Eckersley, the pitcher, had been utterly dominant that year, and Gibson was a pinch hitter, having not played due to an injured leg.
Gibson was barely standing up, both of his knees were injured. He spent most of the game in the clubhouse, and near the end told his coach he could pinch hit if needed.
Baseball has lots of walkoff homers in the Word Series and the playoffs that rank highly. The Mays catch was a great catch, and he came up throwing the ball back into the infield. That was defense at its finest. But there are lots of spectacular defensive plays in baseball. Baeball just has too long a history to make such a judgement.
NBA has Chamberlains 100 point game.
For Golf:
Fairly recent: Tiger holing the putt on the 18th hole at Torrey Pines to get to the Playoff against Rocco Mediate. (on a broken leg)
or a little further back, Jack Nicklaus holing the putt on the 17th hole at the 1986 Masters.
or ancient, Hogan’s 1-iron on the 18th hole to clinch his win in the 1950 US Open to complete his comeback after literally getting hit by a Greyhound bus.
Chamberlain’s game wasn’t televised.
Here it is in color, with a brief interview with him at the end.
It’s harder with tennis because plays are so brief. However, this tie break in the greatest match of all time is a total classic. It’s the Nadal-Federer match in the Wimbledon final of 2008, definitely the greatest match of all time and one of the most classic sporting events ever. Both men, playing extremely well, pushing each other to the max.
Here is the tie-breaker. If Nadal had won(and he served for at least 2 match points), Federer would lose right there. It’s 10 minutes long, but the tension is insane.
Bob Beamon’s world record long jump at the 1968 Olympics. 21 inches beyond the record at the time.
He actually went beyond the measuring system’s limits and a manual tape had to be used.
American professional football - “The Catch”, aka Montana to Clark in the Jan 1982 NFC championship game. link
American college football - Johnny Rogers punt return in the 1971 “Game of the Century” Nebraska/Oklahoma game. Link
Baseball - Kirby Puckett’s catch in 6th game of the 1991 World Series. (Og, I can’t believe that was 20 years ago now.) link
Professional basketball - Julius Erving’s underhand scoop against the Lakers in the 1980 finals. link
College basketball - Dwight Clay’s last second shot from the corner for Notre Dame to end UCLA’s 88-game winning streak. link and link
Hockey - Paul Henderson’s game winning goal for Canada against the USSR in 1972. link
**Hockey: **
For Canada, Henderson’s winning goal in the last second in the last game of the 1972 Summit Series, in which for the first time Canadian NHL players were pitted against the best the USSR had to offer. Canada – USSR détente through hockey.
For Quebec, Rocket Richard’s 1955 attack on a player and a linesman, which led at the next game to NHL President Campbell being punched by a fan and the crowd pelting Campbell with refuse, a smoke bomb going off in the Forum followed by an evacuation, and a major street riot which went on until four in the morning. Richard was brought out in front of the microphones the next day in an attempt to calm things down. It was a seminal precursor of la Révolution tranquille / the Quiet Revolution. When Richard attended at the closing of the Forum 1996, he received a sixteen minute standing ovation from the crowd, and when he died in 2000, Quebec gave him a state funeral. “Richard 5, Toronto 1” indeed.
I came into the thread to post about that try - it is certainly the classic, although I think Jonah Lomu’s efforts against England in the 1995 World Cup Semifinal are worthy of an honorable mention, for their skill in a variety of areas. And Gio Aplon’s try in yesterday’s Super 15 loss isn’t too bad either.
For cricket - it would have to be the fantastic “Ball of the Century” - Shane Warne to Mike Gatting
Grim
Yogi didn’t make the defensive play there, but I guess the steal itself counts as one of the most famous offensive plays.
Also inflated by the Yankee factor, of course, but the relay that put out Jeremy Giambi at the plate on October 14, 2001, is nevertheless justly famed among defensive plays.
Other people have covered the Gibson element; Eckersley was not only the best closer in baseball, he’d finished second in the AL Cy Young voting and had just won MVP of the ALCS for closing all four games of a sweep.
I think the most famous play in baseball history is Babe Ruth’s called shot. It at least has to be on the short list. I agree there’s no single most famous shot in tennis, which is kind of too bad. The winner in basketball, I think, is Jordan switching hands to make that layup against the Lakers. “The Shrug” isn’t really a play - you have to know in context that it was his sixth three-pointer in the first half of a game in the finals - but it might belong on the list.
Ali coming off the ropes to drop Foreman?
That was not part of the thread. Hell it took place in Hershey Pa.
I like Watson chipping in on 17 at Pebble in the 1982 U.S. Open. Pity there isn’t footage of Sarazen’s crazy double eagle at 15 during the 1935 Masters.
No love in basketball for Jordan’s game winner against the Jazz in the 1998 Finals?
Lacrosse has this goal.
Scoring 100 points is hardly a play though.
Is mountain climbing a sport?
If so, I’d nominate The Belay as the most amazing, and perhaps consequential, in that it saved six human lives, physical feat in this list.