So what is clutch? Without looking up the definition, I would say a "clutch" moment is when one does something against all odds, when it is least expected, and when it seems the weight of the world is on that person's shoulders.
We've all had such moments in our lives. Sometimes we come through and we feel like heroes and other times, we fail, and we never want to show our face again. There is no gray area in between and because of those two extreme feelings, many people shy away from the spotlight unwilling to take the last shot, hit the winning putt, or close out the game in which your team is only up by one run.
Having said that, I have witnessed many such moments both in person and on TV. I have also heard about clutch moments but those will not appear on my list. My list will only consist of moments I have witnessed with my own eyes or a live broadcast I was watching on TV.
Why only these moments? Because as I was watching them, I could feel the mounting pressure, the bigness of the moment, and the tension that existed and as Jack Buck once said, "Could not believe what I just saw!"
#3
Ryder Cup 1999. The U.S. vs. Europe. I was watching this on TV and at the end of play Saturday, the United States team stood a full four points behind their European competitors. No underdog in the history of the cup had ever come back from so far behind. The Americans appeared on Sunday dressed in hideous shirts with cropped photos of great Ryder Cup moments. They came out charging and in the end, they put together a stunning string of improbable shots but it appeared the comeback was going to fall short. Justin Leonard had been struggling all day and faced a 45 foot putt on hole 16 in which he needed to make. Unbelievably, he holed the putt and the Americans and their wives charged onto the green to celebrate.
#2
Kirk Gibson 1988. The Dodgers were huge underdogs to the Oakland A's in the World Series. They had just upset the Mets and were just happy to to be there against the steroid enhanced bash brothers from the Bay Area. Their team MVP (Gibson) was hurt and most likely would not be available for the World Series and things looked bleak. They trailed by one going into the bottom of the 9th with one of the best closers in the history of the game on the mound in Dennis Eckersley. They somehow got a man on with 2 outs and Tommy Lasorda decided to roll the dice. He called on the injured Kirk Gibson to pinch hit. Gibson could barely walk and looked like a frail old man at the plate swinging foolishly at Eckersley's first few pitches. He worked the count full though and then the moment happened: Gibson lofted a pitch high into the air for a 2 run homerun and an improbably Dodger victory. He hobbled around the bases and was mobbed at the plate. He wouldn't play for the rest of the series but the Dodgers would go on to sweep the A's all because of Gibson's heroics.
#1
Scott Spiezio 2002. Game 6 of the World Series in which the Angels trailed 3 games to 2 and also trailed 5-0 in the 7th inning. The game and the Angels magical run was basically over. They had finally reached the World Series but as I sat in the stands that day, I was getting teary-eyed because I felt they weren't going to finish the deal. But then they started to rally: They got two runners on, Dusty Baker pulled his starting pitcher and up stepped Scott Spiezio. Not a homerun hitter by any stretch of the imagination. The Angel fans in the sea of red were going wild. We were banging our thunder stix and hoping for a miracle and Spiezio delivered. I remember him fouling off a few pitches and then BANG, lifting a high fly ball into right field that barely crept over the wall for a 3 run homer. Angel fans went nuts and so did the team. They completed the comeback an inning later and would go on to win the World Series!
I encourage your comments. What clutch moments have you witnessed live? Our lists may vary due to our ages but in end we will all most likely agree....when one witnesses a clutch moment, it is a moment that makes such an impression in our minds that it is never forgotten.....and that is what SPORTS are all about!!!!!
9 comments:
#3
Adam Kennedy in Game 5 of the 2002 NLCS vs. the Twins. AK hits 3 bombs to keep his team in a huge game that sent the Halos to the World Series. He hit a solo shot to make it 2-1, another solo bomb to tie it at 2 and then another to make it 3-5 Minnesota. His 3rd bomb was followed by a 8 run rally by the Angels.....Unbelievable moment!!
#2
Robert Horry- Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings. Lakers down by 2 with seconds left, kobe drives and misses a little runner in the lane, shaq gets the rebound and misses a gimme, Vlade Divac tips the ball out to the top of the key right to Robert Horry. With .06 seconds left on the clock he launches a three....Splash!! Staples Center goes crazy!!
#1
Kirk Gibson- Dro said enough. I still remember the very moment. I was sitting on my mom and dads water bed. He hit the bomb and my whole family was jumping around on the bed falling all over the place. Classic moment!!
sorry. did I say NLCS?..ALCS, my bad.
Side note on Chaddy's. Adam Kennedy probably had 3 homeruns on the season to that point, so for him to hit 3 in the game is just, well....clutch.
My greatest is summed up in one number:
.4
This is the amount of time left on the clock when the Lakers were to throw the ball in from half court, down by one point to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Duncan had just made a similar clutch shot. About a 20 footer fade away after which everyone thought time would expire. This had put the Spurs up by one. But .4 seconds was too much time left on the clock. The ball couldn't get to Kobe, so it ended up in the hands of Derek Fisher who caught, turned, and launched about an 18 foot fade away, nothing but net to take a 3-2 lead in the series, and eventually beat the Spurs to go to the NBA finals. (They ended up choling to the PIstons who came out of nowhere and swept them in 4, but that does not detract from D-Fish's clutch shot with just .4 left on the clock.) Good to have you back D-Fish.
Why is it that every male, well every sports minded male, can remember every stinkin' play in whatever sports they watch?!? And they can remember them years later, even if they weren't "clutch".
The only reason I remember that Ryder Cup is b/c of the HIDEOUS shirt choice that was definitely made by a man who was NOT married OR he did not ask a woman for her opinion.
Jon could most likely tell me EVERY golf stroke he's made for the last year OR two, but if I ask him what I said yesterday....well...... :-)
Maybe my memory sucks (which I have a feeling it does) but all I remember from those Angel games in 2002 is that I LOVED watching them and the pure exhilarating excitement of it all. Guess that's b/c I'm a woman, kinda funny how the brains are so different.
But then again if you asked women questions about something they live and breath I guess they can remember those details just as crazy as Jon can remember every stroke that Tiger Woods took in this past tournament. All relative I guess.
#3
Even though I hate to admit it, Vince Young in the Rose Bowl against USC. Beat USC on his own when there was literally no margin for error.
#2
Frankie Rodriguez as a 20 year old in his first post-season with the Angels. Absolutely unhittable (except for Bond's meaningless home run). The Angels would not be World Series champs without him.
#1
Magic Johnson's baby hook to beat the Celtics in Game 6 of the 1986 NBA finals.
Cook
#3 Joe Montana to Dwight Clark on fourth down against the Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship game. Montana was literally falling away as he let the ball go, completing an 11 yard pass that actually went about 35 yards in the air. Clark was just so tall he somehow rippped the ball down at the back of the end zone and a dynasty was born. That sucked, big time.
#2 Villanova in the 1985 NCAA Title game against a much better definding champ G'town team. They shot over 70% from the floor to become the first and only #8 seed to win the NCAA title. Again, I was pulling for G'town, but I have to admit it was a huge clutch performance by Rollie Massamino's team.
#1 The Arizona D'backs come from behind game seven win in the bottom of the ninth against the game's best closer of all-time to end the three year reign of the Evil Empire. For me, this was one of sport's greatest moments, not only because I hate the Yankees, but because I did not see this coming at all. Tony Womack and Luis Gonzalez in particular have my respect for life.
Nice Blaise, finally someone didn't mention either the Angels or the Lakers in their clutch performances.
I would say the D'backs win against my beloved Yankees was the biggest clutch performance.
Second would be Noodles's win over a charging Dro at the Warner Springs Open. Noodles known for choking under pressure, hit some key shots, and drained putts when he had to. Dro went silent Bob on his partner that last day and made up like 8 strokes, but still fell short by 2 shots to Noodles. Noodles was sweating it, literally, it had to be 98 degrees that day.
#1 All time: Christ in Gethsemane
I'm sick of Kirk Gibson! He was hurt and he couldn't run. He was going to get thrown out at first base, strike out, or hit a home run. This home run was not to win the world series, nor to even stay alive in the world series. This was game one in the series.
#1 Carlton Fisk in the 1975 world series.
Down 3 games to 2 in the deciding game of the series, Fisk uses body english to will that ball over the green monster. This carries the sox into game 7 of the greatest world series ever against the big red machine.
JP
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