The greatest World Series home runs of all time

Houston went from down 2-1 to Philadelphia in the 2022 World Series, only to win three in a row for the franchise's second World Series title. And, the Astros also trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 6. But, they scored four times during their half of the frame, highlighted by Alvarez's go-ahead, a three-run blast, off Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado, over the top of Minute Maid Park's grass-batter's eyewall. That essentially clinched the title for the Astros. When discussing mammoth home runs from the Fall Classic, Alvarez's is quite impressive.

There were many magical moments during the Red Sox's streak-busting run to the 2004 World Series title. However, Belhorn's eighth-inning tiebreaking, two-run homer off the mesh netting of Fenway Park's Pesky Pole in right field in Game 1 versus St. Louis tends to be forgotten by fans outside Boston. And, Cardinals fans certainly do not need to be reminded. The home run proved to be the difference in a wild 11-9 Boston victory, and made Bellhorn another in a long line of World Series heroes in major-league history.

Speaking of unlikely World Series heroes. As baseball fans know, the Yankees did not win that emotional 2001 World Series just weeks after the September 11 attacks. Yet, the Series was the setting for two of the most notable home runs in the storied history of the Yankees franchise. The 2001 season would be the last of an MLB career that featured parts of 11 seasons for Brosius, who ended up going out in style when he belted a tying, two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning off stingy Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim. New York eventually won in 12 to take a 3-2 series lead, which the Diamondbacks would overcome.

Talk about setting the tone for a run to World Series. The Astros were favored to win their second title in 2021, but it was evident from the beginning that the Braves had other ideas. Soler opened the series with a 2-0 drive off Framber Valdez over Houston's left-field scoreboard on the first swing of the contest. The Braves went on to win 6-2 in Game 1, and Soler's three-run homer in the second inning of Game 6 essentially secured the Braves their first World Series crown since '95, and series MVP honors for the underrated slugger.

There have been 16 walk-off home runs in World Series history. As we'll see, the New York Yankees have had their share of the load. In 1999, New York was amid a run of three straight World Series titles and swept Atlanta. The closest of the four contests was in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, where the Braves led 5-1 after four innings. However, the Yankees' tied it at 5-5 on Chuck Knoblauch's two-run homer in the eighth. Then won it on this blast over the left-field wall from Curtis, who also went deep in the fifth, to lead off the 10th against Mike Remlinger.

The A's won just one game during the 1988 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, it came in quite a dramatic fashion. Game 3 featured just 12 combined hits prior to the bottom of the ninth inning of a 1-1 contest. With Rick Honeycutt on the mound for the Dodgers, McGwire gave Oakland its most joyous moment of the series with a solo drive just over the left-center field wall of the Coliseum. It was McGwire's only hit in 17 at-bats during a disappointing Fall Classic showing for the A's.

In the same game that featured the only triple play to be turned in World Series history, came the first grand slam hit during the Fall Classic. That came from Smith, in the first inning off Brooklyn's Burleigh Grimes, to give Cleveland a 4-0 lead. The then-Indians went on to win 8-1 and take a lead in the series they would claim. Since Smith went deep with the bags loaded back in 1920 , 20 other grand slams have been hit in World Series play. Most recently by Atlanta's Adam Duvall in Game 5 during the 2021 event -- also off the aforementioned Framber Valdez.

The great Mickey Mantle is baseball's all-time leader with 18 career World Series home runs. His final World Series appearance came in 1964 when the Yankees lost in seven games to St. Louis. His first of three home runs during the series came in the bottom of the ninth of Game 3 off Barney Schultz, a tiebreaking solo drive that sent New York to a 2-1 victory and 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic. Though the Cardinals eventually prevailed, Mantle went 8-for-24 (.333) with eight RBIs during that World Series.

Reggie Jackson wasn't the most cordial of teammates, and the Yankees' 1977 clubhouse was not known for special team chemistry. However, when it came time for New York to make a run at another World Series title, Jackson more than proved his worth. Following a rough 2-for-16 performance in the AL Championship Series, Jackson earned the "Mr. October" moniker with his three-home run performance in New York's 8-4, series-clinching Game 6 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two into the right-field seats at Yankee Stadium and a final drive onto the center field batter's eye. Each seemingly more impressive than the next. In '77, Jackson became the first player to hit five home runs in a World Series.

Podsednik did not hit a single home run during 129 regular-season games for the White Sox in 2005. However, he went deep twice during Chicago's postseason run to the franchise's first World Series title since 1918. Paul Konerko's seventh-inning grand slam gave the White Sox a 6-4 over Houston in Game 2, but the Astros tied it with two runs in the ninth. The bottom of the frame, it was time for Podsednik to add his name to White Sox lore by pulling a Brad Lidge pitch into the right-center field seats for a 7-6 victory and a 2-0 series lead.

Before the Braves won their second world championship in 1957, they needed to tie this series with the New York Yankees at 2-2. Milwaukee did so with some extra-inning heroics from the great Eddie Mathews. After blowing a 4-1 lead in the ninth, the Braves allowed the Yankees to go up 5-4 with a run in the 10th. However, Milwaukee got a run back in its half of the frame, then Matthews came through with a two-run, walk-off homer into the right-field stands off Bob Grim, who knew it was gone the moment the ball hit the bat, for a 7-5 victory.

Some 30 years after one of the most famous home runs in Dodgers' and World Series history, Muncy etched his name to the annals of memorable Fall Classic moments for the franchise. When Muncy tagged Boston's Nathan Eovaldi for an opposite-field home run over the left-field wall at Dodger Stadium in the 18th inning for a 3-2 victory, it ended the longest game in World Series history -- in terms of innings and time (7 hours, 20 minutes). It proved to be Los Angeles' only win in the series and came after Muncy missed ending the game with a drive to right field that went just foul in the 15th.

The Nationals trailed 2-0 entering the seventh inning of Game 7 at Houston in 2019. Anthony Rendon made it a 2-1 game with a solo homer in the frame, then Kendrick eventually delivered what should be the biggest hit in Nationals' history. With a man on base, Kendrick drilled a Will Harris that hit the right-field foul pole to put Washington ahead 3-2. The Nationals tacked on three more runs over the next two innings and stunned the Astros with a 6-2 victory for the franchise's first World Series crown. We're still not certain how Expos fans fell about this.

The Marlins trailed 2-1 to the New York Yankees in the series entering this pivotal Game 4 at South Florida. Now, there have been plenty of notable and memorable hits during the rather young history of the Marlins' organization. And, one of the biggest came from Gonzalez, who was 1-for-13 when he drove a 12th-inning pitch, from Jeff Weaver, that curled the left-field foul pole for a walk-off 4-3, Marlins' victory. The long ball essentially shifted the momentum of the series toward the Marlins, who won the next two for the franchise's second World Series title.

The thing about Rhodes' tiebreaking, ninth-inning walk-off home run, which barely cleared the right-field wall, for a 5-2 Giants' win in Game 1 against Cleveland is that it's essentially been overshadowed for decades. That's because this is the same contest that Willie Mays made his famed over-the-shoulder catch in center field. Still, Rhodes' effort is obviously worthy of celebration and quite impressive, considering it came in a pinch-hitting role, and against Hall-of-Famer Bob Lemon. Rhodes went 4-for-6 with another homer and seven RBIs in the series, which the Giants swept.

Leave it to a veteran dubbed "Old Reliable" when the Yankees' needed a run. Not only was Henrich's ninth-inning homer into the lower right-field stands off Brooklyn's Don Newcombe's the only run of New York's Game 1 victory over its rival, but it was also the first walk-off home run in World Series history. Long before the term walk-off was a popular thing. Amid a star-studded Yankees' lineup filled with names like Berra, DiMaggio and Rizzuto, it was Henrich, in the second-last campaign of a career that spanned 11 seasons, who held that distinction.

We return to the aforementioned 2001 World Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks. Right before Scott Brosius' noted Game 5 heroics, it was "The Captain" who came through to help New York even the series. Before we get to that, Jeter's New York teammate Tino Martinez tied Game 4 with a two-run homer off Byung-Hyun Kim in the bottom of the ninth. Then shortly after midnight on Nov. 1, Jeter was anointed "Mr. November" when he smacked a 3-2 Kim pitch into the right field bleachers to give the Yankees a dramatic 4-3 win in 10.

The 2011 World Series was certainly one of the best that should actually be celebrated more. Texas won Games 4 and 5 home to take a 3-2 lead and led 7-4 in a back-and-forth Game 6. St. Louis, though, rallied as Freese's two-run triple tied it at 7-7 in the ninth. After Texas scored two in the top of the 10th, the Cardinals again answered with two in the bottom of the frame. They ultimately won the game on Freese's solo homer in the 11th, which immediately etched his name within the storied legacy of Cardinals baseball.

New York's four-game World Series sweep of the Cubs included one of the most legendary moments in baseball history. While we might not know the real reason Babe Ruth seemed to point to the center field seats in the fifth inning of Game 3 at Wrigley Field, the great slugger was said to have "called his shot" before driving a home run into that exact part of the park. For decades, and generation upon generation, the legend of the moment has been a notable part of baseball lore and Ruth's iconic, larger-than-life legacy. It's been one of the many reasons to romanticize the game over the years.

The highly entertaining '91 series between Minnesota and Atlanta was all about the walk-off. The Braves knotted the series at 2-2 with walk-off wins in Game 3 and 4, and led 3-2 when it was time for Game 6, back in Minnesota. This contest went to 11 innings, and when the stars needed to shine the brightest, the beloved Puckett stepped up to plate and sent a Charlie Leibrandt pitch into the left-center-field seats of the Metrodome to break a 3-3 tie . And, prompted the great Jack Buck to proclaim: "We'll see you tomorrow night." Of course, fittingly, the series ended in the 10th on Gene Larkin's RBI single for a 1-0 Twins' Game 7 victory and World Series title.

"A Yankees-Dodgers World Series doesn't need any hype. Two iconic franchises battling each other again for a World Series title. And, the series opened with a bang. Game 1 at Dodger Stadium needed extra innings, where New York went ahead 3-2 in the 10th. But, the Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame after Mookie Betts was intentionally walked with two out. Up stepped Freddie Freeman, who didn't wait long, shook off a bum ankle, and sent a Nestor Cortes breaking pitch well into the right-field stands for a 6-3 Los Angeles victory and the  first walk-off grand slam in World Series history." For Dodgers fans, Freeman's no-doubt reaction was priceless.

There have been two World Series that ended on home runs. The second came courtesy of Carter, a true professional in every sense of the word. Playing Game 6 at home, Carter's Blue Jays trailed 6-5 in the ninth inning against Philadelphia closer Mitch Williams. However, there were two men on when Carter stepped to the plate, then lined a Williams' pitch just over the left-field wall. It sent Toronto fans into delirium while Carter jubilantly hopped around the bases before touching home plate for an 8-6 victory and second straight World Series crown for the franchise.

Baseball fans know the Red Sox did not win the 1975 World Series. However, regarding memorable World Series imagery and spectacle, Pudge's 12th-inning, solo game-winner, which he waved fair enough to hit the left-field foul pole at Fenway Park, is as legendary as it gets. It's moments like this one that remained etched in the minds of baseball fans of any allegiance or generation, even if the Red Sox had to wait nearly 30 more years to finally win another World Series. This is just one reason why it's easy to love the game of baseball.

Speaking of iconic sports moments. Sure, Gibson's famed walk-off, two-run homer off Oakland Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning of the '88 World Series opener -- for a 6-5 victory -- did not decide the ultimate outcome of the overall event, it set the table for Los Angeles' dominance. In fitting a Roy Hobbs, made-for-Hollywood fashion, the ailing and hobbled Gibson came off the bench for his only appearance of the series and delivered one of the most memorable moments in sports history. As noted, the Dodgers won the series four games to one, with Gibson providing the defining moment of the Fall Classic -- and his own illustrious career.

A top-10 all-time baseball moment. Mazeroski's famed solo drive over the left-field wall at Forbes Field, on a 1-0 count off Ralph Terry, remains the only walk-off home run in a World Series Game 7. Depending on who is doing the talking, critics, historians, fans, etc., the drive that sent Pittsburgh to an improbable 10-9 victory and third World Series title, this is the greatest home run in the history of professional baseball. It forever etched Mazeroski as a legend of the game, and still might be the greatest sports moment -- or any moment -- in Pittsburgh history.