Which one?
Somewhat forgotten is that Bellhorn homered in 3 straight playoff games. Has any other Red Sox ever done that?? Two of the three were absolutely huge, and the third was the nail in the coffin in game 7.
20 best home runs in Red Sox history
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Somewhat forgotten is that Bellhorn homered in 3 straight playoff games. Has any other Red Sox ever done that?? Two of the three were absolutely huge, and the third was the nail in the coffin in game 7.
Nomar did it over two seasons: 1998 ALDS Games 3 & 4, then 1999 ALDS Game 1.Which one?
Somewhat forgotten is that Bellhorn homered in 3 straight playoff games. Has any other Red Sox ever done that?? Two of the three were absolutely huge, and the third was the nail in the coffin in game 7.
Ortiz hit so many clutch taters, it's hard to recall them all, whenever they were behind, going into the 9th, always hoped he would make it to the plate and make the day or night right. Carbo's bomb, and Henderson's clout allowed us to at least dream those two seasons, and Yaz in 67 was processed. Another random dinger I recall from 67 was against the White Sox and they were losing 1-0 through 8 by I think it was Joel Horlean(spelling?), he had given up 2 hits through 8.2, and I want to say Joe fricken Foy beat out a bunt down 3rd base line, and Conig hit the next pitch out on to Landsdown and the Sox won 2-1, I think it was in May, but I remember thinking at the time that this team was different from the 61-66 teams which were the first I was exposed to. Another memorable home run for me that year was hit by Dick McAuliffe of the Tigers to lead off the game on the 1st pitch. The reason I remember?...I caught it with my bare hands behind the Sox bullpen, I was 11 at the time, and got quite the ovation by the rest of the folks in the bleachers, that was an awesome summer
No love for Bill Mueller’s July 24th 2004 3-run shot off Rivera in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Yanks? That was the last game I saw in Fenway before heading out West.
It’s not a single home run but honorable mention for the 4 straight homers vs the MFY on Sunday night baseball in 2007
It’s not a single homer, but Mueller’s switch hit grand slams in Texas were amazing. Random memory but the second happened at the exact minute the Sox traded for Scot Williamson.
Is this the game from '67? Ends in the 11th on a Tony C walk-off with Foy on base.
that is the one, cool find, too much substance abuse over the years, I thought it was the 9th
that is the one, cool find, too much substance abuse over the years, I thought it was the 9th
I second this. I am slightly biased but how does Victorino not make the list? And yes, Nava's slam is truly unforgettable.
Remember he almost had a key stolen base in extras in game 5 but didn’t get the call on a bang bang. Ortiz with shades of the Vaughn speeddog era!
Ortiz being called out may not even be the most frustrating “bang bang” call in that game if you count Cairo barely beating the Tek tag at home in the 5th to go up 4-2.
The Cairo safe at home is right up there with the Manny GDIP to snuff a rally the7th inning before Ortiz’s bomb shot
that 14 inning game was the ultimate game of that run. What a classic.
Pedro’s last Fenway appearance for the home team. Varitek batting the wrong way in the 1st inning to break up the mussina curse he was under. The Trot Nixon diving catch off Matsui ( after Pedro dusted him - which didn’t take effect in neutralizing Matsui till the next at bat)The Wakefield heart attack innings. The crowd belief starting to build as the game went. (Much more optimistic than game 4).
Lowe & a sane Schilling walking to the pen.
Ortiz nearly winning it with a homer that just went foul and then the flare. The Trupiano call of the hit . Joe Buck’s “keep on running to New York”. 5 pm start that finished right at 11pm while a pretty good NLCS game was going
Best game of the last 20 years
I have been rewatching the 2004 playoffs game by game the last few weeks - including every pitch of 19-8. I had forgotten that in game 5, Pedro came out top 1 and struck out Jeter on 3 pitches to lead off the game. Fenway was batshit, it was a completely different atmosphere than game 4.
I was at Fenway that night. I'd been going to ball games since 1955, and this was the first walkoff I ever witnessed. It was all the more exciting because the Red Sox batters had been handcuffed all night, incapable of producing anything remotely resembling a scoring threat. When the White Sox scored their run in the top of the 11th, it felt like an insurmountable lead. The fans went absolutely bonkers when Tony C popped the game-winner into the net. It's one of my favorite memories of that unforgettable '67 season.
Globe article spoilered for size.
Surely Mo Vaughn's walkoff grand slam against Seattle in the 1998 home opener is worth a mention. Sox were down 7-2 going into the last of the 9th, and it was so cold and windy that many, maybe most, fans had left--including my friend who'd been sitting next to me. Believe me, we never let him hear the end of it.
Man, I love everything about this thread. Definitely not on the list, but I think deserving of honorable mention, is Napoli's game tying grand slam on September 6th, 2013. I was at the PawSox game that day, and, while the Sox were up 6.5 in the division after winning the first game of a 4 game set in Yankee Stadium the night before in extra innings, this game was the one that put the stranglehold on the division after an up and down August that had left it in doubt.
And him casually giving the finger point as he hit first base... 2004, man. 2004.
We remember the rally, but for a little extra laugh ... look at the first three pitchers Seattle used in the 9th
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS199804100.shtml
As a millennial Massachusetts native, 2003 was really the christening into the history and Red Sox (and baseball) fandom, and this was the high point.
I was 16, and while I always liked sports, baseball had been more of a background in the lazy summer than an obsession. As I hit my teens that started to change, particularly as the metrics used to discuss the game expanded. By the summer of '03, with a team that was good and the Yankees rivalry as hot as it's ever been in my life, I was hooked.
The capper of this is that I was lucky enough to be at this game. My dad got seats from his company last minute, so I rushed into the city after school to meet him for the game. I'd never seen a playoff game before, and even though we were a game away from elimination and no one expected us to make it to the ALCS, the electric atmosphere was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. The euphoria as the ball landed deep in the batter's eye in center was the logical escalation, and in the stadium it uniquely felt like we , the fans, had won right alongside but team.
Given new life, anything could happen and this would be the year. Belief was back. Through plenty of ups and downs, we all know the end result. I still remember the shell shocked feeling at the abruptness of it all, and my mom coming into the room to say "I'm sorry son, I know the feeling. It's what they'll do to you."
With that, I was given a taste of the long history of what it means to be a Red Sox fan. I'll never be experience the long suffering of years of ineptitude, but after the end of the ALCS the idea that of the curse was alive and well. For that I am thankful, as the following year was ever more sweeter because of it. I, and so many of my generation, could honestly say we got it, and the revelry that erupted across the region included us all.
I think the word "Best" is a tricky qualifier. I can understand "consequential" or "important" and put those in some context, but best, like beauty, is in the mind and sometimes foggy memory of the beholder.
I remember drunkenly celebrating with a college buddy when Carbo launched his game-tieing 3-run shot to prolong the dream and then hugging it out an hour or so later on Fisk's midnight pole dance.
I just watched Carbo's and Fisk's Game 6 homers, and they still work their magic.
I'm not sure it ever got better than those.
I remember drunkenly celebrating with a college buddy when Carbo launched his game-tieing 3-run shot to prolong the dream and then hugging it out an hour or so later on Fisk's midnight pole dance.
I just watched Carbo's and Fisk's Game 6 homers, and they still work their magic.
I'm not sure it ever got better than those.
Prior to Trot in 2003, Fisk was the only walkoff homer in Sox playoff history. We have been so, so blessed since.
Not only did Yaz' 3 run homer on September 30, 1967 provide the winning runs in that game, but it also won Yaz the Triple Crown (tied w/Killebrew with 44 homers, Killebrew's 44th came a half inning later). Not very often that a homer creates some kind of milestone AND wins a critical ballgame.
McDonough correctly pointed out that John Buzhardt had the Sox number for a long time; even though he was overall pretty average. It was a big deal to finally get a big hit off the guy.
Humble brag but I was there for game's 4 and 5. The place was nuts, but it was also a nervous energy. I'm sure decibel level it was the loudest I've heard it until Ortiz's homer in the Tigers series. Another more random game that was nuts from a crowd level standpoint was game 4 of the 1999 ALDS when they knocked out Colon. People always remember game 5 of that series, but Game 4 was a blow out and Colon was in his prime.
Eerie picture with Tony's hand over his left eye. Two months later he got hit in that eye and everything changed for him. Sad.
I was there for 20, 15, 9, 8, 6, 5 and 1, and I still maintain that the place has never been louder than it was for Nixon's walk off. I could literally feel the ground shaking under my feet.
The happiest of all was Manny. The rest of them had some tension because they were losing the game or the series, but Manny's came during a tie game in a series they swept. It was just the rush of squashing a semi-rival without any of the tension of possibly blowing it.
The happiest of all was Manny. The rest of them had some tension because they were losing the game or the series, but Manny's came during a tie game in a series they swept. It was just the rush of squashing a semi-rival without any of the tension of possibly blowing it.
I was there for Nixon as well. I can't comment on the others, but I was there with my then 15 year old sister, who up to that point probably really didn't understand why my brother, my dad, and I were so fanatical about the Sox. I think she literally thought the 3 of us were just some crazy loons. She didn't understand that thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of other people were like that. When Nixon's shot left the yard, she was in full blown tears, overcome by the emotion in the ballpark. Strangers hugging strangers. It was great and something I'll always remember.
Outside the ballpark afterwards was absolutely bonkers too. I saw 20 people standing and dancing on top of a limo just outside Fenway. No cars were going anywhere because people were just fired up and bouncing off of each other in celebration.
It was a big moment and a long time coming as they hadn't won a series in Fenway since '86.
Mookie's homer was unreal in the moment but given the magnitude I had thought Trot's would be ranked higher.
Wonderful story, just beautiful. People argue that other sports can affect you like that but I have a hard time believing anything can touch baseball in just the same way.
I was at Fenway for five I’ll never forget:
- Manny vs. Angels
- Trot vs. A’s
- Benzinger in ‘87
- Nava / Our F’ing City
and my personal favorite,
- Ortiz in 2008, game 5 vs. Rays. Not a walkoff, lost the series - but it was the most joyous moment I’ve ever had at a game.
I missed the Damon slam because I was meeting my new girlfriend’s mom for the first time. My life had been leading up to this game, but I really liked the girl, wanted to be cool and I thought we could eat quickly. We went out to dinner in the North End. It was leisurely. No TVs. I was a mess. The game started. At some point thewaiter came out and said “Damon grand slam!” to everybody. To her credit, the mom saw my face and said, “you two - go.” Hightailed it to Davis Sq and caught the 5th inning on at the Burren. Been with the girl for 16 years now, married for 10, kids and a house, and the MiL has remained amazing. Karma-wise I don’t think the Sox win if I blow off that dinner. I’ll take the trade.
Finally - Mike Greenwell’s inside-the-park HR against the Yanks on Saturday national TV when I was a kid was pretty exciting. Not notable like these but it was just so fun.
- Manny vs. Angels
- Trot vs. A’s
- Benzinger in ‘87
- Nava / Our F’ing City
and my personal favorite,
- Ortiz in 2008, game 5 vs. Rays. Not a walkoff, lost the series - but it was the most joyous moment I’ve ever had at a game.
I missed the Damon slam because I was meeting my new girlfriend’s mom for the first time. My life had been leading up to this game, but I really liked the girl, wanted to be cool and I thought we could eat quickly. We went out to dinner in the North End. It was leisurely. No TVs. I was a mess. The game started. At some point thewaiter came out and said “Damon grand slam!” to everybody. To her credit, the mom saw my face and said, “you two - go.” Hightailed it to Davis Sq and caught the 5th inning on at the Burren. Been with the girl for 16 years now, married for 10, kids and a house, and the MiL has remained amazing. Karma-wise I don’t think the Sox win if I blow off that dinner. I’ll take the trade.
Finally - Mike Greenwell’s inside-the-park HR against the Yanks on Saturday national TV when I was a kid was pretty exciting. Not notable like these but it was just so fun.
Hooper's decisive home run in the 1915 world series wasn't a walk-off, it was in the top of the ninth.
No one ever talks about Papi's series-ending home run to beat Washburn and the Angels in the 2004 ALDS. After Vlad's grand slam off Timlin in the 7th to tie, I had terrible anxiety that it was all going to roll downhill as usual, but the first walkoff of that postseason was an inkling that something special might be happening.
That's bad work by me not to have noticed that.
Although, In terms of emotional importance just to the 2004 postseason I'd put any number of homers ahead of it including Papi's first inning shots in both Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the World Series.
Although, In terms of emotional importance just to the 2004 postseason I'd put any number of homers ahead of it including Papi's first inning shots in both Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the World Series.
I’ve told this story before, but I was at Fenway with five other friends on 7/24/04. After Enrique Wilson’s single scored Williams and Jeter, two of my friends who were in a separate car got up and left.
The guy who drove the rest of us stood up next to me to slide by. I looked him and said “Where are you going?”
He says “I thought we were leaving.”
I reply “THEY’RE leaving. WE’RE staying. I’ve got three kids in diapers at home, and today’s my day off. I’m milking every last minute of it. Sit down.”
Like you, we still give them shit to this day.
Not mentioning Papi’s pre-game speech in 4/20/13’s summary is a really glaring omission. That moment is one of the lasting images of the aftermath of the marathon bombing.
was at this one. Took my Dad (last game at Fenway for him - but he lived another 20+ years). I just remember how the place became alive when Slocum was brought in and started letting up base runners. Of course, Timlin was not anyone special other than a former Blue Jay to us at the time.
The Mariners’ bullpen was atrocious in those years, even as they won the division in ‘97, which was why the Red Sox were able to get them to give up Lowe and Varitek for Slocumb in July despite Slocumb having lost his confidence and having an ERA near 6 for Boston. That trade occurred on the same day Seattle dealt highly touted prospect Jose Cruz, Jr. for Timlin and Paul Spoljaric, two other pitchers who worked in the ninth in the ’98 Fenway opener. It seemed for a while like any game against Seattle was winnable once you got the starter out (even if it was Randy Johnson).
Not close to a top 20 but worth a mention. This is when I knew the 2018 Sox were really special.
https://youtu.be/1j6g_O4VKUk
https://youtu.be/1j6g_O4VKUk
Not top 20, but a big one I was in the house for was Manny's 3 run shot off Zito in game 5 in Oakland in 2003. Whenever the Bay Area SoSHers get together, we talk about attending that game like WWII veterans talk about D-Day.
I'd put Hendu's over Damon's. Red Sox were up 2 to 0 and then 6-1. Didn't specify the Grand Slam or the 2 run HR. And remember Baylor's HR before Hendu??????HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They put Carbo's on there but not Baylor's???????????????If it wasn't for Baylor's HR there would be no pennant or Hendu magic. So wrong. Just as important as Carbos's and Hendu's. RIP Don and Thank You for being a Great Red Sox player and teammate. Oh yes and Hendu's was 2 outs down a run and a 1 and 2 count. They looked done and he looked done on his first two swings. It was shocking and beautiful. I don't think any Red Sox fan screamed more after that HR. And he was a backup for Tony Armas at the time.
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The game was over!!!!! His HR in game 6 off after the changed umpires call was bigger.
The four home run game was awesome as was this absolute bomb from Papi on 5/1/06. Probably the hardest hit ball aside from Willy Mo's I have seen at Fenway by a Red Sox player.
View: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=713362809482681
View: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=713362809482681