 (112 points), good enough to win the Presidents Trophy for the leagues best record.

Then came the playoffs, and the spring marathon saw the team pick up where they left off. They blew the doors off of the rival Islanders in round one, and then easily dispatched the Capitals in round two. That set a date with their cross river rivals, the New Jersey Devils who had a great regular season of their own. Most hoped the domination would continue, but the Devils had other ideas.

The two teams battled through the first four games to a 2-2 draw in the series, but then Jersey rolled in game 5 at the Garden. That set up the famous Messier guarantee hat trick, which forced the series to a seventh game at MSG for all the marbles. After the devils tied it with eight seconds left, the game went to double OT…much like Leyritz…cue Stephane Matteau. The goal you see above is the biggest in Rangers history, as the unlikely hero propelled them to the Finals, which they won in seven. Matteau is proof that you should never downplay any part of a trade, as he was a throw in piece in the deal to acquire Steve Larmer from Chicago at the deadline. Every player can have their moment and he seized it…saving the Rangers season, Keenan and Neil Smith’s jobs, and the fan base from a full on meltdown. His name rings on forever thanks to Howie Rose iconic call!

The Helmet Catch

Let’s get something out of the way to start here, as much as I love Joe Buck, his call of this moment is awful. I don’t need him screaming like Gus Johnson, but can you give me something Joe?! That’s why I went with Marv’s version from the radio broadcast above. If you think Matteau and Leyritz were random heroes, man we’ve got you beat here.

The 2007 Giants were a team with a fair amount of pressure on them. Eli Manning was now entering his fourth season at quarterback, ditto for head coach Tom Coughlin. The previous two campaigns had yielded an embarrassing home playoff defeat to the Panthers and an 8-8 season. Despite an 0-2 start, they did manage to get hot, reaching 6-2, before trading wins and losses down the stretch finishing 10-6, good enough for the sixth and final seed in the playoffs. Most notably, they had a tough but encouraging late season loss to the dominant Patriots…file that away for later. They got a favorable draw in the first round against a weaker Buccaneers team, who they handled rather easily 24-14, sending them to Dallas to face the rival Cowboys who went 13-3 in the regular season. They shocked the world in Texas winning 21-17, sending them onto Green Bay to face Brett Favre in the title game. They’d pull off another upset winning 23-20 in OT thanks to a Favre pick and a Lawrence Tynes field goal, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl!

Now the true David versus Goliath matchup was to take place. The scrappy Giants would face a team on the brink of history, the same undefeated Patriots who had cruised the regular season and then Jacksonville and San Diego in the playoffs. The Pats led 14-10 into the fourth and the Giants had a do or die drive on their hands, which brings us to our moment in time above. David Tyree’s arrival from relative obscurity to the spotlight was remarkable in the moment, and it’s even more remarkable to look back on now. You know the rest from here, Manning would find Burress in the end zone to win the game and the Giants would lift the Lombardi, the first of two against New England. The story of this postseason is really the emergence of Eli Manning as one of the most clutch players of a generation…but none of it’s possible without the helmet catch.

The Tip

It’s hard to believe this was just about a month ago now, as it feels like it was just yesterday. The Knicks title run captured all of our imaginations, and lifted the mood of the whole tri-state area. As I said earlier, this moment has a lot in common with not just the 96 Yankees, but all of these moments, despite OG being a bigger star than many of the players. There was real pressure on this season like these teams. A magical rally like the Mets in 86. A first year coach with the owner breathing down his neck like Joe Torre. And above all, one singular play changing everything.

To be blunt, the Knicks probably blow this series if OG doesn’t make the play you see above. Yes they won game 1 and 2, yes they played well on the road all postseason…but they would have lost all momentum had they dropped game four. The rally as a whole was something not even Hollywood could dream up. But to think it almost wasn’t completed because of two mental mistakes by Josh Hart. The tip in saved the series, saved the public from a meltdown, and Josh Harts legacy as a Knick.

It was as though the basketball gods intervened and lifted OG above everyone else on the floor, to make the play of his life. Build the statue, retire his number, do whatever you want for the guy, he earned it! Without him we don’t get this either…

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