Quote:
Originally Posted by DJJasonp
While that was a great moment, not sure I agree.
The Brett HR off of Gossage in the '80 playoffs - in my opinion - was much bigger/more important.
It represented so much.
History lesson for the young:
Holding on to a 2–1 lead in the seventh inning, pitcher Tommy John gave up a two-out double to Willie Wilson. Yankee manager Dick Howser brought in hard-throwing Goose Gossage, who gave up a single to U L Washington, bringing up George Brett. Brett had wowed the majors during the year, flirting with a .400 batting average, holding an average above .400 as late as September 19 before finishing the year at .390. Brett blasted a Gossage fastball into the upper deck, a three-run home run which stunned the Yankee Stadium crowd. The Royals had a 4–2 lead with All-Star reliever Dan Quisenberry on the mound.
The Yankees mounted a major threat in the eighth, loading the bases with no one out. Quisenberry then got Rick Cerone to line into a double play and the next batter to ground out to close out the inning. The ninth went one-two-three as the Royals and the long-suffering Kansas City baseball fans finally won the American League Pennant.
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Awesome recap and story - I’ve read it before from Rany but the re-read always gives me chills. I am sure being born in the 90’s and having my biggest home run be “Carlos Beltran’s Opening Day walkoff” until 2014 impacted my opinion a bit.
However, if Gordo strikes out there - the entire World Series changes. We go down 1-0 and go into NY locked up at 1-1, IE, the same situation as the 2014 World Series. Terry Collins likely doesn’t burn Familia for no reason in Game 3 to “boost his confidence”. And if the Mets are up 2-1 in Game 4 with a rested Familia, we could very well be looking at back to back WS losses.
Gordo’s home run was easily the most iconic and significant moment of the series.
Could we argue Gordo and Brett’s homers were at least
equal in significance?