1) Jeffrey Maier doesnt reach over the fence and grab the ball that is ruled a home run in the 1996 ALCS. Baltimore ends up winning the game and takes a 2-0 lead home to Baltimore. They win game 3 by the score of 4-2, but lose game four 1-0, in a dramatic at bat Rafael Palmeiro hits a ninth inning grandslam to win the series for Baltimore. The score of game five New York 4 Balitmore 5. The Orioles go on to face Atlanta in the 1996 World Series.
This could have happened, having a 2-0 lead in the best of four series going home to play, the momentum would have been Baltimores favor. But when a kid can reach over the fence and the ball is called a homerun, the Orioles realized they had to play the Umpires too, and ended up losing. Those of us who are Oriole fans havent forgotten, nor have we or will we forgive the umpire for this slap in the face.
2) After two days, players and owners agree to a solution on the 1994 baseball strike. The schedule is pushed back two games and resumed with amazing results. Tony Gwynn bats a .402 for the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants end up becoming the hottest post strike team led by the bat of Barry Bonds, they go on to win 91 and lose 71 winning the NL West. The Expos continue their post allstar decline finishing one game behind Atlanta in the NL East, but good enough to take the NL Wild Card. The Reds win the NL Central.
In the American League the White Sox win the AL Central by 3 games,while the Yankees dominate the AL East, the Texas Rangers have a mediocre season going 83-79 winning the AL west and Cleveland takes the AL Wild Card.
The playoffs go like this: New York defeats Cleveland 3-1; Chicago defeats Texas 3-0
Atlanta defeats Cincinnati 3-2; San Francisco defeats Montreal 3-2
The NLCS San Francisco defeats Atlanta 4-2
The ALCS Chicago defeats New York 4-3
The World Series is won in six games by the San Francisco Giants
3) Bob Johnson becomes the first black owner in pro sports in 2001 when he buys the Montreal Expos, the next season he relocates the team to RFK Stadium in Washington DC and names the club the Nationals. Peter Angelos has puppies but is unable to successfully sue Johnson or MLB. This begins a major rivalry between the Nationals and Orioles. A brand new state of the art throw back stadium is scheduled to be opened in 2005 in downtown Washington.
4) The White Sox move to Tampa Bay in 1991, the team that had been in Chicago for nearly a century was in bad need of a stadium which the city refused to build. Angry the owner moved his franchise to Tampa to the brand new Thunderdome.
MLB and the NBA told him he couldnt own two teams in different markets, knowing he would never be able to move the Bulls to Tampa with him, he sells the team to a Chicago businessman.
5) After the Raiders moved back to Oakland the A's found their stadium being renovated and felt like guests in their own home. Upset by this they look at other markets, San Jose, Las Vegas, and San Antonio try to woo the A's, without success, New Orleans is able to aquire the franchise with a new stadium. The team becomes known as the Louisiana Athletics.
6) Roberto Clemente isnt killed in a plane crash, he continues to play greatly increasing his already unbelievable stats.
7) Shoeless Joe Jackson is given a years suspension in 1920, he returns to the majors the next year not missing a step. He is one of the initial players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.
Several years later, a similiar sentence is handed to Pete Rose, the great player is forced to resign as manager of the Reds in 1988 and is suspended from baseball for 12 months. He is allowed to return under the conditions he stop gambling, and is not allowed to manage anymore. The conditions said nothing of coaching, and Rose is hired as the Reds hitting coach in 1990 a position he holds until 1994 when he becomes the Reds Assistant General Manager in 1995, he works for ESPN for two years before retuning to uniform as the Braves hitting coach in 1998, after the 2001 he returns to the Reds as the firstbase coach. He has tried to get baseball to repeal the management ban but with no success. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.
8) Babe Ruth gets his wish to manage in the big leagues in the late 1930s as he is hired by the St Louis Browns. Ruth proves unable to turn the team around and resigns as manager due to health problems in 1942.