On July 17, 1978, the Yankees lost to the Royals, 9-7, in 11 innings; the winning pitcher was Al Hrabosky and the losing pitcher Goose Gossage, in case you were wondering the facial hair situation that day.

The loss dropped the fourth-place Yankees to 47-42 and, more to the point, to 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox in the AL East. That race was over. Except! The Yankees went 53-21 the rest of the way, tied the Red Sox on the final day of the regular season, and then well, you may remember hearing about Bucky Dent and a certain expletive.

That 14-game deficit remains the largest any team has overcome to win a division title since the Divisional Era began in 1969. But don’t look now: There’s a non-zero chance that record ends this year.

On July 6, the Guardians lost their 10th s

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