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The 20 greatest home runs in Cubs history, No. 12: Willie Smith, April 8, 1969

I have written about Willie Smith’s 1969 Opening Day walkoff home run before, most recently on its 50th anniversary in April 2019.

So what do I have that’s new to say about this blast? Plenty, but first, let’s watch it again.

Just listen to Jack Brickhouse. I mean... Jack got overexcited about a lot of things that didn’t always warrant it, but that time, you could tell the excitement was genuine, a walkoff homer on Opening Day.

And that leads me to why this home run ranks fairly high on this list.