October 15, 1988: The Kirk Gibson Game

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.

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.

October 14, 1984: A Magic Season for the Detroit Tigers

Left to right: Alan Trammell, Willie Hernández, Darrell Evans

October 14, 1984: The Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, in Game 5, and win the World Series.

It was a magic season for the Tigers. They won their 1st 9 games, and the 4th was a no-hitter by their ace, Jack Morris. They won 35 of their 1st 40. Even after that, they went 69-53, a pace to win 91 games. They finished 104-58, winning the American League Eastern Division by 15 games over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Their last Pennant had come in 1968, the last season of single-division play. If that format had still been in place, 84 wins would have gotten the Kansas City Royals to 6th place. Instead, they won the AL Western Division by 3 games over the California Angels and the Minnesota Twins, but were no match for the Tigers, who won the AL Championship Series, 4 games to 1.

The San Diego Padres had reached the postseason for the 1st time, going 92-70, and winning the National League Western Division by 12 games over the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. In the NL Championship Series, they fell behind the Chicago Cubs 2 games to 0 in Chicago. But, at home at Jack Murphy Stadium, they won Game 3, won Game 4 on a walkoff home run by former Los Angeles Dodger star Steve Garvey, and won Game 5 thanks to some sloppy Cub fielding, to take their 1st Pennant.

The Series turned out to be closer than it looks. The Tigers won Game 1 in San Diego, but only 3-2, as Mark Thurmond was almost a mound match for Morris. A home run by Larry Herndon made the difference. The Padres won Game 2, 5-3, as Andy Hawkins outpitched Dan Petry. Kurt Bevacqua hit a home run. Through the 2022 season, this remains the only World Series game the Padres have ever won: October 10, 1984 remains the high-water mark of their franchise.

The Series moved to Tiger Stadium. Milt Wilcox outpitched Tim Lollar, Marty Castillo hit a home run, and the Tigers won, 5-2. Game 4 began at 1:30 PM, Eastern Time on a Saturday afternoon. Morris outpitched Eric Show, Alan Trammell hit 2 home runs, and the Tigers won, 4-2.

Game 5 began at 4:45 PM, Eastern Time, on Sunday, October 14. Through the 2021 season, it remains the last World Series game started in daylight. On October weekends, MLB doesn't want to compete with college football on Saturdays or the NFL on Sundays.

The Tigers jumped on Thurmond for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st, including a home run by Kirk Gibson. The Padres tied the game with a run in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th, so Petry also didn't figure in the decision. The Tigers scored in the 5th and the 7th, including a home run by Lance Parrish, in support of Aurelio López.

In the 8th, Bevacqua homered off Willie Hernández, whose strong season made him one of the rare relief pitchers to be named his League's Most Valuable Player. Through the 1997 season, Bevacqua had 2 World Series home runs, while all other Padres players combined had 1 (Terry Kennedy in Game 4).

The opposing managers were Dick Williams for San Diego and George "Sparky" Anderson for Detroit. They had faced each other in the 1972 World Series, Williams for the Oakland Athletics and Anderson for the Cincinnati Reds. Williams had won the World Series with the A's in 1972 and '73, Anderson with the Reds in 1975 and '76. One would become the 1st manager to win World Series in both Leagues.

And both were wearing miniature microphones for the official World Series highlight film. In the bottom of the 8th, with the Tigers up, 5-4, and the Tigers having runners on 2nd and 3rd bases with 1 out, Williams went out to the mound to talk to his relief pitcher, former Yankee fireballer Rich "Goose" Gossage. Also on the mound with him were Garvey and former Yankee 3rd baseman Graig Nettles, opponents in the 1977, '78 and '81 World Series.

With 1st base open, Williams told Gossage he should walk Gibson intentionally, to pitch to Parrish with the double play (or, at least, a play at the plate) available. But Gossage, owner of one of the fastest pitches of all time, let his ego get the better of him: Williams can be heard on the video saying, "You're talking about striking him out?" And Gossage can be heard saying, "Yeah!"

In the dugout, standing next to his pitching coach, former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Roger Craig (who went on to manage the San Francisco Giants to the 1989 NL Pennant), pointed to Gibson, and yelled, "He don't wanna walk you!" In other words, be prepared for the Goose's fastball.

Strategically, it made sense: Although Parrish was just as capable of hitting the ball out of the park as Gibson -- both men had seemingly Hall-of-Fame-bound careers derailed by injuries, Gibson hit 255 home runs in his career, Parrish hit 324, and 3rd baseman Darrell Evans topped both of them with 407 --and Tiger Stadium was a hitter's park, regardless of handedness, having the righthanded Gossage walk the lefthanded Gibson, setting up the double play, and pitching to the righthanded Parrish was the right strategy. But Williams, so often regarded as a "my way or the highway" manager, let Gossage talk him out of it.

Gossage threw Gibson his best fastball. Gibson put it into the upper deck in right field. He became a World Series hero for the 1st time. It would not be the last. Until then, the overall score had been 20-15 in the Tigers' favor, the 8-4 final, and the 4-1 Series margin, plus the Tigers' 104-92 edge in regular-season wins and their much-easier LCS route, made it look like a wipeout for the Tigers, when it really wasn't.

Hernández got 24-year-old right fielder Tony Gwynn to fly to Herndon in left field for the final out. When the Padres next won the Pennant in 1998, Gwynn would be the only one left, and knocking on the door of 3,000 career hits.

Trammell was named the Series MVP, and Anderson was now the 1st manager to win the World Series for a team in each League. The clinching Game 5 was the 44th postseason game managed by Dick Williams. It turned out to be the last. Anderson would manage 5 more, the 1987 ALCS, for a total of 55. Both managers went on to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as would Trammell, Morris, Gossage and Gwynn -- but, as of the election of 2022, surprising many, not Gibson, not Parrish, not Garvey, and not Nettles.

Each team had a broadcaster who would receive the Hall's award for broadcasters, the Ford Frick Award: For the Padres, former Yankee 2nd baseman Jerry Coleman; for the Tigers, Ernie Harwell, who announced, "Let's listen to the bedlam here at Tiger Stadium!"

There would be bedlam outside the ballpark, too. Detroit fans rioted in victory, smashing store windows, overturning and burning cars. They repeated this for the Pistons' NBA Championships in 1989 and '90. By the time the Red Wings started winning Stanley Cups again in 1997, they had stopped doing it.

It was the Tigers' 4th World Championship. Through the 2022 season, the have never won another, losing the World Series in 2006 and 2012; losing the ALCS in 1987, 2011 and 2013; losing the ALDS in 2014; having some historically bad seasons, losing 109 games in 1996, 106 in 2002, an AL record (since broken) of 119 in 2003, and 114 in 2019; and moving from Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park in 1999-2000.

The Tigers do not have a team Hall of Fame, but they honor their Hall of Fame players on the outfield wall at Comerica Park. From the 1984 World Champions, they honor pitcher Jack Morris, shortstop Alan Trammell, manager George "Sparky" Anderson, and broadcasters Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey, George Kell, Al Kaline and Norm Cash, the last 3 being former Tiger stars.

Each of those has also been elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. So have 2nd baseman Lou Whitaker, right fielder Kirk Gibson, catcher Lance Parris, pitcher Willie Hernández, coach Gates Brown, and general manager Jim Campbell. From their 1987 American League Eastern Division Champions, but not the 1984 title, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame has inducted pitcher Frank Tanana.

From their 2006 and 2012 American League Pennants, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame has inducted Kaline (still a Tigers broadcaster at those points), manager Jim Leyland (also honored on the Comerica Park wall as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame), and owners Mike and Marian Ilitch.

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October 14, 1984 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Atlanta Falcons, 19-7 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The New York Jets beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-20 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-14 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schaefer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Indianapolis Colts, 16-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 34-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Houston Oilers, 28-10 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 28-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the team that should have been their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-21 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-13 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings, 23-20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. This turned out to be the only game the Niners lost all season, on the way to winning Super Bowl XIX.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-28 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers played in a blizzard. Rare? For the Packers, no; in October, yes. But it wasn't at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin: It was at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, and fumbles on the 1st 2 Packer possessions gave the Denver Broncos a 14-0 lead. The Packers' comeback failed, and the Broncos won, 17-14.

The NBA season started 12 days later. There were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Minnesota North Stars, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins beat their fellow New Englanders, the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 9-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Gord Sherven had a hat trick: 3 goals. Wayne Gretzky had a goal and 3 assists.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-5 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* And the New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils, the Montreal Canadiens, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins were not scheduled.

October 9, 1988: The End of the Mets Dynasty That Never Was

October 9, 1988: Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium. The New York Mets lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 2 games to 1. This is the 1st time the Mets have entered postseason play against either of the former National League teams from New York, either the former Brooklyn Dodgers or the New York-turned-San Francisco Giants, whose move to California after the 1957 season made the Mets' creation desirable for so many (if not really necessary.)

Dwight Gooden is one out away from giving the Mets a win in Game 4 of the NLCS. If Gooden had simply gotten through the inning allowing less than 2 runs, the Mets would have won, and been up 3 games to 1. They could have won the Pennant without having to go back to Los Angeles. And if the weak-hitting Dodgers could beat the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, surely the Mets could have. The A's completed a 4-game sweep over the Boston Red Sox the same day, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, winning the American League Pennant.

It would have been the Mets' 2nd World Championship in 3 years, and deepened their status as New York's Number 1 team. Keep in mind, the Yankees hadn't won a Pennant in 7 years and a World Series in 10 years -- by their standards, an eternity.

Maybe that hypothetical glorious Mets team would have been kept together. Maybe Gooden and Strawberry don't fall back into drug problems. (Humor me here.) Maybe the Mets would have found suitable replacements for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, both 34 years old, the glue of their 1986 World Champions. Maybe things would have changed so much that the Mets never gave the hearts and minds of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans back to the Yankees, and the Yankees never got into position to take them back.

But here's what actually happened. Gooden fulfilled the cliché that walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. He walked John Shelby to lead off the top of the 9th. The next batter was Mike Scioscia, a very good catcher, but not known for his hitting. He hit a home run to tie the game.

The game went to extra innings. Roger McDowell spit the bit (I'm sorry, but the joke was too good to not use), giving up a home run to Kirk Gibson in the 12th inning. Gibson was 1-for-16 in the postseason up until that moment.

Jesse Orosco, who got the clinching outs for the 1986 Pennant and World Series for the Mets, had been traded to the Dodgers, but nearly blew it in the 12th. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda called Hershiser, who'd won Game 1 and then, given an extra day because of a rainout, pitched 7 innings in Game 3 the day before this, out of the bullpen, to get the last out. He did.

Dodgers 4, Mets 2. Series tied. The Dodgers won the series in Game 7 in Los Angeles.

This was the hinge day in Met history, when it all started to go wrong. It was the 1st major instance of what I've come to call "The Curse of Kevin Mitchell." Maybe, maybe, maybe? Since Scioscia's homer, 34 years ago, "maybes" are pretty much all the Mets have had.

The Mets have frequently used the slogan "The Magic Is Back." October 9, 1988 was the day the magic died.

All that talent, all those runs toward the postseason from 1984 to 1990, and yet, the Mets turned out to be "A Dynasty of One," to borrow the phrase of ESPN Pardon the Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon -- just like the 1985 Chicago Bears, much to the Chicagoan Wilbon's chagrin.

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October 9, 1988 was a Sunday. In addition to the A's completing the ALCS sweep over the Red Sox, these NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Jets lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 36-19 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, 33-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-23 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Cleveland Browns, 16-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 24-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots, 45-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 14-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 35-17 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 7-6 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Phoenix Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-14 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-17 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 24-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Denver Broncos beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-13 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. This was the only game of the weekend to go to overtime, and Rich Karlis won it with a 22-yard field goal.

* The following night, on ABC Monday Night Football, arch-rivals met at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 24-13.