“He buried it!”

Today marks the 45th anniversary of a two-run homer by Mike Schmidt off Montreal’s Stan Bahnsen in the top of the 11th inning, a shot to left field that lifts the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-4 victory at Olympic Stadium and gives them the 1980 National League East title on their way to the World Series championship.

The homer, coming before a Saturday afternoon crowd of 50,794, also gives Schmidt 48 homers for the season and breaks his tie with Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews for the most in one season by a third baseman.

The 48 homers also represent a career high for Schmidt in his own Hall of Fame career.

The call by longtime Phillies broadcaster Andy Musser – arguably the most iconic in his distinguished 45-year broadcasting career – is only three words: “He buried it!”

“I still look back and wonder why I said that,” Musser says more than 20 years after his call of Schmidt’s 1980 homer.

“It must have come from the soul, because I never said anything like that before or since. I guess that one sticks out the most because of its importance.”

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