Dodgers v. Mets

Given their locations in Los Angeles and New York, the Dodgers and Mets are probably the two most glamorous teams in the National League.  And since Divisional play began in 1969, they've had a decent amount of success.  But they've always faced major challenges from the rest of the League.  Here's how they've done in the N.L.C.S. (pennants in bold):

Los Angeles (8-7):  1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021

New York (5-3):  1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2015

As you can see, while the Dodgers have 15 trips to the N.L.C.S., and the Mets have eight, they have only met in the N.L.C.S. once before.  That was in 1988, and that was probably the greatest N.L.C.S. ever played.  The Mets still had the core of their great 1986 team, and they went 100-60 in 1988.  The Dodgers had the last great team of Tommy LaSorda's career, before the wilderness years that plagued them in the 1990's and 2000's.  Together, these two veteran-laden squads played a series for the ages.

Tuesday, Oct. 4, 1988.  Game One (in L.A.):  The Dodgers started off with Orel Hershiser, who had pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings going back to August 30, 1988.  The Mets countered with Dwight Gooden, who went 18-9 that season, making his last appearance in the All-Star Game at the age of 23.  Gooden and Hershiser hooked up in a tremendous pitching duel, and the Dodgers led 2-0 going into the ninth.  But the Mets got a run across against Hershiser thanks to a single from Gregg Jeffries and a double by Darryl Strawberry.  The Dodgers then brought in Jay Howell, and the roof fell in.  The Mets scored two more runs to win the game 3-2, and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 1988.  Game Two (in L.A.):  Desperately needing a win in Dodger Stadium before heading east for the next three games, the Dodgers jumped all over David Cone to take a 5-0 lead after only two innings.  Tim Belcher pitched great for the Dodgers, and L.A. tied the series with a 6-3 win.

Saturday, Oct. 8, 1988.  Game Three (in N.Y.):  Game Three was originally scheduled for Friday, was rained out, and was played in muddy conditions on Saturday.  The Dodgers sent out Hershiser again, and he led 3-0 and 2 1/2 innings.  But the never-say-die Mets got one back when Strawberry doubled home Mookie Wilson in the bottom of the third.  And in the sixth, the Mets got two runs thanks to some timely hitting and a key error by Dodger Third baseman Jeff Hamilton.  The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 8th in part due to a throwing error by Mets pitcher Roger McDowell, and Lasorda sent out Jay Howell to hold the lead.  But Davey Johnson, the Mets' manager, caught Howell with pine tar on his glove.  Howell was ejected (and suspended for games 4, 5, and 6), and the Dodgers fell apart.  The Mets won 8-4, and took a 2-1 series lead.

Sunday, Oct. 9, 1988.  Game Four (in N.Y.):  Dwight Gooden started this game for the Mets, and he was great.  Going into the ninth inning, Gooden had a 4-2 lead, and the Mets were on the verge of taking a commanding position in the series.  But Gooden walked John Shelby to lead off the ninth, and Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia -- who hit only 68 home runs in his career, and only three in 1988 -- earned a permanent place in Dodger lore by crushing a two-run homer into the right field bullpen to tie the game.  Three innings later, Kirk Gibson's homer in the top of the 12th gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers were pretty much out of pitchers.  Tim Leary gave up a leadoff single to Mackey Sasser, and then another single to pinch hitter Lee Mazzilli.  With Mets on first and second, Leary got Jeffries to fly out to left, and Lasorda brought in Jesse Orasco.  He promptly walked Keith Hernandez to load the bases, before getting Strawberry to pop out.  With the bases loaded and two out, the only remaining Dodger pitcher was Hershiser.  Rather than let Orasco face Kevin McReynolds, Lasorda brought in Hershiser, who got McReynolds to pop out and end the game.  To me, personally, this is the single greatest game I've ever seen the Dodgers play.

Monday, Oct. 10, 1988.  Game Five (in N.Y.):  Game Four, played on Sunday night, had taken four hours and 29 minutes.  Game Five -- played on Monday afternoon due to the rainout on Friday -- started less than 11 hours later.  After three scoreless innings, the Dodgers jumped all over Mets' pitcher Sid Fernandez to take a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, and hung on for a 7-4 win.  Once again, Tim Belcher had come through for the Dodgers.  This game turned out to be the decider in the series, because from here on out both teams finally played as expected.

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1988.  Game Six (in L.A.):  Amazingly, the Dodgers had come back from New York with a 3-2 series lead, but they were completely dominated by Mets Ace David Cone in Game Six.  Cone allowed only one run and five hits, and the Mets rolled to an easy 5-1 win.  That tied the series -- but the Mets had already used Cone, and the Dodgers still had one more chance to use Hershiser.

Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1988.  Game Seven (in L.A.): Orel Hershiser in 1988 was the greatest pitcher I ever saw, and his performance in Game Seven was the best game I ever saw him throw.  He threw a complete game shutout, allowing no runs on five hits.  Meanwhile, the Dodgers scored six runs in two innings against Mets' starter Ron Darling, and cruised the rest of the way for a 6-0 win.  Of course, sitting through it was much more impressive -- the Mets were a truly great team, and you had to think that they would make a run at some point, but Hershiser on that day was one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived.  He won this series for the Dodgers.

1988 was the last baseball season to take place while Ronald Reagan was President, and to me it has always represented the end of the Eighties as we have known them in pop culture.  In fact, 1988 was the last time that California voted to send a Republican to the White House.  It was also the end of Tommy Lasorda's great years with the Dodgers -- in part due to what happened to Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson.

Hershiser was never the same after the 1988 season.  When the season ended, he had a lifetime record of 83-49 with 19 career shutouts.  He was 29 years old.  Over the rest of his career, he went 121-101 with only six more shutouts.  He never stopped grinding -- they called him "Bulldog" for a reason -- but he was never dominant after throwing 267 innings -- including 15 complete games and eight shutouts -- in 1988.  

Kirk Gibson was never the same after the 1988 season.  That year, he had 6.5 wins above replacement and was the league MVP.  He was only 31 years old, but he would never again play a full season.  After hitting at least 24 home runs in every year from 1984 to 1988, he never matched that mark again.  In fact, he never had more than 2.5 wins above replacement in any season.

The Dodgers could not find a way to make up for the decline of Hershiser and Gibson.  After winning five pennants in 15 years between 1974 and 1988, they would not win another pennant until 2017 -- by which point Los Angeles, and the Dodgers -- and indeed the whole world, would look very different than it had in 1988.

Of course, the Mets had their own problems after 1988, and the great team of Strawberry, Gooden, and so many other charismatic stars would never again play such important games.  But for nine days in October, the Dodgers and Mets grabbed the Nation's attention in the best N.L.C.S. ever played.  The Dodgers paid an enormous price for their win, but my guess is that most Dodger fans think it was worth paying.