Cleveland Indians 12-run comeback against the Mariners is best ever

No regular-season comeback will ever be as good as the Indians 12-run comeback against the Mariners in 2001.

If you’re a Cleveland Indians fan, then the date of Aug 5, 2001, will forever remain a day of pure bliss for you. The Indians came in with a 60-48 record, while the Seattle Mariners had a league-leading and historic pace-setting 80-30 record. They were two of the best teams in baseball. The Mariners, far and away from the best team in baseball that season would win this particular season series against the Indians 3-1.

It would be that one loss, however, that would define a generation of Tribe fans for years.

The game got out of hand in the third inning, with the Mariners taking a 12-0 lead. After two runs in the fourth for the Tribe, the Mariners would respond in the fifth with another two of their own, again putting the Indians in a 12-run hole. The magic would begin in the seventh, however, when the Indians put up three unanswered runs to chip away at the lead. Another four came in the eight and had the Good Guys trailing only five runs entering the ninth and potentially final frame of action.

Wil Cordero came up to bat with two out and two on and worked the count full 3-2. Down to their last strike on their very last out, the Indians mounted a five-run comeback. Cordero walked, allowing Einar Diaz to drive in two. Kenny Lofton hit a single to load the bases, which turned into a three-run triple for Omar Vizquel, tying the game.

Forwarding to the 11th, the MVP of the game, Lofton, was again in scoring position thanks to his own single and a proceeding single from Vizquel. Now on second, a base hit would send Lofton home. Cue Jolbert Cabrera for the history-making final moment, one that saw Lofton cross home plate to a chorus of celebrating fans to close out the most unbelievable and unexpected comeback in baseball history.

It remains one of those moments that make a fandom. The twelve-run comeback, so grand in its spectacle and story-telling elements that it lives on 19 years later. It’s still one of the greatest team achievements in baseball history and has become so impressive that it overshadows the events of the season for both the Indians and Mariners at times.

No other comeback seems to hold that much weight in the world of baseball, at least in a one-game sense. Its viewed on a different level and celebrated in a way that will see it live on for as long as baseball exists.

That’s why it’s the greatest comeback ever.