Few moments in Major League Baseball history are more iconic than Kirk Gibson's home run during Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Battling through ligament damage in his right knee and a hamstring injury, Gibson was called upon in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and runner on first with the Oakland Athletics leading 4-3.
A storied at-bat between Gibson and A's closer Dennis Eckersley ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers' slugger taking a 3-2 pitch from the Oakland right-hander over the fence in right field, putting LA up 1-0 in the series.
Joe Davis call made Dodgers' Freddie Freeman-Kirk Gibson comps even more amazing
The crowd at Dodger Stadium went bananas, Gibson pumped his fist as he rounded the bases, and the Dodgers would go on to win the 1988 World Series in five games. The moment itself is iconic, but the call from legendary broadcaster Vin Scully might be as acclaimed as the home run itself.
"High fly ball into right field," Scully said. "She is gone!" Those are words that will live in Dodgers' lore forever.
Few could bring together the spectacle and scene of the moment better than Scully, but on Friday night at Chavez Ravine, FOX Sports commentator Joe Davis did his best to honor the late-Dodgers' broadcaster with his call of Freddie Freeman's grand slam.
Freeman, who, like Gibson, has been hobbled of late with an ankle injury, stepped into the batters' box with the bases loaded in the bottom of 10th and two outs. The Dodgers trailed 3-2. While Nestor Cortes isn't exactly Eckersley, the moment felt eerily similar. Freeman walloped the first pitch he saw and sent it into the seats in right field.
Davis paid tribute to Scully's famous call, saying, "Freeman hits a ball to right. She is gone! Gibby meet Freddie, Game 1 of the World Series." Freeman rounded the bases (not quite as unsteadily as Gibson) and the Dodgers walked it off by the final of 6-3.
If the Dodgers win the World Series, Freeman's walk-off winner will be forever linked to Gibson's heroics from 1988. The Dodgers won that World Series in five games, and are hoping to follow a similar path this October. The Dodgers now hold a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on Saturday night.