October 18 - Mr October - This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

Vintage Baseball Reflections

October 18, 1977 With the Yankees up three games to two against the Dodgers, Reggie Jackson seizes control of the game, the series, and is crowned "Mr. October" when he hits three consecutive home runs in Game Six of the World Series. Jackson hit a two-run homer in the fourth on the first pitch he saw from starter Burt Hooton to give the Yankees the lead. Lou Piniella made it 5–3 by adding a sacrifice fly. Once again, in the fifth with a man on Jackson connected on the first pitch off Elias Sosa to make the score 7–3. Finally, in the eighth, Jackson strode to the plate, amid chants of "REG-GIE, REG-GIE, REG-GIE!", and drove the first Charlie Hough knuckleball he saw 475 feet into the stands. An inning later, Jackson had led the Yankees to an 8 - 4 victory and the World Championship over the Los Angeles Dodgers. He became only the second player in history to smash three home runs in a single Series game. In addition, five home runs in one Series and four consecutive blasts over a two game period in the Series were also unprecedented.

October 18 2004 – Game 5 of the ALCS opens in Fenway Park with the Yankees leading the Series 3-1. After 8 innings, the game was tied at 4 and would remain knotted there till the 14th inning. Yankee Pitcher Esteban Loiza walks both Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, bringing Ortiz up with two outs. The previous night's hero did his job again. Singling to center on the 10th pitch of the at-bat to bring home Damon, Ortiz set off celebratory chants of “Who’s Your Papi?”. After five hours, 49 minutes and 471 pitches, the Boston Red Sox outlasted the Yankees 5 – 4. Ortiz became the first player in history to hit two walk-off home runs during the postseason, and ended the longest game in ALCS history at 1:22 a.m.

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