Kirk Gibson

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Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is a former American two-sport athletic star, best known as a Major League Baseball player noted for his competitiveness and clutch hitting.

Gibson was born in Pontiac, Michigan, grew up in Waterford, Michigan (attending Waterford Kettering High School), and attended Michigan State University where he was an All-American wide receiver in football. He played only one year of college baseball. He was drafted by both the Detroit Tigers baseball team and the St. Louis Cardinals football team, but chose baseball.

Gibson played as the right fielder for the Detroit Tigers from 1983 to 1985. He helped the Tigers to the 1984 World Series championship. He became a free agent after the 1985 season, but received no significant offers. Neither did any other free agent that year. He re-signed with the Tigers, and in 1987 helped them to win the American League East by two games over the Toronto Blue Jays in an enthralling divisional race. However, Detroit would lose the 1987 American League Championship Series to the eventual World champion Minnesota Twins.

In 1988, an arbitrator, Thomas Roberts, ruled that the owners colluded against the players. He ruled that 25 players, including Gibson, were to be immediate free agents. They were free to sign with any team. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him.

Gibson was known for hitting clutch home runs. In the eighth inning of Game 5 of the 1984 World Series, he faced Goose Gossage, one of the game's premier relievers, in a moment that seemingly called for an intentional or at least semi-intentional walk, with first base open and the game close and Gibson having already homered earlier in the game. If the Padres could hold the Tigers and score a couple in the ninth, they would have a chance to force the Series back to San Diego, and maybe turn the tide of the Series. In a video called "Sounds of the Game", Detroit manager Sparky Anderson was seen in the dugout, yelling at Gibson, "He don't want to walk you!" and making a bat-swinging motion with his hands. Gibson got the message, and launched Gossage's next pitch deep into Tiger Stadium's right field upper deck for a 3-run homer, icing the game and the Series for the Tigers.

In the 1988 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, Gibson made an improbable catch in left field of a rain-soaked Shea Stadium. Racing back, he slipped on the wet grass, yet on his way down, with his knees on the ground and the rest of his body suspended, he reached out and made a full extension catch to save a Mookie Wilson double in game 3. In game 4, he hit a solo home run in the top of the 11th of Game 4 that ended up winning the game for the Dodgers. In Game 5, he hit a two-out three-run homer in the fifth; the Dodgers ended up winning the game 7-4. His LCS heroics proved to be a prelude to his single most visible career moment.

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1988 World Series Home Run

In the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics, Gibson saw only a single plate appearance, but it was one of the most memorable and oft-replayed in baseball history. Gibson had severely injured his leg during the League Championship Series. He was not expected to play at all. In Game 1 (at Dodger Stadium), with the Dodgers trailing by a score of 4-3, Mike Davis on first, and two out in the ninth inning, manager Tommy Lasorda inserted Gibson as a pinch hitter. Earlier, the TV camera had scanned the dugout and Vin Scully (the legendary Dodger announcer who here, was calling the game with Joe Garagiola for NBC) observed that Gibson was nowhere to be found. According to legend, he was in the clubhouse undergoing physical therapy and saw this on the television, spurring him to get back in the dugout and tell Lasorda he was ready if needed. When Gibson received the news that he would pinch-hit, he went to the clubhouse batting-cage to warm-up. Suffering through such terrible pain in his knee, it is said he was wincing and nearly collapsing after every practice swing.

Surprising everyone, Gibson hobbled up to the plate with Scully commenting, "Look who's coming up!" He was facing future Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley, the best relief pitcher in baseball at the time. Gibson quickly got behind in the count, 0-2, but received a few outside pitches from Eckersley to work to a 3-2 count. On the seventh pitch of his at bat, a ball, Davis stole second. The A's could have walked him to face Steve Sax, but chose to pitch to him, just as Gossage had done four years earlier. With an awkward, almost casual swing, Gibson used pure upper-body strength to smack a 3-2 "backdoor slider" just over the right-field fence. He hobbled around the bases and pumped his fist as his jubilant teammates stormed the field. The Dodgers won the game, 5-4.

Network Radio announcer Jack Buck made his famous call, "Unbelievable! I don't believe what I just saw!" Network TV announcer Vin Scully, who rarely raises his trademark dulcet voice, was nearly yelling, "High fly ball into right field, she i-i-i-is... gone!!!" followed by a stretch of silence as the pictures and the sounds of the frenzied Los Angeles crowd told the story. Sixty-seven seconds later, Scully announced, "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!"

Gibson later said that prior to the Series, Dodger scout Mel Didier had provided a report on Eckersley that claimed with a 3-2 count against a left-handed power hitter, one could be absolutely certain that Eckersley would throw a backdoor slider. Gibson said that when the count reached 3-2, he stepped out of the batter's box and, in his mind, could hear Didier's voice, with its distinctive Southern drawl, reiterating that same piece of advice. With that thought in mind, Gibson stepped back into the batter's box; and thus when Eckersley did in fact throw a backdoor slider, it was, thanks to Didier, exactly the pitch for which Gibson was looking.

The home run was so memorable that it was included as a finalist in a Major League Baseball contest to determine the sport's "Greatest Moment of All Time." For years after the fact, it was regularly used in This Week in Baseball's closing montage sequence. An edited audio of Scully's 1988 call has been used in 2005 post-season action, in a TV ad featuring a recreational softball game, with a portly player essentially re-enacting that entire moment as he hits the softball over the right field fence to win the game.

Vin Scully's Call (word-for-word transcript)

"And, (relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley) walked (pinch-hitter Mike Davis)... and look who's comin' up!

(36 seconds of crowd cheering)

"All year long, they looked to him to light the fire, and all year long, he answered the demands, until he was physically unable to start tonight—with two bad legs: The bad left hamstring, and the swollen right knee. And, with two out, you talk about a roll of the dice...this is it. If he hits the ball on the ground, I would imagine he would be running 50 percent to first base. So, the Dodgers trying to catch lightning right now!

"Fouled away.

"He was, you know, complaining about the fact that, with the left knee bothering him, he can't push off. Well, now, he can't push off and he can't land...4-3 A's, two out, ninth inning, not a bad opening act!

"Mike Davis, by the way, has stolen 7 out of 10, if you're wondering about Lasorda throwing the dice again. 0-and-1.

"Fouled away again...0-and-2 to Gibson, the infield is back, with two out and Davis at first. Now Gibson, during the year, not necessarily in this spot, but he was a threat to bunt. No way tonight, no wheels.

"No balls, two strikes, two out.

"Little nubber... foul—and, it had to be an effort to run that far. Gibson was so banged up, he was not introduced; he did not come out onto the field before the game. ... It's one thing to favor one leg, but you can't favor two. 0-and-2 to Gibson.

"Ball one. And, a throw down to first, Davis just did get back. Good play by Ron Hassey using Gibson as a screen; he took a shot at the runner, and Mike Davis didn't see it for that split-second and that made it close.

"There goes Davis, and it's fouled away! So, Mike Davis, who had stolen 7 out of 10, and carrying the tying run, was on the move.

"Gibson, shaking his left leg, making it quiver, like a horse trying to get rid of a troublesome fly. 2-and-2! Tony LaRussa is one out away from win number one...two balls and two strikes, with two out.

"There he goes! Wa-a-ay outside, he's stolen it!...So, Mike Davis, the tying run, is at second base with two out. Now, the Dodgers don't need the muscle of Gibson, as much as a base hit, and on deck is the lead-off man, Steve Sax. 3-and-2. Sax waiting on deck, but the game right now is at the plate.

"High fly ball into right field, she i-i-i-is... gone!!

(67 seconds of cheering)

"In a year that has been so improbable... the impossible has happened!

"And, now, the only question was, could he make it around the base paths unassisted?!

"You know, I said it once before, a few days ago, that Kirk Gibson was not the Most Valuable Player; that the Most Valuable Player for the Dodgers was Tinkerbell. But, tonight, I think Tinkerbell backed off for Kirk Gibson. And, look at Eckersley—shocked to his toes!

"They are going wild at Dodger Stadium—no one wants to leave!"

Jack Buck's Call. MCBS handled the radio broadcast of the 1988 World Series, with Jack Buck providing play-by-play and Bill White as the analyst. This was Buck's call. It begins here with Buck speculating on what might happen if Gibson manages to reach base:

"... then you would run for Gibson and have Sax batting. But, we have a big 3-2 pitch coming here from Eckersley. Gibson swings, and a fly ball to deep right field! This is gonna be a home run! Unbelievable! A home run for Gibson! And the Dodgers have won the game, 5 to 4, I don't believe what I just saw!"

The last sentence is often remembered and quoted by fans. Buck followed it with, "I don't believe what I just saw! Bill! Is this happening?"

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Later career

In 1991, Gibson signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals, and then in 1992 signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He retired from baseball temporarily, after being released by the Pirates. The following spring Sparky Anderson convinced him to return to baseball. He spent the final three years of his career (1993 - 1995) back with the Detroit Tigers, including a Renaissance season in 1994 when he slugged 24 homers.

He was named the National League MVP in 1988. He is the only MVP winner never to appear on an All-Star roster. He was named to the team twice, in 1985 and 1988, but declined the invitation both times.

He retired in August 1995. After a stint (1998-2002) as a Tigers broadcaster with FSN Detroit, he was named the team's bench coach, and served in that position until the end of the 2005 season.

He married JoAnn Sklarski on December 22, 1985 in a double ceremony where Tiger pitcher Dave Rozema married JoAnn's sister Sandy. They were married at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

He set a flying record in 1987. He flew a Cessna 206 to a height of 25,200 feet in Lakeland, Florida. The record was certified by the National Aeronautic Association.