The Greatest Moment in Dublin Hurricanes history; number one: Divito goes yard

The Dublin Hurricanes are one of Ireland's most successful baseball clubs. They have won every award going in Irish baseball, they are the only Irish club side to have traveled several times to European Club competitions and their players have scooped many of the individual awards available to players in the Irish baseball league. In short, it has been a good twelve year run. The team’s core has largely remained the same, which makes the accomplishments and memories all the sweeter to those involved.


Cutting straight to the chase, over the next few days we will be revealing the Top Ten Dublin Hurricanes Baseball Club moments of all time (all time being 1997 – 2008). Hopefully you will join us for the ride, and while we look back at the memories, you the reader will get a good sense of what it means to play baseball for an Irish baseball club.

The list was voted for by several veteran players of the Hurricanes Club.

Straight to the list. Number one.

The Greatest Moment in Dublin Hurricanes history; number one: Divito goes yard

Some of the top ten Hurricanes moments were season long, some were game long, some were just funny incidents that occurred in game (or in the case of TK being assaulted physically by an umpire, pre game). The top Hurricanes moment ever, as voted for by veteran players off the team, was just one simple, single, beautiful swing of the bat.

It all happened in the summer of 2005.

After a long hard but ultimately successful season the Hurricanes met their great rivals the Spartans in the Irish baseball league championships. The finals were best out of three games.

In game one the Spartans had the early upper hand and going into the fifth inning held a tight 5-4 lead over the Hurricanes. For the Spartans, veteran Irish national team star Bill Beglane had turned back the hands of time and was pitching rather well. Hurricanes Captain Steve Divito stepped to the plate with a runner on. Steve had badly injured his ankle in the London tournament just a couple of months previously, and was only starting to rediscover his swing.

Steve Divito himself describes the rest of the at bat;

When I stepped up to the plate, (I can't remember who was on base), I was looking at a pitch to drive into the gap to tie the game. With the lineup we had that year, I knew if we could tie the game we would take the lead and then win game 2 quite easily (which we did). I then proceeded to fall behind in the count; I think 1 ball and 2 strikes. I fouled off a pitch or two and then he hung a curveball down the middle of the plate. I turned on it and took the best swing I could with one functional ankle and it got caught in the jet stream and carried over the fence in right field for a two run homer.


I had the pleasure of seeing that home run first hand, and it didn’t ‘carry over the fence’, it was a moon shot, a bomb, a home run that changed the course of the Irish baseball season. The Hurricanes went on to win 6-5 in one of the best games in Irish playoff baseball history, and took game two 18-3, securing the Irish Championship for the second time in three years.

None of that would have been possible without Divito’s monster two run bomb. The single greatest moment in Hurricanes history.

The Greatest Moment in Dublin Hurricanes history

1. Divito goes yard
2. 18-3
3. Andy Martin's game winning knock
4. Gordon Ireland's 2002 Triple Crown season
5. 'I ja-kneew dey were going to do dat!'
6. TK gets strangled
7. Vegas Valkys goes yard - Croydon 2005
8. Andy Martin's sensational, silver slugger 2004 season
9. The legend of Spencer Grace
10. Gordon Ireland's final at bat as a Hurricane


Baseball Ireland links

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