Jayson Stark was 16 years into what is now a 46-year Hall of Fame baseball-writing career when he walked into Baltimore’s Camden Yards on the night of Sept. 6, 1995, knowing exactly what was about to happen and having no idea what to expect.
Baseball’s most iconic moments are usually spontaneous in nature — the thunderbolt of Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of last October’s World Series or Kirk Gibson’s World Series Game 1-winning shot off Dennis Eckersley in 1988; Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th homer in 1974; the climax to Don Larsen’s World Series perfect game in 1956.