Groundhog Day: Former Major Leaguers select do-over moments

In honor of Groundhog Day -- and the legendary film that celebrates the occasion -- we asked current former and players to tell us about a moment in their career they wish they could take a mulligan on, or to give us a day they wish they could replay over and over again because it was so memorable. (In light of Sunday's Super Bowl, there are a few people in the sports world who would like a do over right now.)

For one player that redo involved getting locked in the bathroom, for others it was heartbreaking Game 7 losses. Others chose to reflect on certain October heroics that they wish they could experience again.

Harold Reynolds
Reynolds' wish for a do-over doesn't involve any of the 5,398 plate appearances or 1,374 games he played over parts of 12 Major League seasons. Instead, the MLB Network personality would go all the way back to a Triple-A game in 1983 -- well, more specifically, the moments before that fateful game when a quick trip into the bathroom to relieve some of his pregame jitters left him trapped in the process. More »

Video: Harold on getting locked in the bathroom in Triple-A

Corey Kluber
Kluber's career is worth examination. After all, the movie in question centers around a character, Phil Connors, who takes advantage of his time-loop trap to master skills -- interpersonal and otherwise -- that would have otherwise taken years, if not decades. Kluber, the Indians' reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, is really no different. More »

Eric Davis
Davis of course remembers the 1990 season very fondly. But the day the club won it all was far from perfect for him, personally. Davis would fix one big thing about his experience on Oct. 20, 1990, the day the Reds sealed a four-game sweep in the World Series. More »

Jeff Brantley
Brantley, the Reds' broadcaster and a former reliever, took a slightly different tack. Brantley wanted a do-over for an entire season -- 1998. "I had to go back and have surgery again, do all of that rehab another time, and it was just never the same after that," he said. More »

Todd Hollandsworth
Cubs pre- and postgame analyst Todd Hollandsworth was with the Marlins when they beat Chicago in the 2003 NLCS. He doesn't credit the most famous foul ball in Cubs history, but another moment in that same critical eighth inning of Game 6. More »

Video: Fans discuss how they would change Game 6 of '03 NLCS

Tom Hamilton
If he could go back in time, Hamilton knows what he would change about the decisive Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. The Indians radio voice would tell the clubhouse workers to hold off on rolling in the trophy and bubbly. He would try to convince somebody to rip down those plastic sheets in the name of karma. More »

Jerry Reinsdorf/Britt Burns
A single thought ran through the minds of the White Sox as they approached Game 4 of the 1983 American League Championship Series, sitting on the brink of elimination against the Orioles. Somehow get to Game 5. The White Sox never got the chance. Baltimore claimed a 3-0 win in 10 innings to earn a 3-1 ALCS victory. More »

Matt Harrison
If there's anybody who would want to use Groundhog Day to get one more try at it, that would seem to be the losing pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. That would be Matt Harrison, who was the Rangers' starting pitcher in Game 7 of the 2011 World Series and ended up taking the loss against the Cardinals. More »

Eric Byrnes
What day would Byrnes want to be stuck in? The MLB Networks analyst would choose Oct. 6, 2007, the date of the D-backs' Game 3 clash with the Cubs in the National League Division Series, when he hit the biggest home run of his career, a sixth-inning solo shot off of Carlos Marmol at Wrigley Field. More »

Video: Byrnes on reliving hitting a home run at Wrigley

Mike Lowell
It may have been difficult to pick only one day out of a 13-year career that featured two World Series championships and four All-Star appearances, but Lowell was up to the task, picking Game 2 of the 2007 World Series. More »

Billy Ripken
For Ripken, the one day he would want to relive on a loop features the unique combination of family, baseball and milestones. The MLB Network analyst's day of choice would be July 11, 1987, the day he made his Major League debut with the Orioles at second base, right alongside his brother Cal Ripken Jr. at shortstop and his dad, Cal Ripken Sr. managing. More »

Perry Hill
Although 2003 ended with a champagne celebration for the Marlins, it also produced a historical low. That came on June 27 at Fenway Park, when the Red Sox gave the Marlins a 25-8 beatdown in a game infield coach Perry Hill would like to have back for a do-over. More »

Cecil Cooper
Nothing gnaws at the earlier generation of Brewers players more than the arm injury that kept relief ace Rollie Fingers off the mound for the final four weeks of the 1982 regular season and all of the postseason. How often does former Brewers slugger Cooper ponder what might have been, had Fingers been healthy? "Quite often," he said. More »

Rich Aurilia
If there's one contest that continues to gnaw at the Giants, like former shortstop Aurilia -- subject to the endless review suggested by Groundhog Day, which happens to be Monday -- it's Game 6 of the 2002 World Series at Anaheim. More »

Walt Weiss
Any day Rockies manager Walt Weiss relives the golden moment of Oct. 28, 1989, when he was manning shortstop for the A's in Game 4 of the World Series, is a good one. More »

Video: Weiss loves to relive last out of 1989 World Series

Jim Leyland
Leyland's last chance to win a World Series with the Tigers sailed out of Fenway Park with a pair of grand slams in the 2013 AL Championship Series -- one from David Ortiz in Game 2, the other from Shane Victorino in Game 6. It's the former that haunts Tigers fans, and might for years to come. More »

Gary Varsho
It is an unrelenting memory that is both warming and haunting to Varsho whenever he thinks about it, which is often, still 24 years later. It could have been the defining moment of a 14-year career, and it died on third base on Oct. 16, 1991. More »

Jason Hirsh
The Rockies have many golden memories from the 2007 run to the team's only World Series appearance. But in some ways, the most impressive feat may be forgotten to many -- but not to former Rockies pitcher Hirsh. More »

Gaylord Perry
As a Hall of Fame pitcher, former Giant Gaylord Perry does numerous personal appearances. It means plenty of chances to relive the experience that never leaves him: His no-hitter against the Cardinals on Sept. 17, 1968, in which he struck out nine. And the final inning gave him a lifetime of stories to tell. More »