1988 World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs Oakland Athletics (1) | Baseball Almanac

In 1988, the World Series Championship was transformed into a "California Classic" as the Los Angeles Dodgers went up against the neighboring Oakland Athletics. Los Angeles had benefited from the amazing arm of Orel Hershiser who had ended the regular season with a record-breaking fifty-nine consecutive scoreless innings as well as one win and one save in the National League Championship Series. Oakland boasted their own ace in Dave Stewart who had won twenty-one games during the A's quest for the American League pennant (which they won by a thirteen game margin before sweeping the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs). Although relatively equal on the mound, the A's held a slight advantage at the plate after assembling the "Dynamic Duo" of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire who combined for seventy-four home runs and two-hundred twenty-three runs batted in during the regular season. With such evenly-matched teams the Series proposed to go seven, but many experts would be surprised by the sudden outcome of the West Coast vs. West Coast affair.

Manager Tom Lasorda went with Tim Belcher in place of Hershiser for Game 1 choosing to save the right-handed ace for another day. Although he got off to a rough start, the rookie managed to work his way out of loading the bases in the first. After his teammates tagged Stewart for the 2-0 lead, Belcher repeated his folly by loading the bases again in the second. This time he wasn't as lucky as Canseco brought them all home with the fifteenth grand slam in World Series history. LA's bullpen got the call early and held Oakland at bay for the remaining innings, but the damage had already been done. The Dodgers line-up crept within 4-3 in the sixth, but still trailed by one in the bottom of the ninth with no one on. With the A's ace reliever, Dennis Eckersley (forty-five saves) on the mound Oakland figured it was over, but the resilient Dodgers weren't going down without a fight. Pinch-hitter Mike Davis managed to force a walk, but Lasorda sent in a crippled Kirk Gibson to bat for their reliever Alejandro Pena. At first, the decision appeared completely irrational, but somehow the outfielder worked past his pain and launched a bleacher blast (with a 3-2 count) for the game winning run. It was the first time a World Series game had ever been won on a come-from-behind home run in the last inning and the fact that Gibson could hold his stance, let alone swing the bat made the blast even more amazing.

Hershiser finally got his chance in Game 2 and following Gibson's inspirational lead. The Dodgers' twenty-three game winner went three-for-three at the plate and tossed a three hit masterpiece that was supported by Mike Marshall's three run homer for the 6-0 triumph. As the contest moved to Oakland, the Athletics were determined to get back in the race on the bats of McGwire and Canseco. After going 0-9 in the first two outings, "Big Mac" finally connected and broke a 1-1 tie in Game 3 with a ninth-inning homer off Los Angeles reliever Jay Howell. The controversial closer had been suspended during the championship series for using pine tar in his glove and the last-minute loss did nothing for his fading reputation. He would have his revenge the following day though as he found himself facing McGwire again in a bases-loaded mess with two out in the seventh. This time, it would be the pitcher who prevailed as he induced the future home run champ to fly-out for the 4-3 final.

Now up three games to one, the Dodgers prepared to finish their rivals in Game 5. Hershiser returned and maintained his perfect record with a brilliant four hit effort that was sweetened by nine strike outs. Mickey Hatcher set the pace for the Dodgers with a two-run shot off of A's starter Storm Davis in the first inning. The unlikely hero (who had managed one home run during the regular season) would finish the Series with two homers and a leading .368 average proving the old adage "better late than never". Another Davis, ("Mike" of the Dodgers that is...) came up huge while playing the unfamiliar role of designated hitter. Benefiting from the American League ballpark rule that allowed for a DH on both sides, the LA slugger drilled a two-run homer in the fourth en route to a 5-2 Dodger victory that wrapped up their seventh championship and sixth World Series crown.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I think anybody who signs Orel Hershiser will be pleased with the whole package. He's one of the classiest, team-oriented players I've ever been around." - Colletti, Ned. San Francisco Giants Assistant General Manager.

1988 World Series

1988 World Series Official Logo

1988 World Series Official Logo

1987 | Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs Oakland Athletics (1) | 1989

Game 1 Date | Box Score 10-15-1988
Location Dodger Stadium
1st Pitch From To
Nancy Reagan (First Lady) Mike Scioscia
Attendance 55,983
National Anthem Debbie Gibson (Pop Singer)
Game 2 Date | Box Score 10-16-1988
Location Dodger Stadium
1st Pitch From To
Orel L. Hershiser III (Father of Orel Hershiser) Mike Scioscia
Mildred I. Gillman-Hershiser (Mother of Orel Hershiser) Rick Dempsey
Attendance 56,051
National Anthem Take 6 (An A Cappella Gospel Sextet)
Game 3 Date | Box Score 10-18-1988
Location Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
1st Pitch From To
Walter A. Haas, Jr. (Oakland Athletics owner, 1980-95) Ron Hassey
Attendance 49,316
National Anthem Maureen McGovern (Singer / Broadway Actress)
Game 4 Date | Box Score 10-19-1988
Location Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
1st Pitch From To
Mark Marquess (Stanford Coach / US Olympic Coach) Undetermined
Attendance 49,317
National Anthem Peter Cetera (Singer / Bass Guitar Player / Formerly with Chicago)
Game 5 Date | Box Score 10-20-1988
Location Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
1st Pitch From To
Rollie Fingers Undetermined
Reggie Jackson Undetermined
Gene Tenace Undetermined
Attendance 49,317
1988 World Series History | Research by Baseball Almanac

Game 1 of the 1988 World Series

1988 World Series Program

1988 World Series Official Program

Line Score | Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 0
Los Angeles 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 7 0
Dave Stewart
   Dennis Eckersley (L, 9th)
  -
  -
Tim Belcher
  Tim Leary (3rd)
  Brian Holton (6th)
  Alejandro Pena (W, 8th)
Jose Canseco (2nd)
-
Mickey Hatcher (1st)
Kirk Gibson (9th)

Game 2 of the 1988 World Series

Line Score | Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Los Angeles 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 x 6 10 1
Storm Davis (L)
  Gene Nelson (4th)
  Curt Young (6th)
  Eric Plunk (7th)
  Rick Honeycutt (8th)
Orel Hershiser (W)
  -
  -
  -
  -
None Mike Marshall (3rd)

Game 3 of the 1988 World Series

Line Score | Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 1
Oakland 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 0
John Tudor
  Tim Leary (2nd)
  Alejandro Pena (6th)
  Jay Howell (L, 9th)
Bob Welch
  Greg Cadaret (6th)
  Gene Nelson (6th)
  Rick Honeycutt (W, 8th)
None Mark McGwire (9th)

Game 4 of the 1988 World Series

Line Score | Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 8 1
Oakland 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 9 2
Tim Belcher (W)
  Jay Howell (S, 7th)
  -
Dave Stewart (L)
  Greg Cadaret (7th)
  Dennis Eckersley (9th)
None None

Game 5 of the 1988 World Series
Game 5

Line Score | Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 5 8 0
Oakland 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 0
Orel Hershiser (W)
  -
  -
  -
  -
  -
Storm Davis (L)
  Greg Cadaret (5th)
  Gene Nelson (5th)
  Rick Honeycutt (8th)
  Eric Plunk (9th)
  Todd Burns (9th)
Mickey Hatcher (1st)
Mike Davis (4th)
None
-

1988 World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series Composite Hitting Statistics

Dave Anderson
Tim Belcher
Mike Davis
Rick Dempsey
Kirk Gibson
Jose Gonzalez
Alfredo Griffin
Jeff Hamilton
Mickey Hatcher
Danny Heep
Orel Hershiser
Brian Holton
Jay Howell
Tim Leary
Mike Marshall
Alejandro Pena
Steve Sax
Mike Scioscia
John Shelby
Franklin Stubbs
John Tudor
Tracy Woodson
dh
p
dh-2,of-1
c
ph
of-3
ss
3b
of
of-1,dh-1
p
p
p
p
of
p
2b
c
of
1b
p
1b-3
1
2
4
2
1
4
5
5
5
3
2
1
2
2
5
2
5
4
5
5
1
4
1
0
7
5
1
2
16
19
19
8
3
0
0
0
13
0
20
14
18
17
0
4
0
0
1
1
1
0
3
2
7
2
3
0
0
0
3
0
6
3
4
5
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
1
0
2
1
5
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
3
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
2
1
2
0
0
0
5
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
0
1
1
2
0
1
.000
.000
.143
.200
1.000
.000
.188
.105
.368
.250
1.000
.000
.000
.000
.231
.000
.300
.214
.222
.294
.000
.000
0
0
4
1
0
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
1
0
0
1
0
0
2
0
2
4
4
3
2
0
0
0
0
5
0
1
2
7
3
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0

1988 World Series

Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics 1988 World Series Composite Hitting Statistics

Don Baylor
Todd Burns
Greg Cadaret
Jose Canseco
Storm Davis
Dennis Eckersley
Mike Gallego
Ron Hassey
Dave Henderson
Rick Honeycutt
Glenn Hubbard
Stan Javier
Carney Lansford
Mark McGwire
Gene Nelson
Dave Parker
Tony Phillips
Eric Plunk
Luis Polonia
Terry Steinbach
Dave Stewart
Walt Weiss
Bob Welch
Curt Young
ph
p
p
of
p
p
2b
c-4
of
p
2b
of-2
3b
1b
p
of-2,dh-2
2b-1,of-1
p
of-2
c-2,dh-1
p
ss
p
p
1
1
3
5
2
2
1
5
5
3
4
3
5
5
3
4
2
2
3
3
2
5
1
1
1
0
0
19
1
0
0
8
20
0
12
4
18
17
0
15
4
0
9
11
3
16
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
6
0
3
2
3
1
0
3
1
0
1
4
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
0
2
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
.000
.000
.053
.000
.000
.000
.250
.300
.000
.250
.500
.167
.059
.000
.200
.250
.000
.111
.364
.000
.063
.000
.000
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
3
2
0
1
0
2
3
0
2
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
5
1
0
0
3
7
0
2
1
2
4
0
4
2
0
2
2
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1988 World Series Composite Batting Statistics | Bold = World Series MVP

1988 World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series Composite Pitching Statistics

Tim Belcher
Orel Hershiser
Brian Holton
Jay Howell
Tim Leary
Alejandro Pena
John Tudor
1
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
2
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
8.2
18.0
2.0
2.2
6.2
5.0
1.1
6.23
1.00
0.00
3.38
1.35
0.00
0.00
10
7
0
3
6
2
0
10
17
0
2
4
7
1
6
2
0
1
1
0
0
6
6
1
1
2
1
0

1988 World Series

Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics 1988 World Series Composite Pitching Statistics

Todd Burns
Greg Cadaret
Storm Davis
Dennis Eckersley
Rick Honeycutt
Gene Nelson
Eric Plunk
Dave Stewart
Bob Welch
Curt Young
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
3
2
2
3
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.1
2.0
8.0
1.2
3.1
6.1
1.2
14.1
5.0
1.0
0.00
0.00
11.25
10.80
0.00
1.42
0.00
3.14
1.80
0.00
0
2
14
2
0
4
0
12
6
1
0
3
7
2
5
3
3
5
8
0
0
0
10
2
0
1
0
5
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
3
0
5
3
0
1988 World Series Composite Pitching Statistics | Bold = World Series MVP
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Did you know that Jose Canseco was the American League home run leader coming into the 1988 World Series and during Game 1 he hit his first career (including regular season) grand slam.

Mickey Hatcher had only one home run during the entire regular season, yet he set the tone for the Fall Classic in Game 1 with with a two-run left-center blast.

Orel Hershiser started two games, won both games, completed both (no relief), threw a shutout in one-of-the-two, and finished the series with a 1.00 earned run average — earning a well-deserved World Series Most Valuable Player Award.