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7 hours ago
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It's the second-greatest Cleveland baseball swing of the 21st century.
Behind Rajai Davis' Game 7 home run, there's been nothing quite like Oscar Gonzalez's Wild Card homer in 2022.
With the Rays and Guardians tied 0-0 heading to the bottom of the 15th inning, Tampa Bay had former Cleveland ace Corey Kluber on the mound. And the young Gonzalez, whose walk-up song was the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, stepped in.
He clobbered a ball deep to left, beyond the fence, as a capacity crowd roared its approval.
No one could've known then that Gonzalez would never again approach those heights in MLB.
The now-former Guardians slugger spent the early stages of the 2025 season with the Padres, but he has since requested his release to sign a deal in Japan.
Never forget.pic.twitter.com/FPaIhtvQBA https://t.co/p5lzHMH5GT
— La Mole (@FranmilsEyebrow) May 19, 2025MORE: MLB's best home run hitter first name is Kyle
Gonzalez is the most fleeting types of franchise legends. He provided one indelible moment that no one in Cleveland will ever forget.
But then, rather than building on it in a long career, he's gone.
There have been young sluggers who have gone to Japan, improved and then come back to MLB and contributed. Hopefully, that's what Gonzalez can do.
But if he never makes it back, he'll always linger in Guardians lore for the most legendary swing of his brief big league career.
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