Kirk Gibson was the leader of the Dodgers and the NL MVP in 1988. Unfortunately, he would severely injure his right knee and left hamstring in the National League Championship Series against the Mets and was not expected to play at all in the World Series. The Dodgers were already huge underdogs going up against the AL Champion Oakland A's and losing their MVP did not help matters.

Without Gibson in the lineup, the Dodgers would find themselves down 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1. The Oakland A's had Dennis Eckersley, one of the most dominant closers of his time, in to pitch the final inning. Eckersely would retire the first two batters, but walk pinch-hitter Mike Davis to put a runner on first with just one out left to go. Cue the music from the movie The Natural...

Somehow Gibson, barely able to walk, comes hobbling out of the dugout. I remember watching this game and saying, "No way. There is no way he is going to be able to do anything up there." I was wrong and I am glad I was because what happened next is something I will probably never forget (and I'm not even a Dodgers fan). Gibson would foul off several pitches and somehow work it to a full count. Then on the 3-2 pitch from Eckersley, Gibson used all arms and upper body strength to hit the backdoor slider out into the night sky and into the right field bleachers to win the game in dramatic fashion.

Actually "dramatic" would be an understatement. Bigger adjectives are needed like "wondrous" or "extraordinary" or "astounding" or simply "spectacular." This feat occured just miles from Hollywood, but Hollywood writers could not have written a better movie ending than Gibson provided all on his own. The footage of Gibson hobbling around the bases with two hurt legs and pumping his fist as he rounds second will live on in infamy. Vin Scully was doing the television broadcast and said "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!" Jack Buck was doing the radio broadcast and his famous words sum it up best, "I don't believe what I just saw!" It ended up being Gibson's only at bat in the series which the Dodgers would end up winning in 5 games, but they don't get much better than that.

Here is a link to a site which has a decent quality video of the entire sequence or you can watch the abbreviated version in poorer quality below:

What an outstanding moment! Baseball is usually made up of countless little moments than many consider monotonous, but those little moments can lead to truly special moments which you don't want to miss. The World Series is the biggest and brightest stage and those magic moments are that much more magical when they occur on this grandest stage. There have been other great home runs in the World Series:
- Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski series winning homer in Game 7 of 1960
- Boston's Carlton Fisk winning Game 6 in the bottom of the 12th inning back in 1975
- Yankee's Reggie Jackson hitting 3 home runs in one game, Game 6 of 1977
- Toronto's Joe Carter series winning homer in Game 6 of 1993
Those were all amazing moments and some of the finest in Baseball history, but I would put Gibson's up there with all of those performances especially taking into consideration the circumstances. If interested, here is a link to a more recent interview with Kirk Gibson where he discusses his career and that moment which has been replayed thousands and thousands of times.

Gibson brought a winning attitude to the Dodgers and there is no way they would have even still been playing in October without his contributions and leadership. I came across a story which tells you a little about the player Gibson was. He had already won a World Series title with the Detroit Tigers in 1984 and came over to Los Angeles as a free agent in 1988. His impact began in March during Spring Training when pitcher Jesse Orosco smeared eye black inside Gibson's hat. When Gibson discovered the practical joke, he stormed off the field. "No wonder this team finished fourth last season," said Gibson, and the other Dodgers got the message. "He made it cool to care about winning," said teammate Orel Hershiser. "He made it cool to be aggressive and to hustle and work hard." That winning attitude and hard work culminated in that magical moment back in 1988. That is a big reason why I loved baseball back when I was a kid and why I still have love for it today... magic.

Every year when October arrives and the World Series is upon us, I relive all of those great memories. One of the first that always comes to mind is Kirk Gibson's heroic feat because with all of the reasons why that moment shouldn't have happened, it did. And even though I have seen it probably a thousand times myself, each time I tend to agree with Jack Buck as I still think "I don't believe what I just saw!"

That will do it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading and traveling down memory lane with me. If you are interested in reading more of my 80's related issues, please click there for a summary. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column (organized by month) or use the blogbar Search Box in the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, please pass the word and let others know to give it a try (and of course come back often!). Peace and much love.

Check this out: I thought (hope) this sign was unnecessary. I feel it should go without saying that shooting be prohibited especially in and around any area where a school bus could be picking up or dropping off children. If a sign like this IS necessary, I would seriously considering moving to a new neighborhood where the potential for random gunfire near the school bus stop is not so real that a sign has to be posted. I guess it is always better to be safe. If signs like these work, maybe we should wear them around our necks (just to be safe).

Quote of the day: "Baseball is like Church. Many attend, but few understand." -Wes Westrum

Download this: James Morrison is one of my favorite musical artists of today. He recently released a new album titled Songs for You, Truth for Me which I highly recommend pretty much from start to finish. I will particularly recommend "Broken Strings" by James Morrison which also features Nelly Furtado