Baseball
Related: About this forumStill the most imposing HR I ever saw live-Reggie Jackson 1971 All-Star Game.
At first, not even the camera could track it.
OAITW r.2.0
(28,667 posts)In those days, Fenway was hardly ever sold out. It was late sept or early October and I was in the RF bleachers. Reggie hit a scorching line drive that never got more than 25 ft off the ground....but it maintained that trajectory into the RF bleachers....I think it took about 3 seconds to travel from bat to landing point. Dwight Evans (the greatest RF outfielder of all time, IMHO*) didn't move at all, never looked back. He knew it was gone....
* Talking defense, not batting. Mookie Betts was better offensively and pretty damn spectacular on making impossible cathches, but Dewey had the arm.....2nd/3rd/home....they gambled on a stretch and most often lost.
IngridsLittleAngel
(1,962 posts)It's almost criminal how underrated Dewey was. Along with the great defense and the tremendous arm, he flashed plenty of power himself (385 HR's) and was an on-base machine (.370 OBP), well before we came to appreciate working counts and drawing walks. The guy should've gone into the Hall ages ago, and hopefully one year the Veteran's Committee will get it right and put him in.
Rice's in. Dewey damned well deserves to be in. And if poor Fred Lynn could've stayed healthy, he would've gone in. I don't think a lot of people realize just how good the Sox OF was in the mid to late 70's.
(Said as a lifelong Dodgers an who appreciates the game's history, no matter what team is involved)
OAITW r.2.0
(28,667 posts)Rice, Lynn, and Evan's were the best OF combo I ever saw play. A shame they never had the pitching to carry them to a World Series back in the day.
Brother Buzz
(38,027 posts)I guess he wasn't whacked out on LSD that day
IngridsLittleAngel
(1,962 posts)And vintage Reggie. I think he let it rip like that on pretty much every swing of his career - which is why he launched 563 HR's and struck out more than anyone in history.