See Ya! The Best Walk Off Home Runs of the Baby Bombers Era
Walk it off, Clint! (USA Today)
There’s not a more exciting moment in baseball than the walk off home run. As the ball sails deep into the night and the crowd erupts, the winning team can bask in the glory of securing a victory for their team. Some of the most memorable moments in baseball history involve walk off home runs, in both the postseason and the regular season. The Yankees have also had their fair share of walk off bombs, including one last week by Clint Frazier. I wanted to rank the ten home runs of the Baby Bombers Era (for our purposes, this is 2017-2021). Let’s sit back and engage in America’s favorite pastime - watching dingers.
10. Neil Walker: August 2018 vs. White Sox
This home run takes the bottom spot on the list, as it came in a nondescript game in the dog days of August 2018 against the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees battled back from a 4-0 deficit against Chicago, as Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks each hit two run home runs to tie the game. In the ninth, erstwhile Yankee Neil Walker came in as a pinch hitter and slammed a game winning home run off of Dylan Covey to secure a Yankees win. It’s not a particularly memorable win but it was perhaps Neil Walker’s biggest contribution to the Yankees in his brief time with them. A Neil Walk-er Off Homer, you could say.
9. Brett Gardner: July 2017 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Gardy’s walk off shot came in the 2017 season (fun fact - I went to the games after this one and the #3 home run on this list). The Yankees trailed in the ninth inning against Tampa before a Gardner triple and a Gary Sanchez single tied the game. Following that, Aroldis Chapman kept the game knotted before Gardner stepped up to do this.
It was Gardner’s third walk-off home run in his career, the previous two coming against Detroit in 2013 and Tampa in 2016. Gardner has had quite a few clutch moments during his time with New York, I’d say.
8. DJ LeMahieu: 2019 vs. Oakland A’s
This was part of the Yankees’ walk off weekend in 2019, where DJ LeMahieu and a later name on this list hit walk off shots in back to back games. DJ’s blast came in the less exciting of the two games, in which the Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning on an Aaron Judge home run and strong bullpen work sent the game locked into the eleventh, when DJ did the thing.
Back when DJ hit home runs, it was glorious. Gary Sanchez also hit two home runs in this game, while Domingo German pitched well. A backdoor Summer of 2021 preview?
7. Gleyber Torres: 2018 vs. Indians
Gleyber Day came early in 2018, when the rookie’s three run walk off home run lifted the Yankees to a 7-4 win over the Indians. It was the second career home run for Torres and capped a four run comeback against Cleveland. The game was scoreless until the eighth, when the Indians scored four off of Dellin Betances and Jonathan Holder. The Yankees answered back with three of their own and completed the comeback in the bottom of the ninth, when the already clutch Torres blasted one to center field. This was merely the first of his five (and counting) career walk off hits.
6. Giancarlo Stanton: 2018 vs. Mariners
The first Signature Yankee Moment, as Michael Kay likes to say, for the Yankees newly acquired slugger came in June 2018, when the Mariners came to town. A Felix Hernandez-Jonathan Loisiaga matchup went about as well as you could expect for the Yankees, as they were quickly in a 5-0 hole. However, they clawed back to tie the game in the eighth inning on a Gary Sanchez home run. Enter Big G, who stepped up and sent the fans home happy.
5. Mike Ford: 2019 vs. A’s
Looking at who is on this list makes you appreciate the randomness of walk off home runs. Notably absent - Aaron Judge and Luke Voit. Notably present - Mike Ford, who stepped up in a huge situation in the bottom of the ninth in this game. Brett Gardner had just tied the game off of Liam Hendriks and Ford was pinch hitting for Clint Frazier to try and win it. Win it he did, as he hit his tenth home run of the year to walk it off. Ford became the first rookie in Yankee history to hit a pinch hit, walk off home run, a statistic that definitely isn’t meaningless or cherry picked.
4. Clint Frazier: 2021 vs. Rays
The most recent of these homers was hit just last week and prevented the Yankees from having an even worse week against Tampa and Boston. A pitcher’s duel (as most 2021 games are) sent the Yankees and Rays deadlocked into the eleventh inning, where it seemed that Tampa might wriggle out of trouble again and send the game into yet another extra inning. Enter Clint Frazier, who sent one deep to left and pimped the hell out of this game ending homer. Strut your stuff, Red Thunder!
3. Clint Frazier: 2017 vs. Brewers
Clint Frazier’s 2017 and 2021 walk off home runs came in similar situations. They both picked up struggling teams that needed a boost from their red haired outfielder. While the 2021 Frazier was a known commodity, the 2017 Frazier was a youthful rookie who gave the Yankees a spark by being called up and immediately making an impact. Against the Brewers, Frazier tripled in the seventh to cut the Yankees’ three run deficit to one run, and then saved the game in the bottom of the ninth with his go ahead walk off blast.
There’s not much better than a walk off home run to come from behind and win, and Frazier’s tater was a highlight of the season for the 2017 Yankees. It could have only been topped by a walk off home run to cap an even crazier comeback for that year’s Yankees team.
2. Matt Holliday: 2017 vs. Orioles
It was the comeback of a lifetime. Down 9-1 and 11-3, the Yankees rallied back behind multiple home runs by Aaron Judge and a Jacoby Ellsbury grand slam to bring the deficit to two in the ninth inning. Starlin Castro tied it up in that inning with a long home run to left field, and improbably, the Yankees and Orioles were tied 11-11. All that was left was to complete the comeback, and Matt Holliday did the honors.
This was the craziest comeback in quite some time for the Yankees and the only reason that it doesn’t top this list is because Holliday’s home run came when the Yankees were tied, not behind. Unlike, say, the next home run on the list...
1. Gary Sanchez: 2018 vs. Twins
Yes, it is Hot Gary Summer, the Yankees are playing the Twins this week and Gary Sanchez homered in the series opener, so it’s only fitting that the top of this list features the memorable Sanchez shot off of Fernando Rodney in 2018. The Yankees trailed 3-1 in the ninth, but put two on for Sanchez, who unloaded on a pitch down the left field line, winning the game for the Yankees. This was a thrilling win and was just one notable example of the impact Gary can have when hitting well. Hot Gary Summer, it’s happening!
Things might be tough for the 2021 Yankees right now, but there’s no ailment that a highlight reel of game winning home runs can’t fix. Please utilize this post as necessary the next time the team grounds into four double plays and runs into multiple outs on the bases. There are better times ahead and if not, we’ll always have the memories (of dingers).
