1. 1991 NLCS, game 6. A great moment for Steve Avery, who forced game seven by pitching eight shutout innings. Doug Drabek was just as good, until Greg Olson's RBI double in the ninth. This would not, of course, be the last time Drabek cost the Pirates a World Series appearance by blowing a shutout in the ninth.
2. 1991 World Series, game 3. Mark Lemke's game-winning hit in the twelfth went a long way toward getting the taste of Kent Hrbek pulling Ron Gant off first base in game two out of everyone's mouth.
3. 1991 World Series, game 4. A day later Lemke does it again, this time leading off the ninth with a triple and scoring a few batters later on Jerry Willard's sacrifice fly.
4. 1992 NLCS, game 7. Cabrera, Justice, and Bream. I don't think any elaboration is necessary.
5. 1995 World Series, game 6. And not just because of the championship. Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers combined for a one-hit shutout which put Glavine next to Morris and Beckett on the pantheon of great World Series deciding-game pitching performances. And there was also David Justice, only a few hours after calling Atlanta's fans passionless, redeeming himself with a home run--the game's only run.
6. 1996 NLCS, games 5-7. I know, three games, but they all need to be included. Down three to one in the series, the Braves desperately needed to get their shit together. And holy crap, did they do just that--winning out with a combined score of 32-1.
7. 1998 NLCS, game 5. This time the Braves had dug a three game hole, but had just won game four. Game five was notable for the sheer tenacity with which they fought to keep the season alive, twice overcoming San Diego leads and being forced to bring in Greg Maddux for the save in the ninth when Kerry Ligtenberg threatened to let the whole thing get away.
8. 1999 Division Series, game 3. How many games are remembered primarily for a defensive play? It was the bottom of the tenth and the Astros had loaded the bases with no outs--a run would give them the lead in the series. I don't remember exactly how the Braves got out of the inning, but I remember Walt Weiss diving to stop a ground ball and making an impossible throw to the plate to save the game. And I remember Brian Jordan's two-run double in the twelfth.
9. 1999 NLCS, game 6. In a series that went a whole lot like the previous year's NLCS, the Braves had let the hated Mets come back from three games down and force a game six (after a particularly dramatic, 15-inning game five). After several momentum swings and a tenth inning in which each team scored, it became very important to me that the Mets lose this series in the most heartbreaking way possible. You can imagine my elation, then, when in the eleventh Andruw Jones won the pennant by drawing a bases loaded walk.
10. 2004 Division Series, game 2. Two things stand out about this series. First, the Braves were playing with an immensely frustrating lack of passion. Second, Rafael Furcal, having been convicted of DUI, was going to jail as soon as the season ended. Needless to say, Furcal was playing with plenty of passion, as evidenced by his home run to win the game in the eleventh.
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