Kirk's Big Blast

The year is 1988 and the event is the world series. The game featured the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Oakland Athletics. Dodger's big time player, and the National League's player of the year, Kirk Gibson was on the bench with an injury from the previous series against the New York Mets.
In the first game, of the seven game series, the Dodgers trailed 4-3 in the final inning of the game. With Mike Davis on first base head coach Tommy Lasorda called for Gibson to pinch hit for the intended batter. Earlier when he received the news that he'd be pinch hitting Kirk went to the team batting practice area to take a few swings. The rumor has it that he had so much pain in his knee that he winced and nearly collapsed after every swing.
With the stage set and the Dodgers down one in the ninth inning Gibson grabbed a bat and took the field. If his knee wasn't enough adversity to overcome he had to face pitcher Dennis Eckersley who was said to be a top closer in the majors. After battling through a few pitches the count ended up three balls and two strikes. Ignoring all the pain inside his body Kirk exploded on a back door slider and sent it sailing over the fence for a homerun. The Dodgers won game on 5-4 in nine innings, and that was the only at bat of the entire series for Kirk Gibson.