Relive 10 of the best calls in World Series history

A great call of a big play can help rocket the moment to all-time-great status. This is especially true in the World Series.

Whether through exciting walk-offs, homages to Hall of Famers or simply providing important context to a final play, the Fall Classic has produced a healthy dose of chill-inducing calls from broadcasters.

Sometimes, those calls seem iconic from the moment we hear them. Sometimes, we require some distance to realize their true greatness. And other times, it takes us a while to discover them — but once we do, we can’t seem to get enough of them.

Here are 10 notable calls from big moments in World Series history.

“High fly ball into right field, she is …. GONE!”

It’s rare that a single moment produces multiple iconic calls. But Gibson’s walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series was the kind of epic swing that provided such inspiration across multiple broadcast booths. Scully’s call for NBC was heard by millions and has been the most replayed in the decades since.

In Scully’s classic Hall of Fame style, his call of Gibson’s homer off future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley is straight-forward yet wrapped with the appropriate amounts of excitement and amazement as a hobbled Gibson pulls off, as Scully goes on to say, the impossible.

Jack Buck: Gibson’s walk-off homer

“Gibson — swings and a fly ball to deep right field. This is gonna be a home run! Unbelievable! A home run for Gibson, and the Dodgers have won the game, 5-4. I don’t believe what I just saw.”

Like Scully, Buck was already a Hall of Fame broadcaster when he was tabbed to call the ’88 World Series for CBS Radio. His call of Gibson’s historic shot is filled not just with awe but with shock, as evidenced by the most famous line: “I don’t believe what I just saw.”

Buck says the line twice in succession (and actually says it a third time moments later, but it’s usually not included in clips), driving home the point that what he’d just witnessed was so outlandish that it well could’ve been a hallucination. And if that were enough, he also asks partner Bill White in the full broadcast, “Is this really happening, Bill?!”

“Here’s the 3-2 pitch — and a drive hit to right field, WAY BACK, THIS BALL IS GONE!”

Drysdale was the third Hall of Famer calling Game 1 that night in 1988, though his Cooperstown credentials were based on his performance as an eight-time All-Star pitcher and former Cy Young winner. But for someone not trained in broadcasting, Drysdale was a gifted announcer with an eye for detail and a conversational style as he called games for local Dodgers radio.

When Gibson makes contact, Drysdale simply calls the play as he sees it — which includes bursting into the euphoric realization that the ball is going over the wall. He earlier framed the at-bat as a “Casey at the Bat” moment, which led to a perfect button on his call: “This crowd will not stop. They can’t believe the ending. And this time, Mighty Casey did NOT strike out.”

“Freeman hits a ball, right field. She is … GONE!”

The parallels between Freeman’s walk-off homer in 2024 and Gibson’s in ’88 are almost uncanny: Both in Game 1, both stars, both lefties, both hobbled, both at bat with their team trailing by one run and down to its final out, both launching a ball into the right-field seats at almost the same time of day. Davis, the Dodgers’ regular announcer but working the series in his role as the main play-by-play guy for FOX, was well aware of the narrative symmetry — and his call reflects that.

In an homage to Scully’s call 36 years earlier, Davis excitedly lets viewers know that “she” is gone. Then, he makes an instant-classic introduction — “Gibby, meet Freddie” — and does yet another homage when he asks partner John Smoltz, who is at a rare loss for words, “Would you say you don’t believe what you just saw?”

“Into deep left center, for Mitchell, and … we’ll see you tomorrow night.”

By the time the Braves and Twins got to Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, the series had already produced a high amount of tension. Three of the first five games had been decided by one run, with the winning run coming in the eighth inning or later each time. Game 6 ended up as the second of what would ultimately be three extra-inning games in the series.

So when Puckett connects off Charlie Leibrandt in the bottom of the 11th inning with the score tied 3-3, Buck’s now-iconic and matter-of-fact “we’ll see you tomorrow night” seems to say, “Of course we’re going to Game 7. Did you expect anything else?”

“Freese hits it in the air to center. We will see you tomorrow night.”

Twenty years and one day after his late father’s call of Puckett’s blast, Joe Buck was calling his own dramatic Game 6 for FOX in the 2011 World Series as the Cardinals twice came from the brink of elimination to beat the Rangers and force Game 7.

When Freese leads off the bottom of the 11th in a tie game — just like Puckett — and then connects for a walk-off homer — just like Puckett — the younger Buck sees an opportunity to honor his dad, and he nails it.

Buck offered a similar homage to his father in 2004, when David Ortiz hit an after-midnight walk-off homer in Game 4 of the ALCS to spark the Red Sox’s historic comeback against the Yankees. Buck ended that call with, “We’ll see you later tonight.”

Bob Costas: Yankees win 25th title to close out the 1900s (1999)

“A pop into shallow left. The New York Yankees — world champions, team of the decade, most successful franchise of the century.”

Baseball in the 20th century was dominated by the Yankees, as multiple dynasties combined to win 25 World Series championships between 1923-1999. And the ’90s were one of their most dominant decades — with three titles — despite not winning their first one until more than halfway through.

But when Mariano Rivera gets the Braves’ Keith Lockhart to pop out to left to end the 1999 World Series in a sweep, Costas’ call is simply a statement of relevant but important facts. He tells the story of the moment, the season, the decade and the entire 1900s with just 21 words.

Tom Cheek: Joe Carter‘s series-winning walk-off homer (1993)

“Here’s the pitch on the way. A swing and a belt! Left field, way back, Blue Jays win it! The Blue Jays are World Series champions. … Touch ’em all, Joe. You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life.”

Carter’s walk-off homer in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series was just the second series-clinching walk-off homer in the history of the Fall Classic. The three-run shot off the Phillies’ Mitch Williams came with two strikes and the Blue Jays down by a run and two outs from having to play a Game 7.

Cheek, who had called every game in Blue Jays history to that point, delivers a joyous call that is detailed yet succinct as Carter’s drive sails over the wall near the left field corner to secure the team’s second straight World Series championship. But it’s the conclusion, as Carter completes his celebratory trot, that gives this call its beloved status.

“Little roller up along first, BEHIND THE BAG. It gets through Buckner. Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!”

Before Game 6 of the 1986 World Series came to its famous (or infamous) end — with the Red Sox going from a strike away from a championship to a series of unfortunate events — Scully summed things up with a question that would soon take on even more weight: “Can you believe this ballgame at Shea?”

Literally 15 seconds later, Scully and the rest of the baseball world react with even more disbelief as Mookie Wilson hits a weak grounder toward first that rolls under Buckner’s glove and allows Ray Knight to score the winning run from second base — and allows the Mets to stay alive and force Game 7.

“There’s a drive hit to deep left field — look out, now — that ball is going, going, GONE! And the World Series is over! Mazeroski hits it over the left field fence for a home run and the Pirates win it, 10-9, and win the World Series.”

The original broadcast of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series was thought to be lost to time until a pristine black-and-white recording of NBC’s coverage was found in the wine cellar of famed singer — and former part-owner of the Pirates — Bing Crosby in 2009. When the game was aired on MLB Network in 2010, it was the first time the public had seen the original broadcast in 50 years.

On the call for the ninth inning as the Yankees and Pirates battle it out is Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen. His call immediately recognizes the rising level of excitement as Mazeroski drives the ball to left field. And Allen’s mid-call interjection of “look out, now” has a fun late ’50s/early ’60s vibe.