The Homer in the Gloamin'

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The Homer in the Gloamin' is one of the most famous walk-off home runs in baseball lore. On September 28, 1938, with the Chicago Cubs trailing Pittsburgh Pirates by only half a game, Gabby Hartnett, the Cubs catcher and manager, stepped to the plate in a lightless Wrigley Field that was gradually being overcome by darkness. In what had been a hard-fought contest to that point, the score was tied 5-5 as the sun began to set and visibility was becoming difficult. Under the rules governing the game at the time, if the umpired determined it was too dark to continue play safely, the game would have been replayed from the beginning the next day. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, two strikes on him, and the umpires ready to end the game, Hartnett launched Pirate hurler Mace Brown's offering into the gloom and haze. This would be remembered as his "Homer in the Gloamin'" with the gloam meaning the gloomy haze that the ball sailed into. As a result of the shot, the Cubs vaulted into first place, culminating a tremendous 19-3-1 September run, and the pennant would be clinched three days later. Unfortunately, the Cubs were swept in the 1938 World Series by the New York Yankees, their fourth Series loss in ten years.