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Dodgers take lead as Will Smith homers off Braves’ Will Smith

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Dodgers Way

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 15: Will Smith #16 of the Los Angeles Dodgers lines out against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning in Game Four of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field on October 15, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Dodgers catcher Will Smith swiped the lead for the LAD in the sixth inning, homering with two on and two out against…Will Smith.

Two men on, two men out for the Dodgers. Will Smith in the box, staring at a full count.

And when his eyes met the pitcher’s, two Will Smiths were looking directly at each other, ready for battle. Yes, Atlanta really brought in lefty Will Smith to face the west coast version, in some sort of bizarre ode to the Clone Wars.

Has anything like this ever happened before? Obviously not. Why would you even ask that? Two men with the same name facing each other in a postseason game? The FOX broadcast really thought that was a worthwhile question to answer.

So, who won? Who proved himself to be the Freshest Prince? It was the Dodgers’ Will Smith, who waited on a 3-2 cutter, pulled his hands in and rocketed it deep into left field, giving Los Angeles the lead in a game that once seemed destined to be a blowout in the other direction.

That’s 4-2 Dodgers, in a blink. Just like the vast majority of “I Am Legend,” there was only one Will Smith left standing.

So, what got us to this point, where this spectacular and serendipitous homer occurred? In many ways, you can pin this comeback on the heroics of Mookie Betts.

Sure, it was Betts who started off the sixth with a single down the line, then got replaced by Justin Turner on second base after some wack baserunning. But more importantly, it was Betts who charged a shallow looper in the third, taking a Marcell Ozuna run off the board when it revealed he had left third base early.

And now, here we are, with a younger version of the man on the mound hitting a home run off his older self.

At least, we think that’s what happened? Sorry, we have the lead now, we’re a little turned around.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard and Dodgers Way for 4 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast twice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for eight years. Previously, he was a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.