Last night was the Kirk Gibson moment of this generation

One of the greatest moments in franchise history

I’m still in disbelief over what happened last night.

Like, did that actually happen?

It’s 12 hours later and I’m still in awe watching all of the different angles and highlights on Twitter.

What we witnessed last night was something special. Not only was it one of the greatest moments in Dodgers history, it was one of the greatest moments in World Series history.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t around just yet for the Kirk Gibson walk-off home run in 1988. I didn’t get to experience what many people say is the greatest moment in Dodgers history. My dad and uncle were at that game and I’ll forever be jealous!

For this generation, we may have had our Gibson moment last night.

The Dodgers were rallying in the bottom of the 10th. Gavin Lux reached with a walk and Tommy Edman reached with an infield single. With two on and one out, Shohei Ohtani stepped into the box.

That seemed like the perfect Hollywood script. In his first career World Series game, Ohtani has a chance to be the hero and walk it off? I’m sure we were all thinking it. I’m sure Yankees fans were thinking it. I’m sure all baseball fans were thinking it. The best player in the world on the biggest stage? This was his moment.

Well, we thought.

Ohtani flew out on the first pitch. It was a meatball right down the middle, but Ohtani couldn’t deliver the knock-out punch. With two outs, the Yankees opted to walk Mookie Betts to load the bases. The move made perfect sense. Betts has been phenomenal the last two weeks. An injured Freddie Freeman was on deck. It’s a move you make 10 out of 10 times.

Down to their final out. Trailing by a run in the first game of the World Series. Hope looked lost. A hobbled Freeman was at the plate, who likely wouldn’t be able to beat out a close play at first base. Entering the game, he was hitting .219 in the postseason.

On the first pitch, Freeman connected. 109-mph off the bat. One of his hardest hit balls of his entire season.

The ball somehow went only 409 feet. The cool October air definitely kept it down, as that ball should have been hit to the parking lot.

Freeman raised his bat to the sky. He carried it with him a couple feet down the first base line before tossing it with one of the best bat-flips you’ll ever see.

We’ve seen Dodgers players pimp homers like this before. It’s nothing new. But seeing this from Freddie Freeman? We’ve never seen him react to a home run like this.

Well, we’ve never seen a home run like this.

Not needing to sprint to beat out a single, Freeman took his time running around the bases. For us, it took about 20 seconds, but for Freddie it probably felt like an eternity.

He was mobbed by his teammates at home plate, looking in disbelief over what had just happened. (Flaherty was my reaction)

It was a rough season for Freddie. Obviously everyone knows what happened with his son, Max. I can’t imagine going through that as a parent and having to play through it. He then ended his season with a severe ankle injury that has limited him all postseason. If this was the regular season, Freeman likely wouldn’t be playing.

Not quite as impossible as the Gibson home run, but this is pretty damn close.

Unfortunately, last night’s homer didn’t win the series. In fact, it was only the first game. The Dodgers have to win three more games to win the series. It’s far from over. It will forever be one of the greatest homers in franchise history, but the Dodgers need to finish the job to make sure it stays that way. If the Dodgers are able to win their eighth World Series, this moment will probably be the one we look back on 40 years from now, just like the Gibson homer.

You’ll always remember where you were and who you were with when you saw Freddie Freeman do that.