The biggest MLB comebacks and collapses, 1901 to 2025

Biggest comebacks

1. The Cleveland Guardians trailed the 2025 AL Central race by 15.5 games on July 6, 2025, and won it by 1 game.
2. The Boston Braves trailed the 1914 NL race by 15 games on July 4, 1914, and won it by 10.5 games.
3. The New York Yankees trailed the 1978 AL East race by 14 games on July 17, 1978, and won it by 1 game.
4. The New York Giants trailed the 1951 NL race by 13 games on August 11, 1951, and won it by 1 game.
5. The Seattle Mariners trailed the 1995 AL West race by 13 games on August 2, 1995, and won it by 1 game.
6. The Oakland Athletics trailed the 2012 AL West race by 13 games on June 30, 2012, and won it by 1 game.
7. The New York Mets trailed the 1973 NL East race by 12.5 games on July 4, 1973, and won it by 1.5 games.
8. The Minnesota Twins trailed the 2006 AL Central race by 12.5 games on May 25, 2006, and won it by 1 game.
9. The Philadelphia Athletics trailed the 1911 AL race by 12 games on May 19, 1911, and won it by 13.5 games.
10. The St. Louis Cardinals trailed the 1930 NL race by 12 games on August 8, 1930, and won it by 2 games.

Biggest collapses

1. The Detroit Tigers led the 2025 AL Central race by 14 games as late as July 8, 2025, and finished behind the Cleveland Guardians.
2. The Brooklyn Dodgers led the 1951 NL race by 13 games as late as August 11, 1951, and finished behind the New York Giants.
3. The California Angels led the 1995 AL West race by 11 games as late as August 9, 1995, and finished behind the Seattle Mariners.
4. The Houston Astros led the 1979 NL West race by 10.5 games as late as July 4, 1979, and finished behind the Cincinnati Reds.
5. The Brooklyn Dodgers led the 1942 NL race by 10 games as late as August 5, 1942, and finished behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
6. The Boston Red Sox led the 1978 AL East race by 10 games as late as July 8, 1978, and finished behind the New York Yankees.
7. The San Francisco Giants led the 1993 NL West race by 10 games as late as July 22, 1993, and finished behind the Atlanta Braves.
8. The Detroit Tigers led the 2006 AL Central race by 10 games as late as August 7, 2006, and finished behind the Minnesota Twins.
9. The San Francisco Giants led the 2014 NL West race by 10 games as late as June 8, 2014, and finished behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
10. The Seattle Mariners led the 2024 AL West race by 10 games as late as June 18, 2024, and finished behind the Houston Astros.

Latest deciding day

1. With no charted days left to play, the Cleveland Guardians took first place in the 2025 AL Central race for good on September 28, 2025, having led on 25 of the race's 195 charted days.
2. With no charted days left to play, the New York Yankees took first place in the 1978 AL East race for good on October 2, 1978, having led on 23 of the race's 181 charted days.
3. With no charted days left to play, the New York Giants took first place in the 1951 NL race for good on October 3, 1951, having led on 6 of the race's 171 charted days.
4. With no charted days left to play, the Seattle Mariners took first place in the 1995 AL West race for good on October 2, 1995, having led on 31 of the race's 161 charted days.
5. With no charted days left to play, the Oakland Athletics took first place in the 2012 AL West race for good on October 3, 2012, having led on 10 of the race's 190 charted days.
6. With no charted days left to play, the Minnesota Twins took first place in the 2006 AL Central race for good on October 1, 2006, having led on 4 of the race's 183 charted days.
7. With no charted days left to play, the St. Louis Cardinals took first place in the 1964 NL race for good on October 4, 1964, having led on 6 of the race's 175 charted days.
8. With no charted days left to play, the Atlanta Braves took first place in the 1993 NL West race for good on October 3, 1993, having led on 31 of the race's 182 charted days.
9. With no charted days left to play, the Los Angeles Dodgers took first place in the 2018 NL West race for good on October 1, 2018, having led on 42 of the race's 187 charted days.
10. With no charted days left to play, the Milwaukee Brewers took first place in the 1982 AL East race for good on October 3, 1982, having led on 89 of the race's 182 charted days.

How these lists are ranked

Everything on this page comes from the same season files the charts draw, with standings read as each day ended. All 428 charted MLB races from 125 finished seasons enter: every pennant and division race from 1901 to 2025. Wild card races are not ranked; their story is the playoff cutoff, not first place. The 2026 season joins these lists when it ends. A team's comeback or collapse is counted once per season, at its deepest, whichever of its charted races it came in.

Biggest comebacks: the deepest deficit the eventual winner faced at the end of a charted day, in games behind that day's leader, dated to the first day it reached that depth. These are the same numbers the turning points on each race page state.

Biggest collapses: the largest lead over second place held at the end of a charted day by a team that did not finish first, dated to the last day the team still held that full lead. A comeback and a collapse read the same race from opposite ends, so they can disagree about one summer. In 1978 the New York Yankees came from 14 games behind the day's leader while the Boston Red Sox's own lead over second place peaked at 10; both numbers are true, and each list states its own.

Latest deciding day ranks winners by how few charted days remained when they took first place for good, which is the day after the last one the winner ended behind or level with another club: a day it only shared the top is not a day it held first place for good, so a late tie pushes the date later. Races whose top two the standings cannot separate appear on none of these lists: the data cannot name a winner. Only finished seasons are ranked; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.