'88 championship season revisited
Scioscia's homer set up Gibson's historic shot
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
Tommy Lasorda (right) and Fred Claire hoist the World Series trophy in 1988. (AP)
LOS ANGELES -- The biggest home run of the 1988 postseason? Not the one you think.
Conventional wisdom says it must be Kirk Gibson's dramatic limp-off shot against Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the World Series.
Nope.
It came six days earlier. And it came not from an eventual National League most valuable player, but from a .257 hitter who had hit only three home runs all year.
"If Mike Scioscia doesn't hit that home run off Doc Gooden in Game 4 of the NLCS, we don't even get to the World Series," said Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda.
Lasorda's right. Gibson's home run will go down in history as one of the most dramatic, but Scioscia's made it possible.
The Dodgers came into the NLCS overwhelming underdogs against the Mets, who had won 100 games that year and led the league in ERA, home runs and fewest errors. More to the point, the Mets had beaten the Dodgers in 10 of their 11 meetings that year going into the postseason.
But this Dodger team had defied the experts all year and for Game 1 they sent to the mound the eventual Cy Young Award winner, Orel Hershiser, who had not allowed an earned run in months. He added eight more scoreless innings to that total and took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning when the Mets knocked Hershiser out and eventually beat a key player in the series, reliever Jay Howell, 3-2.
The Dodgers got an unexpected boost for Game 2 from a very unlikely source -- Mets starting pitcher David Cone, whose guest column in a New York newspaper calling Hershiser lucky and Howell a high school pitcher, became bulletin board fodder in the Dodger clubhouse. Cone wasn't as lucky as Hershiser, lasting two innings and allowing five runs in a 6-3 Dodger win.
Game 3 was played in a steady New York rain and the Dodgers took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth when Hershiser turned things over to Howell. While Howell was facing his second batter, plate umpire Joe West, acting on a complaint from the Mets dugout, went to the mound and asked to check Howell's glove.
He found pine tar all over it. Crew chief Harry Wendelstedt ejected Howell, who later would also be suspended for two playoff games for cheating. By the time Alejandro Pena and Jesse Orosco were done, the Mets had an 8-4 win.
Which brought the series to Game 4. Gooden allowed two runs on two hits in the first inning, then only one hit over the next seven innings and took the three-hitter and 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. John Shelby led off the ninth with a walk and Scioscia followed with a stunning homer to tie it.
That sent the game into extra innings, where Gibson took over with a clutch two-out, 12th-inning home run off Roger McDowell. To protect the lead, Lasorda had to use three pitchers. Tim Leary got one out, but also allowed singles to Mackey Sasser and Lee Mazzilli. Orosco loaded the bases with a walk to left-handed hitter Keith Hernandez and was chewed out on the mound by Lasorda before getting Darryl Strawberry to pop up for the second out.
And the save? Incredibly, the guy who trotted in from the bullpen in the 12th inning of Game 4 was the same guy who pitched seven innings in Game 3 and 8 1/3 innings in Game 1 and would also pitch nine scoreless innings in Game 7.
That would be, of course, Hershiser, who got the McReynolds on a blooper that Shelby caught on the run in center.
With the series tied 2-2, the Dodgers came back for a day game and pounded former Dodger Sid Fernandez for a 7-4 win, with Gibson homering again and the Dodgers taking a three games to two lead.
That sent the series back to Los Angeles for Game 6, but Gibson's hamstring was now hurting badly. Cone got a measure of revenge with a five-hitter and a 5-1 win in Game 6, beating former Met Leary as McReynolds had four hits to set the stage for Hershiser.
Pitching on three days' rest from his previous start and two-days rest from his save, he wrapped up the series and the series MVP trophy with a five-hit shutout, 6-0, as the Mets self-destructed in a five-run Dodger second inning.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This article was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Scioscia's homer set up Gibson's historic shot
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
Tommy Lasorda (right) and Fred Claire hoist the World Series trophy in 1988. (AP)
LOS ANGELES -- The biggest home run of the 1988 postseason? Not the one you think.
Conventional wisdom says it must be Kirk Gibson's dramatic limp-off shot against Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the World Series.
Nope.
It came six days earlier. And it came not from an eventual National League most valuable player, but from a .257 hitter who had hit only three home runs all year.
"If Mike Scioscia doesn't hit that home run off Doc Gooden in Game 4 of the NLCS, we don't even get to the World Series," said Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda.
Lasorda's right. Gibson's home run will go down in history as one of the most dramatic, but Scioscia's made it possible.
The Dodgers came into the NLCS overwhelming underdogs against the Mets, who had won 100 games that year and led the league in ERA, home runs and fewest errors. More to the point, the Mets had beaten the Dodgers in 10 of their 11 meetings that year going into the postseason.
But this Dodger team had defied the experts all year and for Game 1 they sent to the mound the eventual Cy Young Award winner, Orel Hershiser, who had not allowed an earned run in months. He added eight more scoreless innings to that total and took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning when the Mets knocked Hershiser out and eventually beat a key player in the series, reliever Jay Howell, 3-2.
The Dodgers got an unexpected boost for Game 2 from a very unlikely source -- Mets starting pitcher David Cone, whose guest column in a New York newspaper calling Hershiser lucky and Howell a high school pitcher, became bulletin board fodder in the Dodger clubhouse. Cone wasn't as lucky as Hershiser, lasting two innings and allowing five runs in a 6-3 Dodger win.
Game 3 was played in a steady New York rain and the Dodgers took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth when Hershiser turned things over to Howell. While Howell was facing his second batter, plate umpire Joe West, acting on a complaint from the Mets dugout, went to the mound and asked to check Howell's glove.
He found pine tar all over it. Crew chief Harry Wendelstedt ejected Howell, who later would also be suspended for two playoff games for cheating. By the time Alejandro Pena and Jesse Orosco were done, the Mets had an 8-4 win.
Which brought the series to Game 4. Gooden allowed two runs on two hits in the first inning, then only one hit over the next seven innings and took the three-hitter and 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. John Shelby led off the ninth with a walk and Scioscia followed with a stunning homer to tie it.
That sent the game into extra innings, where Gibson took over with a clutch two-out, 12th-inning home run off Roger McDowell. To protect the lead, Lasorda had to use three pitchers. Tim Leary got one out, but also allowed singles to Mackey Sasser and Lee Mazzilli. Orosco loaded the bases with a walk to left-handed hitter Keith Hernandez and was chewed out on the mound by Lasorda before getting Darryl Strawberry to pop up for the second out.
And the save? Incredibly, the guy who trotted in from the bullpen in the 12th inning of Game 4 was the same guy who pitched seven innings in Game 3 and 8 1/3 innings in Game 1 and would also pitch nine scoreless innings in Game 7.
That would be, of course, Hershiser, who got the McReynolds on a blooper that Shelby caught on the run in center.
With the series tied 2-2, the Dodgers came back for a day game and pounded former Dodger Sid Fernandez for a 7-4 win, with Gibson homering again and the Dodgers taking a three games to two lead.
That sent the series back to Los Angeles for Game 6, but Gibson's hamstring was now hurting badly. Cone got a measure of revenge with a five-hitter and a 5-1 win in Game 6, beating former Met Leary as McReynolds had four hits to set the stage for Hershiser.
Pitching on three days' rest from his previous start and two-days rest from his save, he wrapped up the series and the series MVP trophy with a five-hit shutout, 6-0, as the Mets self-destructed in a five-run Dodger second inning.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This article was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
