Marty and Max: Inspect over suspect
Matthew Brown
Courtesy photo
One of the greatest moments in sports history was when the 1988 Dodgers beat the mighty A’s to win the World Series. Analytics had not yet taken over the game and managers managed with instincts instead. Injured Dodger, Kirk Gibson (Gibby) had just one at-bat, but what an at-bat it was.
With the Dodgers trailing by one run in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Dodger skipper Tommy Lasorda sent Gibby to the plate to face the fierce future hall-of-fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley (The Eck). Eck had been unhittable all season with a blistering fastball. Gibby could barely stand, much less run the bases yet somehow worked the count to 3 balls and 2 strikes. Mysteriously, Gibby stepped out of the batter’s box and laughed then smiled to himself. Everybody knew that Gibby was too hurt to get that bat around on a fastball. Gibby hit the next pitch over the right-centerfield fence for a walk-off 2-run home run that stunned the entire world.
Dodger scout Mel Didier, a Texan, commented in a pre-game meeting, “Pardners, you can bank on this as sure as I’m standing here. If you’re a left-handed hitter and you get in a tough situation with Eck, he’s going to throw you that back door slider.” Gibby knew what was coming and later said he picked it up as soon as it left Eck’s hand. If Gibby had gone with what everyone suspected the Dodgers would have lost, however, he went with what the scouts inspected and the rest is history.
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