Red Sox: Top 10 most important home runs in team history
The Red Sox have hit countless big home runs throughout their history. Here’s a look at the ten most important homers they’ve ever hit.
The home run. It’s one of the most famous and iconic occurrences in all of sports. A single swing of the bat can change the entire outcome of an inning, a game, a series, or a season as the ball lands on the other side of the fence. The thrill of hearing the crack of the bat and watching the ball soar through the sky is one that is unique to baseball.
There have been thousands upon thousand of home runs hit in the long and illustrious history of baseball, a huge portion of them being hit by the Boston Red Sox over their 120 seasons of existence. Of course, the vast majority of these home runs were hit during regular season games and while many of these were memorable, they’re not what we’ll be focusing on in this article.
This list is going to look at the ten most important home runs in Red Sox history, with a heavy emphasis on the word important. These aren’t just home runs that were fun or memorable, these were home runs that mattered, home runs that won games, that gave the Red Sox life, extended series, and in many cases won championships.
In chronological order, let’s begin.
1941 All-Star Game
Okay, right off the bat I lied…but only a little. Hear me out first, though! This home run didn’t win a World Series or even a regular season game. It did win a game that was considered important in its time, though, as the All-Star Game used to be an actual event and one of the most popular sporting events of its time, especially back in the days before interleague play.
As every Red Sox fan knows, 1941 was a fantastic year for both Ted Williams and baseball as a whole. While Joe DiMaggio would have a 56 game hitting streak and end up winning MVP (an award which, in all honesty, Williams deserved), Ted would hit .406 for the season while having one of the greatest offensive seasons in history.
Williams finished 1941 with the aforementioned .406 average to go along with 37 home runs, 120 RBI, 185 hits, 135 runs scored, 147 walks, a ludicrous .553 OBP, and an OPS of 1.287. However, one of the most famous home runs in Williams’ career happened during that season’s Midsummer Classic.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the National League was leading 5-4 with two outs. There was a runner at third base and DiMaggio, who moments ago had almost grounded into a double play to end the game before being safe on a wild throw, was at first. Williams stepped to the plate and, on a 2-1 pitch, crushed a walk-off three-run homer off the upper deck at Tiger Stadium to win the game.
The video of Williams clapping and jumping for joy as he runs around the bases has become iconic and for added context, Williams had entered the All-Star break hitting .405 on the season. Passions were running high among both players and fans as this All-Star Game and season would be the last before the United States entered World War II.
While this home run didn’t help the Red Sox win a game that helped them in the standings or the postseason, it was still important and has become an iconic part of baseball lore. That it was hit by arguably their greatest player in his most historic season makes it truly important.
Ted Williams’ Final At-Bat
The next home run on the list is the only other one that didn’t win a meaningful game for the Red Sox, but it’s important for another reason. In 1960, Ted Williams was forty-two years old and in the last season of his career. After playing for the Red Sox since 1939 (with military stints during WWII and Korea interrupting his career), he was hanging it up.
Ted’s final season wasn’t bad by any stretch; he hit .316 with 29 home runs and 72 RBI. Still, the Red Sox were awful and as it had been for the entirety of the 1950s, Williams was the only reason for fans to come to the ballpark to see the team. They’d finish the 1960 season a dismal 65-89 and in seventh place out of the eight (at the time) American League teams.
Ted had one last thrill for the Fenway faithful though, when in his last ever game on September 28, 1960, he hit a home run in his final at-bat. It wasn’t the Red Sox final game of the season as they’d finish up with a series at Yankee Stadium, but Ted didn’t travel with the team for those games.
On a cold and damp day at Fenway Park, Williams hit a home run in his final at-bat and simply ran around the bases with his head down, running straight into the dugout without tipping his cap to the crowd. It was a fitting end to the career of the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and a moment that inspired a classic newspaper essay and is still talked about to this very day.
Carlton Fisk’s World Series Home Run
Now we’re getting to the home runs that had more than sentimental value. First, a little bit of background. Heading into Game Six, the Red Sox were down three games to two to the Cincinnati Reds and needed a win at Fenway Park just to survive. Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, Boston was losing by three before Bernie Carbo hit a pinch-hit three-run homer to tie the game.
(The reason I didn’t include Carbo’s home run on the list is because the Red Sox eventually lost this series…nit-picking, I know. It certainly deserves an honorable mention here). The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the ninth but couldn’t capitalize and it went into extra innings. Heading into the bottom of the twelfth, the score was still tied at six.
Leading off the inning, Carlton Fisk lofted a 1-0 pitch to left field, a ball that hit the foul pole and won the game for the Red Sox. The left field cameraman captured Fisk’s body language as he waved the ball fair before jumping for joy as he began his trot around the bases.
While the Red Sox blew a late lead in the next game and lost the World Series, Fisk’s home run remains a treasured Boston memory and an iconic moment.
Two Home Runs in the 1986 ALCS
This one is a twofer as two of the most important home runs in Red Sox history were hit in the same inning of the same game. Having recently written about the epic 1986 ALCS, these two home runs are fresh on my mind since I re-watched the series only a couple of weeks ago. For those who haven’t read my article on the series, here’s some background.
After splitting the first two games in Boston, the Red Sox dropped the first two in Anaheim including a crushing loss in Game Four in which they blew a 3-0 lead in the ninth inning and lost in extra innings. The fought valiantly in Game Five but entered the ninth inning trailing 5-2 and Angels starter Mike Witt was dealing, hoping to go the distance.
That changed when Red Sox DH Don Baylor muscled an outside pitch and pulled it to left field for a two-run homer on a two-strike count to pull the Red Sox to within a run at 5-4. That knocked Witt for a loop, but he retired the next batter before being pulled out of the game. Baylor’s home run (which often gets forgotten when remembering this series) seemed to only prolong the inevitable, at least in the minds of the rabid Angels fans in the crowd.
After Angels reliever Gary Lucas hit Rich Gedman with his first pitch, California manager Gene Mauch brought in their closer Donnie Moore and he promptly got two strikes on Sox center fielder Dave Henderson. Down to their last strike, Henderson took two balls and then fouled off two pitches. He seemed to be just trying to stay alive before he hit the next pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homer and a 6-5 Red Sox lead.
While there were some hairy moments in the bottom of the inning (when the Angels tied it and squandered a chance to win), the Red Sox held on to win in the eleventh inning (on a sacrifice fly RBI from Henderson). These two homers changed the complexion of the series and the Red Sox won the next two games in a rout to complete their shocking comeback and win the pennant.
While the World Series that followed didn’t turn out the way Red Sox fans wanted and its ending cruelly and eerily mirrored the ALCS, Baylor and Henderson’s home runs helped the team capture they first pennant in eleven years and propelled them to within a strike of ending the World Series drought eighteen years earlier than they eventually would.
David Ortiz’ Walk-Off Homer
As the most clutch hitter in Red Sox history, David Ortiz has had his fair share of huge home runs for the team (and this is the first of his two appearances on this list). While both of his entries in this article were important, the edge has to go to this home run in the 2004 ALCS for what was at stake.
The Red Sox had spent the entire 2004 season hoping for a rematch of the 2003 ALCS after that series ended in crushing fashion. While the series the previous year had ended in extra innings at the end of the seventh game, it seemed as though the Red Sox wouldn’t even get past Game Four in 2004.
After losing the first two games in New York and getting blown out in Game Three at Fenway Park, the Red Sox were down to their last three outs in the ninth inning and facing the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera. Every Red Sox fan who was watching that fateful night knows what happened next. Kevin Millar walked and Dave Roberts came in to pinch run.
Everyone, including the Yankees, knew that Roberts was going to try to steal second base and steal it he did. Bill Mueller then hit a single up the middle to drive Roberts in with the tying run.
The game remained tied into the twelfth inning before Ortiz, with Manny Ramirez on base, crushed Paul Quantrill‘s pitch over the right field wall for a game-winning two-run homer.
The Red Sox weren’t out of the woods yet and they still needed to win the next three games to finish their comeback, but this was the beginning. Ortiz kept the team alive and sparked something in them. He won the following game with a clutch RBI single in the fourteenth inning and the rest was history. Still, they may not get as important as his home run in Game Four.
Johnny Damon’s Grand Slam
I feel like I’m overlooking Mark Bellhorn‘s three-run homer from Game Six of this series which proved to be the margin of victory and forced Game Seven. However, that homer put the Sox up 4-0 in the middle of the game and the Red Sox held on to win. He definitely merits an honorable mention here. I don’t think there’s any question that this next entry is deserving, though.
The Red Sox had battled back from being down three games to none to tie the series and force a deciding Game Seven at Yankee Stadium. Speaking for (I think) all Red Sox fans, I had visions of 2003’s nightmare finish in the same game at the same ballpark when this one started. The Red Sox had a 2-0 lead after the first inning when they came to bat in the second.
After loading the bases with one out, Johnny Damon came to bat and hit Javier Vazquez‘ first pitch into the right field stands for a grand slam and a 6-0 lead. You could see the fear on the Yankees’ faces (as well as those of their fans) and it was at that moment that I knew there was no way the Red Sox would lose this game.
For good measure, Damon hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and the Red Sox won this game 10-3 to complete the most epic comeback in baseball history. They had finally beaten the Yankees in the postseason, won their first pennant in eighteen years, and would go on to win their first World Series in eighty-six years.
JD Drew’s Grand Slam
The 2007 team tends to be the most overlooked of the four Red Sox World Series winners of the twenty-first century, but those of us who remember watching them that season know that they were a great regular season team who overcame a lot in the ALCS.
It wasn’t quite as dire as being down three games to none in 2004, but the 2007 Red Sox had their own difficult hill to climb. Down three games to one to the Cleveland Indians after four games, the Red Sox routed the Tribe in Game Five before heading back to Fenway Park for the final two games of the series.
Facing Fausto Carmona (as he was called back then) who had gone 19-8 in the regular season and got the no decision in Game Two, the Red Sox still faced a tall task. They shifted the momentum permanently in their favor in the first inning when JD Drew stepped up to the plate. With the bases loaded and two outs, he crushed a ball to dead center field for a grand slam and a 4-0 lead that felt ten times as big.
That opened the floodgates and the Red Sox went on to win the game 12-2 and the following night 11-2 to complete their comeback and win the pennant. They’d go on to sweep the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, mirroring 2004 by surviving a rugged LCS before dominating in the World Series.
First Home Run After the Marathon Bombings
Okay, I lied earlier. This is the final home run on the list that didn’t win a game of significance in the standings, but make no mistake that this home run was vitally important. The Boston Marathon bombings had occurred on April 15, 2013 and everyone in New England was affected by it whether they lived in Boston or not.
After postponing their games for the entire week, the Red Sox were back in action at Fenway Park on April 20, 2013 for their first game after the bombings. The game was kicked off by David Ortiz giving a rousing speech to the crowd before proclaiming on live television that “this is our ****ing city!” I remember watching this live and being really moved by his words.
Then the Red Sox took on the Kansas City Royals and were losing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth when Daniel Nava stepped to the plate. With runners at the corners and two outs, he belted a 1-1 pitch into the bullpens in right field for a 4-2 lead and the first home run since before the bombings. The outpouring of emotion between the team and crowd was epic as was Don Orsillo’s call of “Boston, this one is for you!”
While this game wasn’t important in terms of the standings, it was exactly what the fans of New England needed and it galvanized the 2013 team who would ride that momentum all the way to the most improbable World Series win in Red Sox history. Boston Strong became their rallying cry and it really did feel like they won it for the region that year. Nava’s home run was the spark that ignited the fire.
David Ortiz’ Grand Slam
The 2013 Red Sox came out of nowhere in the wake of their dismal 2012 season to win the AL East. After defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in four games in the ALDS, they matched up against the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. The Tigers boasted a fearsome rotation that included Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer and their offense was anchored by Miguel Cabrera who had won the Triple Crown in 2012.
The Red Sox dropped the first game at Fenway Park 1-0 and we in danger of going down two games to none before heading to Detroit for the next three games. Losing 5-1 heading into the eighth inning, they loaded the bases with two outs when David Ortiz stepped up to the plate. Facing Joaquin Benoit who was just put into the game, Ortiz hit the first pitch into the bullpens for a grand slam.
That tied the game at five runs apiece and gave us one of the greatest baseball photos in history when Torii Hunter flipped over the fence in his attempt to catch the ball. The Red Sox went on to win the game when they scored a run in the ninth and they’d win the series in six games for their third pennant since 2004. They would go on to win the World Series in six games over the St. Louis Cardinals to cap off a magical season.
Mitch Moreland’s Pinch-Hit Home Run
Accuse me of recency bias if you want, but Mitch Moreland‘s home run in Game Four of the 2018 World Series deserves to be on this list. The 2018 Red Sox had cruised to 108 wins and the AL East tile and after dispatching a pair of 100-win teams in the ALDS (Yankees) and ALCS (Astros), they faced off against the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Red Sox had won the first two games in Boston and went into Dodger Stadium looking to take a stranglehold on the series. They led the epic Game Three 2-1 in the bottom of the thirteenth inning before Ian Kinsler‘s error allowed the Dodgers to tie it. The Sox would lose the game 3-2 in eighteen innings on Max Muncy‘s solo home run.
Failing to take a 3-0 series lead, the Red Sox were down late in Game Four and it looked like the momentum had shifted toward the Dodgers. When Yasiel Puig hit a three-run homer off of Eduardo Rodriguez in the sixth inning to put LA up 4-0, it seemed as though the series would be knotted by the end of the game.
The image of Rodriguez slamming his glove down as Puig rounded the bases with his arms in the air seemed to confirm that the winds of fate had shifted. In the top of the seventh, though, the Red Sox answered the call when Mitch Moreland hit a pinch hit three-run homer with two outs to cut the Dodger lead to 4-3.
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The Dodgers looked deflated and the Red Sox tied it in the eighth before putting up five runs in the ninth to win the game and take a 3-1 series lead. They’d go on to win the World Series in five games, but Moreland’s home run was the turning point; if he hadn’t sparked the Red Sox rally, the series would’ve been tied after four games and history may have been very different.