In 1996 KIRO 7’s Gary Horcher was a cub reporter at a television station in Appleton, Wis.
When he woke up on this day in history never did he think he would be reporting on a moment that still leaves sports junkies jaws on the floor.
In the wake of the Seattle Mariners unimaginable run in 1995, the organization decided to go on the road to promote their minor league clubs.
Alex Rodriguez had spent his only season in the minors playing for the Appleton Foxes in 1994.
So this Mariners’ stop to play the home team - now the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - carried a little extra zing.
Horcher recalls the story, “It’s pouring rain and all these thousands of people are like, ‘Are we going to play?
“Lou Piniella gets off the bus and is like ‘Hell know we’re not going to play, I’m in a pennant race.’”
[ Click here to see Horcher recall the entire story with video from 1996. ]
As the fans began to get restless, Mariners’ catcher Dan Wilson came out and told the crowd over the PA system that he was challenging the Timber Rattlers to a game of home run derby.
Completely unscripted, the home team trotted out their best three to challenge Wilson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez to a game of home run derby.
What happened next was a glimpse into the future of baseball for fans across the world.
“Ken Griffey Jr. can’t hit the ball out of the park to save his life,” Horcher recalls. “And people are razzing him.”
Meanwhile this tall, lanky kid from the Timber Rattlers couldn’t stop hitting moon shots out of the stadium.
Cameras rolled on a baby-faced Rodriguez saying, “I aint gotta chance.”
Everyone in the Mariners’ organization was thinking, “Who is this kid?”
As it would turn out, the man at the plate was future MLB Hall of Famer David Ortiz.