Folks, it’s that time of year again: baseball playoffs. One hundred and sixty-two games played leading to one thing: the World Series.
Everything up to this point means nothing if a team fails to win the big show. This is the time of year when new heroes are made and old ones take the field for the last time.
Tears are shed for both joy and sorrow.
Throughout the history of post-season play, one team is crowned the champion while another hits the golf course. Bench players will emerge with key hits, all-stars will take one last swing and new trivia questions will be written.
But in the end no matter what happens, history will have been made. So in order to prepare for the new class of post-season heroes, one must recall the former ones.
Giving the proper respect to those who came before us, and will always make us wish we were there.
It seems that the ultimate post-season hero dream is the one about the bottom of the 9th: the bases are loaded, with the home-team down. One swing of the bat, one ball out-of-the-park can change everything.
Of course, in everyone’s dream, that swing happens in true Bobby Thomson, Kirk Gibson or Joe Carter style. That’s right, Bobby Thompson and Joe Carter.
Bobby Thomson played for the New York Giants during the `40s and `50s. No one knew his name outside of New York, but after 1954 the world knew him. It was the playoffs between rivals Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Dodgers were trying to get back to the World Series. Thompson came to bat against Ralph Branca and launched a ball over the fence that came to be known as “the shot heard around the world.”
Thompson might never be in the Hall of Fame as an inductee, but the baseball community will never forget the history he gave.
In 1988, the Dodgers were facing the A’s. Kirk Gibson played in only one game for the Dodgers that series. He only needed one at bat to make history. Gibson won the World Series with a homerun.
Joe Carter duplicated Thomson’s feat in 1993 with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays were playing the Phillies, and Carter came to bat against Mitch Williams. With one swing Carter won the World Series and became a hero.
Besides homerun heroes, the post season takes the average bench player and gives him a chance to succeed.
St. Louis will not forget the name Craig Counsel for a long time, just like they won’t forget the name Dan Gladden.
In 1987, Gladden wiped the Cardinals in the World Series propelling the Twins to win. He lost the series MVP to Frank Viola, but he still hit .290 off redbird pitchers. Quite a difference from his .249 average during the regular season.
Who can forget the last time their favorite player played in the post-season? The last time he swung the bat or the last time he touched home.
These are memories that the post-season gives us. For those who saw Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio play in their last series or for us who might see Paul O’Neil in his last one, it will be memories that stay with us forever.
Anyone can become a hero in the post-season. It just takes a timely hit or a great play in the field.
Games might not only be won by homeruns, but be on the lookout for the one swing that can change the course of the series or even better win it.
The post-season is the climax of every baseball season providing memories and a history that will live forever in the hearts and minds of fans everywhere.
