By BRIAN COSTELLO
Last updated: 3:56 pm
July 28, 2008
Posted: 3:56 am
July 27, 2008
As both New York baseball stadiums prepare to close, The Post looks back at the 25 most memorable moments in the history of Yankee Stadiums. This week, No. 9.
Oct. 14, 1976
The blast came about 45 minutes before midnight and propelled the Yankees into their first World Series in 14 years.
Game 5 of the 1976 American League Championship Series came to a swift end when Chris Chambliss drilled Mark Littell's first pitch of the ninth inning over the right-center-field wall, giving the Bombers a 7-6 victory over Kansas City and setting off bedlam at Yankee Stadium.
The dramatic game was a fitting end to a back-and-forth series between the Yankees and Royals. Ed Figueroa started the game for the Yankees on three days' rest and was opposed by Dennis Leonard, also going on short rest.
John Mayberry gave the Royals a 2-0 lead with a first-inning homer, but the Yankees built a 6-3 lead by the sixth inning behind Mickey Rivers (four hits), Thurman Munson (three hits, two RBIs) and Chambliss (two hits, two RBIs).
Yankees killer George Brett then struck and erased the Yankees' lead in the eighth inning. With Al Cowens and Jim Wohlford on base, Brett sent Grant Jackson's second pitch over the right-field wall to tie the game, 6-6.
That set up Chambliss' dramatics. When his ball cleared the fence, thousands of fans jumped over the dugouts and stadium walls onto the field. Chambliss dodged groups of fans as he rounded the bases. He had to touch second with his hand as a fan pulled it out of the ground. He ran into a fan between second and third and stumbled, then he turned wide around third and zigged and zagged his way past home plate and into the dugout.
When some teammates asked him if he was sure he touched home, Chambliss said he wasn't. A little later, Chambliss was escorted onto the field by police officers to officially touch home and cap one of the most dramatic home runs in Yankee Stadium - and baseball - history.
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