Murray notwithstanding, Gibby’s Eckersley-slaying, Lasorda-dancing, series-tilting homer was the real deal, genuine to its legend-affirming marrow. Similarly, the heavyweight hunk of policymaking achieved by the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature is equal parts improbable and foundation-shaking.

OK, we doubt the passage of one bill, no matter how sweeping or historic, will boost the Hall of Fame credentials of legislators instrumental in the bill’s drafting and adoption.

Nonetheless, good on the sponsors, Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) and Rep. Tom Leek (R-Ormond Beach) for championing what resembles a good-faith effort to quell the controllable drivers of the break-neck premium hikes on Florida’s breathtaking, highest-in-the-nation homeowners insurance rates. 

“We can’t stop the weather, but we can address the cost of reinsurance, we can stop the fraud, we can tighten up the regulations, and we can address court decisions,” Leek said. “The first thing that we have to do is we have to stop frivolous litigation.”

Hang on. The result of Gibson’s homer was immediately known: bedlam at Dodger Stadium. But even as they pump fists and pop champagne corks, the fondest admirers of the Legislature’s latest stab at homeowners insurance reform are making only vague promises about the precise impact on policyholders’ bottom lines.

Signing the bill in Fort Myers, Ground Zero for Hurricane Ian in September, DeSantis lauded the Legislature’s work. “This bill reins in the incentive to litigate.” And that, he added, “is going to make a huge, huge difference.”

The first part of the governor’s statement is true enough. Reforms passed this week eliminate saddling insurers who lose in court with the plaintiff’s legal fees, as well as cutting off fee multipliers on insurance lawsuits. There will be less incentivizing slop in the homeowner’s insurance trough for litigants. As for the “huge, huge” second — the part of the equation that’s crucial for Florida homeowners/voters — we’ll see what happens.

After all, stabilizing rates at three-plus times the national average probably is not what Sunshine State homeowners would say deserves even one huge, let alone two. And, as Democrats readily pointed out, nothing in the new statute guarantees immediate relief for policyholders straining to meet their premiums.

Instead, creating a far friendlier climate in which to do business — so say insurance industry lobbyists — will induce more companies to compete for Florida clients, and Adam Smith’s invisible hand will do its magnificent, unfailing work.

Meanwhile, the immediate postmortems have demonstrated the invariability of the epic lawmaking mortal lock: The Three Bears principle applies (more or less). It’s not enough. It’s too much. It’s rarely, if ever, just right.

West Palm Beach-based WPTV is on it.

“Homeowners in Florida are being crushed right now by the cost of housing and insurance costs are a major part of that,” said Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson. “Any action that does not address the instability and costs to the consumer and does not provide meaningful near-term relief for policyholders, I believe falls short of our goals.”

Count Rouson, of St. Petersburg, among its too-darn-hot critics. Include phrase-turning Tampa attorney Ron Haynes in the crowd.

“Is the answer punishing the people of Florida? They’re not going to have any chance to oppose a decision an insurance company makes unless they’re independently wealthy,” Haynes … speaking for the Florida Justice Association, told the House Appropriations Committee. “Insurance should be a blanket of coverage and not a blanket that smothers you.”

Then there’s West Palm Beach insurance broker Gregory Buck, who’s left cold, at least where the infusion of $1 billion in tax dollars to the state’s reinsurance program is concerned.

“A billion dollars of reinsurance is not that much when you look at the million-dollar communities we have in south Florida,” he said. “That’s not even enough for one county. That’s probably enough for a couple hundred, maybe a thousand homes.”

Where’s our Goldilocks? Right here:

“This is groundbreaking legislation. In fact, it is the strongest insurance reform package we have ever seen proposed in Florida,” said Mark Friedlander, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute. He called litigation abuse and assignment of benefits abuse the “root causes of Florida’s property insurance crisis.”

Consider the stage set. It’s not exactly the bottom of the ninth — in politics, it’s never the bottom of the ninth — but with Tallahassee’s bold action this week, expectations for a satisfactory outcome rarely have been higher.

Time — that old bugaboo — will tell if Florida Republicans have hit this one out of the park. Somme of us are beyond ready to believe.