These are the 25 best postseason hits

February 10th, 2020

Mere seconds after Game 7 of the 1992 National League Division Series had ended, former President Jimmy Carter hopped over a railing in front of his box seats, dodged the celebration at home plate and sprinted toward Braves third-base coach Jimy Williams for a victorious hug.

Carter understood that Williams' gutsy decision to wave less-than-fleet-footed Sid Bream home with the winning run was a franchise-changing moment for his Atlanta Braves.

Williams had noticed that Pirates left fielder Barry Bonds had moved a few steps closer to the left-field line, and when Francisco Cabrera grounded a single to Bonds' right, the throw became a bit more awkward.

So Williams wildly waved Bream home, and the Braves were soon on their way to the 1992 World Series.

We associate postseason memories with dramatic home runs and gut-churning strikeouts and heart-stopping defensive plays. But plenty of our sweetest memories, are singles and doubles, the kind of plays that stitch together the fabric of a season.

If we remove home runs from the equation -- those get plenty of attention -- here are our 25 postseason hits:

1. Luis Gonzalez, D-backs
Game 7 2001 World Series
Ninth-inning walk-off single

Gonzalez hit 57 home runs in the regular season, but it's the little looping single that just cleared the drawn-in Yankees infield in the bottom of the ninth inning to score the winning run and end one of the greatest World Series played.

2. , Cardinals
Game 6 2011 World Series
Game-tying two-run triple, ninth inning

The Rangers were one strike from winning the World Series in the bottom of the ninth inning when Freese delivered a game-tying two-run triple that sparked a comeback. He would end Game 6 with an 11th-inning home run, and then the Cardinals won Game 7.

3. Edgar Renteria, Marlins
Game 7 1997 World Series
Walk-off single, ninth inning

Renteria ended a four-hour, 10-minute classic against the Indians with a walk-off single that scored Craig Counsell and gave a franchise in its fifth year of existence a World Series trophy.

4. Cabrera, Braves
Game 7 1992 NL Championship Series
Walk-off single, ninth inning

Cabrera's two-run single to left completed a three-run rally to complete Atlanta's comeback against Pittsburgh. Williams was the unsung hero of the evening by waving Bream home with what would be the pennant-winning run.

5. Edgar Martinez, Mariners
Game 5 1995 American League Division Series
Two-run walk-off double

One of the great moments in Seattle sports history, Martinez's double in the bottom of the ninth decided a series in which the Mariners won three straight games after the Yankees took the first two.

6. Troy Glaus, Angels
Game 6 2002 World Series
Two-run double, eighth inning

The Giants were six outs from winning their first West Coast World Series when Glaus gave the Angels the lead. They would hold on to win it and also win Game 7 the next night.

7. , Cubs
Game 7 2016 World Series
Run-scoring double, 10th inning

Zobrist's double scored Albert Almora Jr. with the go-ahead run and set the Cubs up for an 8-7 victory over the Indians in a game that went for four hours, 28 minutes and had a 17-minute rain delay after the ninth inning.

8. Joe Morgan, Reds
Game 7 1975 World Series
Run-scoring single, ninth inning

Twenty-four hours after the Red Sox won what might have been the greatest game played on Carlton Fisk's walk-off homer off the left-field foul pole, Morgan's run-scoring single in the top of the ninth gave the Reds their first lead.

9. Jim Northrup, Tigers
Game 7 1968 World Series
Two-run triple, seventh inning

The Cardinals' Bob Gibson and Mickey Lolich started three games apiece, including a climactic showdown in Game 7. It was a scoreless game until Northrup put the Tigers in position to win, 4-1.

10. Ray Knight, Mets
Game 6 1986 World Series
Run-scoring single, ninth inning

The Mets were one out from elimination when Knight dumped a single into right-center to score Gary Carter and get them within a run at 5-4. That's when the Red Sox came undone and lost, 6-5, to set up a Game 7 that the Mets also won.

11. , Astros
Game 5 2017 World Series
Walk-off single 10th inning

The Dodgers had a four-run lead in the fourth inning and a three-run lead in the fifth. The Astros squandered a three-run lead in the ninth. Bregman then ended the five-hour, 17-minute street fight with a two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Houston a 13-12 victory.

12. Tony Womack, D-backs
Game 7 2001 World Series
Game-tying double, ninth inning

Before Gonzalez delivered the hit that won the World Series, Womack tied it with a run-scoring double in the bottom of the ninth off Mariano Rivera. Two batters later, Gonzalez ended it.

13. Cookie Lavagetto, Dodgers
Game 4 1947 World Series
Two-run walk-off double, ninth inning

The Yankees were an out from taking a 3-1 series lead when Lavagetto doubled to right for a 3-2 Dodgers victory.

14. Joe Rudi, A's
Game 3 1973 ALCS
Game-tying single, eighth inning

The A's were trailing the Mets by a run in the bottom of the eighth when Rudi's single scored pinch-runner Allan Lewis. Three innings later, Bert Campaneris won it with a walk-off home run.

15. , Royals
2014 AL Wild Card Game
Two-run walk-off single, 12th inning

Perez's hit completed a two-run comeback and ended one of the best postseason games played with Kansas City beating Oakland, 9-8.

16. Thurman Munson, Yankees
Game 4 1978 World Series
Game-tying double, eighth inning

The Yankees were six outs from going down 3-1 when Munson's run-scoring double in the bottom of the eighth tied the game and set the Yanks up to beat the Dodgers on a Lou Piniella single in the bottom of the 10th.

17. Ken Boyer, Cardinals
Game 5 1964 World Series
Bunt single, 10th inning

Boyer's bunt to the left of the pitcher's mound put the Cardinals in position to take control of the game against the Yankees on Tim McCarver's three-run home run.

18. Earl McNeely, Senators
Game 7 1924 World Series
Walk-off double, 12th inning

Walter Johnson pitched four innings of shutout relief on one day of rest and also reached base on an error in the bottom of the 12th to bring up McNeely, who ended it with a double to left and a 4-3 victory over the Giants.

19. Aubrey Huff, Giants
Game 3 2010 NLDS
Game-tying single, ninth inning

Huff's two-out single in the top of the ninth inning tied the game, and moments later the Giants beat the Braves when Freddy Sanchez raced home on an infield error.

20. Bill Mueller, Red Sox
Game 4 2004 ALCS
Game-tying single, ninth inning

We remember that Dave Roberts stole second base as a pinch-runner. We remember that David Ortiz won it with a walk-off homer in the 12th against the Yankees. Somehow forgotten is that Mueller made it all possible with the single that scored Roberts with the tying run and began the improbable journey to a championship.

21. Gene Larkin, Twins
Game 7 1991 World Series
Walk-off single

Jack Morris had pitched 10 shutout innings and thrown 126 pitches in one of the great postseason performances of all-time. It was Larkin's bases-loaded single to deep left-center that won it for the Twins over the Braves.

22. Scott Spiezio, Cardinals
Game 2 2006 NLCS
Two-run triple, seventh inning

Spiezio's hit tied the game for the Cardinals and put them in position to win two innings later, beating the Mets, 9-6.

23. , Phillies
Game 3 2008 World Series
Walk-off single, ninth inning

In a game that included a 91-minute rain delay, Ruiz ended it with a 45-foot infield single that scored teammate Eric Bruntlett to beat the Rays.

24. Dave Winfield, Blue Jays
Game 6 1992 World Series
Two-run single, 11th inning

Devon White and Roberto Alomar got on base in front of Winfield, and the future Hall of Famer delivered with a hard grounder into the left-field corner to beat the Braves.

25. Kiki Cuyler, Pirates
Game 7 1925 World Series
Two-run double, eighth inning

Cuyler collected the hit that broke a tie and put the Pirates ahead of the Senators to stay off future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.