The Stew’s MLB Year in Review: Our favorite homers of 2015

No, we’re not talking about Hawk Harrelson. For this installment of The Stew’s Year in Review, we’re looking back at our favorite home runs of 2015. Homer broadcasters, well, that’s another topic altogether.

You can measure home runs in a number of ways these days — distance, exit velocity, how many runs they brought home and how they impacted the game. But some homers just captivate us in a certain moment too. That context counts and makes the home run stick with us all these months later, as we reflect on the year that’s passed.

[Related: The Stew’s MLB Year in Review —Best fan moments]

Some of the choices by our writers were milestones or instant classics. Others were just moments they’ll always remember. So for various reasons, these are The Stew’s favorite homers of 2015:

The bat flip heard ’round the world
It’s a blast a nation, and baseball fans everywhere, will never forget: Jose Bautista’s home run in the Blue Jays’ win in Game 5 of their ALDS against Texas was the exclamation point on the wildest inning we can remember and came complete with the most exuberant bat flip we can remember, too. The Blue Jays and Rangers were tied 3-3 in the seventh inning and with oh, about a dozen dramatic events leading up to this particular at-bat, Bautista drilled a middle-in Sam Dyson fastball into the second deck in left field for a three-run shot to put Toronto back in front 6-3 and they would hold on to advance to the ALCS. 

Having been in the building to witness all of it, I don’t think I’ll ever experience another ballgame quite like that one. It was truly one of a kind, and Bautista’s homer, especially that bat flip, will forever be remembered as the game’s standout moment. (Israel Fehr)

Escobar goes inside the park
The 2015 World Series started off with a bang thanks to Kansas City’s Alcides Escobar. On the very first pitch thrown by Matt Harvey in Game 1, the free-swinging Escobar ripped it between Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto and just kept running.

Escobar whipped the Kauffman Stadium crowd into a frenzy, speeding around the bases in 15 seconds. It was a signature moment for a Royals team fueled by blinding speed and untamed aggression, and easily one of the most thrilling moments of the entire season. (Mark Townsend)

A-Rod’s 3,000th hit goes over the fence
Imagine the following situation: A 21-year-old baseball veteran strides to the plate in the first inning of a June game. He’s just one hit away from No. 3,000, a magical number that virtually assures he’ll make the Hall of Fame. This player is now 39, and recently missed a lot of playing time. There are questions about his ability to produce on the field. Some think he’s done. Once upon a time, he was capable of leading the league in home runs. The last season he played, he hit just seven.

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Things are different this time up, though. On the first pitch he sees, that veteran briefly resembles his younger self. For his milestone 3,000th hit, the ball sails out of the park for a home run. The fans cheer him on, even though things haven’t always been perfect. He embraces his teammates at the plate with a big smile.

It’s a storybook moment. The type you only see in movies. A formerly great hero overcomes various obstacles in order to reach the spotlight one last time. While Hollywood might eventually make a movie about Alex Rodriguez, we have a feeling it probably won’t be an uplifting film about how he notched his 3,000th hit. For any other player, it would have been an incredible moment. For A-Rod, it was just another reason to hate him. (Chris Cwik)

Schwarber’s video-board blast
Chicago Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber hit 16 regular season home runs and five more in the postseason this year and none was more memorable or remarkable than his seventh-inning blast in the National League Division Series-clinching victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

At first, most believed Schwarber’s shot, estimated at just 419 feet, cleared the new right-field video board and ended up somewhere on Sheffield Avenue outside the park. But the club later revealed the ball landed on top of the video board and it would stay there (a glass case was later placed over it to protect it from the elements). How many other home runs this season needed to be preserved in such fashion? Not only was it the first home run ever to be hit on top of the video board, it was one of the most memorable postseason home runs in the history of the franchise because of the majesty of its flight and obviously because it helped expel a bitter rival from the playoffs. It also gave the Cubs their first ever postseason series victory at Wrigley.

[Elsewhere: Have the Cardinals been rattled by fast-rising Cubs?]

Schwarber will be only 23 throughout the 2016 season and he still doesn’t have even 300 at-bats at the major-league level. He’s certainly going to have to stop striking out so much (77 times in the regular season), but it’s fun to imagine when and where he might hit the next bomb that broadcasters, television cameras and fans alike all lose track of as it fades into the sky. (Kyle Ringo)

Stanton exits Dodger Stadium
Don’t check your phone when Giancarlo Stanton is at the plate. Especially don’t check your phone when starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger is floating 85 mph “fastballs” when Giancarlo Stanton is at the plate.

I made that mistake while sitting at Dodger Stadium in early May during the first inning of a Dodgers-Marlins game. With my head buried in my phone, I looked up immediately as soon as I heard the crack from Stanton’s bat. As soon as I noticed left fielder Scott Van Slyke not budge from his position, I figured it would be gone.

[Related: The Stew’s MLB Year in Review — Best social media moments]

But not gone. I’ve been to my share of games at Dodger Stadium and even the home runs that are crushed; you never think they are actually leaving Chavez Ravine. Stanton’s 475-foot blast put him in the likes of an exclusive club featuring Willie Stargell, Mike Piazza and Mark McGwire as the only players to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium in a game.

As for Bolsinger, who would go on to settle down and defeat the Marlins 11-1, he had the right attitude about the historic blast.

“That’s the hardest ball I’ve ever seen hit against me … well, I take that back. His last ball he hit against me was probably the hardest ball,” Bolsinger said. “You’ve got to just look back and go, ‘That’s awesome,’ and just go on with the game.”

Go on with the game without those darn cellular distractions. (Marcus Vanderberg)

The Toddfather revives the Home Run Derby
I’ve always liked the Home Run Derby more than most. If you can put up with a few of the warts — Chris Berman’s “back, back, back” routine, mostly, but the bloated schedule too — the Derby has always been a treat for people who just want to see balls fly out of the stadium. (You don’t want the crunchberries-only box of Cap’n Crunch every day, but it’s cool once a year).

All that being said, I was still very much delighted to see the Derby’s revival this season with a new format that bred new excitement. At the center was Todd Frazier, the then-Cincinnati Reds star who would win the competition on his home turf. That’s fun and all, but really won was the new format. Pitting contestants head-to-head in a timed bracket format made for a new kind of drama, one that Frazier thrived upon

To win the competition, he tied Joc Pederson at the end of regulation then tie what amounted to a walk-off homer in bonus time to win the competition. It was thrilling, it was fun, it was memorable — and it was exactly what the Home Run Derby needed to recapture some of its past glory.

PREVIOUSLY IN OUR YEAR IN REVIEW:
• Best Social Media Moments
• Best Fan Moments

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz