The most memorable moment in baseball history

[Eric72]

There have been innumerable stories in the 150+ year history of professional baseball.

Some of them involve a stretch of time measured in years: Babe Ruth's career, the existence of the Negro Leagues; the Yankees' five straight championships. These are interesting and significant. They are not moments, though.

Other stories focus on a single season or portion thereof: Christy Mathewson's performance in the 1905 World Series; the dominance of the 1927 Yankees; the National League pennant race in 1908. These stories are wonderful; however, they're not about moments, either.

What I'm looking for are moments in time, a minute at most, that endure to this very day.

A few that come to my mind are:

Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world."
Jackie Robinson takes the field for the first time.
Babe Ruth's "called shot."
"Merkle's Boner."
"Kelly now catching."
Kirk Gibson's home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
Pete Rose collides with Ray Fosse.

There are many, many more.

What moments in baseball history stand out to you?

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Eric72

There have been innumerable stories in the 150+ year history of professional baseball.

Some of them involve a stretch of time measured in years: Babe Ruth's career, the existence of the Negro Leagues; the Yankees' five straight championships. These are interesting and significant. They are not moments, though.

Other stories focus on a single season or portion thereof: Christy Mathewson's performance in the 1905 World Series; the dominance of the 1927 Yankees; the National League pennant race in 1908. These stories are wonderful; however, they're not about moments, either.

What I'm looking for are moments in time, a minute at most, that endure to this very day.

A few that come to my mind are:

Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world."
Jackie Robinson takes the field for the first time.
Babe Ruth's "called shot."
"Merkle's Boner."
"Kelly now catching."
Kirk Gibson's home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
Pete Rose collides with Ray Fosse.

There are many, many more.

What moments in baseball history stand out to you?

How about:

Willie Mays' 1954 World Series catch

Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series game 7 walk-off home run

Bill Wambsganns' 1920 World Series unassisted triple play

Babe Ruth's final appearance/speech in a Yankee's uniform in Yankee Stadium

Lou Gehrig's famous farewell speech proclaiming himself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth at Yankee Stadium

Hank Aaron's home run topping Ruth's all-time record

Rose's hit topping Ty Cobb's all-time hits records

Cal Ripken's starting the game topping Lou Gehrig's all time consecutive game record

The last at bat by Joe Dimaggio when the Indians stopped him at his 56 game hitting streak

The final pitch of Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter

Bill Buckner's 1986 WS error

The Steve Bartman incident in 2003

Roger Maris hitting the 61st home run during the 1961 season

Aaron Judge hitting his 62nd home run this past season

Mark McGwire hitting his 70th home run in 1998

Barry Bonds hitting his 71st and final 73rd home runs in 2001

The final out of the Boston Red Sox WS clinching game in 2004 breaking the "Curse of the Bambino"

The final out of the 1969 WS clinching game for the Miracle Mets.

The final pitch of the 1956 WS perfect game thrown by Don Larsen

Ichiro Suzuki's hit number 258 for the season in 2004, breaking George Sisler's previous all-time single season hit record of 257 set back in 1920

Carl Mays hitting Ray Chapman while at bat, which ended up killing him

The announcement of Ruth being sold to the Yankees

Raphael Palmeiro's now infamous testimony before Congress denying PED usage - and then also the later moment it was announced he tested positive for using PEDs

The announcement of Pete Rose's permanent ban from baseball due to gambling

Larry Doby's first time taking the field for an American League team the same year as Jackie Robinson's MLB playing debut

Eddie Gaedel's one and only plate appearance on 8/19/1951

George Brett's pine tar bat incident on 7/24/1983

The announcement of the Houston Astros confirmed cheating scandal

The announcement of the permanent ban to the infamous 1919 Black Sox players, including Joe Jackson

The start of the 7/24/1911 memorial game for Addie Joss at Cleveland's League Park, considered by many the de facto first ever MLB all-star game

The 8/4/1993 on-field fight between Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura


There's a decent start....................................

[carlsonjok]

[Peter_Spaeth]

Aaron, second place Mazeroski, third place Thomson.

[Jim65]

Carlton Fisk's HR Game 6 1975 WS against the Reds.

[packs]

Chapman beaning:

[butchie_t]

Two for me both include Nolan Ryan:

7-moments in time, one for each no hitter
The butt whipping that Robin Ventura (26 at the time) took from Nolan Ryan (46 at the time).

Instant classics, each and every one of them.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by BobC

How about:

Willie Mays' 1954 World Series catch

Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series game 7 walk-off home run

Bill Wambsganns' 1920 World Series unassisted triple play

Babe Ruth's final appearance/speech in a Yankee's uniform in Yankee Stadium

Lou Gehrig's famous farewell speech proclaiming himself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth at Yankee Stadium

Hank Aaron's home run topping Ruth's all-time record

Rose's hit topping Ty Cobb's all-time hits records

Cal Ripken's starting the game topping Lou Gehrig's all time consecutive game record

The last at bat by Joe Dimaggio when the Indians stopped him at his 56 game hitting streak

The final pitch of Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter

Bill Buckner's 1986 WS error

The Steve Bartman incident in 2003

Roger Maris hitting the 61st home run during the 1961 season

Aaron Judge hitting his 62nd home run this past season

Mark McGwire hitting his 70th home run in 1998

Barry Bonds hitting his 71st and final 73rd home runs in 2001

The final out of the Boston Red Sox WS clinching game in 2004 breaking the "Curse of the Bambino"

The final out of the 1969 WS clinching game for the Miracle Mets.

The final pitch of the 1956 WS perfect game thrown by Don Larsen

Ichiro Suzuki's hit number 258 for the season in 2004, breaking George Sisler's previous all-time single season hit record of 257 set back in 1920

Carl Mays hitting Ray Chapman while at bat, which ended up killing him

The announcement of Ruth being sold to the Yankees

Raphael Palmeiro's now infamous testimony before Congress denying PED usage - and then also the later moment it was announced he tested positive for using PEDs

The announcement of Pete Rose's permanent ban from baseball due to gambling

Larry Doby's first time taking the field for an American League team the same year as Jackie Robinson's MLB playing debut

Eddie Gaedel's one and only plate appearance on 8/19/1951

George Brett's pine tar bat incident on 7/24/1983

The announcement of the Houston Astros confirmed cheating scandal

The announcement of the permanent ban to the infamous 1919 Black Sox players, including Joe Jackson

The start of the 7/24/1911 memorial game for Addie Joss at Cleveland's League Park, considered by many the de facto first ever MLB all-star game

The 8/4/1993 on-field fight between Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura


There's a decent start....................................

Bob, you are always just scratching the surface in your posts. You shouldn't be so selective.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Bob, you are always just scratching the surface in your posts. You shouldn't be so selective.

Well, at least no one can accuse me of not trying to be thorough and complete. World might be a much better place if more people were like that, don't you think?

[Touch'EmAll]

Nearing the end of Nolan Ryan's 7th No-Hitter, regular TV programming took a back seat as the game was instantly live televised over the major TV networks.

I am probably missing some similar sports events, but I just can't recall this ever happening in my coherent life ever before.

[clydepepper]

That's easy:

April 15, 1947 - Jackie Robinson's debut.


IMO, nothing else is close.


.

[CW]

The first few that come to mind are

Hank Aaron's record setting HR to top the Babe
Bill Buckner's error
The Steve Bartman incident
Willie Mays over the shoulder catch (and the ensuing throw was pretty good, too)

One moment that would make most fans' lists, including your's Eric, is the Babe Ruth called shot. I'd agree that it deserves to be listed, but it's interesting to realize that nobody could 100% definitively say Ruth "called the shot", and the only supposed video footage of the incident is extremely crude. I think it did happen, but it may have never occurred, yet most fans would list it as one of baseball's greatest moments.