Florida facing difficult challenge

In order to force a Game 7, the Marlins must best Mark Prior, the best pitcher to come into baseball in two decades.

Updated: October 14, 2003, 8:48 AM ET
By Jim Baker | MLB Insider
Let's face it: what lies ahead for the Marlins appears to be a daunting task. In order to force a Game 7, they must best Mark Prior, perhaps the best pitcher to come into baseball since Roger Clemens showed up in 1984. Is there any precedent for teams being in a similar predicament and somehow overcoming the odds to triumph?

Let's take a look at just a few of the precedents that involved teams in similar dire straits:

1924 World Series, Game 6
Art Nehf of the Giants pitched well but it wasn't good enough as New York lost Game Six to the Senators, 2-1 and then lost the next game and the Series 4-3. By this time in his career, Nehf was about league average, but he had been a top drawer guy in his day. Interestingly, he always pitched better in the World Series than he did in the regular season.


To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Jim Baker | email

Page 2
Jim Baker is an author at Baseball Prospectus and a frequent contributor to Page 2. You can e-mail Jim at bottlebat@gmail.com.

SPONSORED HEADLINES

MORE MLB HEADLINES

MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM

ALSO SEE