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A Home Run of Great Significance- Part II

The most amazing thing about Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series is that he hit it while injured.

"Everyone is banged up at this time of year," the announcers tell us, but few were quite as banged up as Gibson, who had a bad left hamstring and a swollen right knee, aggravated by a phenomenal catch in Game 3 of the NLCS at Shea. Gibson played all-out throughout his 17-year career and was frequently hurt. Gibson only played half a season in each of the two years that followed his walk-off home run, and was a shell of the player that won the NL MVP.

He only played the equivalent of nearly a full season three times. Gibson hit a LOT of really big home runs in his major league career, and you could argue that total would have been increased significantly if he had stayed healthy.

The Mets had their Kirk Gibson moment in the first season of Shea Stadium, and in the last season as well.

We told the tale two years ago of one of the most improbable finishes to a game in Mets history, when Frank Thomas, recovering from a glandular infection, hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run, after not playing for more than a month. It was quite an impressive moment.

If you wish to read that piece, you can find it here.

http://www.metswalkoffs.com/2006/02/doubting-thomas.html

The Mets other Kirk Gibson performance came in the second-to-last game in the history of the Flushing ballpark, when Johan Santana pitched a shutout on three days rest, with a torn meniscus that required surgery once the season ended.

You could argue that it was one of the most legendary pitching performances in Mets history, albeit one that would have been better if the Mets had won on the final Sunday.

And yet some obnoxious lout from another city has chosen to post the following message on Johan Santana's Baseball-Reference page.

"HAHAHAHAHA - The Mets are a joke!!!"

My response to that can be framed in two words. Phuck you.

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