The 10 Greatest Home Runs in World Series History

On Oct. 13, 1960, Bill Mazeroski led off the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the World Series with the score tied 9-9. He took a ball from Ralph Terry, then hit the next pitch over the left-field wall at Forbes Field. It's still the only walk-off home run ever hit in a World Series Game 7.

The World Series has produced hundreds of home runs. A few dozen of them changed a Series. Only a handful changed how we remember the sport. Here are the 10 greatest.

10. Dusty Rhodes, 1954, Game 1

Everybody remembers Game 1 of the 1954 World Series for Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder catch off Vic Wertz in the 8th inning. The game didn't end until the 10th, when Giants manager Leo Durocher sent Dusty Rhodes up to pinch-hit for Monte Irvin with 2 men on.

Rhodes lifted Bob Lemon's first pitch toward the Polo Grounds' right-field fence, which sat just 258 feet from home plate. It barely made it: as Indians right fielder Dave Pope leaped, the next day's Daily News reported, a fan touched the ball and it fell back onto the field. It still counted as a 3-run walk-off homer. The Cleveland Indians had won 111 games that year. The Giants swept them.

9. Mickey Mantle, 1964, Game 3

Game 3 of the 1964 Series at Yankee Stadium was tied 1-1 when Mantle led off the bottom of the 9th against Cardinals knuckleballer Barney Schultz. Mantle swung at the first pitch and drove it into the right-field seats to win it, 2-1.

It was Mantle's 16th World Series home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 15. He finished with 18, still the most in Series history. The Cardinals won the Series in 7, and the Yankees didn't play in another World Series for 12 years.

8. Freddie Freeman, 2024, Game 1

The Dodgers trailed the Yankees 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th of Game 1. Bases loaded, 2 outs, and Freddie Freeman was playing on a badly sprained right ankle. He hit Nestor Cortes' first pitch into the right-field pavilion.

It was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. Freeman homered in each of the first 4 games, tied Bobby Richardson's Series record with 12 RBIs and won the MVP as the Dodgers won in 5. Fox's Joe Davis summed it up the moment the ball landed: "Gibby, meet Freddie!"

7. Babe Ruth, 1932, Game 3

The "called shot" is the most argued-about home run in baseball. Game 3 at Wrigley Field, 5th inning, score tied 4-4, 1 out, and the Cubs' bench was riding Ruth hard. With the count 2-2, Ruth made a gesture. Then he hit Charlie Root's next pitch to deep center field, his 2nd homer of the game. Lou Gehrig homered right behind him.

Did Ruth point to the bleachers? Root always said no. Ruth told the story different ways over the years. The Chicago Tribune's story the next morning never mentioned a called shot. It had Ruth holding up 2 fingers after 2 strikes and yelling at the Cubs' bench, "That's only two strikes, boys. I still have one coming." Two home movies of the at-bat have surfaced since, and neither settles it. But in 2020 a 1932 radio interview turned up in which Gehrig said Ruth "called his shot and then made it." The Yankees swept the Cubs.

6. Reggie Jackson, 1977, Game 6

Days before Game 6, Thurman Munson had sarcastically called his teammate "Mr. October." Then Reggie Jackson made it a compliment.

In the Yankees' Series-clinching Game 6 against the Dodgers, Jackson homered on the first pitch he saw from Burt Hooton, the first pitch he saw from Elias Sosa, and the first pitch he saw from knuckleballer Charlie Hough. Counting his last swing of Game 5, that was 4 home runs on 4 straight swings. His 5 homers in the Series set a record that has since been tied but never beaten. ABC's Howard Cosell, on the 3rd one: "Oh, what a blow! What a way to top it off!"

5. Kirby Puckett, 1991, Game 6

The Twins trailed the Braves 3 games to 2, and Kirby Puckett had already saved Game 6 once, with a leaping catch against the Metrodome's plexiglass to rob Ron Gant in the 3rd inning. Then he led off the bottom of the 11th against Charlie Leibrandt and, on a 2-1 count, hit the ball into the seats in left-center.

CBS's Jack Buck: "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" The next night, Jack Morris pitched 10 shutout innings and the Twins won Game 7, 1-0.

4. Carlton Fisk, 1975, Game 6

Game 6 at Fenway Park started on Oct. 21 and ended after midnight. Boston was 4 outs from elimination in the 8th when pinch-hitter Bernie Carbo hit a 3-run homer to tie it 6-6. It stayed tied into the 12th.

Fisk led off against Pat Darcy and hit the 2nd pitch high down the left-field line. Then he stood at the plate, hopping and waving his arms toward fair territory. The ball hit the foul pole. NBC's camera inside the Green Monster caught the whole thing, and the shot of Fisk waving it fair changed how baseball was televised. The Reds won Game 7 the next night, 4-3, but Game 6 is the one everybody remembers.

3. Kirk Gibson, 1988, Game 1

Kirk Gibson wasn't supposed to play. He had injuries to both legs and was icing them in the clubhouse while the Dodgers trailed Oakland 4-3 in the 9th. With 2 outs, Mike Davis drew a walk from Dennis Eckersley, the best closer in baseball, and Gibson limped up the steps to pinch-hit.

He fouled off pitches. Davis stole 2nd. On a full count, Eckersley threw the backdoor slider that Dodgers scout Mel Didier had told Gibson to look for, and Gibson flicked it into the right-field pavilion with what was mostly an arm swing. Vin Scully, on NBC: "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!" On radio, Jack Buck: "I don't believe what I just saw!" It was Gibson's only plate appearance of the Series. The Dodgers won it in 5.

2. Joe Carter, 1993, Game 6

The Blue Jays led the Phillies 3 games to 2 but trailed Game 6 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th. Philadelphia closer Mitch Williams walked Rickey Henderson, got an out, and gave up a single to Paul Molitor. That brought up Joe Carter.

On a 2-2 count, Carter hit a 3-run homer over the left-field wall at SkyDome to win the World Series, 8-6. Only 2 home runs in history have ended a World Series. Carter's is the one hit by a team that was behind. Blue Jays radio voice Tom Cheek: "Touch 'em all, Joe! You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!"

1. Bill Mazeroski, 1960, Game 7

The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 in the 1960 World Series and still lost it. Game 7 at Forbes Field was a wild one: Pittsburgh went up 4-0, fell behind 7-4, scored 5 in the 8th to lead 9-7, and gave up 2 in the top of the 9th to make it 9-9.

Mazeroski, a second baseman better known for his glove, led off the bottom of the 9th. He took Ralph Terry's first pitch for a ball and hit the second over the left-field wall. He was waving his helmet before he reached 2nd base, and fans were on the field before he reached home. Pittsburgh won, 10-9.

It's still the only walk-off home run in a World Series Game 7. Mazeroski died in February 2026 at 89. He's in the Hall of Fame for his defense, but in Pittsburgh he'll always be the guy who ended the 1960 World Series.

Honorable mentions

• Tommy Henrich, 1949, Game 1: the first walk-off home run in World Series history, a 1-0 win over Don Newcombe and the Dodgers.
• Eddie Mathews, 1957, Game 4: a 2-run walk-off in the 10th inning for the Braves, who beat the Yankees in 7.
• Jim Leyritz, 1996, Game 4: a 3-run homer off Mark Wohlers in the 8th to tie a game the Yankees trailed 6-0. They won it, and the Series.
• Derek Jeter, 2001, Game 4: a walk-off just after midnight on Nov. 1, 7 weeks after 9/11. "Mr. November."
• David Freese, 2011, Game 6: an 11th-inning walk-off for the Cardinals, 2 innings after his game-tying triple in the 9th.
• Rajai Davis, 2016, Game 7: a 2-run homer off Aroldis Chapman to tie a game Cleveland went on to lose in the 10th.
• Howie Kendrick, 2019, Game 7: off the right-field foul pole for the go-ahead run in the 7th.
• Miguel Rojas and Will Smith, 2025, Game 7: Rojas tied it with a 9th-inning homer when Toronto was 2 outs from the title, and Smith won it with a homer in the 11th.

Which one did we get wrong? Tell us your No. 1 in the comments.