More than any other sport, baseball thrives off its legacy.  Thanks to the miracle of technology - newspapers, transistor radios, television and now the Internet – we can relive Kirk Gibson’s improbable blast off Dennis Eckersley pretty much whenever we please. 

Gibson, along with a handful of others, cemented their names and their careers with the most casual of fans thanks to that one defining moment.  The moment when Bobby Thomson won the 1951 NL Pennant for the Giants, and Joe Carter brought the World Series trophy to Canada for the second time.  Often forgotten in these classic highlights are the men who set the table.  Does anyone remember who got on base to extend the inning for Dave Henderson in the ’86 ALCS, or the guy who homered for the Sox minutes earlier?  Outside of Red Sox fans and Angels fans, I’m guessing the answer is no.

Whether they’ve been forgotten, ignored or simply overlooked, today we honor those players who were instrumental in creating the most dramatic home runs in baseball history.  For no other reason than convenience, we’ll revisit the moments in the order in which they occurred.  You might also notice that certain home runs aren’t listed.  That’s because they were solo shots (Mazeroski in ’60, Fisk in ’75 etc.) 

The Shot Heard ‘Round the World – 1951 National League Championship
Forgotten: Alvin Dark, Don Mueller Clint Hartung and Whitey Lockman
Down 4-1 in the 9th, Giants shortstop Alvin Dark led off the inning with a single, followed by a single from Don Mueller.  Whitey Lockman doubled in Dark, and Mueller advanced to third,  breaking his ankle in the process.  Clint Hartung was sent in to pinch run for Mueller, and my, did he do a fine job jogging home when Bobby Thomson hit a liner over the wall off Ralph Branca.  THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!  THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

Jack Clark – Game 6, 1985 NLCS
Forgotten: Willie McGee and Ozzie Smith
When the phrases “Cardinals home run” and “1985 NLCS” meet in the same sentence, it’s generally an homage to Ozzie Smith, he of the zero career homers from the left side of the plate who went deep from that side in Game 5.  Often overlooked is Jack Clark’s series-clinching homer the following game at Chavez Ravine.

Down 5-4 in the 9th, Willie McGee singled and stole second.  After McGee’s steal, Ozzie Smith was intentionally passed to set up the double play, and because Ozzie had homered and tripled off the same pitcher, Tom Niedenfuer, in his previous two at bats.  Tommy Herr then grounded out, advancing the runners to 2nd and 3rd.  With 1st base open, Lasorda and the Dodgers elected to pitch to Jack Clark, who proceeded to crush a fastball into the leftfield bleachers.

Equally as impressive and forgotten (even amongst Cardinals fans) was Jack Buck’s awesome call: (32 second mark): “Swing and long one into left field.  Adios!  Good Bye!  And maybe that’s a winner!  A three run homer for Clark and the Cardinals take the lead by the score of seven to five and they may go to the World Series on that one, folks.” 

Dave Henderson – Game 5, 1986 ALCS
Forgotten: Bill Buckner, Dave Stapleton, Don Baylor and Rich Gedman
Leading off the 9th inning with the Red Sox down 5-2, Buckner singled to center.  He was replaced by Dave Stapleton on the base-paths before Jim Rice struck out.  Don Baylor followed with a two run homer to bring the Sox within one.  Dwight Evans then popped up and reliever Gary Lucas replaced starter Mike Witt.  With his first pitch to Rich Gedman (a horribly weak spot in RBI Baseball), Lucas hit him.  Dave Henderson then stepped to the plate as the Angels replaced Lucas with closer Donnie Moore.  Moore got the Angels to within 1 strike of the World Series before Henderson launched the ball into the leftfield seats - and then hopped like a drunken bunny.   The Sox, of course, would go on to win the next two games and advance to the World Series, and Moore would eventually commit suicide. 

Prior to his reconciliation with Sox fans earlier this year, Buckner was public enemy number one in New England.  The cruel irony is that had Buckner just struck out to lead off the 9th in Game 5 of the ALCS instead of reaching base, Dave Henderson never would have made it to the plate.  In other words, Buckner would have been remembered as a career .289 hitter and led a normal post-baseball career -- and Donnie Moore might still be alive.  Hypothetical?  Absolutely.  But not far-fetched.  (And no, I'm not saying that Buckner, Baylor or Gedman should have intentionally made an out.  Pipe down, wiseass.)   

The Impossible Has Happened – Game 1, 1988 World Series
Forgotten: Mike Davis and Dave Anderson
“And look who’s coming up.”  That would be Mike Davis, ladies and gentlemen.  With two outs and the Dodgers down by a run, Davis batted as Dave Anderson stepped into the on-deck circle.  Since Davis hit a combined 65 home runs the previous three seasons (a healthy amount in those days), Eckersley was a little too cautious and walked him, figuring the safer out was Anderson.  As you know, Anderson never made it to the plate and Kirk Gibson hobbled into the batters box.

Awesome decoy job, Dave!   Thanks for sucking in the regular season!

Joe Carter - Game 6, 1993 World Series
Forgotten: Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor  
Down by a run in the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Jays were facing the prospect of a Game 7.  Mitch Williams was in to close it out for the Phillies even though he blew a five run lead in Game 4.  Rickey Henderson led off the inning with a walk.  After Devon White flyed out, Paul Molitor singled.  With that, the tying run was in scoring position and the winner at 1st.  After battling to a 2-2 count, Carter nailed a liner just over the left field wall.  The Jays had the series again and Mitch Williams was sent into hiding. 

David Ortiz - Game 4, 2004 ALCS
Forgotten: Manny Ramirez
Of all the forgotten players appearing on this list, Manny is probably “least deserving” because the Sox and Yankees were tied in extra innings.  But there is always a chance that if Ramirez is retired by Paul Quantrill, Ortiz gets walked.   The odds are slim, since the Yankees were up 3-0 in the series, but few people remember that Ramirez forced the Yankees to pitch to Papi.  Of course, as Tommy Lasorda proved in '85, just because 1st Base is open, doesn't mean you don't pitch to the man.

Albert Pujols – Game 5, 2005 NLCS
Forgotten: David Eckstein and Jim Edmonds
Brad Lidge completely dominated the Cardinals in the ’04 NLCS and again in the ’05 version.  That all changed with the Astros just an out away from their first ever World Series appearance.  Down to their last strike, David Eckstein hit a dribbler in the hole for a single.  HE'S SCRAPPY!  With Pujols lurking on deck, Jim Edmonds represented the tying run.  He managed a walk, which was a good thing since it was the only way he was going to reach base.  The Cards had two on with two outs and Pujols hit a bomb onto the Minute Maid tracks by the choo-choo train.

Unlike Bobby Thomson and Joe Carter before him, there was zero doubt the ball was gone once Pujols made conctact.  Also unlike Thomson and Carter, Pujols’ team failed to win the series.

The Forgotten Heroes was written by Pat Imig.  He remembers jumping up and down like a girl with Top 7 writer Jason Major when Pujols went deep - he also banged his head on the ceiling fan.  Email him @ patrick@joesportsfan.com