Vote: What Is the Biggest Boston Sports Miracle Moment of All Time?

by abournenesn

Apr 19, 2011

Vote: What Is the Biggest Boston Sports Miracle Moment of All Time? If you're a Boston sports fan, your answer to Al Michaels' legendary 1980 question is yes, you do believe in miracles.

You also believe in curses, but that's a topic for a different time.

The Bruins have left Montreal and headed to the cozy red, white and blue confines of Lake Placid, N.Y., for their two days off before returning north of the border to take on the Canadiens in Game 4 of their first-round playoff matchup.

When any sports fan thinks of Lake Placid, Herb Brooks and the 1980 Miracle on Ice immediately comes to mind. So what better way to fire up the Black and Gold troops and the city of Boston, than to look back on a handful of Boston sports miracles?

  • Bobby Orr became the subject of the world's most famous sports photo when he buried the game-winner in overtime during Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals and flew through the air in celebration.
  • Fourteen years later in Miami, Doug Flutie became a household name thanks to his Hail Mary connection with Gerard Phelan in Miami in 1984. The play even boosted Boston College's increase in applications 28 percent from 1983-1985 — a phenomenon now known as the Flutie Effect.
  • Two years after Flutie's pass, Dave Henderson spanked a two-out, two-strike home run in the top of the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS against the Angels. The Halos were leading the series 3-1 and were one strike away from their first-ever trip to the World Series. Hendu had other plans and smashed a two-run go-ahead homer off pitcher Donnie Moore that kept the Sox alive. Boston would go on to win that series and take on the Mets in the World Series.
  • Across the country and about a year later, Larry Bird boosted his immortality with a simple steal and a pass. With five seconds to go in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons (who with a win, would have had a 3-2 series lead and homecourt in Game 6), Bird stole an inbound pass by Isiah Thomas and sent it "underneath to D.J." to give the C's the improbable win. They would go on to beat the Pistons in seven games.
  • The 1999 Cleveland Indians were stacked with the likes of Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Roberto Alomar, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and Harold Baines, among other All-Stars. The group had won the pennant twice in the previous three years and were itching for their first World Series win since 1948. With the series tied at 2-2, and a 5-2 lead heading into the third inning of Game 5 at Jacobs Field, Indians fans were ready to move onto the ALCS. The Sox, however, weren't going down without a fight. Boston put up five runs in the third to take the 7-5 lead but the Tribe would answer with three quick runs in the bottom half to reclaim the lead 8-7. After a John Valentin sac fly in the fourth to tie things up, the Sox handed the ball off to an ailing Pedro Martinez. Pedro would not only shutout the high-octane Tribe offense for the ensuing six innings, he managed to allow zero hits to a team that scored an MLB-most 1,009 regular-season runs.
  • What first appeared to be a simple lucky call has actually turned out to be the start of a dynasty. The Tuck Rule, a controversial call in the 2002 AFC divisional playoff matchup between Tom Brady's Patriots and the Oakland Raiders, will go down as the most miraculous call in the most dominant decade of Patriots football.
  • Simply known around these parts as "The Steal," Red Sox fans will forever remember Dave Roberts for his miraculous swipe in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Yankees. The steal not only sparked the rally for Boston's first win of the series, it sparked faith into the players and fans as the team would go on to win three more in a row to finish off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. A miracle? Indeed.
  • The 1980 United States hockey team pulled off quite the miracle in Lake Placid, but the Boston University Terriers managed to win a title in incomparable fashion in the NCAA Finals in 2009. After Miami (Ohio) netted an insurance goal with four minutes to play in the final frame of the Frozen Four Finals, BU appeared to be on their way to accepting second place after a long, grueling season. However, with just a minute to go and their goalie pulled, the Terriers slipped in their second goal of the game to cut the lead to 3-2. Then, with 17 ticks on the clock, BU stuck again to knot it up and send things into extra time. With about eight minutes remaining in OT, BU's luck continued as a shot from the point was deflected over the Miami keeper's shoulder to give the Terrier's the title.
  • In 1975, Carlton Fisk hit a deep flyball into the Boston night. Pudge and the entire region of New England waved the ball fair for one of the most iconic moments in baseball history. It worked, and the end result was a memorable walk-off home run in Game 6 of the World Series. Sure, the Red Sox ended up falling to The Big Red Machine in Game 7, but many remember that Fall Classic for that one lasting image Fisk waving the ball fair than anything else.
  • What's your favorite Boston sports miracle? Leave your thoughts below.

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