Miracle Men excerpt: Game 7, 1988 NLCS -- Mets at Dodgers

This is an excerpt from my recent book: "Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson & the Improbable 1988 Dodgers." You can order a copy here, here, or at most major bookstores.

Wednesday, October 12, 1988

Los Angeles

Mets vs. Dodgers

NLCS Game 7

There was never a doubt that Orel Hershiser would start Game 7 for the Dodgers. 

There was plenty of doubt—and questions remain 25 years later—about Ron Darling starting Game 7 for the Mets. Many question why Doc Gooden didn’t start the game. Many believe the Mets thought they could win with Darling, and they were saving Gooden for Game 1 of the World Series.

Photo courtesy of LA Daily News

But really, Darling was the Mets’ only option because of the rainout. The rainout meant two off-days between Games 2 and 3 and no off-day between Games 5 and 6. Gooden started Game 1, then Game 4 on four days rest. With the travel day wiped out, Gooden would be starting Game 7 on two days rest. That just wasn’t realistic. Gooden was available in relief, but he wouldn’t start.

David Cone started Games 2 and 6 (on four days rest). Sid Fernandez started Game 5. That left Ron Darling, who started Game 3, to start Game 7 on three days rest.

How much did Hershiser have left in his arm? To review: he threw 100 pitches in 81/3 innings in Game 1, 109 pitches in 7 innings in freezing cold weather on three days rest in Game 3, three pitches to one batter on zero days of rest in Game 4, warmed up in the bullpen in Game 5, and was now starting Game 7. It was three starts and four appearances in nine days.

“There’s no telling what kind of condition The Bionic Man will be in,” Mets manager Davey Johnson said in pregame. “I was amazed he was throwing [in the bullpen in Game 5]. He’s going to have to be Superman. I don’t expect him to have much stuff.”

When told of Johnson’s comments, Hershiser replied, “Tell him to grab a bat.”

It wasn’t the last time Hershiser would tell somebody to grab a bat in October.

Miracle Men excerpt: Game 6, 1988 NLCS -- Mets at Dodgers

This is an excerpt from my recent book: "Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson & the Improbable 1988 Dodgers." You can order a copy here, here, or at most major bookstores.

Tuesday, October 11, 1988

Los Angeles

Mets vs. Dodgers

NLCS Game 6

David Cone was starting for the Mets. It seemed like an eternity since his newspaper career ended. He was glad the focus was just on baseball once again, called Game 6 the biggest start of his life, and was more worried about a suddenly potent Dodgers lineup than the bench jockeying he endured in Game 2. Davey Johnson gave him the option of traveling to Los Angeles ahead of the team to get more rest. Cone declined because he wanted to be with his teammates.

Tim Leary was starting for the Dodgers. An ineffective September pushed him to the bullpen at the start of the series. Leary understood. His arm was fatigued. He’d thrown a full Winter League season and then 228 2/3 innings in the regular season. His brief relief appearance in Game 4 didn’t go well. He was facing the team that originally drafted him. Ron Darling was his former roommate, and Wally Backman was his minor league teammate.

Orel Hershiser was not starting or relieving for the Dodgers. Hershiser started Game 1, started Game 3, pitched in relief in Game 4, and warmed up in Game 5. Hershiser volunteered to pitch Game 6 in relief. 

Lasorda said, “No chance.” Hershiser was being saved for Game 7. “He’s crazy, just crazy,” Lasorda said. “No way he pitches. I’ll tell Jamie [his wife] not to let him out of the house.”

If it’s possible for a game’s tone to get set by the National Anthem, this was it. Saxophonist Kenny G played an over-styled National Anthem that clocked at more than two minutes—the over-under for Super Bowl National Anthems is usually 1:34—and at times didn’t sound like the National Anthem.

Saxophone critic Steve Sax declared, “It was the worst I’ve ever heard, the absolute worst. It was terrible, fucking terrible.”

Mike Marshall agreed, “It was a disgrace to America.”

Miracle Men excerpt: Game 5, 1988 NLCS -- Dodgers at Mets

This is an excerpt from my recent book: "Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson & the Improbable 1988 Dodgers." You can order a copy here, here, or at most major bookstores.

Monday, October 10, 1988

New York

Dodgers vs. Mets

NLCS Game 5

Jay Howell watched Game 4 from his hotel room with his wife, Alison. Crank callers found out his hotel room and called to heckle him, pour more salt in the wounds. Normally, they’d have taken the phone off the hook. But they were awaiting another phone call.

Late that night, the call arrived. Alison’s father, Otto Quale, died of cancer. Otto knew he was going to die. He never let his daughter and son-in-law know how bad his condition was. He loved Jay Howell like his own son and lived vicariously through his major league career. In his will, Otto arranged for his own memorial service to take place in November, just in case the Dodgers were in the World Series. Otto didn’t want his funeral affecting Howell or the team.

Jay and Alison Howell never got the chance to say goodbye to Otto Quale. The only people who knew about his death were Tommy Lasorda and Fred Claire. Howell’s name was all over the newspapers. He wanted to appeal his decision and wanted to explain his motivation to National League president Bart Giamatti. He didn’t want people to think it was sandpaper, that he was a cheater for life. An informal hearing expedited the process. Giamatti cut a game off the suspension, making Howell eligible to pitch in Game 6.

Giamatti told Howell, “You’ll be in the headlines for a couple more weeks, and somebody else is going to take over in a big way, let me tell you. You’re not going to make headlines for long, I can assure you.”

Miracle Men excerpt: Game 4, 1988 NLCS -- Dodgers at Mets

This is an excerpt from my recent book: "Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson & the Improbable 1988 Dodgers." You can order a copy here, here, or at most major bookstores.

Sunday, October 9, 1988

New York

Dodgers vs. Mets

NLCS Game 4

This was why the Dodgers acquired John Tudor. This was why they traded Pedro Guerrero. They acquired John Tudor to face the big, bad New York Mets—who were more vulnerable against lefties—in playoff games like this.

In the regular season, Tudor did what he was supposed to do. In nine starts, he posted a 2.41 ERA down the stretch. He went 4–3, and the team went 6–3. Tudor didn’t join his new teammates in the champagne celebration that night in San Diego. He’d only been there a little over a month. He thought it was their celebration, not his, because they were going to win the division no matter what he did.

The playoffs were different. Tudor knew that’s why he was acquired—to take the place of Fernando Valenzuela in the rotation. If he did his job and there was another celebration, Tudor would partake.

Tudor was starting Game 4 on eight days of rest. His last outing was September 30, and he lasted 11/3 innings until the spasms in his hip ended his night. The start before that, he pitched just four innings. He had no idea how his arm and hip would respond until he was out there.

But now the Dodgers needed Tudor more than ever. On their 24-man playoff roster, they carried nine pitchers. Jay Howell was suspended for three games, so now they were down to eight pitchers.

Miracle Men excerpt: Game 3, 1988 NLCS -- Dodgers at Mets

This is an excerpt from my recent book: "Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson & the Improbable 1988 Dodgers." You can order a copy here, here, or at most major bookstores.

Chapter 15

NLCS

Saturday, October 9, 1988

New York

Dodgers vs. Mets

NLCS Game 3

The Mets were still steamed at the David Cone drama. They weren’t happy about what he said and how those words appeared in print. But they were even more upset at the crude and obscene things the Dodgers yelled at Cone from their dugout.

“Sportsmanship is out,” was the first sentence in a story in The New York Post. The Mets vowed they would get revenge. They had a pretty good idea how to do it. They just had to wait for the right moment.

They would wait through the travel day. They would wait through another day, after rain postponed Game 3 from Friday to Saturday. They would wait until late in Game 3, when the opportunity presented itself.

Because of the rainout, and because of the fragile condition of John Tudor’s hip and elbow and shoulder, Orel Hershiser started Game 3 on three days rest. Hershiser considered it a blessing, not a detriment. Two of the shutouts during The Streak came on three days rest. The sinker worked better when he wasn’t as rested. Plus, Hershiser was still angry about how Game 1 ended, and he was eager to get back on the mound.

Roger McDowell looks at the rain that plagued Game 3

In retrospect, Hershiser thought Game 3 should have been postponed yet another day. The temperature at first pitch was 43 degrees. The wind was blowing at 10 mph. The game started at 12:20 pm in New York, and it was so overcast, it looked like it was already a night game. In the official box score for the game, the field condition is described as “soaked.”

Mets owner Nelson Doubleday wanted a night game so the field would have more time to dry out. Doubleday fumed to Newsday that television was “screwing the national pastime.... This is the Fall Classic and we have to change things because the networks want to make money off us and off college football and pro football? When do we start making sense? They should come to us and ask us when we are going to play the games. I don’t want my guys playing on a soggy field. I don’t want a game decided because somebody’s outfielder slipped on wet grass. TV shouldn’t want it, either.”

Miracle Men excerpt: Game 2, 1988 NLCS -- Mets at Dodgers

Chapter 15

NLCS

Wednesday, October 5, 1988

Los Angeles

Mets vs. Dodgers

NLCS Game 2

Dave Anderson didn’t make the playoff roster because of a back injury. He’d done a yeoman’s job subbing for Alfredo Griffin at shortstop for two months. In the playoffs, he’d have to find another way to contribute. Anderson arrived early for Game 2, and a Dodgers public relations member showed him an article from the New York Daily News.

“Ever heard the saying, ‘Better to be lucky than good?’ Trash it, because Hershiser was just lucky. Look what happened to luck in the ninth inning last night. It’s called justice—catching up to luck and pummeling it into the ground. Trouble was, Orel was lucky for eight innings.”

Those weren’t the words of a New York columnist stirring things up. Those words were under a first-person byline of David Cone, the starting pitcher in Game 2 of the playoffs. Cone didn’t “write” the column himself. He was interviewed by Bob Klapisch, who was responsible for putting his thoughts into print.

That wasn’t even the most controversial part of the column, either.

“I’ll tell you a secret: As soon as we got Orel out of the game, we knew we’d beat the Dodgers. Knew it even after Jay Howell had struck out HoJo. We saw Howell throwing curveball after curveball, and we were thinking, This is the Dodgers’ idea of a stopper? Our idea is Randy [Myers], a guy who can blow you away with his heat. Seeing Howell and his curveball reminded us of a high school pitcher.”

Anderson made copies of the column, underlined the key passages, and plastered the clubhouse with them. He put them in the trainer’s room, on the walls of the clubhouse, on the chairs of teammates, and a stack was on Tommy Lasorda’s desk.

“Trying to do something, you know, to motivate the boys,” Anderson recalled, laughing.

Miracle Men excerpt: Game 1, 1988 NLCS -- Mets at Dodgers

This is an excerpt from my recent book: "Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson and the Improbable '88 Dodgers" that is available to order here, here or at most major bookstores. 

Chapter 15

NLCS

Tuesday, October 4, 1988

Los Angeles

Mets vs. Dodgers

NLCS Game 1

The space shuttle Discovery returned to earth, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, and welcomed by more than 400,000 exuberant witnesses that included vice president George Bush. A NASA physician boarded the space plane, giving checkups to astronauts Frederick H. Hauck, Richard O. Covey, John M. Lounge, George D. Nelson, and David C. Hilmers. They exited the plane waving American flags. It was the first mission since the Challenger disaster 33 months earlier.

One-hundred fourteen miles to the south, doctors and trainers were checking on Kirk Gibson, as well. Gibson started six of the Dodgers’ final 14 regular season games. Part of this was because the Dodgers had a big lead and they could afford to rest him. The bigger reason was his body—in particular, a pulled hamstring and sore knee—needed time to heal.

Gibson had run hard once in the last two weeks. He couldn’t walk for two days afterward. It was the worst he’d felt all season. The hamstring was bothering him. But now his knee was killing him. Gibson thought he’d have to throttle down a little, if that was possible. He didn’t want to end up crippled. But he knew one thing.

“I will be in the lineup,” Gibson said. “I will be in the fucking lineup.”

Gibson didn’t fill out the lineup, though. Tommy Lasorda did. One factor would determine if Lasorda would start Gibson in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Mets.

Comparing the 1988 Dodgers to the 2013 Dodgers

-- by @Josh_Suchon

Anytime the Dodgers reach the playoffs, it's natural to compare that team to the last Dodgers team to win the World Series. 

Since this is the 25th anniversary of the 1988 team, and I wrote a book about that season, I've been getting a lot of questions about those natural comparisons. 

The short response is those teams are totally different. The 2013 team was built on star power at every position and the highest payroll in baseball. The 1988 team rode the arm of ace Orel Hershiser, the fire and clutch hits of Kirk Gibson, and a cast of role players to hoist the championship trophy into the air.

However, a closer examination reveals there are some parallels.