Is Bobby Orr's Famous Goal or Dave Roberts' Steal a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

Is Bobby Orr’s Famous Goal or Dave Roberts’ Steal a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

by NESN Staff on Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 12:45PM

Bobby Orr’s Stanley Cup-winning goal squares off against Dave Roberts’ clutch steal against the Yankees in the semifinal round of Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.

1. Bobby Orr scores ‘The Goal’Bobby Orr may have all the characteristics of a red-blooded human being, but the Bruins defenseman looked like an angel of the ice when he flew through the air after scoring “The Goal” to win the 1970 Stanley Cup. In that moment at the Boston Garden, with thousands of Bruins fans watching in anticipation, he was a gift bestowed upon all of Boston by the hockey gods themselves. Indeed, no single NHL moment is frozen in time more than Orr taking flight like Superman. The vision occurred 40 seconds into overtime as Orr put the puck past goaltender Glenn Hall to win Game 4 — and complete the sweep — against the St. Louis Blues. The iconic moment has never thawed. It is perfect.

2. Dave Roberts pulls off ‘The Steal’The whole world knew he was going to steal second base. After Kevin Millar drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, that’s exactly what Dave Roberts did. With the Red Sox down 4-3 and facing elimination, 90 feet never looked so far. After nearly getting picked off, Roberts took off on Mariano Rivera’s first pitch to Bill Mueller. Jorge Posada threw a strike to a covering Derek Jeter, but the left hand of Roberts beat the tag. Mueller singled, and Roberts finished off what is now known as “The Steal” by scoring the tying run. The steal sparked the greatest comeback in Red Sox history, as Boston took Game 4 and won four straight en route to capturing the American League pennant.