Underrated home runs?

Jack Clark's bomb in Game 6 of the '85 NLCS off of Tom Niedenfeur (apologies if I mis-spelled the last name).

I don't remember if that was Pedro Guererro in left field or not, but the slamming down of the glove as that blast went deep into the seats was priceless. And I say that as a lifelong Mets fan.

 

Ed Sprague's pinch hit HR off Jeff Reardon in the 92 world series.

 

Magglio Ordonez walk-off in 2006 ALCS to advance Tigers to first WS in 22 years.

 

2002 World Series, Game 6: Scott Spiezio's three-run homer with the Angels down 5-0 in the bottom of the seventh completely turned the Series around. There was still more ball to be played, but no way do the Angels win the title without that home run.

 

I won't say it's THE most underrated, but Dick Sisler's homer against Brooklyn to clinch the pennant on the last day of the season merits a mention. Granted, the score was tied, and it came in the top half of the inning, and even if the Phils lost, they would have finished in a tie with Brooklyn and gone onto a playoff series.

The Phillies went into the final day of the season with a 1-game lead over Brooklyn. Both teams scored once in the 6th. In the top of the 10th, Sisler hit a 3-run homer, and Robin Roberts completed the game for the pennant.

If we had video of this, it would likely be played over and over, and for the reasons cited above, it might be considered overrated. Nonetheless, it gave the Phillies their only pennant between 1915 and 1980. Most fans today don't even know who George Sisler was, let alone Dick Sisler.

 

Alex Gonzalez's walk-off homer in 12th inning of Game 4 of 2003 World Series. Homer tied the series at 2, and Marlins won in six. That homer never gets talked about. Same game, Miguel Cabrera's 2-run homer in the first off Clemens, which came one pitch after Clemens put him on his butt with a high-and-tight fastball, was memorable for its moxie and fact Cabrera was 20.

 

Which was almost an exact replica of Hal Smith's go-ahead homer in the 8th inning of Game 7 in 1960. He'd be a household name (well, OK, maybe just in my house) if the Yankees hadn't tied it up in the 9th.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13006089&topic_id=9991168

 

A hugely underrated homer.

Not that ESPN lists mean anything, but they ranked Sisler's No. 15 on their list of 100 greatest homers a few years back: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/greatesthomerunslist.html

And the Sisler homer was one of three given up by Dodgers ace Don Newcombe that made the list (Tommy Henrich's 1949 World Series Game 1 winner, immortalized in Halberstam's "Summer of '49"; and Yogi Berra's Game 7 homer in 1956 were the others.)

Another homer from that era worth mentioning is Hank Greenberg's 9th-inning grand slam on the final day of the 1945 season to clinch the pennant for the Tigers. He had just been released from the Air Force in May after missing most of FIVE seasons for the war.

 

Lyle Lovett, hitting a homerun with Julia Roberts. Still something I can't figure out.

 

Gonzalez's homer didn't even make the ESPN list. How many walk-off homers have there been in World Series history? I could look it up if I cared that much, but I'd put that one ahead of at least 70 on the list.

 

Carlos Martinez's home run off Jose Canseco's head is probably my favorite of all time.

 

Jeter's 3000th hit - hasn't been in any of the lists I've ever seen.