60 Moments: No. 2, Duane Kuipers singular home run -

Now that baseball has returned, Joe Posnanski will count down his top 10 moments in baseball history across the 10 weeks of the scheduled regular season — think of it as a companion piece to The Baseball 100 — with a series of essays on the most memorable, remarkable and joyous scenes of the game. This project will not contain more words than “Moby Dick,” but we hope you enjoy it.

Duane Kuiper hits his one and only home run
Aug. 29, 1977

This is the point where you scream about (YOUR TEAM’S GREATEST MOMENT). It should be in here. It’s ridiculous that it’s not in here. Someone counts down the 60 greatest moments in baseball history, and puts stuff in here like hot dogs becoming the sacred baseball food and Homer Simpson’s home run in a fictional softball game and Reggie Jackson getting a candy bar named for him but doesn’t put in (YOUR TEAM’S GREATEST MOMENT)? It’s pure lunacy.

How in the world could Duane Kuiper’s utterly irrelevant home run be on this dumb list and (YOUR TEAM’S GREATEST MOMENT) not be in here?

I mean, seriously, this guy had SIXTY moments, how could he leave out …

Angels: Troy Glaus’ two-run double in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series (or maybe Scott Spiezio’s earlier three-run homer)?

Astros: Mike Scott clinching the pennant with a no-hitter? The opening of the Astrodome? Nolan Ryan throwing his fifth no-hitter to pass Sandy Koufax?

Athletics: Gene Tenace’s absurd four-homer performance in the 1972 World Series? Reggie Jackson hitting that monster home run in the 1971 All-Star Game? Rickey Henderson stealing the base that made him the greatest of all time? Michael Lewis writing “Moneyball”?

Blue Jays: Toronto winning its first World Series in 1992 after the Canadian flag was flown upside down?

Braves: Tom Glavine’s eight innings of one-hit ball in the 1995 World Series against a Cleveland lineup that was one of the greatest at hitting in baseball history?

Brewers: Robin Yount’s catch on Eddie Murray’s line drive that clinched Juan Nieves’ no-hitter? Cecil Cooper’s bases-loaded single that sent the Brewers to the 1982 World Series?

Cardinals: Albert Pujols’ titanic playoff blast off Houston’s Brad Lidge that made the world stop spinning for an instant?

Cubs: The Homer in the Gloamin’? Sammy Sosa’s home run summer in 1998? Harry Carey singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”?

Diamondbacks: Luis González’s broken-bat single that won the 2001 World Series? Randy Johnson hitting that bird with a pitch?

Dodgers: Sandy Koufax’s perfect game? Koufax’s three-hit shutout in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series? Orel Hershiser’s scoreless inning streak? Fernandomania?

Giants: The Willie Mays catch? (Seriously, how did it not get in there? The guy doing this list has no idea about baseball.) Madison Bumgarner’s Game 7 in the 2014 World Series? Barry Bonds hitting his 73rd home run in 2001?

Mariners: Edgar Martinez’s double off Jack McDowell in Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series? Ken Griffey Jr. homering on the first pitch he saw in Seattle?

Marlins: Josh Beckett’s shutout at Yankee Stadium to lift the Marlins over New York in the 2003 World Series?

Mets: Ron Swoboda’s catch in the 1969 World Series? Al Weis’ home run in that same series? Mike Piazza’s poignant home run after 9/11?

Nationals: That whole amazing 2019 postseason?

Orioles: Baltimore trading Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson in perhaps the best (worst) deal ever made?

Padres: Tony Gwynn almost hits .400? Steve Garvey’s walk-off homer in Game 4 of the 1984 NLCS? Ozzie Smith making that absurd play where he dived for a ball up the middle then reached back with his bare hand to snag the ball after it took a wicked bounce?

Pirates: Willie Stargell’s home run in Game 7 of the 1979 World Series? Any number of things Roberto Clemente did on and off the field?

Phillies: Manny Trillo’s infield single that scored Del Unser and gave the Phillies the lead in Game 6 of the 1980 World Series? Brad Lidge closing out that bizarre, rain-soaked 2008 World Series? Roy Halladay throwing a postseason no-hitter?

Rangers: Kenny Rogers’ perfect game? Neftalí Feliz freezing Alex Rodriguez in the 2010 ALCS to send Texas to its first World Series?

Rays: David Price coming in to clinch the Rays’ first pennant against Boston in 2008?

Rockies: The amazing 13th-inning comeback off the Padres’ Trevor Hoffman to win the play-in game in 2007 and reach the playoffs for the first time?

Red Sox: Ted Williams going 6-for-8 on the last day and hitting .400? Or Dave Roberts stealing the base that changed everything?

Reds: Tony Pérez’s giant home run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series? (Everyone forgets that there even was a Game 7.) Tom Browning’s perfect game? Joe Nuxhall pitching at age 15 (and becoming the legendary voice of the team)?

Royals: Dane Iorg’s single and Jim Sundberg’s slide to win Game 6 of the 1985 World Series?

Tigers: Denny McLain winning 30 games? Mickey Lolich outdueling Bob Gibson in Game 7 of the 1968 World Series? Kirk Gibson’s other World Series homer, the three-run shot he hit off Goose Gossage in 1984?

Twins: Kirby Puckett’s 11th-inning homer in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series? Jack Morris’ 10-inning shutout in Game 7?

White Sox: Scott Podsednik hitting the most unlikely homer in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series?

Yankees: Babe Ruth’s called shot in the 1932 World Series? Bucky Dent’s home run against the Red Sox in that 1978 tiebreaker game?

The fact that none of those (or many others) are on this list tells you two things:

1. A whole lot of amazing stuff has happened in baseball.

2. This list never was intended to be some objective and dispassionate countdown of the greatest moments in baseball history. There have already been thousands of lists like that. Instead, I wanted to create something a bit goofy, a bit nostalgic and very personal. Do I really believe that Kuiper hitting a meaningless home run for Cleveland, which was terrible in 1977, is a greater baseball moment than Ruth’s called shot or Puckett’s Game 6 homer?

Of course I do. Because I grew up in Cleveland in the 1970s. If I had grown up in New York in the 1930s, I’d have the Ruth homer on there. If I were Garrison Keillor or Steve Rushin, I’d have the Puckett homer on there. The greatest moment in baseball history is your moment, that instant when — among the thousands of baseball games that happen every year — everything comes together just so and a tiny instant of perfection happens.

I was 10 years old when Kuiper hit his home run, and that was just the right age.

If I had been a couple of years older, I might have been aware of Kuiper’s limitations as a player (no power, limited speed, didn’t walk, etc.).

If I had been a couple of years younger, “Kuip” would not have been my hero because I would not yet have been hopelessly in love with baseball. My hero would have been Evel Knievel or The Six Million Dollar Man or something.

But the timing was just right. I was 10 years old and being Duane Kuiper consumed me. I played second base and dived for every ball and slapped enough singles to maintain a decent batting average. I was Duane Kuiper.

One thing that makes baseball a little bit different is that the sport relies on there being the thinnest of lines between the field and stands. Many of us sit in those stands (in normal times) and cannot help but think about how, if only for the slightest shift in history, we would be the ones in the field and the players would be watching us. It’s an illusion, obviously — I was no more likely to be a Major League second baseman than an astronaut or Senator of South Dakota or Timothée Chalamet.

But baseball relies on hopeless and fervent dreams. I never once see a receiver make a catch over the middle or James Harden hit a step-back 3 and think, “That could be me.” But I’ve also never seen a routine fly ball or two-bouncer grounder without thinking, at least a little bit, “Oh, I make that play.”

Kuip played the game with an unbridled joy that just made you feel happy. Lots of players — most of them, I imagine — love playing ball, but only a few have the gift of expressing that physically so that everyone watching can feel it. He was my favorite player instantly because of that. Every defensive play he made, every swing of the bat, you just sensed that he was living exactly the life he dreamed. How can you not be drawn in by that?

Kuiper hit his one and only home run against the Chicago White Sox on “Monday Night Baseball.” The White Sox pitcher that day was Steve Stone, who grew up in South Euclid, the same little city where I lived.

Kuiper was the Indians’ second batter. He’d gone 1,522 plate appearances without a home run, which wasn’t a record or anything but it was long enough that people knew about it. On the second pitch, he cracked a ball to right field. It cleared the fence by a couple of feet. The call on Cleveland radio was like so:

Joe Tait: “He drives one down the right-field line … headed for the wall … it’s gone! Duane Kuiper just hit his first major-league home run. How about that?”

Herb Score: “Look at Duane run those bases!”

Yes, he ran around those bases joyfully. It was perfection. I was listening to the game on the radio. I about lost my mind with joy. I probably thought it was the first of many for my hero. But it was the first and the last. Kuip would have 2,221 more plate appearances and never hit another home run. He came close a couple of times but, fortunately, none of the close calls cleared the fence. It wouldn’t be the same if Kuiper had two career home runs.

As I’ve written many times, Duane Kuiper is the greatest sports hero a kid could ever have, in part because we have become friends over the last 15 or 20 years. How often does that happen?

The first thing I did when I began putting together this list was pencil in Kuiper’s home run at No. 2. I know it’s probably not the second greatest moment on your baseball list. That’s what the comments are for.

Follow the rest of the 60 Moments series on our topic page.

(Screenshot courtesy of MLB)

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