88: a spring training prank changed a team's attitude

1986 and 87 were not good years for Lasorda's teams. After winning the west in 85 and losing an epic LCS to St. Louis, the team dropped to fifth place in 86. Four of the five starters in 85 had double figure wins. Neidenfuer saved 19 and Howell 12. Then Neidenfuer gave up a game winning homer to Ozzie Smith in game five and then gave up Jack Clark's game winner in game six.

In spring training of 86, slugger Pedro Guererro was injured sliding into third base. His bat would be missed. The starting 8 were all under 30 except 3B, Bill Madlock. The bench included veterans Enos Cabell, Len Matuzek, and for a short time, Cesar Cedano. The pitching staff was basically the same, but the results much different, and Howell replaced Neidenfuer as the closer. They finished 73-89. In 87 it was more of the same. Greg Brock was traded to the Brewers for Tim Crews and Tim Leary and Stubbs took over at first. In May they traded Neidenfuer to the Orioles for CF, John Shelby. They went with 4 full-time starters with Pena and Leary getting spot start's, but the result was the same, 73-89. Changes were coming. Al Campanis, the GM, made some inappropriate remarks on a late-night TV show in April and resigned. He was replaced by Fred Claire.

In December of 87, Claire made a 3-team trade sending Bob Welch and Matt Young to the A's and C Jack Savage to the Mets. Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell came to LA from Oakland and LHRP, Jesse Orosco came from the Mets. He would be a prominent figure in the spring training prank gone wrong. He then signed free agent OF Mike Davis from Oakland. On January 29th, 1988, he signed OF Kirk Gibson to a 3-year contract. This deal would have a huge impact on the team. At the end of March, he signed veteran catcher Rick Dempsey to a contract.

Spring training, Vero Beach Florida, March 3, 1988. The Dodgers were preparing to play their first game of spring. Just before the game, Jesse Orosco lined the inside of Gibson's cap with eye black. When Gibson removed his cap, there a black streak on his forehead, this drew laughs from the fans and some players. Brought in by Claire to be a tone-setter, Gibson was not amused. He stormed off of the field and told Lasorda to "get the bastard who did the eye black.....I don't want to be part of their fun and comedy act... I am not looking for friends; I am looking for people who get after it." When the team refused to disciple Orosco, Gibson left and missed the game. Orosco would later apologize in a closed-door meeting with Lasorda. Gibson later said the incident was blown out of proportion, that he just wanted to set boundaries. Mission accomplished.

At the end of April, the Dodgers were 13-7, 5 of those wins going to Hershiser. They were 1/2 game out of first place. By the end of May, LA was 27-20 and 1/2 game up in the West. Hershiser went 2-2 with a save for the month. Gibson had his best month stat wise with a .324/7/17 line. He stole 7 bases, struck out 20 times and walked 11.

In June, the Dodgers posted a 17-11 record, Hershiser had 5 more wins, and they won 10 of their last 12 games of the month. They ended the month with a 4.5 game lead. July was also a good month as the team went 16-12. They were not bludgeoning the opposition, but they were winning the close games. Gibson hit .333 for the month, walking 14 times to just 9 strikeouts. As the calander turned to August, He had 19 homers and 54 RBI's. Hershiser entered the month with a 15-5 record.

The Dodgers were outscored 109-104 in August, but they posted a 17-9 record. By the end of August, they led the West by 6.5 games. Hershiser ended the month 18-8. He would not lose another game the rest of the year, and he gave up 0 earned runs in August on his way to a 23-8 record and a 2.26 ERA. Gibson's hitting had dropped a little due to being a bit banged up, but he stole 10 bases in August, the most of any month in the season, and he hit 4 homers and drove in 15. He would play just 21 of the Dodgers 27 games in September as the team won 16 and lost 11. They would finish 7 games ahead of the Reds and clinched the West on September 26th when they beat San Diego 3-2 behind Alejandro Pena.

LA now had to play the New York Mets in the LCS. Mets were led by slugger Darryl Strawberry and ace pitcher, Dwight Gooden. The Mets had their way with LA during the season going 10-1 against them. The only win, a 4-3 decision on June 1st in New York when Brian Holton won in relief over Sid Fernandez.

As a team, the Dodgers had slashed .248/.305/.352 with 99 homers and 628 runs scored. They stole 131 bases and were caught 46 times. Their strikeout to walk ratio was about 2-1. The Mets slashed .256/.325/.396 with 152 homers and 703 runs scored. They walked less than the Dodgers and struck out more. On the pitching side, LA had a team ERA of 2.96. They had 15 shutouts and the pen racked up 49 saves. They walked 473 batters and struck out 1029 and they gave up 89 homers. The Mets team ERA was 2.91. They posted 17 shutouts, and 46 saves. They walked 404 and struck out 1100. They had Cone with 20 wins, Gooden 18, Darling 17, Fernandez 12, and Ojeda had 10.

Game One: The series opened at Dodger Stadium with a classic duel of aces. Orel Hershiser for the Dodgers, and Dwight Gooden for New York. Hershiser had broken Drysdale's scoreless inning streak with 59 in September. LA scored with 2-outs in the first when Mike Marshall singled in Steve Sax. After that, LA was held hitless until the 7th inning when Griffin singled in Scioscia. Hershiser was rolling and it looked like LA was going to knock the Mets off. In the ninth, Mets rookie, Greg Jefferies singled off of Hershiser. He went to second on a ground out and then Strawberry hit a double to the gap scoring Jefferies. it was the first run given up by Hershiser in 67 innings dating back to August 30th. Howell relieved Hershiser. McReynolds walked, and following a Howard Johnson strikeout, Gary Carter hit a sinking line drive that John Shelby dove for and could not catch, Strawberry scored the tying run, and Shelby recovered the ball and fired home. The ball was a little offline and McReynolds scored the winning run as he bowled over Scioscia as the ball bounced past him. LA went down 1-2-3 in the 9th and the Mets were up 1-0.

Game Two: Tom Belcher started game two in LA against the Mets 20-game winner, David Cone. Cone had written a derogatory statement about the Dodgers closer for the New York Daily News comparing Howell to a high school pitcher. Lasorda immediately used it as bulletin board fodder. The Dodgers were not pleased, and they took it out on Cone. Marshall drove in a first inning run for the second night in a row, but in the bottom of the second, LA scored 4 runs, knocking Cone out of the game. The big blow was a 2-run double by Mickey Hatcher. The Mets scored 2 on a homer by Hernandez in the 4th, but LA tacked on a run in the 6th and won 6-3 tying the series.

The Stunt Men: Before recapping the rest of the series, I have to mention the group of reserve players who were, for that season, referred to as "The Stunt Men". Those players were Mickey Hatcher, Dave Anderson, Franklin Stubbs, Rick Dempsey, Danny Heep, Mike Sharperson. and Jeff Hamilton. Example, Heep spent 3 weeks as the starting CF when John Shelby was sidelined with a strained abdominal muscle. Heep hit .405 and drove in 5 runs during that time. Hatcher was basically a starter at the beginning of the year due to injuries. All would play crucial roles off of the bench.

Game Three: The series moved to Shea Stadium in New York for the next three games. Game three pitted Hershiser against Darling. A rain delay caused the game to be moved back a day, but the field was a muddy quagmire. LA struck first in the top of the second on an error by Hernandez on a bunt by Scioscia. They scored another on a Jeff Hamilton ground out. They scored one more in the third on a Gibson ground out. In the bottom of the third, the Mets tied the game on a Strawberry double. It remained 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth. With Hernandez on first and no outs, Strawberry singled to left, but Gibson bobbled the ball, Hernandez tried to go to third, but he slipped twice in the mud, and Gibson was able to throw him out as he tried to crawl to third. McReynolds then reached on an error by Hamilton. One out later, Carter and Backman hit back-to-back singles tying the game. In the top of the 8th with McDowell on the mound, Scioscia hit a one hopper back to the pitcher who slipped in the muddy ground and threw wildly. Scioscia moved to second base. Following a single, a walk and a pitching change, Randy Myers walked Mike Sharperson to force in the run. LA led 4-3. The bottom of the inning however was a disaster for the Dodgers. Howell replaced Hershiser. Howell had the count 3-2 on Reynolds when Davey Johnson, the Mets manager bounded out of the dugout and asked plate umpire Harry Wendlestedt to inspect Howell's glove for an illegal substance. The found pine tar in Howell's glove and he was ejected. He would be suspended for games 4-5-6. His ejection seemed to unhinge the Dodgers. Pena, Orosco and Ricky Horton combined to allow the Mets to score 5 times making it 8-4. Pena got the loss and Cone pitched a scoreless 9th for the Mets win.

Game Four: Dwight Gooden started for the Mets against LA's mid-season pick up, John Tudo. LA had shipped slugger Pedro Guererro to the Cardinals for Tudor who went 4-3 in 9 starts for LA. LA struck for 2 runs in the first on a two-out 2-run single by John Shelby. Tudor kept the Mets scoreless until the bottom of the 4th when Strawberry launched a 2-run homer. One out later, Kevin McReynolds hit one over the bleachers in left for a 3-2 Mets lead. In the 6th, McReynolds doubled and Carter tripled him home for a 4-2 Mets lead. Holton replaced Tudor. Gooden meanwhile allowed just one hit and 3 baserunners through 7 innings after Shelby's hit in the first. In the top of the 9th, Gooden walked Shelby. Scioscia then hit a 2-strike pitch over the right field fence for a game tying homer. Randy Myers relieved Gooden and finished the inning without any more damage. Pena took over for the Dodgers. Ge would pitch 3 scoreless innings allowing 3 walks, no hits and striking out 1. Myers pitched until there were 2 outs in the 11th and was replaced by Roger McFowell who got the last out. LA came to bat in the 12th. With 2 outs, mired in a 1-16 slump, Kirk Gibson hit a home run to deep center and LA had a 5-4 lead. The Mets came to bat in the 12th against a new pitcher, Tim Leary. Leary got one out but gave up two singles. He was replaced by Orosco, who walked Hernandez after having a 1-2 count on him. After a first pitch ball to Strawberry, Lasorda went to the mound to deliver a message which started with "What the eff are you doing?" Orosco then managed to get the Straw to pop out. Lasorda then brought in Hershiser to pitch to McReynolds. Hershiser had pitched 7 innings the day before, the next day's starter, Belcher, was in his hotel room resting. With Howell suspended, Orel was the last man standing in the pen. On his third pitch, McReynolds flied out to short center with Shelby racing in to make the catch for the final out. Hershiser got the save, and LA tied the series.

Game Five: Tim Belcher, who spent the night before in his hotel room started the early afternoon game five against Sid Fernandez. LA jumped on Fernandez for 3 runs in the 4th when Rick Dempsey drove in Marshall and Shelby with a double. Two batters later, Griffin drove in Dempsey for a 3-0 LA lead. In the 5th, LA scored 3 more when Gibson hit a 3-run homer to right scoring Sax and Hatcher. The Mets would score 3 in their half of the 5th on a Dykstra 3-run shot. In the bottom of the 8th, the Mets scored again on a Dykstra double and a single by Jeffries. In the 9th, Gibson beat out a slow roller to Hernandez. On the next pitch, he took off for second and injured himself sliding into the bag. He immediately asked to be taken out of the game. He had torn his right meniscus. He was already hampered by a balky hamstring. Marshall then got his third hit of the game scoring pinch runner, Jose Gonzalez. Holton retired the Mets in order in the 9th for a five out save. LA headed home up 3-2.

Game Six: Cone started for the Mets against Tim Leary. Cone would pitch a complete game 5-hitter allowing 1 run, walking 3 and striking out 6. Leary gave up 4 runs in 4 innings including a 2-run shot to McReynolds in the 5th that put the game out of reach. The Mets scored 1 more in the 6th off of Holton. LA scored its only run in the 5th on a single by Hatcher driving in Holton who had singled. NY tied the series with the 5-1 win. Howell was eligible to pitch because his suspension was reduced by Giamatti.

Game Seven: Ron Darling started for the Mets against Orel Hershiser. Sax would score LA's first run in the first inning, scoring on a sac-fly by Gibson. LA put the game away in the second, scoring 5 runs because of 2 Mets errors and some timely hitting by Steve Sax. Gooden replaced Darling and allowed just a sac-fly by Shelby for the 5th run of the inning. Gooden then pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief. Hershiser meanwhile shut the Mets down on just 5 hits and got a complete game win. He struck out Howard Johnson for the last out and LA went to the World Series for the first time since 1981.

1988 World Series: The Dodgers would face the Oakland A's, the Bash Brothers featuring Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. They would also be facing two-former Dodger pitchers in A's Ace, Dave Stewart and Bob Welch. They also would have to deal with A's closer, Dennis Eckersley, who saved 45 games and would be 2nd in the AL Cy Young vote. The A's were heavily favored, and the Dodgers would be without their inspirational leader, Kirk Gibson.

Game One: Dave Stewart started for Oakland with Belcher getting the nod for LA. LA scored 2 in the bottom of the first. Stewart purportedly hit Sax intentionally. After retiring Franklin Subbs, Stewart balked Sax to second. Then Mickey Hatcher, playing for the injured Gibson, surprised everyone by hitting a 2-run homer to deep left. In the top of the 4th, Belcher gave up a single to Glenn Hubbard and struck out Walt Weiss. He then walked both Stewart and Carney Lansford to load the bases. He struck out Dave Henderson but then Canseco hit a 1-0 pitch into dead center for a grand slam. His blast dented the NBC camera. Oddly, it would be his only hit in the series. In the 6th, LA got to Stewart with 3 straight singles by Marshall, Shelby and Scioscia with Marshall scoring. Stewart stranded Shelby on second, but it was now 4-3. Unknown to the fans, Gibson was watching the game on TV while in the training room undergoing physical therapy. Vin Scully, working the series for NBC, noticed that when the camera's scanned the Dodger dugout, Gibby was nowhere to be found. This spurred Gibson to get the Dodgers ball boy, Mitch Poole, to set up a tee so he could take some swings. After a few swings, Gibby told Poole to get Lasorda for an evaluation. Shortly after that, Gibson was seen in the dugout wearing his batting helmet. Eckersley entered the game in the 9th trying for the save. He retired Scioscia and Hamilton. Mike Davis, who like Gibson was a free agent signee and a former A's teammate, drew a walk. Initially Dave Anderson was in the on-deck circle as the PH for Pena. After Davis walked, Lasorda called Anderson back, and Gibson came out of the dugout to a rousing ovation. Davis stole second when Gibson took ball 3. With the count 3-2, Gibson backed out and remembered a scouting report from scout Mel Didier who before the game told the team's left-handed hitters, including Gibson, if there is a runner on second or third and it's the tying or winning run, Eckersley will throw a back-door slider on a 3-2 count. That is exactly what he did, and Gibby hit the ball into the right field pavilion for the 5-4 win. The sight of him rounding the bases pumping his fist became iconic. BP coach, Mark Cresse had written R. Hobbs and place it on Gibson's name plate on his locker. He would not bat again in the series.

Game Two: The Dodgers sent Orel Hershiser to the mound to face the A's Storm Davis. Oakland was never in the game. LA hammered Davis with a 5 run 3rd inning. Hershiser and Sax singled with 1 out. Stubbs and Hatcher then singled making it 2-0 LA. Marshall followed with a 3-run homer. In the 4th, Hershiser singled in Griffin with the 6th run, chasing Davis. That ended the scoring as LA won 6-0. Hershiser would get 3 hits, becoming the first pitcher since Art Nehf of the Giants did it in 1921. Hershiser gave up 3 hits to the A's. All of them by Dave Parker.

Game Three: The series shifted to Oakland for games 3-4-5. Bob Welch started for the A's and John Tudor for LA. Tudor would leave in the 2nd inning after 1 out with shoulder soreness. Leary replaced him. The A's went up 1-0 when C Ron Hassey drove in Hubbard in the 3rd. LA tied it off of Welch in the 5th when Stubbs doubled home Jeff Hamilton. In the 6th, Heep led off with a double, and Shelby singled, Heep was held at third, and Shelby took second on the throw home. Welch walked Davis and Greg Cadaret was brought in to face Mike Scioscia. Mike popped out to third. Nelson came in to face Hamilton who forced Heep out at home. Griffin grounded out to end the threat. Leary and Pena kept Oakland off of the board through the 8th. Nelson and then Honeycutt shut down LA through the top of the 9th. Howell came in to pitch the 9th, and with 1 out, he gave up a home run to McGwire, his only hit of the series, for the walk-off 2-1 win.

Game Four: Game one pitchers, Belcher and Stewart faced off in game four. With both of their sluggers sidelined, Marshall and Gibson, LA started a lineup with what was statistically the weakest hitting Series team since the dead ball era. Sax, Stubbs, Hatcher, Davis, Shelby, Heep, Hamilton, he was the DH since they were in the AL park, Scioscia and Griffin. Between them they had combined for a total of 36 homers. LA scored 2 in the first. Sax walked and went to 3rd on a Hatcher single. Sax scored on a passed ball by A's catcher, Terry Steinbach, and Hatcher scored on a groundout by Shelby. The A's got one back in the 1st on a Polonia single, a passed ball and a Canseco groundout. Stubbs would double and score in the 3rd when Weiss could not handle a line drive by Davis. The play was ruled an error. the A's made it 3-2 in the 6th on an RBI single by Lansford. In the 7th, Griffin was on third and Sax on first with 1 out. Tracy Woodson hit what looked like a double play grounder to end the inning, but Lasorda had called for a hit and run play, so Sax was running on the play. Oakland tried for the DP, but Sax barely beat the throw to second, Woodson was the second out at first, but Griffin scored what would be the game winning run. Both Stewart and Belcher went 6.1 innings. Belcher gave up 3 runs and Stewart 4. In the bottom of the 7th, Weiss singled and then reached 2nd when LA failed to get the DP on a grounder by Polonia. Henderson doubled driving in Weiss for a 4-3 score. Howell relieved Belcher. He walked Canseco and Parker reached on a Griffin error loading the bases. McGwire then popped out ending the threat. The A's managed to get runners on in the 8th and 9th, but Howell rebounded from his early woes and squelched both threats. LA now led the series 3-1.

Game Five: Hershiser faced Davis again. LA jumped on Davis for 2 in the first when Mickey Hatcher hit his 2nd homer of the series. He had hit just 1 all year. Stan Javier got the A's a run in the 3rd with a sac-fly scoring Tony Phillips. Mike Davis, who had a very disappointing season, tagged Davis for another 2-run homer in the 4th, and Dempsey, subbing for Scioscia, doubled home Davis with a double. Hershiser had little trouble with the A's until the bottom of the 8th when Javier singled in Lansford to make it 5-2. He walked Henderson and then got Canseco to pop out for the 2nd out. He then struck out Parker to end the threat. Orel then closed out the win by striking out Phillips to end the game and give LA its first title since 81.

Summary: Gibson would win the MVP award with some of the weakest stats .290/25/76. He finished 36 points in front of Strawberry. Hershiser won the Cy Young award, LCS MVP award and the World Series MVP award. He got all 24 first place votes in the voting. LA won the series on its pitching and the inspired play of Mickey Hatcher, who subbed for the injured Gibson in left and brought enthusiasm, spark and unexpected offense. Hatcher hit .368 for the series with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBI's. Lasorda used bulletin board fodder in both series. First the comments by Cone, and then Bob Costas remarks about the team being the weakest ever in the World Series. Lasorda later joked that Costas should be the series MVP. 88 marked Lasorda's last appearance as a manager in the World Series. In 94 they were in first place when the strike came and the season was cancelled. His 95-team lost in the LCS to the Reds. Lasorda had a heart attack and was replaced by Bill Russell in 96, and that team lost to the Braves in the LCS. Tommy would have to retire, and he was immediately elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997. His record as Dodger manager was 1599-1433, a .526 winning percentage. He was the interim GM and famously traded Paul Konerko to the Reds for Jeff Shaw. Since Bill Russell in 96-98, Glenn Hoffman 98, Davey Johnson 99-2000, Jim Tracy 2001-05, Grady Little 06-07, Joe Torre 08-10, Mattingley 10-15. and Dave Roberts 15-present, have had the reins of the team. Roberts has by far had the most success. He has 3 titles, just 1 behind Alston, and 1 more than Lasorda. Tommy's #2 has been retired as has Alston's 24. Might we see the same for Roberts some day? Only time will tell.

Never, Never Forget!