One of my favorite pictures is a framed autographed photo of Chris Chambliss watching his pennant-clinching home run sail into the New York night. It captures Chambliss immediately after his follow-through, standing upright and watching the ball take flight. Behind him, Royals catcher Buck Martinez is also standing upright out of his catcher’s crouch, watching his season helplessly slip away.
That incredible moment happened 40 years ago today, and remains one of the wildest scenes in Yankee Stadium history–old or new. The home run would come in the decisive game five of the ALCS in the bottom of the ninth to send the Yankees to their first World Series since 1964, and sending Yankees fans into a state of delirium as they poured onto the field from the stands, rushing Chambliss as he tried to make his way through the crowd and around the bases.