What is the most important hit in baseball history.

[MVSNYC]

my first answer was Mac's #62, but i cannot forget to mention Mookie's game 6 dribbler in the '86 WS. as a 12 year old Mets fan it doesn't get better then that hit.

[wfubob]

For historical significance, the most important single hit to me was 715.

For me personally (see my avatar), it was Ozzie's LCS game 6 walk-off homerun off Niedenfuer, watching after school as a 14-year old boy (ahhh, playoff games in the daytime...). He was 0 for 3,009 hitting bombs from the left side of the plate in his career! I recall NBC had posted that stat just before the hit...

Of course, Don Denkinger's blown call in Game 6 basically gave the Series to the Royals, keeping this hit from being legendary to more than just us Ozzie fanatics

[SetBuilder]

To me: 1997 World Series Game 7.

Edgar Renteria.

[Jlighter]

Called shot, hands down. 8/10 Americans are aware of it. The same cant be said of the shot heard round the world or any other. Every child this side of the mason Dixon line at one time or another mimicked it. Whether it happened or not( I will never believe it didn't happen) it is a moment that will resonate in the minds of baseball loving people, young or old. It is the most important hit in baseball, sports and a hallmark of American History.

The Babe lives

[peterose4hof]

4,192 & 4,256

If I had to make a non-homer pick it would be Aaron's 715.

[E93]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

715 was huge. For anyone to have broken what was probably the most sacred sports record in the American consciousness would have been enormous. Add to that the fact that it was broken by a black ballplayer playing in the Deep South, in a time that was still racially charged, only 6 years removed from MLK's assasination. Aaron later disclosed that he had received a deluge of hate mail, and death threats which had genuinely worried him, probably for good reason.

+1

Aaron's 715th has my vote.
JimB

[FrankWakefield]

I attended 4192, saw it.... but I don't think of that hit as being the hit.

I've been a Cardinals fan since seeing Mr. Musial play in 1963. Saw Gibson pitch in game 7 of the 1964 World Series, which had Mantle's last WS HR. Saw Brock's 3000th hit. And even though I'm a Cardinals fan, I don't think it was McGwire's 62nd or 70th. ( But what a year, everyone stopped and watched McGwire hit during batting practice. Everyone, even the opposing team. )

Maybe, as time goes by, and folks look back with the perspective of time, David Freese's game 6 triple, or game 6 home run, will get there.

And notwithstanding Ruth's legendary presence, the Called Shot isn't the hit, nor is what I consider a close second, Mazeroski's homer. After thinking about this for a couple of days, and reading the thread, I think Thompson's home run, the Shot Heard 'Round the World, with Jackie Robinson watching Thompson touch the bases, I think that hit is the hit. Lots of good answers in this thread, though.

So as much as I enjoyed Mr. Buck's "Go crazy folks" call of Ozzie's shot, it has to be "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"

[packs]

The Shot Heard Round The World call is played in every sports montage ever, along with the Do You Believe In Miracles? call. Have to say that's got to be the biggest baseball moment. But that depends on how you define moments. Ruth's called shot is the stuff of legends but no one saw it who wasn't there. No one experienced it unless they were there. There's no shared experience.

[Clutch-Hitter]

Here's a different angle on the called shot. Babe taunts them as he rounds the bases...great stuff