October Moments To Remember (in 750 words or less)

The following article will be published in the September issue of Campus Talk, a magazine distributed in Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee. If you're a local, pick one up and increase their circulation. They also have lots of pictures of pretty girls for extra motivation.

October means pennant races are in full swing.  With playoff positions now set, we at Campus Talk thought we’d celebrate some of baseball’s more memorable post-season moments.

1932 – While many view the modern athlete as arrogant, Babe Ruth may have actually invented athletic braggadocio.  Baseball had never seen anything like Ruth.  He shattered nearly every record the game had ever known.  In the third game of the ’32 Series, Ruth allegedly ‘called his shot’ by pointing to the centerfield bleachers.  The very next pitch he slugged clean over the centerfield fence.

1951 – Back when the Giants played in New York and the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, Bobby Thomson hit a Ralph Branca pitch over the Polo Grounds fences to give the Giants the National League pennant. Referred to as ‘The Shot Hit Round The World,’ Thomson’s home run propelled the Giants into the ’51 Series, which they would lose to Yankees. 

1954 –With men on first and second, a deep Vic Wertz fly ball looked to give the Indians the lead.  That was until Willie Mays’ jaw-dropping, over-the-shoulder catch quelled the run, giving the Giants the momentum they would need to sweep the Indians and cement Mays’ place in history.

1956 - In 1956, Don Larsen established a feat that has yet to be duplicated.  In Game Five against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Larsen pitched a perfect game, retiring all 27 Dodgers on less than 100 pitches.  The Yankees won that Series in seven.

1960 - In 1960, Pittsburgh Pirate Bill Mazeroski hit what remains to this day, the only Game Seven, walk-off home run in World Series history.  Although an outstanding defensive infielder, it is this one hit for which he is most famous.

1975 – In the 12th inning of Game Six, Carlton Fisk hit one of the most memorable home runs in post-season history.  Fisk’s left-field blast off Reds reliever Pat Darcy bounced off the foul pole, thanks to a little body English from Fisk, to force a Game Seven, which the Sox would eventually lose.

1977 – To the echoes of over 50,000 rabid Yankee fans, Reggie Jackson earned his nickname Mr. October by hammering three home runs in a single Game Six to give the Yankees another World Series victory and a candy bar aptly named after the man himself.

1986 – As if Red Sox fans hadn’t suffered enough, Bill Buckner’s gaffe is another image ingrained in baseball history.  With a two out, two run, one game lead, Boston seemed poised to remove the Curse of the Bambino, until Mookie Wilson’s grounder dribbled between Buckner’s legs, giving the Mets the victory and chance to play Game Seven which they ultimately won.

1988 - In a late-game pinch-hit situation, Tommy Lasorda inserted a gimpy Kirk Gibson into the lineup to face the untouchable Dennis Eckersley.  With two outs in the ninth, Gibson took a 3-2 slider over the right field fence.  As announcer Jack Buck shouted “I don’t believe what I just saw,” Gibson limped around the bases, pumping his fists.  The Dodgers won that Series in five games.

1991 – In ’91, the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins played one of the most competitive World Series ever.  Five of the seven games were decided by only one run.  In a series where Kirby Puckett etched his name into Minnesota sports lore, it was Jack Morris who pitched a Game Seven, ten-inning shutout to defeat Atlanta and end a series for the ages.

1994 – Perhaps the greatest sports trivia question is who won the 1994 World Series?  The answer?  No one.  In 1994, Commissioner Bud Selig cancelled the World Series as a result of the player strike.  In a year when Tony Gwynn flirted with batting .400, Matt Williams challenged the home run record and the Montreal Expos were the best team in baseball, the World Series was canceled in what is still considered a major black eye for the sport.

1993 – In Game Six, Joe Carter took a Mitch Williams pitch deep to left-field to give the Toronto Blue Jays their second consecutive World Series.  After giving up that pitch, Williams, one of baseball’s most dominant relievers, would never be the same. 

2004 – In 2004, after eighty years of suffering, Red Sox fans finally got their just due.  Often considered the greatest choke in sports history, the Yankees coughed up a three games to one lead give the Red Sox the American League pennant.  Boston then swept the Cardinals to win their first World Series title since 1918.