Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - A Classic Fall Classic: 1988

Episode Date: December 3, 2020

Guest host Jon Miller tells us about the 1988 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics in this episode. This Fall Classic features Orel Hershiser's utter dominance of the A's, as well as Kirk Gibson's dramatic home run which ended Game One, a game in which he spent all but one half-inning in the Dodger clubhouse nursing two leg injuries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host filling in for D.C. Lundberg, John Miller. Thank you, Joey Martin. I am Locked-on Mariners contributor, John Miller, filling in for D.C. Lundberg on Locked-on Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program on whichever podcasting app you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners podcast or any program here on the Lockedon network. Follow the show on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. You follow me on Twitter at Seattle Pilot 69. While I am a contributor here on Locked-on Mariners and a lifelong Mariners fan, I am also a

Dodgers fan. I've spoken a little bit about this in the past. My Dodgers fandom goes back three generations in my family back to when they played in Brooklyn. And my Mariners fandom goes back to 1977, but it's a Seattle baseball fandom that goes back to 1967 or 68 when the Seattle pilots were announced. And that would be where I get my Twitter handle. So also a lifelong Dodgers fan. And today's fall classic is none other than the 1988 World Series featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics. This is the first of three straight world series, which Oakland would appear. Their offense was led by the Bash Brothers, Mark McGuire, and Jose Canseco. Kenseko. Konseco had made history in the 1988 season, becoming the first player ever to hit 40

home runs and steal 40 bases. McGuire hit 32 home runs after hitting 49 in his rookie season of 1987. Former Mariner Hendu, Dave Henderson, hit 24 and drove in 94 runs. Smooth-fielding shortstop, Walt Weiss was the team's third straight rookie of the year. What the lineup lacked was a true lead-off man. Carney Landsford, an excellent contact hitter served in this capacity most of the season, but he was more suited to be a number two hitter. Their powerful offense was complimented by a great pitching staff, which posted the best earn-run average in the American League. Ace Dave Stewart won 21 games, Bob Welch won 17, and Storm Davis won 16. Their relief core was also outstanding, and of course, looming at the back end of the bullpen was the great Dennis Eckersley. The Dodgers also had a great

pitching staff compiling the number two ERA in the National League. Their 2.96 ERA was better than Oakland's 3.44. They were led by Oral Hersheiser, who won 23 ball games, posted a 2.26 ERA and pitched an amazing eight shutouts. He also ended the season by setting a major league record, which still stands to this day, of 59 consecutive scoreless

innings. Two other starters, both named Tim, had ERAs of 2.91, and both of them would later pitch for the Mariners, Tim Leary, and Tim Belcher. While there were some injuries to the back end of the rotation,

middle relief was shaky at times. They could rely on two short relievers to shore up the end of a ballgame, Jay Howell and Alejandro Pena, who both finished more than 30 ball games. Howell finished 38 ball games, saved 21 of them, had an ERA of 2.08. Pena, meanwhile, closed out 31 ball games, earned 12 saves, and had an even lower ERA of 1.91. Brian Hilton, Tim Cruz, and veteran lefty Jesse Orozco also contributed in the late innings. Holton led the staff with an ERA of just 1.70. Their offense was solid yet unspectacular. And while the starting eight wouldn't necessarily blow you away, their bench proved to be capable and versatile. Tommy Lassorta utilized his reserves often. Mickey Hatcher, Mike Davis,

Dave Anderson, Danny Heap, and others all saw significant playing time off the bench, as did part-time catch Rick Dempsey, who saw action in 77 games. The team's leading hitter was Pedro Guerrero. No one doubted Guerrero's hitting prowess, but his lack of defensive position and the fact that he was subplanted in left field by free agent Kirk Gibson, led him to bounce between starting at both corner infield and outfield positions. In addition, he displayed, let's say, an unimpressive level of intelligence, particularly following a certain ad bat against David Cohn earlier in the season.

On August 16, he was traded to the Cardinals for their ace pitcher John Tudor in the type of blockbuster trade you don't see much anymore. One star for another. Tudor was acquired to shore up the problematic rotation, and he pitched very well in his nine starts. And in the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers faced the New York Mets, a team stacked with talent that had won 100 games and won the World Series two years prior. In a great seven-game series, the Dodgers shut out the powerful. Metz in the finale with Oral Hersheiser, spinning his usual magic in a complete game victory. Over in the junior circuit, the athletics pretty much romped on the Boston Red Sox in a four-game sweep, which was by most accounts no contest.

The sweep coupled with the long series in the NL allowed A's manager Tony Larusa to set up his pitching staff exactly as he wanted. Dave Stewart had applied the Cup de Gras on the Red Sox in the fourth and final game, and he would be called upon to begin game one of the fall classic. Oral Hersheiser was unavailable for the series opener, so drawing the starting assignment for L.A. was Tim Belcher. After playing through a knee injury during the NLCS, Dodger left fielder, Kirk Gibson,

was slated to spend game one in the clubhouse. Both of his legs bothered him. His right knee and his left hamstring were both compromised. Mickey Hatcher started the game in Gibson's stead and was even in the lineup as the number three hitter. Hatcher had hit all of one home run in the regular season. The A's were heavily favored to win the series, which began on October 15 in Dodger Stadium. After Belcher muddled through a shaky first inning but didn't allow anyone to score,

Steve Sacks led off the bottom of the first by getting hit by the first pitch Dave Stewart through, a Franklin Stubbs fly out, and a buck later, Hatcher stepped up to the plate with Sacks on second and drilled an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for a home run. The excitable Hatcher had both fists raised in the air and triumph as he rounded the bases after giving his team a two-to-nothing advantage. Working with that two-to-nothing lead, Belcher suffered through another tough inning in the second. Glenn Hubbard, single to open the frame, Walt Wise struck out, then Belcher would walk his pitching counterport Dave Stewart and lead-off man, Carney Lansford. Following a Dave Henderson strikeout, the mighty Jose Kenseko approached the dish with the bases loaded. He smoked a high line drive to deep center field that kept going and going and left the yard for a World Series Grand Slam.

And let me tell you, that ball left the yard in a hurry. It bounced off a camera just beyond the center field wall and the cameraman did not flinch an iota. The end result is a 4-2 lead now for Oakland. After serving if that's Lommy in the second, Belcher would be pinch hit four in the bottom of the frame by Danny Heap. He'd be replaced in the ball game by Tim Leary. Things were pretty quiet for a while as both teams traded zeros until the bottom of the sixth. Dave Stewart still pitching for Oakland, having settled into a groove, gave up back-to-back, one-out singles to Mike Marshall and John Shelby, bringing up Mike Sosha.

Sosha hit the Dodgers third consecutive single, this one sending Marshall across the plate to bring Los Angeles back within a run. Jeff Hamilton grounded into a double play to end the inning. Stewart and two Dodger relievers took turns shutting down the opposition, and that four to three score would hold going into the bottom of the ninth. Tony LaRusa called upon Dennis Eckersley to close out the ball game and give Oakland a one-and-nothing series advantage. He gets the first two hitters bringing up pinch hitter Mike Davis.

Pitcher Alejandro Pena was the next scheduled hitter after Davis, and Tommy Lasorda sent Dave Anderson to the on-deck circle. Knowing that Anderson had just come off the disabled list and was probably an easier man to retire because of that than Davis, Eckersley issued an uninsured. intentional, intentional walk. However, Anderson headed back for the bench and out came Kirk Gibson. According to manager Tommy Lassorter, you could feel the electricity in the stadium as the crowd saw Gibby emerge from the dugout. He stepped in against Eck and fouled off the first pitch. Oral Hersheiser later recalled that Gibson looked like a newborn deer while taking the first few

pitches from Eckersley. This was most visible watching him hobble up the first baseline after hitting a foul grounder. With the count full, Gibson had yet to see that famous Eckersley slider. Expecting to see that particular pitch with the full count, Gibson was looking for it all the way, got it, nailed it. And in the words of the great Fin Scully, fly ball to right, she is gone! The crowd erupted, Lassorda jubilantly leapt out of the dugout with his fist raised, Gibson circled the bases, pumping his fist, and was greeted at home plate by all of his teammates and coaches after hitting a game-ending home run in a game in which he wasn't supposed to play. Jack Buck on radio explained, I don't believe what I just saw. The Dodgers had won

game one, five to four, on a dramatic home run, which will be fondly remembered by baseball fans forever. Propeled by that exciting win, the Dodgers sent Ace Earl Hersheiser to the bump for game two at the ravine, while Oakland sought to erase the end of the previous night from its memory, they sent Storm Davis to the mound. Hersheiser began this one as he did many others, dominantly. He sent the A's down in short order in the first three innings. Davis, meanwhile, also started strong, but he fell apart in the third. After getting Alfredo Griffin to foul out, Hershizer stepped up to this and singled through the hole at short. Hershizer was not only a great pitcher, but he could hold his own with the bat. Even though he had a down year offensively, he later won a

Silver Slugger Award. Anyways, following his one-out single, Steve Sacks also singled, moving Hersheiser along to third base. Franklin Stubbs kept the hit parade going with a single of his own to score Hershizer, advancing sacks to third. Mickey Hatcher then hit the Dodgers' fourth single in a row, scoring Sacks and sending Stubbs to third. Hatcher would take second on the throw to third base, with two runs in already. Mike Marshall came to the plate, seeking to... to keep the rally going. He would not his single, but rather a three-run home run and move LA way ahead at 5 to nothing. The next two hitters would be retired, but the Dodgers had a big lead early in the ball game, and the way Oral had been pitching, you had to figure that the game was over. And it pretty much was.

Hirschizer struck out the side in the next half inning to drive the point home, then in the bottom of the inning drove in the Dodgers' sixth run on an RBI double. then tossed two more one, two, three innings in a row and route to a complete game. Three hit shut out in which he struck out eight. He went three for three with an RBI and a run scored to boot. We'll recount the remaining games of the 1988 fall classic in a bit. But first, this word from Bilt Bar. Oral Hersheyers' game two performance that we just spoke of makes me wonder if he enjoyed some Bilt Bars between innings to keep him in peak condition. Eh, just kidding. They weren't around them, but they're here and

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BiltBar.com promo code locked on one word for 20% off your order. If you have a question or comment, send it to Lockedon Mariners at gmail.com and D.C. will reply to it on the air. Questions and comments on any subject are welcome and encouraged.

He's doing a mailback segment this Friday with Jason Hernandez, which has already been recorded. So if you want to be included in the next one, send those messages to Locked-on Mariners at gmail.com. Mariners' birthdays, today, December 2nd, Locked-on Mariners would like to wish Julio Cruz a very happy 66th birthday. Happy birthday, Julio!

Locked-on Mariners look back at the 198888 World Series will continue after this word. Welcome to the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Here's your guest host, John Miller. Thank you again, JM. Locked-on Mariners has returned today, talking about the 1988 World Series. In the first half of the show,

we went over games one and two, which featured Kirk Gibson's famous home run and Earl Hersheyers' utter dominance of Oakland. The teams move up the road apiece on I-5, and then west to the Oakland Coliseum for game three on October 18. John Tudor got the call from L.A. while the late Bob Weld started for the athletics. After allowing a lead-off single to Steve Sacks, he struck out the next three Dodger hitters to open the game strong. John Tudor set the A's down one, two, three in his half the first, but would have to leave the game in the second with shoulder stiffness.

Tim Leary relieved him and would give up the game's first run and inning later, an RBI single by Ron Hassee scoring Glenn Hubbard. Franklin Stubbs would tie things up in the fifth, driving in Jeff Hamilton on a double, and while both teams had runners on base throughout most of the ball game, these were the only two runs scored until the ninth inning. After Rick Honeycutt blanked the Dodgers and the top of the ninth, Jose Canseco led off the bottom of the inning against Jay Howell. He'd pop out to second base, but Howell wasn't out of the woods yet, as the other Bash brother, Mark McGuire, was due up next.

Big Mac worked the count to two and two, and then launched one out to, Deep left center field, ending the ball game with a 2-1 score. While this was a low-scoring ball game, I wouldn't necessarily call it a pitcher's duel, as there were constantly men on base, and the ball game lasted three hours, 21 minutes. The athletics had gotten back into the series. Worse news for the Dodgers, Mike Marshall had to leave game three after one at bat with an injury, and he'd be unavailable for game four. Mike Davis started in right field in Marshall's stead.

The pitching matchup was a rematch of game one. Tim Belcher versus Dave Stewart. The Dodgers would waste little time jumping on Stewart. Steve Sacks led off the game with a base on balls. One out later, Mickey Hatcher would hit a single which sent Sacks to second. During the succeeding at bat, Oakland catcher Terry Starnbach failed to hang on to a pitch. Sacks scored, Hatcher went to second, and Steinbach was charged with a pass ball. That at-bat resulted in Mike Davis reaching on an error by second baseman Glenn Hubbard.

Hatcher advanced to third. Davis then stole second during the next at bat with John Shelby at the dish. Shelby grounded out to Stewart on the next pitch, but Hatcher came in to score. The run was unearned because of Hubbard's error, but it counts on the scoreboard all the same, and L.A. jumped out to a quick two-to-nothing lead. Oakland would enjoy a similar half inning in the bottom of the frame. Luis Polonia let off for the single and then took second base on a pass ball. Former mariner Dave Henderson advanced him to third on a ground out, then Polonia scored on a half. Jose Canseco RBI ground out. Polonia's run was also under-earned, so the teams are now even in the unearned run department. Dave Parker struck out to end the inning, but sloppy defense played by both teams

is in part to blame for the two-to-one score after the first inning. Shaky defense would lead to another Dodger run in the top of the third, with two outs and Franklin Stubbs on second, Mike Davis sent a line drive to shortstop Walt Weiss, who muffed the play. Davis reaches first and Stubbs

comes in to score another unernered, run. No RBI for Davis. While neither pitcher would be totally on his game, they did trade scoreless innings until the bottom of the sixth. Tim Belcher still pitching. Carney Lansford came up with runners on first and second with two away. He sent up a single to short right center field, bringing in Dave Henderson and cutting the Dodger lead to one run. Three to two score after the sixth. Dave Stewart went back to work in the seventh. After retiring the lead-off man, he'd walk Alfredo Griffin, then give up a single to Steve Sacks, on which Griffin reached third. He was removed from the game at the time, replaced by Greg Catteray. Tracy Woodson would pinch hit for Franklin Stubbs and ground out to the

shortstop, scoring Griffin and extending the team's lead to four to two. Oakland would answer back in the bottom of the seventh, with Walt Weiss on second and two outs. Hendo would smoke a double down the left field line, sending Weiss home. Bulture was then removed from the game in favor of Jay Howell. Howell would walk the first man he faced. Jose Canseco, which brought up Dave Parker with two on and two away. He'd hit a line drive with shortstop, Alfredo Griffin couldn't handle, that would go for another error, which loaded the bases for the mighty Mark McGuire. He'd pop the first pitch he'd see to first baseman Tracy Woodson, ending what could have been a huge inning,

which could have changed the complexion of the whole series. As it was, it was a 4-3 Dodger lead after seven innings, and the game would end up with that 4-3-3 final. score. The Dodgers were now only one win away from a World Series victory which few experts saw coming, and with Oral Hersheiser scheduled to pitch game five, you had to figure the A's were in big trouble down three games to one. The athletics counter with Storm Davis, and similar to his previous start, Storm's performance was, well, stormy. With Franklin Stubbs aboard, with one out in the top of the first, he coughed up a homer to Mickey Hatcher, putting his team in an early whole. And when you're opposed by Oral Hersheiser, an early deficit, even after one half inning,

can seem impossible to overcome. And true to form, Oral set the ace down in short order in the bottom of the frame. Davis, however, would rebound and have a one-two-three inning of his own in the second. And the two hurlers would trade zeros until the bottom of the third when Oakland finally got to Hersheiser. Carney Landsford and the late Tony Phillips opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Walt Wise sacrificed-bunted both runners along, bringing up future Mariners, Dan Javier. He'd hit a line drive to left-fielder hatcher, which went for a sack fly scoring Lansford. Dave Henderson walked on four straight pitches, and with Jose Konseco coming up, it looked like maybe the A's would go off. It was not to be as Konseco grounded into a force play to end the inning, another inning which could have changed

the course not only of the game, but of the series. The next half-forking, the next half, inning, Mike Davis, who was filling in for injured Mike Marshall, extended the Dodger lead with two-run, home run, with Mickey Hatcher aboard. Hatcher was another injury replacement, taking the place of Kirk Gibson. That brought the score to four to one, which was stretched to five to one, by a sixth inning RBI double off the bat of Rick Dempsey, scoring Davis. Meanwhile, Oral Hersheiser had settled into cruise control, tossing one, two, three innings in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, however, Tony Phillips would lead off with walk. Walt Weiss grounded out moving Phillips along to second. Stan Javier then came up and grounded the

first ball he saw through the hole at short for a single which played at Phillips. Five to two was the score now, Javier driving in both Oakland runs. The Dodgers failed to score in the top of the ninth, so the game went to the bottom on the ninth with Los Angeles up five to two and three outs away from a World Series upset over the team who many experts felt were the best in baseball. Hersheiser went back to working things up by inducing Mark McGuire to fly out. He'd catch Ron Hassee looking at Strike 3, then allow a single to Carney Lansford. Lansford took second and then third on two defensive indifference calls. Phillips worked the count full and then swung through Strike 3 ending the ball game, ending the series with the Dodgers victorious. While the A's had chances

break things open in games four and five, they failed to do so, which cost them dearly. Oral Hersheiser tossed two complete games and was named World Series MVP. The A's would go on to win the series in 89 in a four-game sweep over their cross-town rival San Francisco Giants, and would also appear in the 1990 fall class of getting swept themselves by the upstart Cincinnati Reds. Oakland was heavily favored in all three of these series, yet only took home the trophy in one of them. They couldn't cash in enough on their scoring opportunities, and had precious few such opportunities on which to capitalize in the final two games. Plus, Oral Hersheiser was just dealing in his two starts.

And in 1990, the Reds just had it. Manager Lou Panella pushed the right buttons. Jose Rejo seemed unstoppable, and the Reds did what they had to do at the right time. The Dodgers, meanwhile, suffered through an injury riddle 1989, which saw them finish well below 500. with few exceptions, they'd be pretty decent in the succeeding decades, making the postseason on multiple occasions, but not making it back to the fall classic until 2017. And we're not going to talk about that abomination.

They, of course, would win it all in this abbreviated 2020 season. That'll do it for today. I hope you enjoy looking back upon the 1988 World Series as much as I have. We'll be back next time and travel all. the way back to the beginning of the last century and talk about the 1904 World Series. The Mailbag episode will be Friday, but there may be another episode before that. DC's recording shows out of order and generally not sure when episodes are going to be published. In any case, please do remember to download rate and subscribe to this program looking for us on any podcasting app that springs to mind.

Follow the show on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. You can follow me on Twitter at Seattle Pilot 69. Thank you for listening and have a great day. This is Joey Martin saying join us back here next time for another edition of Locked-On Mariners, part of the Locked-On Podcast Network.