One Good Swing

              The 1988 World Series was one filled with drama, suspense and overcoming odds.  Those things all happened in game one alone. 

                The Dodgers took on the Athletics in game one of the World Series.  It was a battle of the bays.  Oakland however, was the favored California club with sluggers Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco leading the charge.  With a pitching staff lead by ace Dave Stewart, the Athletics were a force to be reckoned with.  Meanwhile the Dodgers were in deep trouble.  Their league MVP and the heart of the team Kirk Gibson had torn ligaments in his legs and could barely walk, let alone generate the power to hit a baseball.  Things seemed bleak for the Dodgers.

                In Game one Kirk Gibson was out of the starting lineup and broadcaster Vin Scully said on the broadcast that Kirk would not play in the game.  Kirk Gibson was sitting in the clubhouse and saw Scully say that he would be out for the game and possibly the series.  This angered Gibson and released the determined beast from within.  Manager Tommy Lasorda came into the clubhouse to see how Gibson was.  Kirk said he had one good swing left in him and if he needed him that he could hit in one at bat.  Lasorda, knowing that Gibson could change his mind at any moment ran out of the room. 

                There came a time when Kirk was needed.  The Dodgers trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth and coming on the mound was Dennis Eckersley.  Eckersley recorded over 42 saves in 1988 and was considered to be one of the game’s most dominating closers.  His fastball and slider were as deadly a combination as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig with a bat.  Gibson came up to Lasorda in the ninth and told Lasorda that he was ready.    

Eckersley quickly got out the first batter of the inning on a pop up to the infield.  The next batter also got out, but pinch hitter Mike Davis walked and Kirk Gibson hobbled out of the dugout.  His legs were like swelled up toothpicks ready to snap.  He took so long to get to the plate, that Dennis Eckersley was getting extremely impatient and might have lost some of his command.

Kirk Gibson stood against the game’s most feared closer.  Eckersley made Gibson look silly firing two fastballs that Kirk could barely foul off.  The patient Gibson forced Eckersley to make some bad pitches until he forced a 3-2 count.  As Eckersley was about to throw the next pitch, Kirk called a timeout.  He said to himself that Eckersley would throw him a 3-2 slider.   Kirk stepped back into the batter’s box and Eckersley threw that slider. Gibson used that one good swing to make a nervous crowd scream in pure joy. 

Kirk Gibson hit a game winning walk off homerun to give the Dodgers a game one win.  After the homerun, you could see Tommy Lasorda hopping up and down like a sugar hyped five year old.  The atmosphere in the stadium was astounding.  You couldn’t get the fans to leave.  This brought the momentum to the Dodgers as they would win the World Series four games to one. 

     That homerun gave the Dodgers triumph.  Though Gibson would never play another game in the series, his one good swing was all they needed.  Sometimes one good swing is all you need to become a baseball immortal.