Mr. Walk-off

Ryan Zimmerman hits his walk-off homer 17 years ago tonight in Washington

Ryan Zimmerman punctuates the inaugural game at Washington’s Nationals Park 17 years ago tonight with a two-out homer off Peter Moylan in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

The walk-off before a Sunday night crowd of 39,389 is the fourth of 11 game-ending homers that Zimmerman hits during a 16-year major league career that begins in 2005, when he jumps directly to Washington from Class AA Harrisburg.

Only a select few – actually, six Hall of Famers and a future HOFer – hit more career walk-off homers than Zimmerman.

At the top of the career list is Jim Thome with 13, with 12 each coming from Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.

Joining Zimmerman on the list with 11 walk-offs are Hall of Famers Tony Perez and David Ortiz.

Nice company for Zimmerman, who hits a franchise-record 284 home runs during his 16 seasons with Washington.

“I stay with the same approach, just hit line drives,” Zimmerman says. “If you get under one and it goes out, it’s a home run, but I don’t feel any pressure to hit home runs.”