From Freddie Freeman to Decoy, Dodgers owned top | College News

The similarities between Freeman’s Tenth-inning grand slam and Kirk Gibson’s ninth-inning home run in 1988 had been placing.

Both had been slugged by injured hitters basically enjoying on one leg. Both had been smashed with their group one out from defeat in Game 1 of the World Series. Both deflated the opposition such that the sequence basically ended on the spot.

“Everything was the same outside of the fist pumps,” Roberts stated.

Actually, there was one main distinction, that being the standard of the opposition. Gibson hit his homer off future Hall of Fame reliever Dennis Eckersley and the closely favored Oakland Athletics whereas Freeman hit his homer off demoted starter Nestor Cortes and the underdog New York Yankees.

This kind of comparability has sparked a debate about which homer was higher, main to the request by lifelong Dodgers fan Bryan Cranston during a SiriusXM Town Hall occasion wherein he stated, “Can’t they live side by side?”

As one who personally witnessed each, I’m good with that. The Gibson second was — to paraphrase Vin Scully — probably the most inconceivable, unimaginable factor I’ve ever seen on a baseball subject. But I nonetheless get chills from the Freeman second, nonetheless keep in mind the bursting firecracker sound of the hit, nonetheless keep in mind his memorable waving of the bat within the air like a wand.

Watching the video for the umpteenth time, what I’ve come to love most is the sudden soundtrack “I Love L.A.” blasting by way of the audio system earlier than Freeman had reached first base, without end turning his home-run trot into a wondrous music video.

While the ball from Gibson’s home run was by no means discovered, Freeman’s blast was corralled by 10-year-old Zachary Ruderman, whose household bought it at public sale for $1.56 million, a shred of its intrinsic worth.

Freeman’s miracle was actually probably the most priceless Los Angeles sports activities second of 2024.

Maybe ever.