Homer History: David Eckstein defies the odds again

In our Homer History series, writers re-tell the stories of memorable home runs from their perspective. In this installment, Yahoo Sports editor Max Thompson remembers one of the many improbable moments of David Eckstein’s career.

We’re going to remember David Eckstein for many things: Ridiculous on-deck routines, that crazy throwing motion, the huge bat, his size (of course), and as a trivia question tied to a federal investigation that had nothing to do with him in the first place. And perhaps that’s appropriate, as Eckstein’s career was an endless barrage of underdog motivational maxims that found their way into your baseball-watching life whether you loved him, hated him, or were apathetic to his unlikely rise to baseball stardom. Stardom may not even be the right word, but whatever label you attach to Eckstein’s career, improbable is always appropriate.

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(David Eckstein comes through in the clutch ... as usual) One of the most improbable things he ever did, though, is way too easily forgotten. It was a moment so utterly absurd and unbelievable, that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, a man who has seen all there is to see over decades in the game (and in that time became a master of making the remarkable sound mundane), said afterward, “We were going to play nine today, and once in awhile you get a miracle like this.”

In the thick of the 2005 playoff chase, the Atlanta Braves travelled to St. Louis in early August 5 1/2 games behind the Cardinals for the best record in the National League. With the series split, Jorge Sosa and Chris Carpenter engaged in an epic pitcher’s duel, but the Braves scrapped together a few more runs to lead 3-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Chris Reitsma took the mound for Atlanta to close things out, facing St. Louis’ No. 6-8 hitters. Abraham Nunez slapped a single up the middle to lead things off. Moments after Braves broadcaster Chip Caray said, “It is never easy in this ballpark against this Cardinal team,” So Taguchi hit a liner back up the middle. Hector Luna was supposed to sacrifice bunt, but couldn’t get it down. Instead, he fought off a pitch to hit a high chopper that Reitsma deflected, making it too hard for Marcus Giles to make a play. The bases were loaded, but Scott Seabol, batting in the pitcher’s spot, weakly popped out to third base.

During the Seabol at-bat, cameras honed in on Albert Pujols in the dugout as the looming harbinger of doom, shooting past the on-deck circle where Eckstein was doing his over-the-top bat twirling warm-up. And why wouldn’t they? Sure, Eckstein had two walk-offs during his time with the Cardinals, but both, unsurprisingly, were squeeze bunts.

Still, the bases were juiced with one out, and the 47,717 in attendance were as loud as a lazy Sunday afternoon crowd could be. The Braves were in trouble, but the scenario seemed manageable to anyone watching. As Caray rightly pointed out, “Now you’re a ground ball away from winning the game.” Eckstein, despite his career of overachievement, seemed as good a candidate as any to fit that bill.

(Getty Images) Don Sutton then said, “One of the advantages defensively of having an Eckstein bat now, is that there’s a pretty good chance that he’s not going to hit the ball over anybody’s head, so you can play the outfielders in just a little bit.”

At least he couched it with a “there’s a pretty good chance.”

The first pitch was a fastball low and inside.

I was watching at home with my brothers and my buddy, a massive Eckstein fan, who in that moment confidently declared, “At the very least, Eckstein is winning this game. At the very least.”

He was right. The second pitch was up in the zone and fat as can be, and Eckstein turned on it with that big bat and a whip-quick dervish and sent it soaring (as much as an Eckstein home run could soar) into the first few rows, 10 feet above the top of the old Busch Stadium fence. The guy in the stands who caught it, clearly couldn’t believe it. The St. Louis players rushing to home plate did it with a sort of unsure stagger and goofy looks on their faces. The Braves walked off stunned. To be fair, everyone was stunned, it’s just that pretty much everyone else in the building was good with it. The standing ovation after Eckstein crossed home plate lasted over a minute.

[Homer History: Todd Helton’s home run that ignited a tremendous Rockies run]

When it came to Eckstein’s career, I was fully down the apathetic end of the spectrum. I’m not even a Cardinals fan. But I love when chaos and the unexpected collide somewhere above the dirt and grass on that diamond, and this home run had everything. Eckstein, of all people.

Not only that, it was his second career walk-off grand slam. Seriously. This was the first. That Eckstein clearly had a knack for “clutch” during his career only inflated his (probably) excessively elevated stature, and this only added to it. I mean, the guy only hit 35 career home runs, but three were walk-offs. He hit .364 during the Cardinals’ World Series win over the Tigers.

And yet what made it all great was, well, just look at the dude. Dude’s not supposed to be doing any of this. Yeah, the bases are loaded, but look at this guy. He’s not wearing the cape. Hustling out an infield single won’t do it here, no sir. You can hustle harder than hustle’s ever hustled, and it’s not clearing these bases. “There’s a pretty good chance he’s not going to” is how every sizing-up should start when you see that little guy with that huge bat at the plate.

[Elsewhere: Astros slugger Evan Gattis will miss some time following hernia surgery]

It wasn’t even the biggest home run of the season for the Cardinals. Pujols would take care of that in the playoffs against Brad Lidge, as we’ve already documented. But sometimes it’s your day. Everybody’s got to bat. You can’t just hand it off to the big guy when you need the bomb. Yeah, the little guy probably isn’t going to hit the blast to win the game.

But sometimes (three times, in Eckstein’s case), he does. Sometimes “you get a miracle like this.”

COMING THURSDAY: Bob Brenly makes up for three errors with a game-winning homer.

PREVIOUSLY IN HOMER HISTORY
– The night a hobbled Kirk Gibson broke my heart (by Mike Oz)
– Cal Ripken Jr. wowed us yet again on Iron Man night (by Lauren Shehadi)
– When Albert Pujols silenced Minute Maid Park (by Jeff Passan)
– Bill Mazeroski’s great walk-off World Series winner (by Kevin Iole)
– The Big Papi grand slam that still haunts Detroit (by Al Toby)
– That time Joe Blanton hit a home run in the World Series (by Sam Cooper)
– When Jim Leyritz halted hopes of a Braves dynasty (by Jay Busbee)
– Bryce Harper and the home run almost no one saw (by Chris Cwik)
– Shane Robinson and the home run on one predicted (by Tim Brown)
– The shot heard ’round the world (by Larry King)
– The night Reggie Jackson became Mr. October (by Scott Pianowski)
– Tony Fernandez’s extra-innings postseason blast (by Joey Gulino)
– Dave Kingman takes one out of Wrigley Field (by Andy Behrens)
– Joe Carter’s blast wins the 1993 World Series (by Greg Wyshynski)
– Todd Helton ignites a historic Rockies run (by Mark Townsend)