With Bryce Harper up at-bat during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, TBS turned back the clock. A year ago Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies won the NL pennant and did so off the bat of Harper, who hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of the 2022 NLCS.
As last year’s NLCS MVP dug in for his second at-bat of Monday evening’s playoff game, play-by-play voice Brian Anderson mentioned the distinct possibility that Philadelphia has. Up 3-2 in the series over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Phillies can win the NL pennant on the same day in consecutive years.
But staying on the note of anniversaries, Phillies fans might want to look away from this one. 30 years ago Monday, Joe Carter touched ‘em all. In Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays up three games to two against Philadelphia, it was the Hall-of-Fame outfielder who came to bat with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Trailing 6-5 Carter hit a three-run walk-off home run off Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams to win the ‘93 World Series.
“Speaking of on this day, fellas, this is the 30th anniversary — it’s not a great memory for Phillies fans — but one of the all-time great moments in postseason history: Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run in 1993,” said Anderson. “Touch ’em all, Joe.”
As Anderson mentioned the anniversary, he and Ron Darling were reminded and reminisced of the late Tom Cheek’s call on the radio.
“Two balls and two strikes on him. Here’s the pitch on the way…Swing and a belt, Left Field. WAY BACK. BLUE JAYS WIN! THE BLUE JAYS ARE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, AS JOE CARTER HITS A THREE-RUN HOME RUN IN THE NINTH INNING. AND THE BLUE JAYS HAVE REPEATED AS WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS.
“TOUCH ‘EM ALL, JOE. YOU’LL NEVER HIT A BIGGER HOME RUN IN YOUR LIFE.”
“Tom Cheek,” Darling said.
“Tom Cheek. The Hall of Famer and the late Tom Cheek,” Anderson added. “One of the greatest moments in World Series history. That was 30 years ago on this day.”
The late Cheek, who died at the age of 66 in 2005, was best known for his dramatic description of Carter’s game-winning home run. Cheek was right. Carter never hit a bigger home run in his life. And since then, no one else has hit a walk-off home run to win a World Series. Only Édgar Rentería (1997) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) have walked it off to win the World Series, and both of those hits were singles.
30 years and a couple of generations later, Cheek’s call lives on. Further proving Anderson’s point from a couple nights before: “Baseball is not boring. Baseball is great.”
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About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.