Chapter 7: 1988, Things don't fall apart
Why can't all you other seasons be like this nice one?
Coming into the 1988 season, not much was expected of the Dodgers. They had finished in fourth place in 1987, trying to find a way under new general manager, Fred Claire, who replaced Al Campanis, who talked himself out of a job with remarks that would have had him canceled in 1887.
In the offseason, Claire pulled off a 3-way trade involving Oakland and New York that saw the Dodgers sending Bob Welch and Matt Young to Oakland. The Dodgers acquired shortstop Alfredo Griffin and reliever Jay Howell from Oakland and also got reliever Jesse Orosco from the Mets. Welch would be terrific for Oakland. Howell would pitch well for the Dodgers. Griffin could at least field at shortstop better than Mariano Duncan. Orosco would go on to have some good years with the Dodgers, but not in 1988.
The biggest offseason acquisition came via an arbiter who ruled that the Tigers had colluded with other teams so they could re-sign outfielder Kirk Gibson at a team-friendly price. This was an easy case to make since Commissioner Peter Ueberroth left a bigger paper trail than most. Gibson was granted free agency and left his native Michigan to sign with the Dodgers.
Gibson was a much different type of player than the Dodgers were accustomed to. He definitely yelled a lot. He played baseball like a football player. He had a certain red-assness that was unfamiliar to Dodgers fans who had spent a decade adoring Steve Garvey.1
The Dodgers in 1988 could seemingly do no wrong. They grabbed first place on May 25 and would never give it up. They never lost more than three straight games.
They would win games when Gibson would score from second on a wild pitch. They would win games when pitcher Tim Leary hit a pinch hit walkoff single.
Pedro Guerrero, injured much of the season and not happy with Gibson becoming the star of the team, was traded to St. Louis in August for lefty starter John Tudor. The Dodgers didn’t really need pitching help all that much.
Orel Hershiser had the year of his life, going 23-8 with a 2.26 ERA. He broke Don Drysdale’s record for consecutive scoreless innings with 59, a total he only got to because the Dodgers had to go to extra innings in a game against the Padres after they had clinched the division.
The Dodgers only weak spot seemed to be playing the Mets, whom they lost 10 of 11 games to (one was rained out and never made up). Unfortunately for the Dodgers, the Mets won the NL East.
The team split the first two games in Los Angeles. The Mets won Game 3 8-4 as the Dodgers bullpen melted down after Howell was ejected for having excessive pine tar on his glove. Hershiser had started the game on short rest after a rainout the day before. Then came the game that for me defined the season, even more than any one particular Game One World Series home run.
Tudor started for the Dodgers against Dwight Gooden, whose Mets career was getting sidetracked by substance abuse problems. Tudor and Gooden both had tremendous seasons in 1985, but by October of 1988, they were just slightly above average.
The Mets led the game 4-2 going to the 9th inning. Mets manager Davey Johnson decided to let Gooden try to finish out the game and give his team a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Gooden walked John Shelby to star the ninth. Despite Gooden now having thrown over 120 pitches, Johnson kept him out there to face Mike Scioscia.
Mike Scioscia did a lot of great things as a Dodgers catcher. He hit well, drew walks, played good defense. But he didn’t have a lot of power. However, on this night he hammered the first pitch he saw over the right field fence to tie the game at 4-4.
Johnson still kept Gooden, pulling him only after a one-out singly by Griffin. Randy Myers stopped the rally and the game went to extra innings.
The game stayed tied until the 12th when Gibson homered off of Roger McDowell. The Dodgers were three outs away from tying the series. Getting those three outs would be a saga.
Because Howell was caught with an illegal substance, he was suspended until a possible Game 7. The Dodgers had gone through three long and middle relievers in Brian Holton, Ricky Horton, and Alejandro Pena. Jesse Orosco was still available, but Lasorda had no confidence in him. So, starter Tim Leary came out of the pen.
Leary gave up two straight singles to start the inning, but managed to get Gregg Jefferies to line out. With two lefties coming up, Lasorda reluctantly went to Orosco.
Orosco walked the first batter he faced, Keith Hernandez, to load the bases for Darryl Strawberry. At this point, Lasorda came to the mound to have a chat with Orosco. Lasorda never came to the mound at this time as pitching coach Ron Perranoski handled such matters. In front of a national television audience, Lasorda issued a profanity-laden exhortation at Orosco in order for him to get Strawberry out.
And it worked! Strawberry popped out. Now with righty Kevin McReynolds up, Lasorda decided to call on a righthander. It was the pitcher who had started the day before, one Mr. Orel Hershiser. McReynolds hit a short fly to center that Shelby grabbed for an epic 5-4 Dodgers win. The Dodgers won the series in seven games.
Oh, and there was a World Series against Oakland. The Dodgers won that too. In five games. It was fun. It was glorious. It was a year that will not and cannot be repeated. It exists in some weird parallel sports universe where your favorite team does everything right. And wins everything. It doesn’t mean you will live happily ever after. But at least you know you’re alive. And for a short period of time in a life that we hope is long, things don’t actually suck.
Coincidentally, Gibson and Garvey both attended Michigan State. That was pretty much the end of their similarities.
I watched Al Campanis on Nightline live. He was given every opportunity to correct himself but couldn't. I don't think he really meant what he said but his entire life was defined by that interview.
I hope my life is not remembered just for my worst moment.
Al Michaels really had a great call on the Shelby catch.