MLB Walk-Off Stories: Improbably Gibson (1988)

[Music] and now to honor america will you please rise for our national anthem to be performed tonight by debbie gibson [Music] so the dodgers brought in debbie gibson now if only they had kurt gibson the first pitch is moments away you talk about a roll of the dice look who's coming up it's a beautiful day dodgers stadium one of baseball's most impressive structures with its many tiered multi-colored stands [Music] my mom and dad used to take us to the drive-in movies in the rashida california in between the double features they'd have highlights of the world series and the dodgers were always playing in the world series dodgers in my opinion public enemy number one i grew up in west sacramento on a farm with horses pigs chickens cows the whole thing i thought the dodgers were silver spooners they were lucky all the time they got every damn break in the foot here's davey lopes game on the line ground ball off smith a throw yes no not in time they carry themselves in a different way it's a confident thing you know and that's not such a bad thing but if you hate the dodgers it bothers you you know it's just the way it is the dodgers own the town good eat that's hungry man dinner's an entree in the late 80s lasorda was a big star hey tommy lasorda how do you spell release i spell relief r-o-l-a-i-d-s the dodgers looked like l.a they felt like l.a sometimes almost like you're one of the [Music] in a beatles of time there was the aging process there were players leaving and there weren't enough good players coming up the biggest thing happened to los angeles was 85. [Music] and that's when jack clark hit the home run against tom needing fewer and the dodgers lost the pennant boy when you're going good things go your way and when you're going band you can't even feel the ground ball just some really bad years and some really bad teams you know we we busted our rear end but we didn't get any results [Applause] [Music] in 1987 the anniversary of jackie robinson's entry into major league baseball al campanis being interviewed on nightline and a very sad uh turn of events i mean there are a lot of black players who would dearly love to be in managerial positions i truly believe that they may not have some of the necessities to be let's say a field manager or perhaps a general manager i got to tell you that sounds like the same kind of garbage we were hearing 40 years ago about players peter o'malley asked for al's resignation he called me from houston and he said basically fred you have to take this job in 86 and then in 87 we were 16 games under 500 in both those seasons we clearly needed to make changes [Applause] the a's didn't really make it bent until 72 when they got to their first world series [Applause] they were the hot item probably through the first half of the the world 70s of baseball and then they face planted and that was that [Music] i signed when i was 17 years old with the kansas city aids in 1968 when the aids went to oakland i was on that club as a utility van the renaissance of the a's in the 80s started with the hiring of tony larussa in 86. i had no crystal ball i didn't know we were going to have a success there but i knew they had a lot of veteran talent and they had some really good looking young guys [Music] people don't know this but i was drafted as a third baseman i struggled in the florida state league then i went to idaho falls i struggled there and by mid-season my mom passed away and i promised her honor deathbed that i was going to become the best player in the world for her and literally a week later i encountered pd's [Music] [Applause] of course there was history [Music] i mean he was strong because also he could run he had a very high baseball iq jose canseco was already a cartoon character he became a steroids guy and he could hit the ball a very long way 87 comes around and we're building a team of course now mark maguire comes in well mcguire and i we're comparing forums this man has the biggest forms i have ever seen in my life so we're kind of like lifting them up kind of like you know like guys don't just hit them against each other wow that's interesting maybe we should do that if one of us hits a home runs let's just let's just do that see what happens boom it took off it became very catchy a very catchy thing that the oklahoma's did and it was uh dubbed the abash brothers and took off igloo chicago killed it brought me to my knees you know playing for the cubs [Music] and i got sober in the winter of 86. nobody really knew that 87 i came to oakland it was like a blessing i didn't know at the time but it just seemed like it because i was going back home to be honest with you i didn't know who i was i was in transition from who i was and i was this brand new dude it was really kind of frightening i knew that i had something again accuracy ready lynn runs the pitch swing of the messy struck him out comes back reinvented as a closer and as the greatest closer ever he had an arrogance on the mound that he was unhittable he had an arrogance about throwing strikes and he never looked like there was a hair out of place eckersley was the guy who was invulnerable he was the thing that basically took the a's from boy they're really large too i don't think we'll ever be [Applause] dennis eckersley with his 44th save of the year the dodgers have announced tonight that we have signed kirk gibson to a three-year contract [Applause] he said fred i may have to call some disruption here and i said to him kurt why do you think you're here yeah i'm thinking man moving to l.a i got kids and start my family don't be afraid of it it's a different culture you know different league go for it if you knew kirk during his playing days he was a mean sob i went to college on a football scholarship and i saw myself as a football player [Music] it came off that i was a hard ass and that i was not socially approachable like people said come on smile laugh i'm like hey it was a clubhouse that was all warm and fuzzy and everyone hugging all the time gibson didn't hug one and two pitch right on through the catcher into the screen gibson comes to third he's going to try to score he scores and the ball game is over kurt gibson on a wild pitch scores from second base winning is fun the dodgers win 4-3 this other sucks the cheer was a what a team that's what tommy started what up team i hope you bleep that out because i have relatives and the next thing you know kurt gibson who was all serious about everything he started what a team and then everybody started saying what up you got 15 guys in there screaming what up one thing is we're certain a week from saturday the world series will begin either here or at shea stadium in new [Music] [Applause] in the york they were great they had a lot more talent than we did [Applause] but without them but that didn't matter the team that plays the best wins it's not the team with the most talent it's the best team gibson it's a high drive a towering drive to deep right center field and that one is gone kirk i'll let you have the last word if you're ready sum someone pull up i i guess i did have the last word and the 2-1 pick coming to gibson it hits a deep right field and that one is gone i'll tell you better watch shaking hands [Applause] [Music] gibby made an amazing diving catch for me and i think that was the beginning of his legs starting to fail and get hurt he's going and the pitch skitters away from carter so gibson in it second and he comes up hobbling as soon as i put my leg out the slide i felt it pop keep in mind the left leg is the one that hurts just snap my semi-membranosus hamstring tendon in my left leg it's like kirk gibson when he goes home in the winter time he takes a sack containing all of the parts of his body and kind of puts it back together again he's got till february to do it i wanted to play the dodgers because it was just convenience just it's the truth i don't want to go to new york new york you know and i think the dodgers weren't as good i mean there's no doubt about it they had no business beating the mats dodgers stadium filling up before game one of the 1988 world series first item of business kirk gibson will not play for the dodgers bothered by the right knee and the left hamstring the knee more so but in any case he won't even be introduced tonight we assume that means he's not available for so much as pinch hitting duty the a's were bigger than life and i didn't think it mattered who came out of the nl we already know who's winning let's get on to the end so we can all go home the pundits have picked us fourth in our division and yet here we are and now we're going against a real dominant type of a team uh the okanaes i thought that if we kept to our business and did things as usual i didn't think anyone could be this well i was hurt i've been getting injections in my legs and the plan was hats that i wouldn't play on the mound a rookie to start game one of the world series tim belcher we had seats all the way up by the right field foul pole in the upper deck and he looks at a fast ball for a strike three and two got him looking i was just excited to be in the ballpark and be at a world series game i was definitely pulling for the a's but i wasn't obnoxious and it's a high fly ball to left center it's playable shelby is there and at the end of half an inning a is nothing doggers coming out [Music] we knew we were the team people wanted to watch we felt that whoever we played was just a matter of time before your ass was kicked and that's how we played the game and now they're 21-game winner dave stewart he'll pitch to steve sax franklin stubbs and then mickey hatcher dodger lineup without kirk gibson [Music] saxey was the first hitter i told him i was going to hit him and i did that happened because in workout uh he was leaving the field he walked past me he told me he was gonna take me deep you don't tell me you take me deep you don't tell me that not true i've never said that to an opposing player ever i would never disrespect an opposing player and especially a guy like dave stewart i told him i was going to hit him in his neck and i was close and get him but i was close had it not been for my cat-like reflexes i might have been hitting the head and i just got up and sprinted to first thinking man thanks for hitting me mickey hatcher a contact hitter and the dodgers could put a play on here fastball hit into left field and deep back does [Applause] mickey went around the bases faster than anybody i've ever seen run a home run he just went around the bases in the blink of an eye he's never run faster in his life that's kind of where the year went here we are in world series mickey hatcher it's a two-run homer it's crazy baseball brought our family together game one of the world series i was 12 years old they're playing the oakland a's who had won something like 104 games and yeah it was sort of a dream come true for a sixth grader three and two to dave and he walked him from the very beginning he learned math by looking at the standings but he was no more of a geek than i am second inning two-nothing dodgers and he's walked him to load the bases again [Music] [Applause] and now the big man all eyes on jose canseco [Music] josie was in himself a show if you know what i mean [Music] oh god koseko was ridiculous i mean he was oh my god he's a monster [Music] [Applause] the media asked me jose what do you want to accomplish this year and i said well i want to do the 40 40. no one had ever conceived it he could get 40 home runs and steal 40 bases quality battery this is what i use oh you're just getting paid to say that great word and plus i'm getting paid to say this like i really didn't think it was that much of a big deal i thought it had been done before and the media kind of bogged and kind of looked at me and kind of laughed at me but no seriously what do you want to do i said listen i'm that serious he's leaning a little bit right now he's running there's the throw number 40. jose canseco the first man ever in big league history and now he's asking the umpire if he can take that second base back now he's going to get it he stole it it's his with two down the biggest confrontation of the night the base is loaded and jose canseco one ball and no strikes we talked about the consent oh and the steroid story with thomas boswell at washington post wrote what about steroids in the major leagues i have heard very well known ball players in baseball say casually talking about steroids they call them a jose canseco milkshake because i'm in the world series and i've hit a few home runs why is it relevant now it is absolutely a given in baseball is that he is the most conspicuous example of a player who made himself great i asked canseco yesterday and here's what he had to say about it then i know it's uh more or less looks like a practical joke a lot of comments baseball maybe didn't make any sense a lot of the comments run through and fault it's not a convincing live from a not convincing liar i'm sure he was denying it to try to keep his career alive it was illegal he was breaking the law hubbard at third steward at second lansford at first this is a ball club the oakland a's scored over 800 runs this year i knew 100 times infinity he would not throw me a fastball for a strike so i sat on a slider and boy i'm sitting there and here comes the slide and there's a drive to center back moshumi to the wall it is gone grand slam home run for jose canseco he hit that thing and i'm watching it go and i'm thinking that damn ball just not only cleared center field it looked like he was playing in a little league park [Applause] when you hear the crack of the bat this matter whether it's going to kill somebody or not all i did was snap my wrist to the actual zone i actually hit it really low but i hit it so hard that actually took off upward you know it was probably one of the hardest line drives i had ever hit and went on instantly [Music] you got to be kidding me this is crazy power and if this is indicative of what we're going to have to face man this is going to be a long road we talked about it they have about five guys on that lineup with one swing can turn the game around and you just saw it here when jose hit the grand slam well my memory was man you know this is our year jose canseco makes tommy lasorda sit quietly and that's quite a trick it took a grand slam home run to do it and did he ever smoke it i cannot overstate the fact that we thought they were done everyone thought they were done a little tv there in the training room my wife was with my son kirk robert who was two and kirk robert was acting up a little bit so i told my wife in the third inning just go home and she did one and two check swaying on a roller to griffin alfredo the short way to sacks but the damage is done and the savage is named canseco 4-2 oakland [Applause] in la you sit in so much traffic all the time thought of leaving a game sitting in traffic anything you can do to avoid traffic is very important it's like anybody who lives in the hamptons they spend their entire weekend trying to figure out when are they driving in new york so you know dodger stadium is that it's hard to get in and out and a lot of the conversation is about vin scully dodger dogs and when are we going to leave kurt gibson frustrating and edgy in the far corner of the dodger dugout as steve sax takes ball one if you missed it he'll be re-examined tomorrow and his condition is day to day problem with the world series ain't many days that's right tim leary is the new dodger pitcher he won three games last year was very disgusted and went to the mexican league and pitched over a hundred innings to learn the split finger i used to call him norman bates i was turning 29 married with a kid on the way it was kind of fighting for my career non-stop and he was commuting to mexico i mean he was putting his uniform on in santa monica and driving down there and then pitching and driving back now here he is in the world series i mean that alone would wear you out i'd drive 163 miles stop halfway for a hamburger bring folger's coffee and a roll of toilet paper because they had no toilet paper in the clubhouse not glamorous at all [Music] three and two nobody thought tim leary was anything he thought he had failed he was fine to stay in the big leagues [Music] fastball chopped to the left of griffin alfredo it was just a magical situation everyone just gave it more than they're all big chopper to the hole flagged by griffin who wisely goes to sacks who will run down henderson oh what a heads-up play didn't matter the situation he loved it for the first time tonight the a's are gone in order it's still 4-2 [Applause] we had a mantra that we tried to score early and we were going to add on we never added another run for the next six or seven innings you worry because you're taught to worry and as a ground ball up the middle pays hit marshall to second he will hold there and the dodgers now with runners at first and second and one out and mike sosha the batter it was a tough game one but uh we didn't stop fighting and he here comes marshall to score stopping at second to shelby when we were in that similar situation one run game normally i'd earn the right to finish him shelby and cut down his lead at second on the hands cracked back to third lansford on the bag for one double play tony had a system that he called earn your outs so if i got the first out then i get another one and there's a high fly ball into right field canseco going back 100 and makes the play for the out if you were in the ballpark with binoculars your first thought would be is gibson in the dodger dugout and the answer would appear to be no i was thinking what can i do to kind of capture this moment and i said to harry coyle great director harry do me a favor follow me as you look you see fernando valenzuela and you're looking for kirk gibson and there is no gibson and when it comes to the end of the dugout and the runway i said the man who saved them in the league championship series will not see any action tonight for sure you know i'm down there and then scully keeps talking about how i'm not going to be playing tonight there would be no kurt gibson tonight and i got out of that chair i said my ass we didn't get a jump at all and he still made the play when i was very young i used to crawl under a big four-legged radio and listen to football games [Music] the loudspeaker was directly over my head and the roar of a crowd would come out of there like water out of a shower head i would get goosebumps at eight nine oh my gosh and that got me thinking well i love the crowd gee i wish i was there to see it so if there's one thing i always did someone would do something important one ball in no strike aaron waiting i would describe it as quickly and as accurately as i could and then shut up deep and straight away fastball is a high voice we're going to the bottom of the ninth inning here at dodger stadium in game one and on the mound the mvp in the league championship series dennis eckersley 45 saves that really jumps out at you [Applause] this is the world series it's a big deal [Music] i was feeling the whole thing and i was trying to project [Applause] confidence and mike social will start it off [Music] this is a lot of energy here there's a lot of energy here [Music] popped up around the bag at second it'll be walt white one down a reminder coming up next except on the west coast local news and saturday night live you know i'm down there and you know i mean it's the ninth inning you're down by a run i told mitch poole coach set the t up i was just picking up dirty towels that's all i was doing it could have been some other guy that was back there but it was me i started hitting off the tee and after probably about 10 balls off the tee i said go tell tommy [Music] i'm yelling at tommy at the top of my lungs and he's just ignoring me pretty much [Applause] and young jeb hamilton coming up i was like mitch leave me alone i can hear it man you you just hear tommy you know i go hey gary's up there he said that he he could hit you might want to go talk to him his whole demeanor changed and he went up there really quickly so i'm placing balls on a tee and kirk goes you know mitch this could be the script eckersley sidearms yeah he will come inside but he really likes that strike of the outside corner nurse gibson well we'll see what all that means i doubt if he'd be up there to hit for davis i think it'll be up to davis to extend the inning to allow gibson one last shot 0-2 [Applause] if you lost nobody on you're not away my parents turned to me and at that point it was all right we're making a beeline for the car and we're gonna get to the car before this game ends we're gonna save literally an hour and a half if we leave before the last pitch i walk in there i sit down i mean i'm just in the zone two out ninth inning oakland four dodgers three and here is mike davis i sucked as a dodger let's keep it real you know i was i was really bad when davis played at oakland he had 22 home runs 19 home runs 24 home runs but only two in the national league wouldn't chase it one and one but that's off the plate fastball ball two he's thrown that ball out there three consecutive times and each time davis refused to nibble so the dodgers are down to their last out a's four dodgers three if he gets on we're going to hear some roar we're thinking oh my god if could mike davis walk could he walk it's impossible to walk mike davis just let him hit it he'll get himself out just lob it up there put a lot of tee for him ray and juan unusual he never walks anybody never hugs [Applause] [Music] anybody [Music] i was so competitive all i want to do is beat somebody i thought i could make a difference i was excited to do it [Music] [Applause] i mean i thought when the crowd sees me i want her [Music] all i know is loud as hell and it took a long time like get up here all year long they looked to him to light the fire and all year long he answered the demands until he was physically unable to start tonight with two bad legs and with two out you talk about a roll of the dice this is it love it love those situations love it so the dodgers trying to catch lightning right now [Applause] fouled away he was you know complaining about the fact that with the left knee bothering him he can't push off well now he can't push off and he can't land he's going to use all arms look at his crowd on its feet what a tribute four three yays two out ninth inning not a bad opening act fouled away again and he's staying on an outside corner he's not going to give him a ball of pull first two pitches he looked lame as can be didn't he it's like oh you poor bastard right you almost felt sorry for him i'm just waiting to punch him out oh and tudor gibson the infield is back with two out and davis at first [Music] the little lover i mean think about it they get to that ball i'm toast me mac and him were standing there and i looked down at the ball and if it was like a little farther away picked it up and tagged him out number three [Music] and it had to be an effort to run that far he looks horrible gibson was so banged up he was not introduced he did not come out onto the field before the game you can really see the limp [Applause] he's not driving that ball it was by him he's really almost he almost has to talk to his legs and say hey let's go we got to get out of here it's one thing to favor one leg but you can't favor two no way and that's what he's trying to do he really is [Applause] 4-1 and a throw down to first davis just did get back but i know they got to be careful he can't get thrown out to end the world series trying to steal 14 fast balls in a row that's all he's been throwing there goes davis and it's fouled away gibson shaking his left leg making it quiver like a horse trying to get rid of a troublesome fly that's what i thought of a horse trying to get a fly off the lake shaking it off i've never used that before and never used it again two and two tony larussa is one out away from win number one i knew kirk gibson from the american league he was an experienced hitter and had become one of the best two-strike hitters in the game he had gotten really wide would take no steps so he was not off balance and he would just see the ball let it travel and use his hands i get my hands in here and i've all crouched down i'm all spread out i'm just just following balls off hoping that he makes a mistake [Applause] there he goes way outside he's stolen it so mike davis the tying run is at second base with two out now the dodgers don't need the muscle of gibson as much as a base hit i call timeout i remember what mel didier said and it's you guys got the book mel diddy are telling me partner as sure as i'm standing here breathing you're gonna see a three two backdoor spider [Applause] now he gets to three two you know it's it's torture be careful with gibson [Applause] but the game right now is at the plate i'm thinking what mel told me high fly ball into right field she is [Applause] gone when i come around second base that's when i pull this out of it that was totally spontaneous i never thought about doing that i'm jumping in and out of the frame like a little kid like a six-year-old that just got told there's another christmas i'm going like this and i'm telling people get out of his way because if you interfered with the runner before he touched home plate they could call it off that moment was the culmination of many many failures [Music] and i didn't feel anything but joy i promise you that in a year that has been so improbable the impossible has happened [Music] i just saw how it came off like oh my god you know and snap my neck it was slow motion absolute shock how far he hit that ball as soon as i dropped my bat i knew it was gone that one here was just perfect it's that finish watch lasagna i'm underneath the ballpark remember but i can hear the crowd you knew the pitch was gone [Applause] i ran back two or three steps and then i'm watching this thing 40 feet over my head going out and i'm thinking this is not happening [Music] [Applause] that's one of the craziest moments of my life and then it sets in that this is it what happened they were stunned everybody was stunned and then it was lonely i was looking for eye contact from somebody on my team like oh help me you know what i'm saying my biggest regret was not staying in the dugout waiting for i'd come off the mountain i took my to this day i have regretted not being there when he came off [Applause] did you know it was gone [Applause] little did i know it'd be one of the most important and impactful plays in the game of baseball there ever [Applause] was swings on a flying ball to deep right field this is going to be a home run unbelievable [Applause] [Music] and the tigers have won the game five to four i don't [Applause] the one thing that i really remember is you know the fans in la are notorious for leaving early i see in the outfield parking lot behind the pavilion the red brake lights just people going i left too early they are going wild at donut stadium no one wants to leave we're in the car driving out and we are staring at dodger stadium from the outside just hearing the radio announce it it was a these sort of confluence of feelings where you know you're overjoyed but you're also you know you're you're so furious and your parents for dragging you out of there in retrospect it was a boneheaded decision but we wouldn't be sitting here if we had stayed herscheiser struggling in the ninth and steinbach waiting for one last shot and kirk gibson knows what you can do with one last shot got it they've done it like the 1969 mets it's the impossible dream revisited [Applause] [Music] it's incredible they said we're the worst team ever to win a world series i love it [Music] your whole life your whole career fighting through people saying don't give up [Music] i wish i could live that moment every day i wish you could live that moment every day somber news coming out of detroit today kirk gibson acknowledging today that he has been diagnosed with parkinson's disease i'm going to deal with this like i've dealt with everything else [Music] i've embraced the fact that i have parkinson's disease and i carry parky around every single day you can sit in a corner not an option when i lose my voice i know through affirmation how to overcome it [Music] i know i gotta do my i know i gotta pull it up [Music] you have to accept the challenge you have to do it with passion you have to do with determination you have to address it every single day our mind is so powerful so why not create a good picture whatever goals i have i'm going to keep going until i can't go and do it with smile on my face because it makes me feel so good [Music] you

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Length: 43min 52sec (2632 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 19 2020