Heartbreakers; Baseball's Most Agonizing Defeats

ix, [3], 274, [2] pages. Illustrations. (50 black-and-white photographs). Includes Acknowledgments, Introduction; 1951: Dodgers Crushed by the "Shot Heard 'Round the World'"; 1960: The Yankees Walk the Plank in Pittsburgh; 1962: A Line Drive Spells the End of the Giants; 1965: Koufax Throws Strikes in Taming the Twins; 1969: Mets Deflate the Cubs' Pennant Hopes; 1972: A Wild Pitch Sinks the Pirates; 1975: Red Sox Edged by the Reds in a Memorable Classic; 1977: Royals Flushed by the Yankees; 1978: Bucky "Dents" the Red Sox with a Borrowed Bat; 1984: Cubs' Lofty Intentions Are Grounded by the Padres; 1986: Angels' Wings Are Clipped by the Red Sox; 1986: Astros Fall to the Mets in a 16-Inning Marathon; 1992: Red Sox Denied a World Series Title Once More; 1992: Pennant Eludes the Pirates for the Third Straight Year; and 1997: The Indians Are Ambushed by the Marlins in Extra Innings; and Index. John Kuenster (June 18, 1924 - April 2, 2012) was a sportswriter for the Chicago Daily News and most notably, was the editor of the periodical Baseball Digest. He also wrote the books To Sleep with the Angels (1990), Heartbreakers (2002) and At Home and Away (2003), among others. Here, John Kuenster recalls fifteen of the game's most painful disasters of the last half-century and looks at them from the losers' point of view. With a reporter's skill and a fan's enthusiasm, he sets the scene for these memorable matchups, surveys the players who led each team to the big moment, and tells the story of the game and the emotions that can't be erased. Kuenster has hit a Grand Slam. Bobby Thomson's home run in the ninth to beat Brooklyn and give the Giants the 1951 National League pennant. Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning homer for Pittsburgh to beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. The Mets' amazing 1969 stretch drive. It's the winners we remember in baseball's most dramatic episodes. But baseball being a game of inches, it's often a fine line between victory and defeat. Losing is unexpected, unpredictable, frequently a consequence of fickle fate. The game is designed to break your heart, Bart Giamatti said. He has interviewed key players who suffered the defeats, providing personal insights and sometimes surprising perspectives on the game action that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Heartbreakers offers a box seat for-and a fresh slant on-the replay of baseball's most thrilling games.…