October 15, 1988: In one of the most improbable finishes in World Series history‚ pinch hitter Kirk Gibson hit a 2-run home run off Dennis Eckersley with 2 out and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 9th inning, to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1.
The injured Gibson was not expected to play in the Series, and did not play in it again. It was the 1st World Series game to end on a home run since Game 6 in 1975.
Vin Scully, normally the voice of the Dodgers, but broadcasting this game for NBC, said, "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!" Jack Buck, normally the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, but broadcasting on radio for CBS, said, "I don't believe what I just saw!"
Yankee Fans of my generation had heard tall tales of Mickey Mantle limping up to home plate, looking like he had no chance, then hitting a home run anyway, and limping around the bases to the rapturous cheers of the Bronx faithful. But since we weren't old enough to have seen it, and the expense of videotape meant that so many of those old games were taped over by WPIX-Channel 11, we've hardly seen any footage of it. (Mickey’s 500th homer, on May 14, 1967, is an exception, thankfully preserved, showing both Mickey and the pre-renovation old Yankee Stadium in full color.)
Gibson, one of many players who got the tag "the next Mickey Mantle" -- and he got a lot more of the Mantle injuries than the Mantle homers, finishing with 255 dingers -- gave my generation a glimpse of what that must have been like.
After the game, Eckersley coined the phrase "walkoff home run," because there was nothing he could do after Gibson hit the ball except walk off the field. The powerful A's, winners of 103 games and sweepers of teh Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, were expected to make quick work of the comparatively weak-hitting Dodgers, who barely scraped by the Mets in the National League Championship Series. Instead, Gibson's homer set the tone for a very different Series.
Yankee Fans of my generation had heard tall tales of Mickey Mantle limping up to home plate, looking like he had no chance, then hitting a home run anyway, and limping around the bases to the rapturous cheers of the Bronx faithful. But since we weren't old enough to have seen it, and the expense of videotape meant that so many of those old games were taped over by WPIX-Channel 11, we've hardly seen any footage of it. (Mickey’s 500th homer, on May 14, 1967, is an exception, thankfully preserved, showing both Mickey and the pre-renovation old Yankee Stadium in full color.)
Gibson, one of many players who got the tag "the next Mickey Mantle" -- and he got a lot more of the Mantle injuries than the Mantle homers, finishing with 255 dingers -- gave my generation a glimpse of what that must have been like.
After the game, Eckersley coined the phrase "walkoff home run," because there was nothing he could do after Gibson hit the ball except walk off the field. The powerful A's, winners of 103 games and sweepers of teh Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, were expected to make quick work of the comparatively weak-hitting Dodgers, who barely scraped by the Mets in the National League Championship Series. Instead, Gibson's homer set the tone for a very different Series.
But it was Orel Hershiser, who was named the NL Cy Young Award winner, in part due to a new record streak of 59 consecutive scoreless innings, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Series, winning Game 2 and the clinching Game 5. He would also be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.
In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 10th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.
It's also worth noting that Gibson had a good enough year to be named NL Most Valuable Player that season, and had previously hit 2 home runs in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series, to give the Detroit Tigers the championship. So he's one of the few players to be a World Series hero for 2 different teams -- in 2 different leagues, no less.
Speaking of 2 different leagues: This win gave the Los Angeles metropolitan area World Championships in 2 different sports for the 1st time, as the Los Angeles Lakers were the defending NBA Champions. The Lakers would do it again, with the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, in 2002-03.
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October 15, 1988 was a Saturday. This was the day at Number 4 Notre Dame beat Number 1 Miami, 31-30 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, a game labeled both the "Game of the Century" and "Catholics vs. Convicts." I have a separate entry for this event. Among the other college football games played that day were these:
* Number 2 UCLA beat the University of California, 38-21 at California Memorial Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Berkley., California.
* Number 3 Southern California beat Number 16 Washington, 28-27 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC beat UCLA to win the Pacific-Ten Conference title, but blew their shot at the National Championship the next week, when they lost to Notre Dame.
* Number 5 Florida State beat East Carolina, 45-21 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.
* Number 7 Nebraska beat Number 10 Oklahoma State, 63-42 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the Big Eight Conference title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Miami.
* Number 8 South Carolina were upset by Georgia Tech, 34-0 at Grant Field in Atlanta.
* Number 9 Oklahoma pounded Kansas State, 70-24 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.
* Number 12 Auburn beat the University of Akron, 42-0 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn won the Southeastern Conference title, but lost the Sugar Bowl to Florida State.
* Number 15 Michigan were held to a tie by Iowa, 17-17 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Michigan still won the Big Ten Conference title, and beat USC in the Rose Bowl.
* Number 20 Florida were upset by Vanderbilt, 24-9 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.
* Syracuse beat Penn State, 24-10 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
* North Carolina State beat their arch-rivals, North Carolina, 48-3 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
* Alabama beat Tennessee, 28-20 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
* Among the service academies, Army beat Lafayette, 24-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Air Force beat Utah, 56-49 at Rice Stadium (now Rice-Eccles Stadium) in Salt Lake City.
* And with New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Boston College, 17-6 at Alumni Stadium, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; while Princeton beat Bucknell, 41-35 at Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The next year, that stadium was renamed for Bucknell's most famous graduate, a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame: Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium.
The NBA season wouldn't start for another 20 days. There were 7 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Hartford Whalers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-5 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 8-5 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Dave Christian scored a hat trick for the Caps.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Detroit.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 9-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Rob Brown scored a hat trick, and Mario Lemieux scored 2 goals.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Boston Bruins, 5-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
And German soccer great Mesut Özil was born on this day.
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