As soon as New York Yankees reliever Bob Wickman heard the ball leave Larry Walker’s bat, he knew it was trouble. Walker, the Montreal Expos’ 27-year-old right fielder, had been hitting well enough in the World Series before the bottom of the 11th inning in Game 7. But he’d also been held homerless until coming up in this crucial spot, with two runners on base in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7. As the championship hung in the balance, one swing changed everything. A year after Joe Carter won the 1993 World Series for another Canadian team with a walk-off home run, Walker crushed Wickman’s pitch over the wall in right for a title-clinching blast of his own. As he circled the bases at Stade Olympique, confetti raining down, Walker relished in knowing he had created one of the most indelible feel-good moments in the history of the game.
The Expos were 1994 World Champions.
None of that actually happened, of course.
