World Cup Final, 1966
If you’re English, then Geoff Hurst’s shot that hit the underside of the bar during extra time in the 1966 World Cup final clearly crossed the line. If you’re German (or Scottish), it’s equally evident that the ball didn’t entirely cross the line (for a goal to be counted, all of the ball must cross the line). The referee wasn’t certain, so he deferred to his Azerbaijani linesman, Tofik Bakhramov, who said the goal was good. This gave England a 3-2 lead (the game eventually ended 4-2). Forty-four years on, the truth is that nobody can say with any certainty whether the goal should have stood. But when a memorial was unveiled in Baku to Bakhramov in 2004 (he died in 1996), one of the grateful guests was Hurst. As far as he was concerned, Bakhramov made the right call.
Cardinals vs. Royals, 1985
In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals were leading the Kansas City Royals 1-0. The Cardinals were ahead in the “Show-Me Series” 3-2, and were just three outs away from clinching their second title in four years. Jorge Orta hit a grounder to first, which Jack Clark of St. Louis fielded cleanly; rookie closer Todd Worrell, covering first, took Clark’s throw. Orta was obviously out, but umpire Don Denkinger called him safe. Every replay showed that Denkinger got it wrong by a mile. The Royals rallied in the ninth to win 2-1, and then blanked the Cards 11-0 in Game 7, giving Kansas City its first, and only, World Series title. “I had 30 great years … and I had one call that’s all anybody wants to talk about,” Denkinger told the New York Post after Jim Joyce’s erroneous two-out call on June 2, 2010, cost Detroit’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game. “It’s not right. But it’s the way the game’s played, and that’s what happens.” In the aftermath of the Galarraga affair, several websites commented that Joyce had a “Denkinger moment.”
