35 years ago tonight.

[Jesus_Muscatel]

I was on a date that night, and we were having such a good time just sitting and talking on an outdoor, waterfront deck that I didn't even think about the ballgame I was missing. At one point later on, though, I went inside to get us another round, and while I was waiting on the bartender, I got to catch just a few minutes of the World Series opener.

Bar crowd sure was buzzing at that moment – and, oh look, Kirk Gibson is hobbling up to the plate ...

So I got to see the homer, and the great home-run trot that followed, and that was all I saw of 1988 Game 1. ... Great night!

I had a similar experience when the ball went through Bill Buckner's legs. At a crowded bar in Manhattan, as an interloper to do an NFL game the next day in Jersey ...

 

[playthrough]

There's been a decent amount of walk-off HRs in the World Series in my lifetime, including Joe Carter's Series-clincher. I know Gibson was hobbled, but I've never understood why a Game 1 home run has had so much reverence.

Aside from the walkoff, Gibson's HR is similar to Eric Davis' Game 1 homer in 1990 vs. Oakland in that it gave the underdog the belief that the mighty A's could be beaten. For Reds fans that blast will never be forgotten.

 

[Tighthead]

No offense, but the one he hit four years earlier off of Goose Gossage in Game 5 was the Kirk Gibson World Series moment most people from southeastern Michigan of a certain age will never forget.

The YouTube clip where Sparky is yelling at Gibson "he's gonna pitch to you", and Gossage telling Williams he would get him out.

Edit: here it is, @maumann I am sure you've watched it a time or two. I was a huge Gibson fan as a kid.

 

[UNCGrad]

What a great forking story.

I've probably shared on other threads how that night I stood on a stairwell in the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium and saw the homer land nearby. I worked as an usher at Dodger Stadium during and after college. By 1988 I was working as sports editor in Podunk, but the Dodgers hired extra staff for the postseason and I needed extra money to buy a house, so I came back to work the Division Series and World Series.
I was assigned to the right field bleachers for Game 1 of the World Series. A couple of us took a late break and as we hustled back to our posts for the ninth inning I remember wondering why people were leaving at the start of the final inning of a one-run World Series game. Other than the home run, the brake lights in the parking lot are an iconic moment from that evening.
We knew we saw something special, but we had no idea how special it was or would become. And who knew we'd wait more than three decades for the next World Series title.
I was on the second stairwell over from the right field bullpen, one section to the left of where the ball landed, and think I can see myself, in my white shirt and straw hat, raise my arms as the ball clears the fence, but I've never seen a definitive shot.
I still get chills every time I see the replay.

 

[Slacker]

The YouTube clip where Sparky is yelling at Gibson "he's gonna pitch to you", and Gossage telling Williams he would get him out.

Edit: here it is, @maumann I am sure you've watched it a time or two. I was a huge Gibson fan as a kid.

That big, confident grin Sparky gives Gibson while telling him to go after it had to be a great booster shot for Gibby in the moment.

 

[UNCGrad]

Why did Eck ever, ever throw something off-speed?

 

[Tighthead]

That big, confident grin Sparky gives Gibson while telling him to go after it had to be a great booster shot for Gibby in the moment.

Sparky looks like he is coaching little league.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

A World Series in mid-October!?! Imagine that!

 

[Twirling Time]

A World Series in mid-October!?! Imagine that!

And with double-digit TV ratings!

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Aside from the walkoff, Gibson's HR is similar to Eric Davis' Game 1 homer in 1990 vs. Oakland in that it gave the underdog the belief that the mighty A's could be beaten. For Reds fans that blast will never be forgotten.

DAVIS
STUNS
GOLIATH

 

[swingline]

I had a similar experience when the ball went through Bill Buckner's legs. At a crowded bar in Manhattan, as an interloper to do an NFL game the next day in Jersey ...

Tell us the rest of your letter to Penthouse.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

There's been a decent amount of walk-off HRs in the World Series in my lifetime, including Joe Carter's Series-clincher. I know Gibson was hobbled, but I've never understood why a Game 1 home run has had so much reverence.

The famous calls associated with the HR, both Vin Scully and Jack Buck, aren't that great either I don't think. Both have had much-better calls.

Look at forking Bubbs pissing all over everyone's fond memories fork OFF BUBS I'M SICK OF YOUR CONTRARIAN TAKES LET'S FIGHT

I think the Gibson HR is a perfect confluence of events. He was the (eventual) MVP, he was so banged up nobody realistically expected him to play and he went from having no prayer at the start of the AB to hitting a walk-off homer off a HOF-bound closer who was the best on the planet that season. I guess if the Athletics came back and won it all, the homer would be a fun & quirky footnote. But the Dodgers beat a far superior opponent in just five games and Gibson wasn't seen again until 1989. It's justified as one of the great where were you when moments in baseball history.

As for where I was, I know you're all curious. Me and a buddy were watching the game at his house. I was rooting for the Athletics (my AL team) and he was rooting for the Dodgers b/c the Athletics had beaten the Red Sox, his favorite team, in the ALCS. But when Gibson homered, we jumped up and started hugging each other. It was just so awesome and so random. Except to Bubs who went and kicked a stray dog!!!!