Victory Faust's Prophecy Comes True

Victory Faust's Prophecy Comes True (1911)

In the summer of 1911, a Kansan named Charlie Faust found John McGraw in St. Louis and told him a fortuneteller said he would help the Giants win the pennant. McGraw, as superstitious as they came, kept him around as a good-luck charm, and the Giants took off. On this day, with the pennant already won, McGraw handed him the ball for the ninth inning against Brooklyn. Faust didn't allow a run. Then he was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and came home. The fortuneteller was right.

Hack Wilson Loses the Sun, the Cubs Lose the Game (1929)

The Cubs led the A's 8-0 in Game 4 of the World Series, heading to the bottom of the seventh. Center fielder Hack Wilson lost a fly ball in the blinding afternoon sun, and it fell for a three-run homer. The A's kept coming and scored ten runs in the inning to win, 10-8. Nearly a century later, no team has come back from further down in a World Series game.

Six Future Hall of Famers, One Afternoon (1963)

Days after the World Series, the majors' Latin American stars gathered at the Polo Grounds for a charity game unlike any before it. Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Luis Aparicio, Tony Oliva and Minnie Miñoso all took the field, and the National League won, 5-2. It was the first and only game of its kind, and the last baseball game ever played at the old ballpark. Getting them all on one field was an event.

The Fans Come Back (2020)

For an entire season, big league baseball was played to empty seats and cardboard cutouts. That ended on this night in Arlington, Texas, when 10,700 fans walked into brand-new Globe Life Field for Game 1 of the NLCS. It was the first MLB game with fans since spring training shut down in March, and the first time anyone had watched a game in the new ballpark. They sat in small, spread-out groups, and still made enough noise to remind everyone what was missing.