One of the most famous hits in baseball history came in Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS. The Dodgers and Cardinals were knotted at two at Busch Stadium, and the winner of the game would take a 3-2 series lead. The improbable happened in the bottom of the ninth – Ozzie Smith hit a walk off homer off of Tom Niedenfuer, who came on in relief of Fernando Valenzuela.
That season, Niedenfuer had a 2.71 ERA in 106 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, all of which came in relief. Smith? Yeah, he hit just six homers during the 1985 season, and had just 13 in his major league career up until that point. Smith going yard at this moment, off of this pitcher, was a complete stunner for the entire baseball world.
Check out this infographic about Smith’s homer (click to enlarge).
It’s really tough to find a comparable moment to this in today’s game, simply because more and more players hit for power. If you want a possible comparison in this year’s playoffs, imagine Dee Gordon (four career homers, .071 ISO in 1314 plate appearances) hitting a walk off homer for the Dodgers. And if Gordon managed to launch a walk off homer, he would have a legendary announcer on the call in Vin Scully, just like Smith did for his homer in Jack Buck.
Maybe Dee Gordon will be a hero for the Dodgers in the NLDS, which will air on Fox Sports 1 this season. And for awesome as it would be to hear Scully on the radio call of Gordon making history, it would also be pretty cool if Jack’s son Joe was on the call on Fox Sports 1. The younger Buck brought back his father’s “we’ll see you tomorrow night” call back in 2011 after David Freese’s walk off homer against the Rangers. Just imagine if he brought back “go crazy, folks” for an impossible walk off homer.
