Freddie Freeman's Gladius Drop

Is baseball always this exciting? Are you not entertained?

The previous time my wife was really interested in the World Series was 1988. During the 8th inning of the first game, with Jose Canseco’s and Mark McGwire’s steroid-powered Oakland A’s ahead of my Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3, she asked me, “What’s going to happen?”

I thought for a second, considered the batting order, and then replied, more or less, “With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers are going to get a man on base. Manager Tommy Lasorda will then send up to pinch-hit against the A’s star reliever Dennis Eckersley the Dodgers’ severely hobbled hero Kirk Gibson (who had been badly injured breaking up a double play in the deciding game of the Dodger’s victory over the New York Mets in the National League championship series). On a 3-2 count, Gibson will somehow homer and limp around the bases to win the game.”

To be honest, I didn’t actually believe that would happen. But I felt that it would be awfully cool if it did.

Below the paywall: what happened.