1988 World Series
Dodgers upset Athletics in five games behind Hershiser and Gibson's iconic homer.
The 1988 World Series was the 85th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, played between the American League champion Oakland Athletics and the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers upset the heavily favored Athletics to win the Series in five games, capturing their sixth championship. The series is best known for Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit walk-off home run in Game 1, though World Series MVP Orel Hershiser capped a dominant season with a shutout in Game 2 and a complete-game victory in Game 5.
Quick Facts
- Country
- World
- Champion
- Los Angeles Dodgers (4)
- Champion manager
- Tommy Lasorda
- Champion games
- 94–67, 94, 67, GA: 7
- Date
- October 15–20
- Venue
- Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles); Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)
- Television
- NBC
- Announcers
- Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola
Facts from the source article.
Preview
The Dodgers' team batting finished fifth in the National League in batting average at .248, with no regular or backup hitting over .300 or driving in more than 90 runs. Kirk Gibson led the team with 25 home runs, seventh in the league. Pedro Guerrero was traded in July to the Cardinals for starting pitcher John Tudor. Gibson was the only Dodgers position player named to the All-Star Game but declined.
The Dodgers were sixth in runs scored but second in team ERA and runs allowed, leading the league in complete games and shutouts. Cy Young Award-winner Orel Hershiser led the league in wins (23), win-loss percentage (.864), complete games (15), shutouts (8), and sacrifice hits (19). Tim Leary (17–11, 2.91) and rookie Tim Belcher (12–6, 2.91) backed him, and the July acquisition of John Tudor strengthened the staff. The bullpen, led by Jay Howell (21 saves, 2.08), Alejandro Peña (12 saves, 1.91), Brian Holton, and Jesse Orosco, led the league with 49 saves.
The team's intensity was defined by Gibson's free-agent signing and Hershiser's record 59 consecutive scoreless innings, breaking Don Drysdale's mark. Hershiser dominated the Mets in the NLCS, while Gibson played through injuries. This was the second time the Dodgers had a no-hitter or perfect game thrown against them in a season ending with a world championship; Tom Browning of the Reds threw a perfect game against them in 1988.
Matchups
Kirk Gibson was unable to start due to a pulled left hamstring and a severely swollen right knee from slides in the NLCS. Ace Orel Hershiser had pitched Game 7 of the NLCS, so the Dodgers started rookie Tim Belcher in Game 1. Oakland, having swept the ALCS, sent a well-rested Dave Stewart to the mound. Belcher loaded the bases in the first inning by giving up a single to Dave Henderson, hitting José Canseco, and walking Mark McGwire.
Canseco was hit in the right biceps; home plate umpire Doug Harvey awarded him first base, though manager Tommy Lasorda disputed it. Stewart hit Steve Sax with his first pitch, then balked Sax to second. Mickey Hatcher, Gibson's replacement who had hit only one homer all season, hit a two-run shot off Stewart. In the second, Stewart allowed a leadoff single to Glenn Hubbard, then walked Walt Weiss, Stewart, and Carney Lansford to load the bases.
Canseco's grand slam was his only hit of the series; Mark McGwire had only one hit as well, the game-winning shot in Game 3. In the sixth, the Dodgers cut the lead to 4–3 with three consecutive singles by Mike Marshall, John Shelby, and Mike Scioscia, scoring Marshall.
Television and radio coverage
The 1988 World Series was the last NBC televised for seven years; beginning in 1990, NBC was shut out of MLB coverage until splitting the 1995 World Series with ABC. NBC next covered exclusively in 1997 and 1999, after which Fox became the exclusive broadcaster. Vin Scully called the Series for NBC with Joe Garagiola; it was Scully's last World Series on television and Garagiola's final broadcast on any medium. During the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1, Scully stated that Gibson would not play for sure; Gibson, watching in the clubhouse, said this influenced his decision to bat.
Bob Costas, who hosted NBC's pregame coverage and handled postgame interviews, said the 1988 Dodgers possibly had the weakest hitting lineup in World Series history, enraging the clubhouse. After the Dodgers won Game 4, Tommy Lasorda sarcastically said the MVP should be Bob Costas. On CBS Radio, Jack Buck and Bill White provided commentary; Game 5 was White's final baseball broadcast, as he soon replaced Bart Giamatti as National League president.
Local broadcasts were handled by KSFO in the Bay Area with Bill King and Lon Simmons, and KABC in Los Angeles with Ross Porter and Don Drysdale.
Aftermath
It was the first postseason series with multiple walk-off home runs, a feat since repeated in the 2004 NLCS, 2014 NLCS, and 2019 ALCS, but not in another World Series. It was also the last World Series to feature each league's regular season MVP until 2012. Both teams appeared on Family Feud with Ray Combs for a special sweeps week billed as a World Series Rematch. The fate of Gibson's home run ball is unknown; a woman sent Gibson a picture of a bruise on her leg where the ball hit her, but no one has come forward with the ball.
A fictional court struggle over the ball was the plot of a 2011 episode of Franklin & Bash. 1988 A's reliever Rick Honeycutt later served as Dodgers pitching coach for 13 years (2006–2019), tying Ron Perranoski for the longest tenure in that role. Mark McGwire was a Dodgers hitting coach from 2013–2015. The Dodgers did not return to the World Series until 2017, losing to the Astros, and lost again in 2018 to the Red Sox; they won their next title in 2020.
The A's made the World Series the next two years, winning in 1989 and losing in 1990, and have not appeared since; their closest subsequent attempts were ALCS losses in 1992 and 2006.
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