a meltdown

What you are about to witness is a meltdown.

Here is the context:

• it is Game 4 of the Best-of-5* 1980 National League Championship Series
• the Houston Astros are leading the Philadelphia Phillies two games to one, and therefore need one more win to go on to their first ever World Series
• Houston is the home team, playing in the cavernous astro-turf lined Astrodome
• the game is scoreless going into the 4th inning
• during the 4th inning, a meltdown occurs

Please feel free to watch the game in its entirity.

In fact, if you have roughly 15 hours to spare, you can watch games one through three to get the entire context of the series.

We have attempted to set the embedded video here to begin playing in the 4th inning so you can jump right into the precursor to the events.

If the video does not start in the 4th inning, you can fast-forward to the 43-minute mark and begin watching.

The scene pretty much comes to an end around the 1:08:30 mark (approximately 25 minutes total).

You might want to be sitting down for this.

Please note there is a bit of a spoiler below the video – some details about what you will see in the scene if you are still deciding whether you want to watch it or not.

Last word of advice: as of the writing of this article, the attached video seems to have low audio levels, so you may need to crank the audio – the commentary is vital to the full appreciation of this scene.

_{*the League Championship Series switched to the current (as of writing) format of Best-of-7 in 1985}

******* SPOILER ALERT *******

Here are some more details of what this scene contains:

• potentially the first triple-play in MLB Playoff History
• the umpires have some uncertain and possibly conflicting calls and confusion ensues
• the poor quality video feed renders the announcers unable to determine what actually occurred on the play
• a decision to consult the National League President for guidance on the play who happens to be sitting in the front row on the 3rd base line (smoking a cigar, of course)
• the emergence of a telephone with a long cord that is somehow taken to the National League President
• a decision to overturn the play
• a decision to overturn the overturning of the play
• the umpires deciding that their initial incorrect call led to further outs and deciding to withdraw those outs
• the sideline reporter attempting to put a microphone in between a private conversation between the National League President and the Umpire Crew Chief
• the decision by the Phillies that they would protest the game
• the decision by the Astros that they would also protest the game

There is a lot to unpack here.

We may need to watch it another 10 times.