January 17th, 2017 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka The 2017 World Series will mark the 29th anniversary of what was arguably the single greatest home run in baseball history – the “improbable / impossible” bottom of the ninth-inning walk-off home run in Game-1 of the 1988 World Series by wounded Dodger slugger Kirk Gibson. Sadly, the Dodgers haven’t won a World Series since.
But on Sunday, September 25, 2016, a little-known 27-year-old utility infielder from Rome, Georgia named Charlie Culberson would hit what many are calling the single greatest regular-season LA Dodgers home run – even Dodgers team historian Mark Langill.
“For everything it meant to so many people, Charlie Culberson hit the most important regular-season home run in Los Angeles Dodger history,” proclaimed Langill.
That’s pretty high praise coming from perhaps the single best authority on Dodgers history – Los Angeles and Brooklyn.
But just like that one person out of the 55,983 in attendance for Game-1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium who ended up with the ball from that single greatest home run in baseball history, the one person out of the 51,962 in attendance for the final home game of the 2016 season and the final game that Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully would ever call at Dodger Stadium who ended up with Charlie Culberson’s home run ball is – and quite possibly always will be – another unsolved mystery.
“The ball was hit about 12 or 13 rows deep into the Field Level just to the left of the Dodgers bullpen about three seats in from the bullpen fence,” said Steve Mears, a 56-year-old longtime season ticket holder in Dodger Stadium’s Left Field Pavilion and an avid home run ball collector. “In the video, you can see the fans reach up for it and then scramble for it on the ground when it wasn’t caught on the fly. Unfortunately, the camera never panned back to the area to show who ended up with the ball.”
Would Culberson, who already had the bat he used to hit his epic home run signed by Scully like to have his home run ball back?
“As weird as it sounds, it doesn’t bother me that I never got the ball back,” Culberson recently told LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke. “It’s a pretty cool souvenir for the person who has it, and sure I would love it, but I wouldn’t blame them for keeping it. They can have the ball, I’ll always have the story.’’
Even though Charlie Culberson did not get his historic home run ball back, he is more than happy to have the bat that he hit it with personally autographed by Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
Like Mears, Culberson has watched the YouTube video – complete with Scully’s now-historic “would you believe a home run” call of it – many times. Also like Mears, he is unable to see who ended up with the ball, nor does he care.
“I’ve watched it on YouTube quite a few times and it still gives me chills. I don’t know if anybody could write that any better.’’
But unlike Culberson, Mears would absolutely love to have Culbie’s home run ball, although establishing its provenance at this point would be very difficult, if not impossible.
“In the hobby of home run ball collecting, this ball is all about Dodger history,” said Mears. “It may not carry the singular importance of, say, a World Series home run game-winner or the distinction of having been hit by a Dodger superstar. However, as so often happens in the great game of baseball, sometimes a single act carries relevance that transcends the game to a whole new level. Culberson’s home run ball is a one-of-a-kind collectible that would represent well as the centerpiece of any baseball collection, Dodgers or otherwise.”
Although Culberson-autographed baseballs are relatively easy to come by (even those with the inscription “Vin Scully’s Last Call” on them), whoever has the actual Culberson home run ball will, in all likelihood, have a very difficult time getting it authenticated – if they even care about such things.
(eBay photo)
While the 2016 season did not end the way that the Dodgers and their fans had hoped it would, Culberson’s brief but monumental moment is one that every Dodger player and fan will remember for the rest of their lives.
“The team gave me a chance, the fans have always been behind me, it was Vin Scully’s stage, it was his time, I was just lucky to be part of it all,” said the soft-spoken Culberson. “I had a moment. I was thinking, ‘Man, did that really happen?’’’
Indeed, it did and it secured Culberson’s place in Dodgers immortality.
“At face value, the home run clinched the Dodgers fourth consecutive NL West Title,” said Mears. “Adding to its allure, it was Charlie Culberson’s only home run of the season and came in extra-inning / walk-off fashion. Each of those aspects on their own merit makes the ball desirable to a collector but all pale in comparison to the ball’s most compelling feature – it produced a moment tantamount to a cherry on top of the most perfect Sunday – excuse the pun – by handing Vin Scully a movie-script ending as his last ever play call for the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
“The ball now represents his finishing act, bringing down the curtain on Vin’s 67-year career as the Dodgers broadcaster,” added Mears. “In almost eerie fashion, it closed out a perfect moment in the same sanitary style and excellence that Vin has delivered to us every time he sat behind the mic. From the very start, both Culberson’s historic home run and Vin Scully’s incredible call of it were no-doubters.”
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I can’t see how anyone can possibly prove they have the right ball. Or can They?
OBF – I don’t think it has to be proven scientifically. It is the context that makes it so important. The game might not be the most important win ever, but the home run definitely has a claim.
Dodger historian Mark Langill is saying that and he would have a pretty good idea about a lot of Dodger historical events.
Secondly, it was Vin’s last call at a Dodger home game and therein lies it’s significance. Vin’s final call at home. What a treasure Charlie Culberson delivered. What a send off for Vin in his last home game. I think he almost left Vin speechless. I expect Vin’s call reached many more people than his first call because of modern communication technology.
It doesn’t have to be proven in a survey or poll, in my opinion. It’s significance is tied directly to Vin whom I think converted more people to Dodger baseball than anyone on the planet ever. Vin and Charlie are now inextricably tied together, as are Vin and Kirk Gibson.
Very well said, Harold.
In addition to being a good friend (thanks to ebbetsfld), Mark Langill is a GREAT guy and a genius when it comes to Dodger history. He and Pete Bonfils (another good friend and GREAT guy) were among my very first interviews when we went live with the blog site.
Provenance can be established through eye witnesses and sworn affidavits, Joe; although if you do not know the people who were sitting around you at the time, locating them could be difficult.
I most definitely would have offered the ball back to Charlie, just as I did with Manny’s 550th (which he wanted and gave me an autographed replacement) and Maeda’s GRD (which he did not and signed it for me).
My guess is that like the Gibson ball, whoever has Culbie’s ball could care less about provenance or authentication, which only becomes important if they ever decide to sell it as the real deal. But somehow I don’t think they ever will, which is pretty cool when you think about it.
Assuming you mean his first call ever, it sure didn’t reach me seein’s how it was 3 months before I was born.
I did catch his first call at Dodger Stadium, a ball from Johnny Podres to Eddie Kasco. Second was a double to left by Kasko. Cookie Rojas then sacrificed, Vada Pinson singled (RBI), and Frank Robinson grounded into a double play.
Disclaimer: Don’t be too impressed with my memory. I looked it up. I did see the game though. It was one of the rare home games O’Malley allowed to be televised and my parents let me stay home from school to watch it. The only thing I really remember is the Dodgers lost.
* * * MYSTERY SOLVED! * * *
Culberson home run ball mystery solved!