What Are the Most Famous Individual Plays by Sport?

[Mean_Mr.Mustard]

@Colibri

Also, his legs were so bad that he might not have been able to hobble to first on any ball that stayed in the park. It was a homer or nothing.

Just to shed further light on the Gibson homer (from Wikipedia):

With an awkward, almost casual swing, Gibson used pure upper-body strength to hit the pitch over the right-field fence. He hobbled around the bases and pumped his fist as his jubilant teammates stormed the field. The Dodgers won the game, 5–4.

The telecast of the home run is also notable because the shot of the ball flying over the wall also captures the taillights of the cars leaving the parking lot, presumably filled with fans who had either given up hope or were leaving early to avoid the traffic.

Gibson has another (earlier) contender (also from Wiki):

Gibson was known for hitting clutch home runs. In the eighth inning of Game 5 of the 1984 World Series between the Tigers and San Diego Padres, he faced Goose Gossage, one of the game’s premier relievers, with Detroit up 5-4 and runners on second and third. An intentional (or at least semi-intentional) walk seemed to be in order, especially since Gibson had already homered earlier in the game. But Gossage told San Diego manager Dick Williams he thought he could get the Tigers’ right fielder to strike out. Indeed, Gossage had struck out Gibson in Gibson’s very first Major League at-bat in 1979, and Gibson had only managed one bunt-single against Gossage in 10 previous plate appearances.[5] Gossage later said he had told teammate Tim Lollar before the game, “I own him,” when asked about Gibson.[6] If the Padres could hold the Tigers and score a couple in the ninth, they would force the Series back to San Diego, and maybe turn the tide. In the Sounds of the Game video, Detroit manager Sparky Anderson was seen in the dugout, yelling at Gibson, “He don’t want to walk you!” and making a bat-swinging motion with his hands, the universal baseball gesture for “swing away.” Gibson got the message, and launched Gossage’s 1-0 fastball deep into Tiger Stadium’s right field upper deck for a three-run homer, icing the game and the Series for the Tigers.

However, I wandered in here to mention Bobby Orr’s flying goal, a moment from my youth I will never forget.
mmm

[Xema]

In swimming, Jason Lezak’s final leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay in Bejing certainly deserves consideration.

To win he had to post a time that was more than half a second better than the best in history. He did, and won the gold by .08 seconds. His performance was a 1.2% improvement over the previous best - an absolutely absurd improvement.

[fjs1fs]

@minlokwat

Right. I think the Shot Heard Round the World is more famous for Red Barber’s call from the booth than from the hit itself.

And for non-game winners, I’d submit George Brett’s pine-tar bat homer and ensuing reaction for consideration. Seems with baseball’s most famous plays, we’d almost have to come up with sub-categories.

Kirk Gibson’s HR was better than all of them, but for sheer ANGER, I’ve never seen anything better than George Brett in any sport.

[Quercus]

Really, for baseball it has to be Babe Ruth calling his shot. If there’s a single baseball play you could parody that non-sports fans would recognize, this is it. Consider your company picnic softball game: if you come up to bat and dramatically point to the fence, everyone will know what you’re doing. Can you evoke (even using words) any of the other nominated plays and have anyone who’s not an obsessive baseball fan recognize what you’re doing? Only thing that comes close is not really a play: Gerhig saying he’s the luckiest man on Earth.

But since people seem determined to nominate every Yankees play of the last 30 years, I’ll nominate The Steal, which of course started The Comeback (or ‘The Choke’ in terms of the center of the universe.)

Otherwise:
Soccer: “Hand of God, uh, Diego”
Women’s soccer: Brandi Chastain’s penalty kick (OK, the aftermath, but still)
College Football: Flutie Hail Mary, or the Stanford Band
NFL: I guess I’d agree with The Immaculate Reception, but it’s not clear. This seems much more team-specific to me for some reason. I think of The Tuck Rule Play & subsequent Snow Kick, The Helmet Catch, and the Saint’s onside kickoff.
Hockey: Orr flying through the air? Or a play from Lake Placid? I’ll defer to someone who grew up watching hockey.
NBA: Havlicek steals the ball! Or Doctor J’s along-the-baseline dunk.
How about skiing? Is it still the unknown to most people “Agony of Defeat” guy, or is that a generational thing?

[davidw]

For baseball, has anyone mentioned the ball rolling between Bill Buckner’s legs? I actually hate to bring it up, cause I’ve long felt that Buckner was treated kinda unfairly in the aftermath, but it’s certainly one of the most famous baseball plays ever.

[Mahaloth]

@Xema

In swimming, Jason Lezak’s final leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay in Bejing certainly deserves consideration.

To win he had to post a time that was more than half a second better than the best in history. He did, and won the gold by .08 seconds. His performance was a 1.2% improvement over the previous best - an absolutely absurd improvement.

Well, it is definitely one of the best moments in swimming, but I think Phelps super close butterfly race where he won by .01 seconds is more famous.

[Andrew_21]

For boxing, it may be the long count in the Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney match.
Another possibility would be Roberto Duran quitting in his match with Sugar Ray Leonard.

[Manduck]

@RickJay

But, to be honest, I suspect the biggest baseball play ever was The Catch.

I have to agree with that considering that I’ve seen it a million times even though it happened before I was born.

In hockey, I think it’s Bobby Orr’s cup winning goal in 1970 or Paul Henderson’s winning goal in the last game of the 1972 Canada-Russia series.

[Airman_Doors_USAF]

@YogSosoth

I’ve heard that a lot but I’m not a baseball fan. Why was it such an upset for the Dodger to win that year and Gibson to hit a HR? He’s not known as someone who could hit?

1. He was so injured he could barely stand. After he hobbled around the bases he didn’t play again for the entire Series.

2. Dennis Eckersley was at that time the best relief pitcher in baseball by far, and nobody believed that he could be beaten once he came into the game.

3. The A’s were overwhelmingly favored to win the Series. Nobody thought the Dodgers had a chance.

[Airman_Doors_USAF]

@Quercus

NFL: I guess I’d agree with The Immaculate Reception, but it’s not clear. This seems much more team-specific to me for some reason. I think of The Tuck Rule Play & subsequent Snow Kick, The Helmet Catch, and the Saint’s onside kickoff.

The Immaculate Reception is traditionally deemed the greatest play in NFL history every time they have a nationwide poll about it. Put simply, it’s the play in football.

How about skiing? Is it still the unknown to most people “Agony of Defeat” guy, or is that a generational thing?

Wide World of Sports has been off the air for nearly a generation, so I’d be surprised if anybody born after 1995 or so even knows what we’re talking about when we say “the agony of defeat”. Everybody my age or older knows right away, though. It’s absolutely a generational thing. Even so, most people who remember WWoS have no idea what the guy’s name was: Vinko Bogotaj.

[Oakminster]

For pro wrestling, it’s Hogan slamming Andre at Wrestlemania III. Hogan was not the first guy to slam Andre, not by a long shot…and that match was not even the first time Hogan did it. But that’s the image non-wrestling fans recognize.

For baseball, some folks in Atlanta and Pittsburgh will never forget Fransisco Cabrera’s single to right to score Sid Bream, but I’d give the nod to Bill Buckner’s error.

For boxing, it might be Mike Tyson fumbling with his mouthpiece after Buster Douglas knocked him out.

[marshmallow]

@etv79

I STILL don’t know how he did that!

Dr. J and Jordan had such huge hands they could palm a basketball like a normal person can palm a tennis ball. Combine that with hyper athleticism, reaction time, and improvisation and you get some really crazy midair tricks that you can’t understand until you go to the slow motion. You can have that ‘wtf’ feeling for like 8 minutes if you watch this Jordan highlight video. Part 2 is pretty good too.

When a network makes an NBA playoff montage to get you pumped it generally will select from:

Jordan switching hands against LA
Jordan game winner over Cleveland
Jordan GWer against Utah from either the 98 or 97 finals
Jordan leaning on Pippen in the flu game
Kobe to Shaq alley oop against Portland
Magic hookshot to beat Boston
Bird stealing the ball and dishing to DJ for the GWer against Detroit
Reggie Miller doing something bad to the Knicks
Jerry West’s half court shot against the Knicks
Fisher’s 0.4 shot to beat San Antonio
Kareem skyhooking
Hakeem dream shaking David Robinson out of his shoes
Kemp against Lister (number 1 from this video)
Havlicek stealing the ball and the crowd rushing in like a crazed mob

[pulykamell]

@runner pat

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.

I was not aware of this one. That’s one incredible achievement, to beat the world long jump record at the time by nearly two feet. Whoa.

[Airman_Doors_USAF]

@pulykamell

I was not aware of this one. That’s one incredible achievement, to beat the world long jump record at the time by nearly two feet. Whoa.

To his credit, it was an amazing achievement, but it was also in Mexico City so he had the advantage of thin air. Conditions and a once in a lifetime jump came together perfectly for that record.

[running_coach]

@Airman_Doors_USAF

To his credit, it was an amazing achievement, but it was also in Mexico City so he had the advantage of thin air. Conditions and a once in a lifetime jump came together perfectly for that record.

On the other hand, all the other competitors had the same conditions and were nowhere close.

[notquitekarpov]

In English football I would think that Ricky Villa’s legendary match winner in the 1981 cup final against Manchester City would come close:

- YouTube

[pulykamell]

@runner pat

On the other hand, all the other competitors had the same conditions and were nowhere close.

Yeah, silver was 8.19 meters; gold was 8.90 meters, or about 28 inches in difference. That’s just annihilating the competition, favorable conditions or not.

[footballisplayedwithyourfeet]

I must say I concur with the Football choices mentioned above, there is something I’d like to add. While not technically a play, this footage of Maradonna warming up on ‘life is life’ is pretty famous and quite awesome.

- YouTube

[Ximenean]

@footballisplayedwithyourfeet

I must say I concur with the Football choices mentioned above, there is something I’d like to add. While not technically a play, this footage of Maradonna warming up on ‘life is life’ is pretty famous and quite awesome.

- YouTube

I think maybe soccer will fail by having too diverse a fan base. Because I have never seem that clip before in my life. I’ve seen the previously mentioned Ricky Villa FA Cup Final clip about a thousand times, but I wonder if people in, say, Dortmund are as familiar with it.

Meanwhile, baseball and American football have an audience taken from a population similar to that of the whole of Europe, but who have all seen the same clips.

[astorian]

As others have noted, the most famous play in baseball’s history is one that probably didn’t happen: Babe Ruth’s called homer in the 1932 World Series. Every time a rec league softball player jokingly points his bat to the fences, he knows he’s alluding to an incident that almost EVERYBODY knows of.

After that, there are many almost equally famous moments, including:

Pudge Fisk’s homer in game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
Bobby Thomson’s homer to win the pennant for the Giants in 1951.
Hank Aaron’s 715th homer against Al Downing.
Willie Mays big catch against Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series.
In pro football, the Immaculate Reception probably wins, but among the other contenders:

“The Catch” by Dwight Clark, to lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl over the Cowboys. Not nearly as spectacular a play as Franco Harris’, but an iconic moment anyway.

Lawrence Taylor breaking Joe Theismann’s leg on Monday Night Football.