The best home runs we ever saw Rocking Wrigley, Game 7 drama and Bat Night fun
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The Red Sox then brought in Rod Beck to pitch the bottom of the inning, and Bernie Williams greeted him by launching his first offering into the stands for a walk-off win. It was not to be though, as the first batter of the inning Bert Campaneris took him a yard on the first pitch of the inning. That gave the A's a 2-1 series lead, and they would eventually win the series 2-1. This game is remembered more for the home run that tied it up in the eight than it is for the walk-off home run in the 11th, in one of the most controversial games in playoff history.
Martinez took the mound in the eighth despite a high pitch count after assuring manager Grady Little that he still had something left. With the Diamondbacks holding a 3-1 lead heading into the eighth inning, Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly turned to his closer Byung-Hyun Kim for a two-inning save. He responded by striking out the side in the eighth, but ran into trouble in the ninth, and a two-run home run by Tino Martinez sent things into extra innings. With the Yankees leading their ALCS series with the Royals 3-1, they found themselves one game from being in the World Series, and they held a 6-3 lead heading into the top of the eighth inning of Game Five. The 1988 World Series is best remembered for Kirk Gibson's legendary home run on two bad knees to walk-off win Game 1.
A Traveler's Ranking of the Bowls Outside the New Year's Six
The Braves then opted to leave Spahn in for a 10th inning, and he gave up another run as the Braves found themselves down 5-4 heading into the bottom of the 10th. Flash forward to the bottom of the ninth, and the score was still 3-3 as Street entered his third inning of work in the bottom of the ninth. After getting two quick outs, he gave up back-to-back singles, bringing up cleanup hitter Magglio Ordonez. He took advantage of a tired Street, and launched a three-run bomb to send the Tigers to the World Series. With the game tied 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Thome took the Angels Dustin Moseley deep for a two-run shot, hitting a milestone and giving the Sox a win all in one swing. The Astros came in up 3-0 in the series with a chance to sweep.
That earned him the nickname Mr. November. Kim would blow another save the next game, but the Diamondbacks got the last laugh, winning the series in seven games when Yankees closer Mariano Rivera blew a save of his own. The first batter of the inning was hit by a pitch then sacrificed over. That was followed by an RBI double from Johnny Logan, as the Braves tied things up.
Kirk Gibson, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kevin Millar led off the inning with a single, and pinch-runner Dave Roberts stole second base to set up a game-tying single from Bill Mueller, as Mariano Rivera blew a rare postseason save opportunity. He did, however, get out of the inning with the score still tied. With Monte Irvin scheduled to hit next, the Giants elected to pinch-hit, as Irvin was 0-for-3 in the game and they sent utility man Dusty Rhodes to the plate.
This is hallowed ground. Only three players had previously gotten to the threshold of 700 career home runs in Major League Baseball history. His best season came when he won the National League MVP in 1969. McCovey posted a 1.108 OPS with 45 home runs and 126 RBI that year — both were the best numbers of his career.
David Ortiz – 541 home runs
Jerry Lai/USA TODAY SportsWhen we look back at the 2016 Cubs, we remember the team that made history. It's easy to forget that while that October played out, we were all convinced that things would go horribly wrong somewhere along the way, just as they had so many times before. All of Cleveland was enraptured, and all of Chicago was despondent, and I was simply amazed.
And just like that, the shutout and the game were over, as Henrich his the first pitch he saw for a game-winning homer. After a scoreless 10th, the Twins loaded the bases with no one out in the top of the 11th but were unable to push across a run. From there, Teixeira led off the bottom of the inning and pushed across a run all by himself with a game-winning solo shot. When veteran slugger Alfonso Soriano announced his retirement from baseball in 2014, after playing 16 years in the major leagues, his 412 home runs were just good enough to crack the top 50 in MLB history. Of course, baseball is nothing if not remorseless, and Soriano has already ceded his top 50 spot to Adrian Beltre, who sits at #50 with 413.
Naturally, that at-bat ended with "The Wizard" lofting a ball beyond the right-field wall to walk it off for the Cards. How can something like that happen? Because you can't predict baseball. But he got that chance to be a hero in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5 in the 2014 NLCS and did not miss an inside fastball from Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha. It was Ishikawa's lone homer in 49 career postseason at-bats.
That is until the bottom of the 12th. The Braves struck for a run against Octavio Dotel, in his third inning of work, when Keith Lockhart hit a two-out RBI triple. That put the Braves three outs from clinching the series.
Mickey Mantle played his entire career for the New York Yankees, winning three MVP awards and seven World Series rings, and leading the league in home runs four separate times. The most homers Mantle ever hit in a single season was 52 home runs in 1956. No. 7averaged 36 per 162 games played for his career, which is impressive for his era. Mantle finished his career in 1968 with a .977 OPS and 109.7 WAR, becoming one of the best and most well-rounded players to ever put on a uniform.
Longtime Phillies infielder Mike Schmidt hit a career-best 48 out of the park in 1980 en route to the first of three MVP awards he’d eventually take home. One of the most famous home run hitters of all time, Mickey Mantle hit 30 or more home runs eight years in a row from 1955 to 1962, drilling 52 in 1956 alone. Jimmie Foxx won MVP three times during his career, with the first coming at the end of the 1932 season on the heels of a 58-homer barrage. Willie McCovey hit 469 of his 521 career home runs for San Francisco, where modern-day sluggers can now splash their long-range bombs into McCovey Cove. Dave Kingman hit home runs for seven different ballclubs in the 1970s and ’80s, led by a 48 HR output for the Cubs in 1979.
That led to an intentional walk of Hank Thompson to set up the double play. The Red Sox then pinch-hit for Gabe Kapler with Trot Nixon, and it proved to be a great call, as Nixon hit a homer to send the Red Sox home winners. With the series tied 2-2, both teams looked to win the swing game with the Astros looking for their first ever pennant and the Cardinals looking for their first since 1987. With Nolan Ryan on top of his game, giving up just one run on two hits through nine innings of work, the Astros entered the ninth inning tied 1-1. Albert Pujols looks like a shoo-in to finish his career in the top 10 all time for homers after hitting 30-plus in each of his first dozen big-league seasons. “Yaz” played 23 seasons, all with the same team, and hit plenty of home runs in the process.
He returned in 1954 and batted .345, slugging 41 home runs and winning the first of two MVP awards in his career. Mays hit 50 or more homers twice, won a World Series ring in 1954, and is remembered as one of the best hitters and center fielders of all time. Reggie Jackson is an outfielder best remembered for his time with the New York Yankees, winning the World Series in back-to-back years in ’77 and ’78.
Mark McGwire is best known for hitting 70 and 65 home runs in back-to-back seasons from 1998 to 1999, as well as his epic 1998 home run race with Sammy Sosa. Mr. October was quite good in April to September as well, hitting 14 or more home runs 20 straight times from 1968 until his retirement in 1987. Manny Ramirez blasted 40 or more home runs five times in an eight-year span from 1998 to 2005, first with Cleveland and later playing for Boston.
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