If you could change the outcome of one play in local sports over the past 25 years, which one would it be?
Deadspin.com posed a similar question to its national readership Thursday, with answers ranging from Christian Laettner’s game-winning buzzer beater to lift Duke over Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA tournament to the “Steve Bartman play” during the 2003 National League Championship series between the Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs.
But the local sports teams have had their share of heartbreak crystallized in a single play, too. Here are my picks for moments their fans would probably like to have back.
Pirates
Two words: Francisco Cabrera.
It’s not just that his two-run, walkoff single for the Atlanta Braves against the Pirates in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS ended a three-year run of division titles and denied Pittsburgh its first World Series appearance since 1979. That was painful enough.
But as the Bucs slogged through 20 fruitless campaigns afterward, that play came to characterize a whole generation of baseball frustration here.
Turn that single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning into an out, and at the very least, the city has an NL pennant to cherish. And who knows? Maybe it changes the whole course of two decades of losing.
Dishonorable mention: Brandon Crawford’s grand slam in this past year’s NL wildcard game.
Pitt hoops
Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds evokes a similar visceral response from Panthers partisans.
His layup with 2 seconds left in the East Regional Final of the 2009 NCAA tournament thwarted coach Jamie Dixon and hometown hero DeJuan Blair’s bid for the school’s first Final Four appearance since 1941. And though Pitt didn’t collapse after that play, it is by far the closest the Panthers have been to national prominence since.
If he missed that one shot, a whole decade of progress that saw Pitt go from Big East also-ran to national power would feel actualized. Instead, the Panthers remain an incomplete success story.
Pitt football
With Pitt leading a de-facto Big East championship game against Cincinnati 31-10 later that same year at Heinz Field, the Bearcats’ Mardy Gilyard returned a punt for a touchdown that began the Panthers’ descent into coaching oblivion.
That score sparked a 45-44 Cincinnati comeback win that robbed Pitt of a Big East title and trip to a BCS bowl that would have legitimized coach Dave Wannstedt’s good work in leading the Panthers to their first 10-win season since 1981.
A tackle there might have gone a long way toward preventing Wannstedt’s firing a year later and fostering the stability the program has lacked ever since.
Dishonorable mention: Pitt kicker Kevin Harper’s 33-yard field goal miss against No. 3 Notre Dame in 2012.
Penn State football
Ranked No. 3, the Nittany Lions were in the thick of the national title chase when they traveled to Iowa City in November 2008 to face the Hawkeyes. Their dream died on that cold, blustery Kinnick Stadium field, though, when Iowa’s Daniel Murray drilled a 31-yard field goal as time expired to deliver a 24-23 shocker of an upset.
The play Penn State fans will forever loathe came earlier on that game-winning drive, when the Nits appeared to have the Hawkeyes stopped after an incompletion on 3rd and 15 deep in Iowa territory. But a late pass interference call against safety Anthony Scirrotto gave the Hawkeyes new life and allowed them to get in position for that painful kick.
It was coach Joe Paterno’s last great team. Without the flag, he may very well have had a shot at a BCS title that January in Miami. Instead, Penn State lost to USC in the Rose Bowl and had to settle for a Big Ten title.
Dishonorable mention: Chad Henne’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 1 second left to lift Michigan over No. 8 Penn State in 2005. It was the Nits’ only loss of the season.
Penguins
The New York Islanders’ David Volek destroyed Pittsburgh’s shot at a Stanley Cup three-peat when he hammered an overtime winner past Penguins goalie Tom Barrasso in Game 7 of the 1993 Patrick Division finals at the Civic Arena.
It was a particularly frustrating moment because the Penguins had been more dominant that regular season than in the previous two Cup campaigns, reeling off 51 wins en route to what remains their only President’s Trophy.
Volek made them think about that missed opportunity for 16 years until Sidney Crosby and Co. finally brought the Cup back to Pittsburgh in 2009. Though Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux dazzled fans for years after that, it was never the same after 1993.
Adam Bittner writes sports commentary for The Pittsburgh Press, our afternoon electronic edition. He can be reached at abittner@post-gazette.com or Twitter, @fugimaster24.
First Published: April 3, 2015, 8:49 p.m.