YouTube Gold: Kirk Gibson’s Golden Moment

After 32 years, still an amazing thing to see

We saw a video of Red Auerbach tonight saying that if one of his guys had the courage to take a critical shot, whether he hit or missed it, he saw him as a hero because he was willing to take that chance.

Clutch play is an amazing thing in sports. You see guys do things that are amazing and, at times, beyond any reasonable expectation.

Take the 1988 World Series. Kirk Gibson had an injured hamstring and a swollen knee and wasn’t supposed to play. He still came up to pinch hit with the LA Dodgers down 7-6 to the Oakland A’s in the bottom of the 9th with two outs.

It looked impossible and on several pitches, you could really see that Gibson was hurting.

But the faith that Tommy Lasorda had in his star paid off when Gibson knocked it out of the park and he and Mike Davis, who was on base, both came home.

It’s one of the greatest clutch plays in sports history and as a bonus here, Vin Scully is on the call.