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Carlton Fisk watches his 12th-inning home run hit the left-field foul pole to win the sixth game of the 1975 World Series. (Harry Cabluck/AP)

• Carlton Fisk's game-winning World Series homer:
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Was it the greatest game ever played? Those in Fenway Park on the night of Oct. 21, 1975 would undoubtedly say yes. And even those who had not yet been born probably have some inkling of the heroics that played out in Game 6 of the 72nd World Series.

Somewhere back in time, on that autumn night some 27 years ago, was born the image of a man in a Boston uniform, waving desperately to his right as he hops down the first base-line, then leaping as high as humanly possible as the prayers of the Boston faithful are answered. It is the image of October baseball that has left an indelible imprint in the consciousness of millions of baseball fans, a moment that we've all dreamed about since we first swung a bat ourselves seemingly ages ago.

Perhaps the reason that Game 6 ended up as such a riveting display of baseball drama is because it took so long to be played. For three days, the rainy New England weather kept the Fenway infield under wraps, and when the skies finally did clear, there emerged two teams more than eager to resume their dogfight for the championship.

The Cincinnati Reds, the Big Red Machine, were a fearsome juggernaut that had steamrolled its way to 108 regular season victories. Led by a bevy of All-Stars that included names like Rose, Bench, Morgan and Perez, the National League champs were in the driver's seat with a 3-games-to-2 Series advantage. The Boston Red Sox had proven to be feisty underdogs, however, and they sent ace Luis Tiant out to dismantle the Machine for Game 6.