Exactly 29 years to the date that Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off home run in Game 1 of the World Series, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner followed suit by hitting a three-run, walk-off homer to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series.
The person who caught the home run ball, long-time season-ticket holder Keith Hupp, has a knack for catching notable home runs. Earlier this season, he was in San Diego and caught Cody Bellinger’s 35th and 36th home run balls.
The first tied Mike Piazza’s Dodgers rookie home run record, while the second broke it. Hupp returned both balls to Bellinger.
Following Game 3, Hupp was approached by a Dodgers representative who wished to retrieve the ball for Turner. The All-Star explained in an MLB Network that it was successfully returned and the compensation would be determined at a later date:
“I did get the ball. I had to wheel and deal a little bit, but I got the ball. He didn’t know what he wanted. He actually told me, ‘This ball means so much to me, you have no idea.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it means kind of a lot to me too. So, if I can get that ball, it’d be great.’ I took his information down and I said, ‘Hey man, you think about it long and hard tonight and tomorrow, and let me know whatever you need. But I’m keeping this ball here with me.’”
The home run was just the second walk-off home run in Dodgers postseason history, with Gibson’s, of course being the first. That was something that Turner said resonated with him after the game, as he recalled watching Gibson’s home run at his grandmother’s house as a child in what’s one of his earliest baseball memories.
With the Dodgers leading 2-0, the series now shifts to Chicago for Games 3 and 4, and if necessary a Game 5. Los Angeles and Turner are just two wins away from reaching their first World Series since Gibson’s Dodgers won it all in 1988.
