In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on October 15, 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Kirk Gibson hit a two-out, two-run walk-off home run against Oakland Athletics pitcher Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers the 5–4 win. Gibson was initially held out of the lineup with injuries to both legs, but was called upon to pinch hit.

After winning the National League (NL) West division, the Dodgers were considered the underdogs throughout the 1988 postseason, first to the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series, then to the Athletics in the World Series. Gibson, who was not expected to play due to injuries in both legs sustained during the NLCS, was surprisingly inserted as a pinch hitter with the Dodgers trailing 4–3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the tying run at first base. Gibson's home run—his only plate appearance of the series—helped the Dodgers defeat the Athletics, four games to one, securing their sixth World Series title.

The play has since become legendary in the baseball world, and is regarded as one of the greatest home runs of all time. It was voted the "greatest moment in L.A. sports history" in a 1995 poll. Many of the images associated with the home run, particularly Gibson pumping his fist while circling the bases, are often shown in classic highlight reels, usually accompanied by play-by-play from broadcasters Vin Scully or Jack Buck. Though not related to his World Series home run, Gibson would be named the 1988 NL Most Valuable Player.

Background

Regular season

The Dodgers signed outfielder Kirk Gibson as a free agent during the 1987-88 offseason. Gibson, who played the previous nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers (winning a World Series title with them in 1984), quickly became the Dodgers' de facto leader both on the field and off. On the field, Gibson led the team with 25 home runs, a .290 batting average and 31 stolen bases.

The Dodgers, who had only finished 4th in the National League West in 1987 with a 73–89 () record (17 games behind the division winning San Francisco Giants), led the NL West division standings from late May until the end of the season, easily winning the division title with a record of 94–67 (), seven games ahead of the second-place Cincinnati Reds.

One reason why the Dodgers were considered underdogs throughout the postseason was that they did not finish the regular season ranked in the top five of any major offensive statistical category. However, they were strengthened by an excellent starting rotation led by ace Orel Hershiser and backed up by Tim Belcher, John Tudor and Tim Leary. They also had an outstanding bullpen that included Jay Howell, Jesse Orosco and Alejandro Peña.

Postseason Their opponent in the National League Championship Series was the New York Mets, who had compiled a more impressive 100–60 () regular season record, and had won 10 of their 11 regular-season meetings with the Dodgers. The NLCS was a surprisingly close contest given the outcomes of the two teams' regular season meetings. Gibson's heroics in the series included a highlight reel catch on wet grass in Game 3 and decisive home runs in Games 4 and 5. The series went to a deciding Game 7, which the Dodgers won in stunning fashion on the back of Hershiser's five-hit shutout to earn their first World Series trip since 1981. Gibson injured his left hamstring while stealing second base in Game 5 and his right knee while sliding into second base in Game 7.

After defeating the Mets, the Dodgers faced the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. Oakland had compiled a 104–58 () regular season record (the best in the Majors), and boasted a powerful lineup led by sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and complemented by the likes of Dave Henderson, Dave Parker and Don Baylor. The A's, who also boasted 20-game winner Dave Stewart (himself a former Dodger from 1978 to 1983) and closer Dennis Eckersley who had saved 45 games during the regular season, had easily accounted for Boston in the ALCS, sweeping the Red Sox 4–0.

The setup

World Series Game 1

Gibson injured both legs during the NLCS, and therefore did not start Game 1. Los Angeles took an early lead when Mickey Hatcher, a utility player not known for his power hitting, smashed a two-run home run in the first inning. The next inning Canseco hit a grand slam to give Oakland a two-run lead. Oakland's lead was cut to one run when Mike Scioscia hit an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored Mike Marshall, leaving the match at a score of 4-3.

Unknown to the fans and the media at the time, Gibson was watching the game on television while undergoing physical therapy in the Dodgers' clubhouse. At some point during the game, television cameras scanned the Dodgers dugout and commentator Vin Scully, working for NBC for the 1988 postseason, observed that Gibson was "nowhere to be found". This spurred Gibson to tell Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda that he was available to pinch hit. Gibson immediately returned to the batting cage in the clubhouse to take practice swings.

With a one-run lead, Oakland closer and future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who led the AL with 45 saves during the regular season, was brought in to close out the game and seal the win for starter Dave Stewart. Eckersley quickly got Scioscia to pop out to shortstop and struck out Jeff Hamilton. Left-handed pinch hitter Mike Davis (a former Athletic) followed; if he got on base the next batter due was the pitcher's spot, which would certainly be filled with a pinch hitter. Not wanting the A's to realize that Gibson was available, Lasorda sent Dave Anderson to the on-deck circle during Davis' plate appearance. According to Lasorda, A's catcher Ron Hassey got Eckersley's attention and pointed at Anderson on-deck. The popular story is that Eckersley pitched around Davis because the A's thought that the light-hitting Anderson was the next batter. Hassey vehemently denied that the A's pitched carefully to Davis because Anderson was on deck: "Why would we pitch around Davis when we have two outs? You don't pitch around a guy with two outs to face another hitter. That would never make sense. You have your closer out there. That's just not true. That's a good story. As far as I know, Gibson is on the roster. Is he not? You're not going to waste a guy that can't play. He's active." Eckersley decided to pitch around Davis because he had seen him hit 20 home runs for the A's before the All-Star break the previous year. Instead of risking making a mistake that Davis could hit for a game-tying home run, Eckersley pitched carefully and did in fact walk him.

The play

Instead of sending Anderson to the plate, Lasorda inserted Gibson as his pinch hitter. Gibson hobbled up to the plate with Scully commenting, "And look who's coming up!" Gibson quickly fouled off two pitches, getting behind in the count, 0–2. He then swung clumsily and dribbled the ensuing pitch foul down the first base line, which seemed to confirm his inability to swing with any authority. Gibson took an outside pitch, called a ball by home plate umpire Doug Harvey, fouled off a pitch, and then took another outside pitch to work to a 2–2 count.

On the seventh pitch of the at bat—another ball, making it a full count—Davis stole second. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda later recounted it was pre-planned that if the count got to two strikes on Gibson, they would have Davis steal second, figuring that A's manager Tony La Russa would not elect to intentionally walk Gibson if there were already two strikes against him. Once Davis was at second, Lasorda was just hoping Gibson could muscle a pitch to the outfield for a game-tying single.

Gibson would later recount that prior to the Series, Dodger scout Mel Didier had provided a report on Eckersley which claimed that with a 3–2 count against a left-handed hitter, one could be absolutely certain that Eckersley would throw a backdoor slider. Gibson said that when the count reached 3–2, he stepped out of the batter's box and, in his mind, could hear Didier's voice, with its distinctive Southern drawl, reiterating that same piece of advice. With that thought in mind, Gibson stepped back into the batter's box; and thus when Eckersley did in fact throw a backdoor slider, it was exactly the pitch Gibson was expecting.

Swinging almost entirely with his upper body, Gibson then hit the pitch over the right-field fence. He limped around the bases and pumped his fist as his teammates stormed the field. The Dodgers won the game, 5–4.

Gibson did not have another plate appearance in the World Series. The Dodgers went on to defeat the A's in the World Series, 4–1.

The calls Don Drysdale Don Drysdale called Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run for the Dodgers Radio Network:

Vin Scully

Scully, calling the play-by-play for the NBC-TV (as previously mentioned) broadcast with color commentator Joe Garagiola, made repeated references to Gibson's legs, noting at one point that the batter was

Gibson worked the count to 3–2 as Mike Davis stole second base; the camera turned at that point to Steve Sax getting ready for his turn at the plate, and Scully reminded the viewers that

Scully said nothing for over a minute, allowing the pictures to tell the story. Finally, he said,

Returning to the subject of Gibson's banged-up legs during a replay, Scully joked,

As NBC showed a replay of Gibson rounding second base in his home run trot, Scully then made a point to note Eckersley's pitching performance throughout the 1988 season, to put things in perspective.

Jack Buck

CBS handled the national radio broadcast of the 1988 World Series, with Jack Buck providing play-by-play and Bill White as the analyst. This was Buck's call, beginning with Buck speculating on what might happen if Gibson managed to reach base:World Series 1988 Game 1: Jack Buck call of Gibson memorable at-bat (10-15-88) YouTube (audio by CBS Radio, video by NBC)

The last sentence is often remembered and quoted by fans. Buck followed it with,

White responded,

Buck repeated his exclamation and concluded his comments on Gibson's amazing feat with this thought:

Bill King Bill King called Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run for the Oakland Athletics Radio Network:

Aftermath The NBC broadcast that was broadcast entirely by the network (despite Macon, Georgia's affiliate WMGT-TV recovered from the broadcast hijack that happened earlier in the game), when following Gibson's home run happened, also captured the brake lights of some Dodger fans who were leaving Dodger Stadium believing the game was lost. Among those were future Boston Red Sox chairman and Roseanne executive producer (which premiered three days after the game) Tom Werner and his son, future Milwaukee Brewers senior Vice President Teddy Werner.Walk Off Stories: Improbably Gibson YouTube (originally broadcast by MLB Network)

Much was made about Eckersley's decision to throw an offspeed pitch to Gibson, with Joe Garagiola repeatedly noting that Gibson clearly couldn't catch up to a fastball. To his credit, Eckersley fielded every reporters' question after the game, mostly blaming himself. Years later, he recalled, "Somebody said that the Dodgers knew I threw a backdoor slider on 3–2. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I didn’t get to 3–2 that often, but if that’s what the guy told him [Gibson], if that’s what he had on his mind, good for him. Either way, it was a terrible slider."