Gibson leaves his mark

Today marks the 36th anniversary of Kirk Gibson’s two-out, two-run, pinch-hit bottom-of-the-ninth, limp-around-the-bases homer off Dennis Eckersley to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the Oakland A's in Game One of the 1988 World Series.

After stunning a Saturday night crowd of 55,983 at Dodger Stadium, the hobbling Gibson rests his weary body and does not play again in the Series.

No matter.

After beating Eckersley – the future Hall of Famer – the Dodgers win three of the next four games to beat Oakland in their last appearance in the Series until 2017.

Before his epic swing on Eckersley’s 3-2 pitch, Gibson reminds himself of the information he receives from Dodgers advance scout Mel Didier before the start of the Series.

Dennis Eckersley reacts to Kirk Gibson's homer

“At some point in the at-bat, I started thinking about what Mel Didier told me, that every time Eckersley goes to 3-2, he throws a back-door slider,” Gibson years later tells Sports Illustrated.

“Here I get to 3-2 and Dennis goes into the stretch position. I call time out and step out. I said to myself, ‘Pardner, sure as I am standing here breathing, you are going to see a 3-2 backdoor slider.’ Those are Mel Didier’s exact words to me.”

As for the baseball Gibson’s launches into history, well, no one from either team or Major League Baseball ever sees it again.

Who owns the ball remains a mystery to this day.

“One day, I got a big 8x10 manila envelope with a picture of a lady with a skirt that was pulled halfway up her thigh. It was black and blue,” Gibson says of the bruise on the unidentified thigh.

“(The note) said, ‘This is where your ball landed.’ I have no idea who the woman was. I opened that picture in 1989. I think I signed it and sent it back.”