Bob Bailey hits a walk off Grandslam on Victoria Day

May 18, 1970  At Parc Jarry during an afternoon game on the Canadian holiday of Victoria Day. In front of a capacity crowd of  29,184 who came to watch the Montreal Expos play the reigning world champion New York Mets.

With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth of a 4-4 game, Gene Mauch sent Bob Bailey to the plate hoping for a sacrifice fly to score Adolfo Phillips from third against Cal Koonce. Instead, Bailey hit his third career grand slam. It will spur the struggling utility player into becoming one of the National League’s most feared power hitters.

“I got off to a horrible start that season; I was never really good in cold weather, being from California,” Bailey said. “For a lot of guys you get a little momentum, your head relaxes, and I think that home run was the catalyst that got me going in 1970.”

Bailey will hit 28 homeruns, more than in his previous three campaigns combined–in only 352 at-bats, with 84 RBIs, a .287 batting average, and a 1.004 OPS.

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