MLB Network Forgets World Series History

In over a century of play, only one World Series has ended on a walkoff homer in a deciding Game 7.  But according to the MLB Network, that is not enough to qualify Bill Mazeroski’s 1960 blast as one of the most dramatic World Series homers of all time.

During Saturday night’s postgame, MLB network promoted a poll that is on their home page as of Sunday afternoon:

What is the most dramatic home run in World Series history?

A-1975-Carlton Fisk
B-1988-Kirk Gibson
C-1991-Kirby Puckett
D-1993-Joe Carter

The only other homer to end a World Series, Joe Carter’s Game 6 blast gave the Blue Jays the 1993 championship over the Phillies.  Carter’s three-run blast off of Philly’s Mitch Williams enabled Toronto to come from behind to win the game, 8-6. Williams is now a member of the MLB Network’s broadcast team.

The other three homers on MLB’s list were all dramatic, but none belongs ahead of Mazeroski’s.

Carlton Fisk and Kirby Puckett both hit extra-inning homers to force a Game 7 – Fisk in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series for the Red Sox against the Reds and Puckett in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series for the Twins against the Braves.  Puckett’s team went on to win Game 7, but Fisk’s team lost.

In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, injured Dodger slugger Kirk Gibson came off the bench with two outs, one on, and Los Angeles losing, 4-3, to hit a walkoff two-run homer off of Dennis Eckersley to beat the A’s. The Dodgers went on to take the Series, four games to one.

Mazeroski’s homer capped off a memorable Series. The 1960 World Series pitted Casey Stengel’s Yankees, winners of ten pennants in 12 seasons, against the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that had not been in the World Series in 33 years and had finished last or next-to-last in the eight-team National League from 1950 to 1957.

Going into Game 7, the Yankees had won three games by a combined score of 38-3, while the Pirates’ three wins were much closer.

With the Yankees ahead, 7-6, with two outs and two on in the bottom of the eighth, Pirate backup catcher Hal Smith, who had only entered the game in the top of the eighth, hit a three-run homer to put Pittsburgh ahead, 9-7, going into the ninth.

If the Pirates had protected that lead, the name Hal Smith would have gone down in baseball history. Instead, the Yankees rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth on RBIs by Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.  Smith, who played for ten years, is forgotten today.

Then, in the bottom of the ninth, 24-year-old second baseman Mazeroski led off with a home run off of Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry. It was the first walk-off homer in World Series history (which dates back to 1903 ) and the second walk-off in postseason history after Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard ’round the world” in 1951.

After Pittsburgh’s stunning victory, Casey Stengel was forced out as Yankee manager.

Mazeroski was named to the Hall of Fame in 2001 by the Veterans’ Committee. Known more for his defense than his hitting, Mazeroski would probably not have made it into the Hall had he not hit one of the most famous home runs in baseball history.

Lucky for Mazeroski that nobody from the MLB Network was a Hall of Fame voter.

If the MLB Network only had room for four homers on its list, they should have dropped Gibson or Fisk for Mazeroski. Gibson’s homer came in Game 1 – all other homers on this list came in at least Game 6. Fisk’s homer is the only one that did not eventually lead to a championship.

Many fans are familiar with Fisk’s homer because of his famous body English in trying to wave the ball fair. Gibson’s homer also gets replayed far more than Mazeroski’s because of Jack Buck’s famous “I don’t believe what I just saw” call.

Bill Mazeroski merely circled the bases without the benefit of a memorable home run call. But that is no excuse for the MLB Network, which has done so much to bring historic baseball events into the home of millions of fans, to forget about what might well be the most dramatic home run in World Series history.

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Photo by pvsbond.