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Underrated home runs?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Oct 9, 2011.

  1. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Correct. Podsednik is the only player on that list of 41 (now 42) with 0 home runs in that same regular season as when he hit the walkoff.

    In fact, the only other player with a postseason walkoff homer to have a single qualifying season with 0 home runs is Ozzie Smith (who, albeit, had six(!) of them.)
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    What's odd is that Podsednik had 12 the year before and nine the year before that, then moved into one of the most homer-happy parks in baseball and had zero. His batting average soared, though, so I think he might have stopped trying to pull the ball so much, if I recall. And, considering the era, other potential factors can't be discounted, either.

    Wonder whatever happened to that guy. He had a pretty good year in 2010 and did not play this year.
     
  3. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    Buried in the minors. Got cut by the Blue Jays, ended up with the Phillies. Hit .245 in 14 games at AAA. Hell of a fall for a guy who hit .297 in 2010.

    http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=LF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=325392
     
  4. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    Al Weis, Game 5, 1969 World Series. Hit 7 total regular season home runs his entire career. Homers off Dave McNally in the 7th inning to tie the game 3-3. Two innings later the Amazing Mets were world champions.

    Dave Henderson, Game 6, 1986 World Series. His other big 1986 postseason home run was mentioned earlier, but if not for the Schiraldi, Stanley, Buckner fiasco in the bottom of the inning, Henderson's homer in the top of the 10th would have given the Red Sox their first title in 68 years and as I believe Peter Gammons wrote in SI back then, they would have been working to erect a statue of Hendu outside Fenway Park at that very moment.

    And one that probably doesn't make the list, but has some pertinent significance to we Cardinal fans hoping to stir up the ghosts of 1982 right now: Willie McGee's 2HR, 4 RBI performance in game 3 of the 1982 World Series against the Brew Crew.
     
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    That is so strange. Was he hurt? He had two good seasons in a row in 2009 and 2010, both of them every bit as good as the year when he finished 12th in the American League MVP voting. How does no one have a roster spot for him?
     
  6. Scouter

    Scouter Member

    Yadier Molina's home run in the top of the ninth in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. Only hit .216 in the regular season and helped Cardinals upset the heavily favored Mets. I'm biased as a Cardinals fan, but that was one of the most dramatic nine-inning games I've ever seen (Suppan pulling a great game out of his ass, Chavez robbing Rolen of a HR, Molina's HR, Wainwright freezing Beltran).
     
  7. Sea Bass

    Sea Bass Well-Known Member

    Pretty sure he was already hurt (can't remember where) when the Jays signed him to a minor-league deal just before spring training. I think they released him just after he got healthy, as I guess they felt they'd rather have Rajai Davis.

    He is probably fine with this, as unemployment allows him to bang Lisa Dergan unfettered.
     
  8. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I wonder how different Scott Podsednik's career looks before "Moneyball" principles of spending? Teams used to really value "veteran leadership" as opposed to controllable young players who could give you the same output much cheaper. On top of that, home runs and power is valued a lot more than speed these days.

    Of course, he's an injury waiting to happen in any era.
     
  9. Gehrig

    Gehrig Active Member

    Another one which was very famous for a long time but has all but been forgotten in modern times is Gabby Hartnett's late season "homer in the gloamin'" to lead the Cubs to the 1938 NL pennant over the Pirates.
     
  10. CarltonBanks

    CarltonBanks New Member

    I curse Jim Poole's name to this day.
     
  11. albert77

    albert77 Well-Known Member

    George Brett's bomb off Goose Gossage in Game 3 of the ALCS in 1980. KC had lost the ALCS three straight years to the Yankees in '76, '77, and '78, and that blast clinched the victory and a 3-0 sweep for the Royals' first trip to the World Series, and wiped out those years of frustration.

    IIRC, Dick Howser brought in Gossage specifically to face Brett, I believe with two runners on, and that blew up in his face when Brett sent one into the bullpen in left-center field at Yankee Stadium.

    That had a double relevance, because Steinbrenner was so pissed off, he summarily fired Howser, who had led the Yankees to 103 wins, and when Whitey Herzog went belly-up the next season, KC snapped up Howser as their manager.
     
  12. CarltonBanks

    CarltonBanks New Member

    The biggest one I have ever seen in person was the two-run shot Sosa hit in the bottom of the 9th in the 2003 NLCS to tie the game with the Marlins. Then Miggy Cabrera hit one in the 10th to win the game for the Fish. This was the night before the Bartman game, which I was also at.
     
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