In 1988, Kirk Gibson “proved to be a bona fide star in LA,” SABR says, “leading the team with 25 home runs and 28 doubles, on his way to a National League MVP award.” But in the playoffs against the New York Mets, “Gibson had suffered a strained left hamstring and a sprained right knee ligament during the series.” In his own words, to Sports Illustrated in 2013: “I had a torn hamstring tendon in my left leg and a strained medial collateral ligament in my right leg.”
Game 1 of the World Series, against the Oakland Athletics, was “Played on Saturday, October 15, 1988 (N) at Dodger Stadium,” Retrosheet records, and Gibson was “not even appearing or being announced during pregame on-field introductions,” SABR notes. “During the game, I was hanging in the clubhouse … watching the game on TV, icing … I had two bags of ice, one on each leg,” he told SI. Then “[NBC announcer] Vin Scully says, ‘There is no Kirk Gibson. It doesn’t look like he will be playing tonight.’ I got up and said, ‘…’ I got dressed and told Mitch Poole to set the batting tee up.” He “started to hit off a tee, with clubhouse attendant Mitch Poole placing ball after ball on it,” SABR says, and “As the story was told, Gibson had sent word from the clubhouse to ‘Go tell Tommy that I can hit!’”
In the bottom of the ninth, with the Athletics ahead 4-3, “ECKERSLEY REPLACED STEWART (PITCHING),” Retrosheet records; Dennis Eckersley had “notched 45 saves during the regular season,” SABR says. “Scioscia popped to shortstop; Hamilton was called out on strikes; DAVIS BATTED FOR GRIFFIN; Davis walked; GIBSON BATTED FOR PENA.” “With two outs and a runner on first, the Dodgers outfielder limped to the plate to pinch hit for reliever Alejandro Pena,” SI wrote. “The first couple of swings [were] feeble,” Eckersley recalled. “Gibson awkwardly lunged and fouled off the first pitch … Gibson swung late on a second fastball,” SABR says, and “The seventh pitch was a curveball outside, making the count full, with Davis successfully stealing second.”
“I started thinking about what Mel Didier told me, that every time Eckersley gets to 3-2, he throws a back-door slider,” Gibson told SI. “Dodgers scout Mel Didier and the team’s scouting department included in their report that Eckersley would throw a backdoor slider on a full count to a left-handed hitter,” SABR says. “On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Eckersley threw that backdoor slider,” and “Gibson swung with all arms and connected.” “Gibson’s dramatic walk-off two-run home run to the right-field pavilion gave the underdog Dodgers an incredible 5-4 victory.” On NBC, Vin Scully said: “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!” “Gibson pumped his fist and circled the bases,” SABR says; in SI’s words, he “was slowly and gingerly going around the bases, pumping his fists as he rounded second.”
“A guy who can hardly walk hits a ball where he doesn’t have to,” Jim Murray wrote in the Los Angeles Times, as SABR quotes him. It was “his only appearance in the 1988 World Series,” SI says. “Gibson did not make another game appearance in the Series … Hershiser tossed a three-hit shutout in Game Two, then another complete-game victory in the clinching Game Five as the Dodgers completed the improbable World Series win,” according to SABR. In 2013, Gibson told SI: “When I was running around the bases, I could feel no pain at all.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He could barely walk, and the World Series opener came down to him. Jim Murray (Los Angeles Times), quoted by SABR: “A guy who can hardly walk hits a ball where he doesn’t have to.” The Christian Science Monitor: he “came to the plate limping noticeably with the leg injury that had kept him out of the lineup,” “with his team just one strike away from losing.” Retrosheet: World Series Game 1; Athletics 4, Dodgers 3 in the bottom of the ninth, two out when Gibson batted. 143
- His name is Kirk Gibson. SABR: he “proved to be a bona fide star in LA in 1988, leading the team with 25 home runs and 28 doubles, on his way to a National League MVP award.” 1
- In the playoffs, the Dodgers’ star hurt his hamstring and his knee. SABR, of the series against the Mets: “Gibson had suffered a strained left hamstring and a sprained right knee ligament during the series.” Gibson, to Sports Illustrated: “I had a torn hamstring tendon in my left leg and a strained medial collateral ligament in my right leg.” 12
- On opening night, he sat in the clubhouse, icing both legs. Gibson, to Sports Illustrated: “During the game, I was hanging in the clubhouse … watching the game on TV, icing … I had two bags of ice, one on each leg.” Retrosheet: “World Series Game 1 Played on Saturday, October 15, 1988 (N) at Dodger Stadium” (N: a night game). SABR: “not even appearing or being announced during pregame on-field introductions.” 231
- When the broadcast said he wouldn’t play, he got dressed and hit off a tee. Gibson, to Sports Illustrated: “[NBC announcer] Vin Scully says, ‘There is no Kirk Gibson. It doesn’t look like he will be playing tonight.’ I got up and said, ‘…’ I got dressed and told Mitch Poole to set the batting tee up.” SABR: he “started to hit off a tee, with clubhouse attendant Mitch Poole placing ball after ball on it.” 21
- In the ninth, Oakland led by one, and Dennis Eckersley was pitching. Retrosheet: “ECKERSLEY REPLACED STEWART (PITCHING)”; “Athletics 4, Dodgers 3.” SABR: “Eckersley notched 45 saves during the regular season.” 31
- With two outs and a man on first, he limped to the plate. Retrosheet: “Scioscia popped to shortstop; Hamilton was called out on strikes; DAVIS BATTED FOR GRIFFIN; Davis walked; GIBSON BATTED FOR PENA.” Sports Illustrated: “With two outs and a runner on first, the Dodgers outfielder limped to the plate to pinch hit for reliever Alejandro Pena.” 32
- His first swings were feeble. Dennis Eckersley, to Sports Illustrated: “The first couple of swings [were] feeble.” SABR: “Gibson awkwardly lunged and fouled off the first pitch … Gibson swung late on a second fastball.” 21
- Then the count went full. SABR: “The seventh pitch was a curveball outside, making the count full, with Davis successfully stealing second.” The Christian Science Monitor: “He worked the count to 3-and-2.” 14
- He remembered a scout’s tip: on a full count, Eckersley throws a backdoor slider. Gibson, to Sports Illustrated: “I started thinking about what Mel Didier told me, that every time Eckersley gets to 3-2, he throws a back-door slider.” SABR: “Dodgers scout Mel Didier and the team’s scouting department included in their report that Eckersley would throw a backdoor slider on a full count to a left-handed hitter.” 21
- Here it came. SABR: “On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Eckersley threw that backdoor slider.” Oakland’s catcher, Ron Hassey, to Sports Illustrated: “We get to a 3-2 count on Gibson and we go with a slider down and away.” 12
- Swinging mostly with his arms, he drove it into the right field seats. SABR: “Gibson swung with all arms and connected”; “Gibson’s dramatic walk-off two-run home run to the right-field pavilion gave the underdog Dodgers an incredible 5-4 victory.” Sports Illustrated: “a two-run home run into the right field seats.” Retrosheet: “Gibson homered to right [Davis scored].” 123
- He limped around the bases, pumping his fist. SABR: “Gibson pumped his fist and circled the bases.” Sports Illustrated: “Gibson was slowly and gingerly going around the bases, pumping his fists as he rounded second.” 12
- The Dodgers went on to win the Series. SABR: “Gibson did not make another game appearance in the Series … Hershiser tossed a three-hit shutout in Game Two, then another complete-game victory in the clinching Game Five as the Dodgers completed the improbable World Series win.” 1
- Running the bases, he said, he could feel no pain at all. Gibson, to Sports Illustrated (2013): “When I was running around the bases, I could feel no pain at all.” 2
Sources
- October 15, 1988: Kirk Gibson’s ‘impossible’ home run wins World Series opener for Dodgers (Darren Gibson) SABR Games Project
- ‘That was a cool feeling’: An oral history of Kirk Gibson’s iconic 1988 home run (Mel Antonen and Ted Keith, October 15, 2013) Sports Illustrated
- Box score and play-by-play: World Series Game 1, October 15, 1988 Retrosheet
- Gibson’s dramatic HR wins opener (October 17, 1988) The Christian Science Monitor
Notes
The scouting tip: Gibson and Mel Didier say the report predicted a backdoor slider on 3-2 (Sports Illustrated, SABR). Oakland’s catcher, Ron Hassey, told Sports Illustrated, “you hear rumors that every time Dennis Eckersley got to 3-2, he threw a slider. That’s not true … it makes a good story … but it wasn’t the truth”; Eckersley said, “I don’t know if that’s true or not.” The Short says only that Gibson remembered the tip, as he tells it, and takes no side.
The injuries: SABR says “a strained left hamstring and a sprained right knee ligament”; Gibson says “a torn hamstring tendon” and “a strained medial collateral ligament.” The Short says only that he hurt his hamstring and his knee.
“Go tell Tommy that I can hit!”: SABR gives it “As the story was told,” so the Short leaves it out.
Limping: Sports Illustrated says he went around the bases “slowly and gingerly,” and The Christian Science Monitor that he “came to the plate limping noticeably.” “Limped” is the common description.
Popular retellings: that the Dodgers were about to lose the World Series (it was Game 1, the opener), that only a home run would do (SABR: “if Gibson could only hit a long single, Davis could score to tie the game”), that the manager told him to grab a bat (as the story is told, Gibson sent word that he could hit), and that he missed the first two pitches (he fouled them off). None is used.
Kirk Gibson is alive. Only his own published words and reporting on the game are used, and nothing about his health beyond the 1988 leg injuries or about his family. Dennis Eckersley, Ron Hassey, Mel Didier and Mitch Poole are named only for their part in the game.
Pictures: no free photo shows Game 1 or the home run; every picture of it we found is broadcast, agency, team or league media, so none is used. Kirk Gibson is at Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix on March 18, 2017 (two photos by Gage Skidmore, one cropped to him alone); in a Dodgers road uniform, No. 23, at an away game in about 1988, a fan’s snapshot by Sacoo, not the World Series; managing Arizona in Phoenix on June 19, 2011 (Mark Winograd); and seen from behind, No. 23, with Alan Trammell in Arizona’s dugout on July 1, 2014 (Dan Gaken). Dennis Eckersley is pitching for Boston at Tiger Stadium on April 21, 1998 (two photos by Jon Gudorf Photography) and at the All-Star red carpet parade in New York on July 15, 2008 (Rubenstein, photographer Martyna Borkowski). Dodger Stadium is seen during World Series Game 2 on October 16, 1988, the day after the home run, as Nancy Reagan throws out the first pitch to Mike Scioscia (White House Photographic Office); at night during a Giants–Dodgers game on September 20, 2002 (Timjarrett); and at night on September 11, 2024 (Sammythecat7). The champion Dodgers are with President Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan and Tommy Lasorda in the White House Rose Garden on October 26, 1988; Gibson is not in that picture. The batting tee is a generic one, photographed in 2020, not the Dodgers’ tee.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73: IV. Allegro con spirito (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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