20 Of The Biggest Refereeing Blunders You’ll Ever See in a Professional Game

1. Denkinger’s Failure

Image Source: Sports Illustrated

Apologies to Armando Galarraga, but this particular failure at first base far surpasses his stolen perfect game. The 1985 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals went the distance — but only because of Don Denkinger. The Cardinals, ahead in the series 3-2, were three outs away from clinching the World Series when disaster struck. Up 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals seemingly recorded the first out of the inning on a routine ground ball hit by Jorge Orta.

Orta’s slow chopper was fielded by first baseman Jack Clark. Clark’s throw to Todd Worrell — St. Louis’ closer whom was covering first — beat Orta to the bag. Although Orta was clearly out, Denkinger called him safe. Kansas City would go on to score two runs in the inning, forcing a decisive Game 7. The Royals won Game 7 in dominant fashion, 11-0.