Bino’s Top 10 Worst Losses Witnessed In Person
- Anthony Gambino
- Jul 30, 2024
- 6 min read
If you know me well you know I have been at some really rough sporting events as a fan. Some might say that I’m lucky to have even been to this many big games and I totally get that. However, now that I’m writing for a website named Wrong Side I feel as if I must share some of the most wrong side moments of my life.
First, I want to mention it has not all been bad. I was in the building when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 as a second-grader. I’ve been at countless big Phillies playoffs wins over the last two years. I have seen wins and I’m totally not a jinx (even though you definitely will think I am after seeing this list.)
Let’s start with two honorable mentions:
I went to this game on Halloween 2009. I remember being in 3rd grade and lowkey being upset I had to stop trick or treating. One of the more fraud moments in my sports fandom career, but as a defending WS champ I thought we were going to win every year. I didn’t understand the significance of what I was watching so it doesn’t crack the Top 10.
I will refer to the team that beat the Phillies in the playoffs last year as 84 representing the amount of wins they had. Went into this game with high hopes. Once Tommy Pham went yard I knew it was over. And when I say “it” I mean the season.
Let’s get into the Top 10
Coming in at #10 is one of the least talked about yet one of the worst losses in the “Process Era” Sixers. Coming into this game up 2-1 in the series following a blowout win all signs were pointing to the Sixers running away with this series. Instead, Embiid had what ended up being the shits and “needed an IV at 6AM”. Kawhi Leonard dropped 39 points in a game that the Sixers let get away from them, shooting only 40% from the floor as a team. I actually sat courtside at this game so the experience was great, but the result led to a 7 game series that ended on some shot that I definitely don’t see get posted every day on social media.
Here’s a photo of me getting pumped courtside.
The fact that this game only is #9 on the list shows how bad it is about to get. The game itself easily could’ve been the worst out of any of them. Packers score 1 TD on the first drive of the game, lose on a game winning FG. Only TD the 49ers scored was on a blocked punt with 4 minutes left in the game. An absolutely heartbreaking game. What keeps this only at #9 is just the experience as a whole and the stories about this trip that will be told for the rest of my life. Fellow Wrong-Sider Matt Cooper drove his Chevy Cobalt 9 hours from Columbus, OH to Green Bay, WI so that I could live out what had been a dream of mine since I was a young child and I’ll always be grateful for that.
The Wrong Side didn’t end after that game winning kick as we parked in someone’s drive-way for the game. And then it snowed during the game and the street wasn’t plowed. So we spent 2 hours just getting out of a street right next to the stadium. Moops then insisted on driving home that night and we made it to right outside of Chicago before we decided to stop at a Red Roof Inn during the middle of a full snowstorm. I’d be here all day if I was gonna tell the full story, but although the loss was heartbreaking, the funny moments, memories and being able to finally go to Lambeau trumped a lot of the heartbreak. #WholesomeBino
A bunch of us at the game.
Don’t really have much to say about this one. The Pham Homer in Game 6 is when I knew. We let an 84 win team come into the most electric environment in MLB postseason history and win two straight games. Heartless. Despicable. Sickening. MAKE ANOTHER MOVE DOMBROWSKI
I know what you are thinking. A regular season game over other heartbreaking playoff losses?
Storytime again. The Phillies went into the Sept 27-Sept 29 series against the 67-86 Cubs with a 1.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the last wild card spot, but were coming off two straight losses vs the Braves. The Phillies were in the midst of an 11-year playoff drought where they choked away playoff berths in September multiple times in recent years.
So of course being the degenerate I am I drove 6 hours and missed class to go to games two and three of this series for a chance to see the Phillies win big games down the stretch to help our playoff chances. I remember watching the first game of the series in my living room in college telling my friends I was going to be in Wrigley the next day. Surely, the Phillies lost the first game in heartless fashion 2-1 just in time for me to get there and save the day.
I drove out there with one of my close friends from college and met up with two of my high school friends who went to Indiana and the four of us headed out to Wrigley to save the season. Instead, we were met with back to back heartbreaking losses. The Wild Card lead over the Brewers that was at 4.5 games just two weeks prior was now at 0 and we did not control our own destiny anymore. That 6 hour drive home after being swept by a team 16 games under .500 with nothing to play for when we had everything to play for was miserable. I honestly don’t know if I was as angry after any of the other games/losses on this list as I was after that series. To lose to a team that didn’t even care if they won or lost when we had choked away playoff chance after playoff chance for the last 5 years was just so brutal.
Luckily Bryan De La Cruz had a massively clutch hit for the Marlins to take down the Brewers which saved our season and ultimately helped the Phillies break their playoff drought and ultimately make the WS.
Went to this game after seeing the Phillies break the record for most Home Runs hit in a WS game by one team the previous night. Ended up being with casuals all around me and a ton of Astros player’s families. Awful environment. I hate Mattress Mack. Oh yeah this was a World Series no-hitter too. Second in history. Guess I can check off being at a No-Hitter.
Senior year. CJ Stroud and Marvin Harrison Jr yet we get blown out by JJ Handoff. I knew this one was coming. You can ask the other Wrong-Siders. It hurt badly for sure. I was numb after seeing the previous year’s loss and Phillies WS collapse.
So I went to Game 3 and we set the record for most HRs in a World Series Game. Then I go to Game 4 and we get no-hit. Game 5 starts with a Schwarbomb on the first AB for the Phils. (This team is so hot or cold it’s insane). But yeah this one hurt. There was still hope after the no-hitter, but the Marsh strikeout and Chas catch will haunt me for life. The worst part about it was once again sitting with casuals who couldn’t keep their eyes off their phones to check the Eagles score against the 1 win Texans. The loudest the stadium ever got was when they showed Eagles highlights during a World Series game.
Side note: Please make another move Dombrowski.
I don’t think I need to say much more. Making it past the second-round would be equivalent to a championship for me at this point.
This is the only game that has ever brought me to straight up tears. I’ll never forget walking back to the hotel room by myself after the game and realizing that my college time at OSU ended with the worst kick in history, SLANTO and Ryan Day blowing it.
HOW DID WE LOSE
I could go on and on for days and write a whole article about this game. I still cannot believe they lost.
Here’s Moose Stein and I before the heartbreak:
I thought we were invincible. I thought it wasn’t possible. And what has followed has been torture. From getting a banana thrown at me, to the awful tailgates, to being in the Michigan student section it was a miserable day. Not to mention the snow storm afterwards which destroyed the roads and made the trip home even longer. This game is why I’ll always be Team Beat Michigan over Team Natty. The stadium is awful, the food is awful, the town is awful, the campus is awful and I cannot wait to beat them by 100,000 this year. Easily the worst sporting event and loss I’ve ever witnessed in person. I hate them
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