Kirk Gibson's Walk-Off Home Run: A World Series Miracle

On October 15, 1988, was game one of the World Series featuring two California teams in the Oakland Athletics and the LA Dodgers. And as the Oakland Athletics' Dennis Eckersley was trying to finish out the game, Kurt Gibson, who had been injured, checks in and hits arguably one of the most famous home runs ever. in baseball history. Today we're going to go through the steps that led to this amazing moment and the effects it had in the baseball world. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide, as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. And today's trivia question is... How did Kirk Gibson get out of his contract with the Tigers to sign with the L.A. Dodgers? So, before we get to this iconic moment, we need to dive into how each team made it to the World Series. See, the Dodgers, and specifically Kirk Gibson, was not expected to be on the Dodgers. See, after the 19... season with the Detroit Tigers, who he had spent his entire career with and likely would have loved to stay there as he was born in Michigan and went to college at Michigan State. In 1984, he led the Tigers to a championship, to a World Series win, and had always been one of their better players. But he got low-balled by them after their 1987 season, but no one else was offering him a contract. See, it turns out that team owners had colluded against the players in an effort to lessen the free agency burden on them so they wouldn't have to pay as much to all the free agents. So when this happened, Gibson was now again a free agent, even though he had just signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers, which meant now he's a free agent again, and the Tigers didn't offer him as much as the L.A. Dodgers. So he moved across the country, where he had a great season, with the L.A. Dodgers batting 290, hitting 25 home runs and 31 stolen bases, and helped the Dodgers, who finished fourth in their division the year before, win the division in 1988, seven games ahead of the next closest team, the Cincinnati Reds, with a record of 94-67. And they were also led by one of the greatest pitchers at the time, Oral Fersheiser. But they were facing off against the Oakland Athletics, who had the best record in the major leagues and won 104 games. On offense, they were led by the Batch brothers in Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire, as well as Dave Henderson. And they had a great pitcher on their team as well in Dave Stewart. They would have to face the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS that year, where they swept the Boston Red Sox to head to the World Series. And the LA Dodgers to get there, had to go through the New York Mets, who had won 100 games that season, and had also won 10 of their 11 meetings with the Dodgers. But Kirk Gibson stepped up in this series, making defensive plays and having a great hitting output. And the series went to seven games, where Earl Hershiser ended up pitching that final seventh game, pitching a shutout and leading the Dodgers into the World Series. But the problem was, heading into this game, Since Oral Hershiser just pitched, they wouldn't have him for Game 1 of the series. And Kirk Gibson had injured both his legs coming into the World Series and did not start in Game 1. So the Dodgers were coming in hobbled, facing off against a team that was well-rested and could come out with their best shot. But despite that, the L.A. Dodgers took the early lead where Mickey Hatcher hit a two-run home run in the first inning. But... Not to be outdone, the next inning, Jose Canseco hit a grand slam to give Oakland a 4-2 lead. Now in the sixth inning, Oakland was able to get some base hits to score one more run to make it a one-run game. Now at this moment, Kirk Gibson wasn't even in the dugout. He was actually watching the game from a therapy room in the Dodgers clubhouse. And during the game, legendary announcer for the LA Dodgers, Vin Scully, was announcing the game. As they panned across the dugout, he said that Kirk Gibson was nowhere to be found. He was saying this in a way to say that he wasn't going to be playing in the game. But this bird, Kirk Gibson, did come out of the therapy room and tell Tommy La Russa, his manager, that he was available to pinch hit if needed. And Gibson went to the batting cages in the clubhouse to take some practice swings to be ready. So with a one-run lead heading into the ninth inning, Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley took the mound. And he had led the American League with 45 saves that season. It was a daunting closer throughout his entire year. And he was looking to finish what Dave Stewart, their ace, had started. Eckersley got the first batter to pop up to shortstop and struck out the next one. So in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, all they needed was one more out to take the game one, the lead, and the momentum to win the World Series. Next up was Mike Davis. who was pinch hitting and was able to get on base. And the Dodgers wanted to kind of keep Kirk Gibson a secret as Dave Anderson went to the on-deck circle to warm up before his at-bat. And then after Mike Davis got on to first, Anderson came into the dugout and Gibson walked out with a little bit of a limp and the crowd erupted as Gibson stepped into the batter's box. Gibson quickly fouled off the first two pitches, making the count 0-2. And then fouled another one down the line. The count was 2-2. And on those foul balls, Kurt was swinging awkwardly. And on the 7th pitch, Davis actually stole 2nd. Giving them a runner in scoring position. And now the count was 3-2. And to a left-handed batter, Eckersley would normally pitch a backdoor slider in this count. So Gibson collected himself and was ready to go. In a swing that looked like his legs didn't even move. And looked like more of a bunt. than an actual swing. He makes contact with the ball, and it keeps going and going as it goes over the right field fence. And Gibson hobbles around first, and as he does, makes his way to second. He does his iconic fist pump that has been replayed for years and years. So the Dodgers took game one. And this iconic moment not only fueled the Dodgers, but it devastated the the Oakland A's. As in the next night, the Dodgers would win 6-0. And in the first game back in Oakland, two days later, Oakland would take their first and only game of the series, winning 2-1. And over the next two days, the LA Dodgers would win the next two games, winning the World Series, their first one since 1981. It's not often that game one of a series is the one that everyone remembers. But sometimes it's a storybook moment that we remember. And that's exactly what Kirk Gibson's moment was. And after the game, everyone started calling Gibson Roy Hobbs from the movie as the home run was similar to the end of that movie. And this was arguably the best moment and the best year of Kirk Gibson's career. As he would also be named ML MVP and win the Silver Slugger Award. But after a couple more years in the Dodgers, he would move on to the Kansas City Royals, then the Pittsburgh Pirates. and finished his career with two more seasons with the Detroit Tigers before retiring in 1995. Though he had a great stretch there with the Tigers and the Dodgers, he was injury-prone and missed a lot of time due to this, and only managed to hit 255 home runs with 870 runs batted in, with a career batting average of. 268. A good player, not really Hall of Fame worthy. After his career, he would go on to be a broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers, as well as become a coach in the Tigers system. And in 2010, would be the Arizona Diamondbacks manager for four years. But even though he's not a Hall of Famer, everyone remembers him because of this iconic moment. It only takes one moment to be immortalized forever. If you want more Dodgers content, check out the podcast Dodgers Daily Podcast. where Austin and Casey bring you interviews, player featurettes, daily updates on the minor league system as well as the majors, giving you everything you need to know about what's going on behind the scenes for the Dodgers. And if you liked this episode of Daily Sports History, please tell everyone about it on social media. Tell your friends, tell your families, tell your kids, tell your wives. Let everyone know about Daily Sports History. So we can continue to grow and come back tomorrow for more daily sports history. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question? How did Kirk Gibson get out of his contract with the Tigers to sign with the Dodgers? And it was because a ruling that the team owners had colluded after the 1987 season to limit the money given to free agents. So his contract was void with the Tigers and the Dodgers offered him More money.