- 36 years apart, the two Game One winning homers landed at almost exactly the same time
- Gibson’s ’88 Home Run against the Oakland Athletics was launched towards the same right field pavilion at Dodger’s Stadium
- Both Freeman and Gibson turned defeat into victory with their efforts and both were injured, left-handed hitters
Freddie Freeman had already written his name into the history books when he decided to casually launch a 10th inning walk-off Grand Slam into the right field pavilion of Dodger Stadium, to secure victory for the Dodgers in Game One of the World Series against the New York Yankees.
Freeman’s heroic effort, achieved while the first baseman was suffering on a badly sprained ankle, was the first ever walk-off Grand Slam in World Series history. As Nestor Cortés Jr. saw his pitch sail away to turn victory into defeat for the Yankees, most of the 15m+ people watching were blissfully unaware of the parallels Freeman’s dramatic effort was drawing with a similarly heroic homer from the Dodgers’ 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics.
In fact, thirty-six years ago left-handed outfielder Kirk Gibson was injured and awaiting a pitch from Oakland A’s closer Dennis Eckersley with the Dodgers down to their last out in Game One of the 1988 World Series.
Gibson, in almost identical circumstances, pulled off an almost identical feat, sending the ball soaring into the same pavilion. Game One in the bag for the Dodgers. But things get weirder still. Freeman’s Grand Slam landed at 8:37:55pm. Gibson’s Home Run landed at 8:39pm.
The Dodgers’ lead play-by-play Joe Davis syncing up his own “She is gone” call to evoke memories of Vin Scully’s iconic piece of commentary from Gibson’s winning homer also had Los Angeles fans losing their minds, as they took a step closer to capturing the Fall Classic for the first time in a full-season (their 2020 victory came during a heavily condensed season due to the COVID-19 pandemic) since that memorable ’88 series against Oakland.
Gibson, now 67 and battling Parkinson’s Disease, spoke to Sports Illustrated about the startling similarities between the two game winning HR’s. The 1988 champion also had a query for Freeman.
“What I want to know is did he see all the taillights leaving the parking lot as he rounded the bases?”
Rounding first base and peering over right field on that fateful October evening 36 years ago, Gibson noticed those fans who had accepted defeat prematurely streaming away from Dodger Stadium.
“Sparky Anderson taught us a long time ago,” Gibson reminisced about his former Detroit Tigers manager. “It’s never over until the last out.”
“I just had a premonition,” Gibson continued about the Freeman home run. “Is it the Dodgers? Is it Dodger Stadium? What is it? It’s freaky. It’s spooky. I’m not sure I can find the right words to explain it.
“It was down to the last out. I had a feeling it was going to happen. Then I heard it go down. And I heard, ‘Gibby, say hello to Freddie.’ And then all those feelings come back. Going around the bases, seeing those taillights and then the joy of seeing all your teammates there at home plate. That’s the best part. Though I did have to tell them, ‘Take it easy! Don’t jump on me.’ ”
The Dodgers went onto take the second game of the series, as well, seeing the Yankees off 4-2 last night (Saturday October 26) following Friday’s last gasp overtime 6-3 victory.
The 2024 series between the Dodgers and the Yankees is currently drawing the largest viewership for a Fall Classic since 2017, averaging 14.5 million viewers per game across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services. That’s the most viewers after two games of a World Series since the Astros-Dodgers in 2017.
Such interest is understandable however, given the history between the two franchises, dating back to the Dodgers time in Brooklyn between 1883 and 1957 and the fact the two teams operate in the two biggest markets in America. The Dodgers and Yankees were also high on former Dodger and 2008 World Series champion Chase Utley’s list as potential title winners during his exclusive chat with Pubity last month.
