Capitalism, like sports, is defined by success and failure, and you can meet those ends in several ways. Most often, the winning teams are the ones with talent and smarts, that have players who do everything right, down to the most mundane of fundamentals — and the same can be said about successful companies.

Of course, when a team is down on its luck, sometimes long-term strategy goes out the door, and brash attempts at heroics walk in. That’s when desperation sets in — hitters will more often go for the low-probability home-run ball; quarterbacks throw the Hail Mary.

More often than not, though, the hitter strikes out; the pass gets picked off.

The same can be said of corporate America. Businesses’ products strike out with the public all the time, and a select few flame out in spectacular fashion. Of course, to the companies involved, launching new products is more than a game. Millions if not billions of dollars are at stake. And while sports teams often can recover from losses at a later date, businesses often don’t have that luxury. Companies often get just one shot with a new product, and in the cases below, they missed (or are expected to miss) the ball by a mile.

In no particular order:

Tribune Tablet

Bankrupt newspaper publisher Tribune Co. is not the first publisher to consider providing cut-rate or free tablet computers to attract readers and advertisers. Philadelphia Media Network, the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer, beat the Chicago-based company to the punch.

Odds against either company developing a tablet reader that is both economical to produce and easy to use are steep. Not only does Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) dominate the tablet market with the iPad, but also, the numbers of Android machines seems to grow by the hour.

Pontiac Aztek

General Motors (NYSE:GM) made a splash when its Pontiac nameplate introduced the futuristic-looking vehicle in 2001 at the Detroit Auto Show. Of course, the splash was made because the car was bone-chillingly ugly. Many car buffs argue that the Aztek was one of the most hideous creations ever to emerge from Detroit.

GM’s botched product execution will be studied by generations of business school students. It quit making the Aztek in 2005 and later wound up closing Pontiac altogether, eliminating 21,000 jobs. The automaker emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.

Kobo

When Borders Group (PINK:BGPIQ) announced plans in 2009 to invest in the e-reader company Kobo, the New York Times noted that the embattled book retailer was arriving “late to the e-reader market” dominated by Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s (NYSE:BKS) Nook. The technological push was too little too late. Earlier this year, the chain announced it was going out of business.

Although Borders may be dead, Kobo remains alive and is for sale at a variety of retailers such as Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) and Best Buy (NYSE:BBY). Although TechCrunch gave it a positive review, it faces a tough road ahead.

Blockbuster Video Streaming Service

Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) recently agreed to purchase video rental pioneer Blockbuster, which had been driven into bankruptcy by Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Dish Network now is poised to take on Netflix in the growing video streaming market.

The problem with that strategy is that Wal-Mart has the same idea, as does Apple and Google’s YouTube. Of course, there’s also Hulu. The track record of similar acquisitions is not great. Cablevision (NYSE:CVC) acquired the bankrupt chain “Nobody Beats The Whiz” in 1998 in the hopes of cross-selling the company’s services. The chain was shuttered in 2003.

Jonathan Berr doesn’t own shares in any companies that are listed.