A one-legged hitter.
A walk-off World Sequence house run.
A Recreation 1 Dodgers victory swiped from a surprised opponent only one out from defeat.
Improbably, impossibly, did this actually occur once more?
Did Freddie Freeman simply turn into Kirk Gibson, replaying the franchise’s biggest second 36 years and countless heartbreaks later?
It positive sounded prefer it Friday night time, the ball blasting off Freeman’s bat within the Tenth inning towards New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes as if it have been a pack of firecrackers.
It positive felt prefer it, the ball hovering into the right-field pavilion whereas Dodger Stadium rolled and shook with a roar that might be heard all the best way to Instances Sq..
It positive seemed prefer it, Freeman waving his bat within the air like a wand earlier than dropping it and hobbling across the bases whereas his teammates danced at house plate as if they’d simply gained a championship.
It positive appeared prefer it, Gibson 2.0 showing when Freeman’s grand slam gave the Dodgers a 6-3 victory that was crazily uncanny in its similarities to the franchise’s nice World Sequence second in 1988.
“Everything was the same outside of the fist pumps,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned.
Even the delivered dagger appeared to hold the identical lethal weight.
In 1988, the mighty Oakland Athletics have been so shook by Gibson’s Recreation 1 blast that they managed to squeeze out just one extra win in a sequence that marked the Dodgers’ final full-season championship.
In 1988, the Dodgers have been so energized by their hobbled hero that they performed the remainder of the sequence in his honor, without end impressed by Gibson’s unreal act of toughness.
On Friday, the Yankees needed to be feeling the identical devastation.
They wasted six one-run innings from starter Gerrit Cole. They wasted a mammoth house run from Giancarlo Stanton. They wasted a Tenth-inning run that resulted from two stolen bases and a fielder’s selection.
Just like the A’s, they’d this sport. Just like the A’s, they blew it. And just like the A’s, they might be achieved.
“Might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones,” Roberts mentioned.
It was arguably one of many biggest baseball moments in October, this being the primary walk-off grand slam in World Sequence historical past.
“It’s kind of amazing,” Freeman mentioned.
When requested to match the impact of this hit with Gibson’s impression, Roberts mentioned, “I think we win three more games, that’s going to be right up there with it.
History is going to repeat itself? History already repeated itself.
Like Gibson, Freeman is suffering from a painful leg injury, in his case a badly sprained ankle that had limited him to no home runs and one RBI in the playoffs.
Like Gibson, Freeman has spent virtually every day undergoing hours of treatment, and actually missed three playoff games because it was felt he wouldn’t help the team.
Like Gibson, nobody on the other team believed in him, the Yankees intentionally walking Mookie Betts after Gavin Lux walked and Tommy Edman singled and both runners moved up on Shohei Ohtani’s foul fly.
Up stepped Freeman. First pitch. Crack. Woosh. Ball disappears into the sky. Freeman disappears into a mob.
“It felt like nothing, just kind of floating,” Freeman mentioned. “Those are the kind of things, when you’re 5 years old with your two older brothers and you’re playing Wiffle ball in the backyard, those are the scenarios you dream about … that’s as good as it gets right there.”
It capped a Dodgers escape that included Blake Treinen retiring Aaron Choose on a popout with two runners on base to finish the ninth.
“Pure elation,” Roberts mentioned. “You don’t see teams celebrate after a game, a walk-off like that, but I just think it was certainly warranted.”
The Dodgers struck first with one out within the fifth, when Señor October Kiké Hernández lined a ball simply out of the attain of proper fielder Juan Soto, the ball bouncing into the nook for a triple. Moments later, Will Smith lined a ball to Soto to attain Hernández.
It took the Yankees solely three batters to get even, Soto main off the sixth with a pointy single to left and, certainly one of three Choose strikeouts later, Stanton crushed a dangling knuckle-curve 412 toes into the left-field nook for a two-run homer.
The Dodgers then got here again to tie it within the eighth when Ohtani lined a ball off the center-field fence for a double after which raced to 3rd when Gleyber Torres mishandled the relay. 4 pitches later, Betts scored him on a line drive to tie the sport and arrange the heroics for Freeman.
Afterward, Freeman was crammed with such adrenaline, it appeared he needed to leap out of his pores and skin.
Followers cheer as Freddie Freeman drops his bat after hitting a walk-off grand slam within the Tenth inning of Recreation 1 of the World Sequence on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Instances)
It was a becoming ending to a night that started with a tribute to the late Fernando Valenzuela. Three days after his loss of life, within the Dodgers’ first sport in his absence, Valenzuela stuffed Chavez Ravine with a power that spilled into Freeman’s blast.
Throughout a pregame ceremony, there have been tears, there was a stunningly lengthy second of silence, there was his household lined up on the third-base line throughout pregame introductions, and there was a primary pitch positioned on the again of the mound subsequent to the place the quantity 34 had been painted into the grime.
Practically each time the video board confirmed a fan, that fan would flip their again to the digicam to point out they have been sporting a Valenzuela jersey. Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers starter who gave up two runs in 5 ⅓ innings, even wore a Valenuzela jersey to the sport.
When the memorial ended, there was a chant that swept by means of the stadium like a heat breeze up from the border.
“Fer-nan-do! Fer-nan-do! Fer-nan-do!”
Ten innings later that chant was changed by one other cheer.
“Fred-die! Fred-die! Fred-die!”
Someplace, Kirk Gibson was smiling.
