Bobby Orr’s Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1970 engages in a grudge match with Carlton Fisk’s game-winning home run in the 1975 World Series in the quarterfinals of the Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.
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.
Carlton Fisk knew it. Really, everyone watching knew. Fisk’s shot down the left-field line at Fenway Park in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series had the distance, but would it stay fair? Fisk hopped down the first-base line using both arms to wave the ball fair, and the ball clunked off the foul pole to give the Red Sox a walk-off win and force Game 7 against the Cincinnati Reds. The Sox lost Game 7, but Fisk’s home run lives on as one of the most iconic moments in Boston sports and baseball history. His shot off Pat Darcy changed the way television stations broadcast baseball games. Cameramen at the time were taught to follow the ball, but NBC cameraman Lou Gerard later said he was distracted by a rat so instead kept the camera pointed at Fisk, who was in the midst of his memorable wave. The rest, as they say, is history.
Which is a greater Boston sports moment?
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