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 11, 1997: The Lenny Webster Game

October 11, 1997: Game 3 of the American League Championship Series is played at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The Baltimore Orioles waste a masterful pitching performance from Mike Mussina, as the Cleveland Indians score a run in the bottom of the 12th inning when Marquis Grissom steals home on a botched bunt attempt. Baltimore catcher Lenny Webster fails to chase after the ball‚ which he is sure was tipped and fouled off by batter Omar Vizquel.

Mussina gives up only 3 hits and 1 run in 7 innings‚ while striking out 15 Indians, still an ALCS record. Orel Hershiser holds Baltimore scoreless through 7 innings‚ allowing only 4 hits‚ as the Indians win‚ 2-1, which is also the lead they now hold in the series.

Webster was was one of the unluckiest players in baseball history. Debuting with the Minnesota Twins in 1989, he got there too late to be a member of their 1987 World Champions. He was with them during their 1991 World Series-winning season, but did not make the postseason roster. He did receive a World Series ring. He was with the Montreal Expos in 1994, when they had the best record in Major League Baseball at the time the Strike of '94 hit.

He was with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1995, 2 years after they won a National League Pennant. He was with the Orioles in 1997, when they came closer to winning a Pennant than they have in any season since 1983. He was with the Boston Red Sox in 1999, when they reached the ALCS, but was not included on the postseason roster. He returned to the Expos for the 2000 season, which turned out to be his last.

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October 11, 1997 was a Saturday. Game 4 was played in the National League Championship Series. The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Denny Neagle pitched a 4-hit shutout. The series was tied, 2-2. But the Marlins won the next 2 games, to win the Pennant.

These notable college football games were played:

* Number 1 and defending National Champion Florida were upset by Number 14 Louisiana State University, 28-21 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 2 Penn State beat Number 7 Ohio State, 31-27 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 3 Nebraska beat Baylor, 49-21 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.

* Number 4 Florida State beat Duke, 51-27 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. Florida State went on to beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 5 North Carolina beat Wake Forest, 30-12 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Number 6 Michigan beat Northwestern, 23-6 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan, led by Charles Woodson, the 1st purely defensive player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, went on to win the Big 10 Conference title.

* Number 8 Auburn beat Louisiana Tech, 49-13 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 9 Tennessee beat Number 13 Georgia, 38-13 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Led by quarterback Peyton Manning, Tennessee won the Southeastern Conference title, but turned down the automatic berth in the Sugar Bowl, to set up what could have been a National Championship Game with Big 12 Conference Champions Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Their gamble did not pay off: Nebraska beat them, 42-17, and were crowned National Champions in the poll of the football coaches, conducted by United Press International (UPI).

It was the 3rd National Championship in 4 years for coach Tom Osborne's Cornhuskers, after not winning one since 1971, with some heartbreaking defeats in between.

* Number 10 Washington beat the University of California, 30-3 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

* Number 15 Washington State had the week off. They went on to win the Pac-10 Conference title. Michigan beat them in the Rose Bowl, and were crowned National Champions in the poll of the football writers, conducted by the Associated Press (AP). This was the last "split title" before the takeover by the Bowl Championship Series.

Led by quarterback Ryan Leaf, "Wazzu" edged UCLA for the Pac-10 title, and UCLA ended up beating Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 16 Stanford were upset by Arizona, 28-22 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

* Notre Dame beat the University of Pittsburgh, 45-21 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* In a rivalry game, Texas beat Oklahoma, 27-24 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* In something of a rivalry game, West Virginia beat Maryland, 31-14 at Byrd Stadium (now SECU Stadium) in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland.

* Two nights earlier, Rutgers had lost to Syracuse, 50-3 at the new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey. I was there. It was awful. Rutgers finished 0-11, their closest call being the next week, 37-35 at Army. Syracuse went on to lose the Fiesta Bowl to Kansas State.

* Speaking of whom: Among the service academies, Army had the week off, and Number 19 Air Force beat Navy, 10-7 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-5 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Washington Capitals, 3-1 at the US Airways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Florida Panthers, 5-3 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Phoenix Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche played to a tie, 3-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

September 28, 1988: Orel Hershiser Pitches His 59th Straight Scoreless Inning

September 28, 1988: The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. It takes 16 innings, before Mark Parent hits a home run.

Orel Hershiser pitched the 1st 10 innings for the Dodgers, and held the Padres scoreless. This gave him 59 consecutive scoreless innings, breaking the record of 58 and 2/3rds, set in 1968 by another Dodger pitcher, Don Drysdale. Twenty years later, Drysdale was on hand for the game, as a Dodger broadcaster.

Left to right: Orel Hershiser, Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda,

Don Drysdale

Drysdale was renowned as one of the best-hitting pitchers the game had ever seen. Hershiser lived up to that by getting a hit in this game.

Jesse Orsoco pitched a scoreless 11th for the Dodgers, Tim Crews a scoreless 12th and 13th, and Ken Howell a scoreless 14th and 15th. But the Dodgers didn't score, either. Finally, in the top of the 16th, Padre pitcher Dave Leiper allowed a single to Mickey Hatcher, and 2 groundouts that both moved the runner over. José González reached on a throwing error by Bip Roberts, and the Dodgers had a 1-0 lead.

But walks can really hurt a team, especially the leadoff variety. In the bottom of the 16th, Howell walked Roberts. He struck out Stan Jefferson, and Roberts was caught stealing in a strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play. But Howell walked Carmelo Martínez, and was replaced by Ricky Horton. He gave up the home run to Mark Parent to blow the game for the Dodgers.

The loss wasn't that big a deal for the Dodgers, as they'd already clinched the National League Western Division title. They went on to beat the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series. Hershiser pitched 8 more scoreless innings in Game 1, but since it was in the postseason, it didn't count, so it's not 67 straight. The Mets got to him in the 9th, and won the game. But Hershiser and the Dodgers won Game 7 and the series. Hershiser then shut out the Oakland Athletics in Game 2 of the World Series, and pitched a complete game, albeit allowing 2 runs, in Game 5 to clinch.

Hershiser had last allowed a run in a regular-season game on August 30, against the Montreal Expos. He had subsequently pitched complete-game shutouts against the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Braves again, the Houston Astros and the San Francisco Giants. That was 5 straight shutouts. However, both Drysdale and the man whose record he broke, Walter Johnson with 55 2/3rds straight in 1913, still the American League record, had pitched 6 straight shutouts.

Since Hershiser's streak was considered to still be intact at the end of the 1988 regular season, it carried over into Opening Day of the next season, April 5, 1989. But after getting 2 outs in the 1st inning, the Reds scored a run off him, ending the streak at 59 2/3rds.

Drysdale, who had a record of 209-166 in a career cut short by injury at age 33, is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hershiser, with a record of 204-150, and was still pitching at age 41, is not.

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September 28, 1988 was a Wednesday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 2-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Bob Milacki pitched a 3-hit shutout, beating Lee Guetterman. The hits were a double by Don Slaught and singles by Don Mattingly and Rafael Santana.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds hit home runs, but the Phils knocked Dwight Gooden out of the box after 5 innings. Ron Jones homered for the Phils. Mike Schmidt, wrapping up what turned out to be his last full season, did not play in the game.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jimmy Key pitched a 2-hit shutout. The only run came in the 8th, on a sacrifice fly by Kelly Gruber.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. This one was even longer than Dodgers vs. Padres, going 17 innings, before Andrés Thomas singled home Dion James. Tom Glavine, not yet a star, started for the Braves, going 7 innings. Nolan Ryan, wrapping up his last season with the Astros, did not get into the game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 1-for-4. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.