1988 World Series

Lore & Background

The series is best known for the Game 1 pinch-hit walk-off home run by star Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson, who did not start because of injuries to both legs yet hit the winning homer against Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley. Although Gibson's homer has become an iconic World Series moment, it was World Series MVP Orel Hershiser who capped a dominant 1988 season in which he set the all time scoreless inning streak at 59 innings, recorded five straight shutouts, led the league with 23 wins and 267 innings, and won the Cy Young and Gold Glove awards. Hershiser was the NL Championship Series MVP, starting three games, getting the save for Game 4, and shutting out the Mets in Game 7. In the World Series, he shut out the A's in Game 2, and pitched a two-run, complete game in the decisive Game 5 victory.

In Their Own Story

The Coliseum lights hummed to life on a late-October night, the October wind off the bay cutting through the upper deck. In the dugout, La Russa stood with his arms crossed, watching Henderson steal second for the umpteenth time that month. The crowd—thousands of buckeye caps, a sea of green and gold—erupted. Up in the booth, a teenager pressed his face to the glass, watching Eckersley jog to the mound, pop the screen, and deliver a fastball that left the Dodgers' next batter staring at the empty plate. The kid gripped the railing. Four games. Four nights. And every single one of them belonged to Oakland.

Reader's Guide

The Dodgers won the NL West division by seven games over the Cincinnati Reds, then upset the New York Mets, 4 games to 3, in the NLCS. The Athletics won the AL West division by 13 games over the Minnesota Twins, then swept the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 0, in the AL Championship Series. The Dodgers were the only MLB team to win more than one World Series title in the 1980s, as they had previously won the championship in 1981. Their victory also broke a 10-year streak in which 10 different major league ballclubs won a World Series with no repeat winners. They would not win another World Series until 2020.

Did You Know?

• The 1988 World Series is best known for Kirk Gibson's Game 1 pinch-hit walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley.
• World Series MVP Orel Hershiser set the all-time scoreless inning streak at 59 innings in 1988.
• The Dodgers were the only MLB team to win more than one World Series title in the 1980s.
• The Athletics swept the Boston Red Sox in the AL Championship Series.