Sports means something different to everyone. Everyone has their own favorite team, their own memories of “where I was when…”, and that’s what makes sports great. No one person will feel the same about any one sporting event. We relate sports to our own lives, in our own way. It’s that uniqueness of experiences that brings all sports fans together, breaks down all barriers; white or black or brown, male or female, rich or poor, young or old — we are just sports fans. Each year, we at GoingFor2, give our writers a chance to share that experience, that emotion, that ‘one thing’ that stood out above all else in the past year. The sports story that mattered to them — big or small. The following is one such story. Enjoy…
I grew up in an area of California two and a half hours north of Los Angeles. I was born with an Achilles issue in my right foot that caused my parents and me to make numerous trips to LA to get new casts on my foot. Yes, that sucked but a blessing in disguise because most of those trips included a visit to Dodgers Stadium for a game. Some of my best childhood memories were made at Dodgers stadium and many during the 1988 season. My dad, who has been gone for almost 10 years now, was a big baseball fan, and the Dodgers were one of the biggest bonds the two of us had.
The 1988 Dodgers were not supposed to do much that season. During the regular season, they were average at best on offense. If it were not for Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson, they probably would never have even had a chance to make the playoffs. They played the heavily favored New York Mets in the playoffs and pulled off the upset in six games. The best part of the National League Championship Series was that I was at game 7 when they earned the trip to the World Series. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Orel Hershiser pitched a complete game shutout against a Mets team that was loaded.
But if you are old enough to remember the 1988 season, you will know that the World Series’s first game was one of the biggest moments in World Series history. Against the Oakland A’s, Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off home run in game 1 in one of the most improbable moments ever. He could barely even walk to home plate when he was called on to pinch-hit in the bottom of the 9th inning. I remember sitting there watching that moment at home as a seven-year-old kid. But I didn’t watch it with my dad because he was at the game live. My dad and his friends were at that game, and it is one of the best stories I still hear those guys talk about. Kirk Gibson brought lifelong memories to many Dodgers fans, and my dad and I two of those lucky people.
A storied franchise like the Dodgers expects to win championships more often than other teams in the major leagues. But after the 1988 season, the Dodgers had a hard time getting back to the World Series. The Dodgers’ first appearance in the World Series after 1988 did not come until 2017. Unfortunately, my dad passed away in 2011 and never saw the Dodgers get back to the World Series. Unfortunately, the Dodgers did not win the World Series; they lost to the Houston Astros. Yes, this is the Astros team that will live in infamy forever for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked Major League Baseball. In 2018, the Dodgers made it back to the World Series, where they came up short once again, this time to the Boston Red Sox. And yes, once again, the Dodgers lost to a team that was caught stealing signs. Would the Dodgers have won one of those series? We will never know, but it is definitely a question that many people will always ask.
Now it is 2020, 32 years since the Dodgers won their last World Series in 1988. The Dodgers had another talented team lead by Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, and many more. But with the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the world, we did not know in March if there would even be a World Series this year. Luckily there was playoff baseball, even if it had to be played partially in a bubble. The Dodgers played a seven-game series against the Braves to get the World Series, but they were able to pull off the victory. To win their World Series since 1988, the Dodgers would have to beat the resilient Tampa Bay Rays. Mookie Betts led the Dodgers on offense and defense throughout the entire playoffs. In the end, the Dodgers beat the Rays in a six-game series. They finally won another World Series, the first in 32 years. All of us Dodgers fans will remember this for a lifetime, and for many Dodger fans like my little brother, it is the first time the Dodgers are champions in their lives. And on that night, I could think of the only quote that could mean as much now as it did 32 years ago.
“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.” Vin Scully
I am happy that guys like Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, and Clayton Kershaw won their first World Series title. Especially Kershaw. I was at the game that he had his first and only no-hitter. But for me, personally, this is so bittersweet. I wish my dad were still alive to see this happen. It’s not fair that my brother and I could not watch the Dodgers win the World Series with him. He could be a very serious person, but I can picture him having am tearing up just thinking about this, but it’s okay because I know he is somewhere right now telling me that it is okay. If it were not for my dad, I would not be the sports fan I am. Honestly, if it weren’t for him, I would not be writing this article. I am finishing this article the night before his birthday, so it makes it even sweeter. In closing, I love you, dad, and Go Dodgers!!
