The Yankees had a chance to force Game 6 of the World Series with a win on Wednesday night, but they blew it and fell to the Dodgers in the game and the series. The Game 5 loss was highlighted by a brutal five-run fifth inning in which New York made three defensive errors to allow Los Angeles to return to contention.

After the World Series loss, Alex Rodriguez not only criticized the Yankees’ collapse but also called it a historic disaster.

“This is one of the biggest collapses I’ve ever seen in 40 years,” said the former Yankees slugger turned Fox Sports commentator.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an inning like this, especially in a World Series or postseason game.” – Derek Jeter

“This is one of the biggest meltdowns I’ve ever seen in 40 years.” – Alex Rodriguez ⚾️📺🎙️ #WorldSeries #MLB pic.twitter.com/VUWQcJCmxA

– Awful Announcement (@awfulanncreasing) October 31, 2024

Despite Rodriguez’s definitive statement, however, there are several other collapses that rival or even surpass the Yankees’ Wednesday night one.

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The biggest postseason collapses

2011 World Series Game 6

Perhaps the single most memorable meltdown occurred in Game 6 of 2011, when the Rangers could have won their first title.

Leading the Cardinals by three runs in the eighth inning, the Rangers squandered the lead and gave up a game-winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, due in part to a triple by David Freese over the head of Nelson Cruz. Then Texas took a 9-7 lead in extra innings, but blew that one too. St. Louis won the series in seven games.

2002 World Series Game 6

A similar situation occurred in 2002, when the Giants had a five-run lead over the Angels in Game 6 and had a chance to win the series. However, Los Angeles came back as Scott Spezio hit a three-run home run to take the lead and Troy Glaus doubled in the winning run to take the lead and win the game 6-5. The Angels then won Game 7 to claim their first-ever World Series title.

2022 Wild Card Game 2 and 2008 ALCS Game 5

While these two World Series games rival Wednesday’s Game 5 in magnitude, two other games exceed them because of the deficits they have overcome.

When the Mariners defeated the Blues Jays in 2022 and the Red Sox won Game 5 over the Rays in 2008, both teams erased seven-run deficits for the victory. Seattle secured a series win with this victory, while Boston would lose this series despite the comeback.