Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 6: I'll Tell a Story

Game 4, 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets

October 9, 1988, Shea Stadium, Queens, New York

Mets lead 2-1 

As Game 4 of the NLCS was finally over and everybody watching was finally able to let out their breath, Al Michaels asked "When you write the story of this game, where do you begin?" But unlike his slightly more famous question, Michaels didn't answer this one for his viewers.

So where do you begin to tell the story of Game 4?

Maybe you begin with Orel Hershiser, the Dodgers ace who ended the 1988 season with a Major League record 59 consecutive scoreless innings. He pitched six times in September and didn't give up a run, five complete games and one 10-inning game where he finally had to be pulled to rest for the playoffs. Riding a record-breaking hot streak, Hershiser shut out the Mets through 8 innings of Game 1. But Hershiser then gave up his first run since August on a ninth-inning double by Darryl Strawberry, then he watched from the bench as the Dodgers bullpen blew the rest of the game to give the Mets a 1-0 series lead.

Or perhaps you begin to tell the story by talking about a key member of that Dodgers bullpen. Jay Howell was the Dodgers' closer in 1988, the anchor of what was (during the regular season at least) a very good group of relievers. A rainout pushed Game 3 back a day and allowed Hershiser to start again, and while a probably tired Hershiser wasn't nearly as sharp, he pitched well enough to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead entering the 8th. Howell came in to relieve at that point, threw five pitches, then watched as Mets manager Davey Johnson walked toward home plate umpire Joe West. Johnson asked West to check Howell's glove; West did exactly that, discovered the secret stash of pine tar Howell had on the inside of his glove, then tossed Howell from the game. The Dodgers melted down and lost the game, then lost Howell for the next three games as his automatic suspension took effect.

I was going to write something else about Gibson
here, but I just noticed this - does he have two
batting gloves in his hands and one in his pocket? 
Or am I crazy?

Or I suppose you begin to tell the story by talking about Kirk Gibson. After a decade as the Tigers' physical and emotional leader, Gibson joined the Dodgers as a free agent in 1988. His signing paid immediate dividends, as he won the National League MVP award by being essentially the only Dodger who could hit. But Gibson stopped hitting in the NLCS, going 1-for-11 in the first three games as he was fighting a leg injury. If the Dodgers were going to come from behind in the series, Gibson would have to turn things around.

Or maybe you begin to tell the story in the 12th inning, when all those storylines converged.

But to tell about the 12th inning, you have to get through the first 11 first.

In 1988, Doc Gooden had taken a step back from his career peak - cocaine suspensions will do that to you - but he was still a feared pitcher as he took the mound in Game 4 for his second start of the series. It was a little surprising when the Dodgers scored two runs off Gooden in the first, but then Gooden bared down, as aces tend to do, and started shutting down the Dodgers. The Mets scored three in the 4th and one in the 6th, and Gooden did the rest. The Mets took a 4-2 lead entering the 9th, and the Dodgers looked cooked: They were trailing 2-1 in the series, Hershiser had been used twice already, their closer was suspended, and their best hitter wasn't hitting. It looked like the series was about to be 3-1.

So now you can start to tell the story.

Maybe Gooden was tired to start the 9th. He had already thrown more than 120 pitches, just four days after throwing 101 in Game 1. Or maybe he was a bit too relaxed, knowing a two-run lead was probably enough. Whatever the reason, he walked centerfielder John Shelby to lead off the 9th. And right as the announcers were trying to figure out the best way to talk about the dangers of walking the leadoff batter, Mike Scioscia drilled the first pitch over the wall in right to tie the game.

Now it was a battle of the bullpens, and the Dodgers were missing one of the key parts of theirs. So they handed the ball to Alejandro Pena and said "good luck." Pena gave them three shutout innings; he walked two in the bottom of the 11th, but escaped without giving up the winning run. 

So it was on to the 12th. After two quick outs, Gibson came up. Now 1-for-16 in the series and noticeably struggling to walk, this was his chance to atone for his bad series and show the Dodgers why they signed him. And after one strike, he delivered, hitting his biggest home run as a Dodger - to that point, anyway.

The Dodgers, improbably, had the lead. But now they had to deal with the minor problem: their closer was in a hotel room, suspended, and they were almost out of pitchers. 

They first tried Tim Leary as a closer. Leary was normally a starter, but lost his turn to start when Game 3 got delayed, so he was making his first appearance of the series. And maybe because he wasn't normally a reliever, he allowed the first two Mets to reach base. Leary got a break when Gregg Jefferies tried to bunt, failed, and flied to left instead.

So there was one out, and two lefties coming up, so the Dodgers turned to Jesse Orosco. Two years earlier, Orosco had been on the mound to close out the 1986 World Series for the Mets. Now he was essentially a lefty specialist, so this should have been in his wheelhouse. But he walked lefty Keith Hernandez to load the bases, then threw a first-pitch ball to the lefty Darryl Strawberry. At this point, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda jumped out of the dugout, jogged to the mound, asked Orosco what the hell he was doing, then walked back to the dugout. Orosco must have said something like "I'm just setting Strawberry up so I can get him to pop out to second," because that's what he did.

So now there were two outs, but a righty was up next, and Lasorda didn't want Orosco to face a righty. He was out of relievers. His closer was in a hotel room. But if you looked again, you saw there was one man in the Dodgers bullpen.

Hershiser certainly didn't expect to pitch in Game 4 after starting Game 3. He absolutely wasn't in condition to - even the best pitchers need some rest. But there he came, jogging in from the bullpen to try to get the final out. Any hit by Kevin McReynolds wins the game for the Mets and essentially puts the series to bed. Any out wins the game for the Dodgers and ties the series.

Hershiser jammed McReynolds. McReynolds hit a soft fly ball to center, shallow enough that Shelby was running in and the infielders were running out. Then Shelby got there, closing his glove on the ball, and Al Michaels was asking questions.

...................

Howell came back to the active roster for Game 7, but he wasn't needed. Hershiser found his late-season groove again and threw a complete game shutout to send the Dodgers to the World Series. 

Gibson got (even more) hurt running the bases in Game 7 and had to leave early. He only had one more at bat in 1988. You may have heard of it.

Howell finally got to pitch again in Game 3 of the World Series, when he gave up a walk-off home run to Mark McGwire. He recovered to get the save in Game 4, though.

So it was Gibson giving them the win in Game 1, Howell saving Game 4. The other two games belonged to Hershiser, who threw complete games in Games 2 and 5 to give the Dodgers the title.

 

Game 4, 1988 National League Championship Series Overall Rank: 6 Top 10 Swing: 245 Top play: Gibson's winning home run (WPA of 43% for Los Angeles) Loser's largest WE: 95 Middle of the 8th, Mets up 4-2 Average LI: 1.74 Highest leverage moment: 10.73 (B12, 2 outs, bases loaded, Los Angeles up 5-4, Kevin McReynolds batting for New York)