There is no more exciting ending to a professional sporting event than the walk off home run, particularly in the postseason. Sure, NBA buzzer beaters are cool, as are game winning field goals or touchdowns at the gun in an NFL game. However, in a timed sport, you can see those coming, you can anticipate them.
In a baseball game, with no clock and a myriad of outcomes that can end a game, a walk off home run is a jolt to the system. It’s the best, and we are so lucky in Houston to have experienced a TON of these moments over the last six seasons, thanks to the Houston Astros and the clutch gene that the core group all seems to have.
The latest one, of course, was Yordan Alvarez capping off an historic comeback on Tuesday afternoon against the Seattle Mariners:
Prior to this, the most famous walk off home run in Astros history was Jose Altuve’s walk off to send the Astros to the 2019 World Series:
With all due respect to Jeff Kent, Chris Burke, and Carlos Correa (multiple times), these two set the “Astro playoff walkout home run” gold standard. However, if we were to crown one of them champion, whose would it be? I realize this is like comparing two of your kids, and deciding which one you love more, but sometimes, you do what you gotta do!
So here we go….
The Stakes
Yordan’s home run rescued the Astros from a catastrophic Game 1 loss in the ALDS versus a young, plucky Mariners squad. Altuve’s home run sent the Astros to their third World Series in franchise history, and it was against the hated Yankees. Both home runs came with two outs.
ADVANTAGE: ALTUVE
The Lead-up
Against Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, the Astros’ first two hitters went down easily. Then George Springer worked a five pitch walk, with the last four pitches all balls. Pretty conventional stuff. For Yordan, he needed two rookies to get on base in two-strike situations, David Hensley working an eight pitch HBP, and Jeremy Pena with a two out, two strike single. Degree of difficulty for the path to Yordan’s home run was much higher.
ADVANTAGE: YORDAN
The Opposing Pitcher
Yordan hit his home run off of a starting pitcher, specifically brought in to face him, Robbie Ray. It was a disastrous plan from the start. Altuve hit his home run off of closer Chapman, who may or may not have beat his wife in an incident in 2015. BIG advantage Altuve.
ADVANTAGE: ALTUVE
The “Who’s Next?”
Let’s pretend that Altuve and Yordan both reach base without driving in a run. Who would have been up next? The 2022 Astros would have had Alex Bregman up with the bases loaded and two out. The 2019 Astros would have had Jake Marisnick up with two on and two out. Altuve ending the game there was huge, with the light hitting Marisnick next up.
ADVANTAGE: ALTUVE
The Alternate Reality
What happens if each guy gets out? Well, the 2022 Astros go down 1-0 in the ALDS to a red hit Mariners team, with all sorts of pressure on Framber Valdez to keep them from going down 0-2 in Game 2. If Altuve goes down, the Astros are still tied and going to extra innings, and if they lose, they have Gerrit Cole pitching Game 7.
ADVANTAGE: YORDAN
The Historical Significance
Altuve’s home run is, sadly, most remembered for him tugging his jersey as he approached home plate, leading to idiotic baseball fans thinking he was wearing a buzzer. Yordan’s home run was the first time in 118 postseasons that a player hit a walk off home run with two outs and down by multiple runs.
ADVANTAGE: YORDAN
Okay, so here we sit, tied at three categories apiece. How do we settle this? The only way to do it is in some numeric fashion. So let’s keep this simple… break the tie!
The Distance
Altuve’s home run was listed as 409 feet, Alvarez’s listed at 439 feet.
WINNER: YORDAN
But like my kids, I love them both so very much.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
