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Playoff baseball is back in our lives in a big way and on Tuesday we were reminded of one, very important thing – the walk-off home run remains the coolest ending in all of sports.
And it’s not even close.
The Astros’ Yordan Álvarez provided the heroics in Game 1 of their ALDS series with the Mariners as his 3-run bomb to right field gave Houston an 8-7 win and sent the home crowd into absolute hysterics.
Ending a game by tattooing a ball completely out of the field of play has to be an incredible feeling. I’d probably float around the bases. Heck, I might moonwalk around the bases. The energy you must feel while the whole stadium loses its collective mind must be better than anything you could ever experience in the real world.
Then at the end of it all you have your whole team waiting around home plate, ready to pounce on you and pour drinks on you and slap you on the top of your head a million times.
It’s magical.
Let’s look at some other sports and their possible best endings:
Basketball has a game-winning buzzer-beater, which is close to the walk-off home run but doesn’t top it. If you’re at home you get all the feels of a building going insane. If you’re on the road you get to feel the sadness of the crowd. Both are pretty sweet, but they don’t match hitting a ball out of the field.
NFL has mostly game-winning field goals, which are pretty boring. We’ve seen some big game-winning TDs in overtimes but those are few and far between and aren’t nearly as cool as a walk-off homer.
The NHL has overtime goals which are exciting but don’t even come close to a walk-off homer.
Golf has birdie putts on the 18th hole which are pretty sweet but don’t really make you lose your mind.
There are lots of other sports with cool endings, too, but let’s be real – they don’t touch the walk-off homer, either.
Nothing beats a walk-off homer. Astros fans got to experience one yesterday and I’m jealous of them.
Quick hits: NBA watchability rankings… Josh Donaldson’s embarrassing mishap… MLB oven mitts… And more.
– Charles Curtis ranks all 30 NBA teams from least to most watchable.
– Josh Donaldson thought he hit a home run… and then got thrown out at first on an embarrassing play in the Yankees’ win over the Guardians.
– Here’s why you see so many MLB players wear oven mitt gloves while on base.
– Cole Huff has his fantasy football studs, duds, and sleepers for Week 6.
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