http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/sports/baseball/gary-carter-exuberant-power-hitting-catcher-dies-at-57.html
The real litmus test here is, 'the game is on the line.' There are degrees of clutch, of course. In a scoreless game in say, the 7th inning, any at bat with a runner in scoring position can be called a clutch opportunity; further, ANY later-inning at bat in a close game can be considered to contain a modicum of 'clutch.'
A game-winning hit is always a clutch hit, but the actual degree of clutch can vary considerably. Is the game on the line? This should be the final arbiter. A game-winning homer in the bottom of the 9th is undoubtedly clutch, but if the game was tied, it is NOT the ultimate, because the game is not 'on the line.'
The greatest clutch hits snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They take an impending loss and transform it into a win, and the more important the game, the more clutch is the hit. In modern baseball the best clutch hit almost has to be Kirk Gibson's 1988 bottom of the 9th 2-run homer that beat the Oakland A's in the first game of the World Series. It was like drawing a straight flush in poker, with the only better homer being a bases loaded, bottom of the 9th, game 7 dinger that wins, 4 to 3.
There are many unsung clutch hits, which is the reason for this article. I submit my candidate:
1986, the sixth game of the World Series, with the Red Sox up 5-3 and one out away from winning the Series. Gary Carter of the Mets is at bat against the Red Sox premier closer. There are two strikes on Carter. The game, the entire season, is on the line. Carter singles.
OK then. What's your candidate?
