The 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers were not considered to be much of a team at the start of the year. Made up of untried rookies and veteran players that had seen better days, they were expected to finish last in their division....but no one on the team agreed with that assessment. Led by Kirk Gibson, the team felt that they could prove everyone wrong and win the division and maybe make it to the World Series. Everyone expected the Oakland A's to win the whole thing any way, so getting to the end was victory enough for this team.
Coming off a hard fought series against the New York Mets to secure the National League title, the Dodgers were fairly banged up, with Gibson barely able to walk on two hurt legs but his intense drive and determination kept the rest of the teams spirits up. Even with hurt legs, he spent most of the first game of the World Series in the training room getting physical therapy on his injured legs and watching the game on television. As the 9th inning approached, he began to feel that he would have to come in off the bench to pinch hit and began to get ready by hitting balls off a tee in the locker room batting cage.
With 2 outs in the 9th, the score 4 to 3 in favor of the A's and a runner on first, the Dodger Manager, Tommy Lasorda, sent Gibson to the plate as the entire hometown crowd went crazy. The whole year Gibson had been the go-to guy in pivotal moments...and this looked like his kind of moment. The pitcher, Dennis Eckersley, was the best closer in baseball at the time. He was unbeatable and this was also his kind of moment. It was going to be a battle of wills between the best and the winner would be legend.
As the at bat went on, it became apparent that Gibson was lucky to be standing. His legs appeared to be useless to him if he needed to run and when he dribbled a weak ground ball that miraculously drifted foul, he could barely make it down the base path. If he had any chance he was going to have to hit the ball into a deep part of the outfield and lumber to first base so he could be replaced by a pinch runner. With a 3 balls and 2 strike count Gibson stepped out of the batters box and recalled something a scout had told him about Eckersley: when facing a left handed batter (like Gibson) on a 3-2 count he always used a backdoor slider to finish off the batter. With that knowledge at his disposal, Gibson stepped back into the batters a box and.......
...to this day it brings tears to my eyes. The crowds reaction, the amazing way that two busted up legs carried Gibson around the bases as if he wasn't hurt at all and Vin Scully's call of the play...they get me every time. With Vin Scully retiring this year (2016) this moment is particularly bittersweet because only Vinny could have called that home run. He was the voice of baseball for me growing up...I hear plays called in his voice just out of common practice. I'm still amazed to see the brake lights go on from a car that was leaving the parking lot as Vinny says "It's GONE!!". Who were those people that they were leaving that game before that last at bat? The Dodgers, by the way, went on to defeat the mighty A's 4 games to 1 for their sixth World Series title.
Now for my story: I was working at a pizza place at the time and we had the game on. A co-worker bet me $20 that Gibson would strike out. I said, "I'll bet you $50 he hits a home run." Sweetest $50 I ever made.
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