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1988 in baseball
Totally Explained
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Major League Baseball final standings
Events
January 12 - Former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Willie Stargell is the only player elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Stargell becomes the 17th player to be elected in his first year of eligibility. Pitcher Jim Bunning garners 317 votes (74.2%), and falls four votes shy of the 321 needed for election in his 13th year on the ballot.
March 1 - For the first time since 1956, the Special Veterans Committee doesn't elect anyone to the Hall of Fame. Phil Rizzuto, Leo Durocher, Joe Gordon and Gil Hodges are among the candidates passed over.
April - The Baltimore Orioles begin the season with a Major League-record 21 consecutive losses. Manager Cal Ripken, Sr., was a casualty of the streak, losing his job after the sixth consecutive loss.
May 2 - Cincinnati's Ron Robinson, one out away from a perfect game, surrenders a single, and a home run before his Cincinnati Reds finally beat the Montreal Expos 3-2.
June 30 - The Illinois General Assembly votes to help fund a new baseball stadium to replace Comiskey Park which is now the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball. The vote avoids the Chicago White Sox from having to carry through on a threat to move the team.
July 12 - After being maligned by the press as an unworthy All-Star starter, catcher Terry Steinbach hits a solo home run and a sacrifice fly to lead the American League to a 2–1 victory over the National League at Riverfront Stadium. Steinbach is named the MVP.
August 9 - The Chicago Cubs won the first official night game at Wrigley Field by beating the New York Mets 6-4. The lights had been turned on just before the start of last night's game, but that game was rained out.
August 11 - The Boston Red Sox set an AL record with their 23rd straight win at home, beating the Detroit Tigers 9-4. Boston surpassed the league mark of 22 set by the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics.
August 31 - Fred Lynn traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Detroit Tigers for Cesar Mejia, Robinson Garces and Chris Hoiles.
September 8 - A. Bartlett Giamatti is unanimously elected by the owners to replace outgoing Commissioner Peter Ueberroth.
September 9 - Bruce Sutter converts his 300th career save (the third player in history to do so) to preserve an Atlanta Braves win over the San Diego Padres. It is the last save of his career.
September 16 - Tom Browning of the Cincinnati Reds pitches a 1-0 perfect game over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It isn't only the tenth perfect game in Major League history, but the first to ever be pitched against the team that would go on to win the World Series that year.
September 17 - Jeff Reardon becomes the first pitcher to save 40 games in both leagues as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1. Reardon, who saved 42 games for the Montreal Expos in 1985, pitches the ninth inning for his 40th save in 47 opportunities.
September 20 - Wade Boggs becomes the first player in Major League history, since 1901, to collect 200 or more hits in six consecutive years. He is also the second player (to Lou Gehrig) to collect 200 hits and 100 bases on balls in three straight seasons.
September 23 - José Canseco steals his 40th base of the year, and becomes the first member of the 40-40 club.
September 28 - One of the great season closing games in history is played as Los Angeles pitcher Orel Hershiser and Andy Hawkins of the San Diego Padres each pitch ten scoreless innings. The Padres eventually win, but the tenth inning proves to be Hershiser's 59th consecutive scoreless inning, breaking Don Drysdale's record streak of 58 consecutive innings.
September 30 - For the second consecutive start, Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays has a no-hitter broken up with two out in the ninth, and has to settle for a one-hit shutout. Jim Traber of the Baltimore Orioles singles to break up the bid; Stieb ends up winning the game 4-0. Six days earlier, in a 1-0 shutout over the Cleveland Indians, Stieb's bid for a no-hitter was broken up by a Julio Franco single with two out in the ninth. Had Stieb accomplished the double no-hit feat, he'd have joined Johnny Vander Meer (1938) as the only pitchers to hurl no-hitters in consecutive starts.
October 15 - In Game One of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers trail the Oakland Athletics 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning when the Dodgers' Kirk Gibson, badly injured in the NLCS against the New York Mets, hobbles to the plate to pinch-hit against Oakland's lethal closer, Dennis Eckersley. With two outs, a 3-2 count against him, and Mike Davis on second base, Gibson uses his upper body and wrists to launch a backdoor slider from Eckersley into the right-field stands for a 5-4 Los Angeles victory. Gibson's home run re-energized the underdog Dodgers and shattered the confidence of the A's, who lost the series in five games. It inspired the coining of the phrase "walk-off home run," and is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in baseball history.
October 20 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser ends his dream season with a 5–2 four-hitter over the Oakland Athletics in Game Five of the World Series. The win gives the Dodgers their first World Championship since 1981, and makes them the only team to win more than one World Series in the 1980s. Hershiser is selected the Series MVP.
Movies
Bull Durham
Eight Men Out
Deaths
February 20 - Bob O'Farrell, 91, catcher for four NL teams over 21 seasons who won 1926 MVP award with the Cardinals
February 23 - Pete Donohue, 87, pitcher who had three 20-win seasons for the Reds and beat the Phillies 20 consecutive times from 1922-25
February 26 - Tom Oliver, 85, fine defensive center fielder for the Boston Red Sox in the early 1930s
February 28 - Harvey Kuenn, 57, 8-time All-Star shortstop and outfielder, most notably with the Tigers, who batted .303 lifetime and led AL in hits four times and doubles three times; 1953 Rookie of the Year and 1959 batting champion, later managed Brewers to their first pennant in 1982
March 6 - Lou Legett, 86, catcher for the Boston Red Sox between 1929 and 1935
March 21 - Edd Roush, 94, Hall of Fame center fielder for the Cincinnati Reds who batted .323 lifetime; led NL in batting twice, and in slugging, doubles and triples once each; hit 30 inside-the-park home runs, and ended career with 13th-most triples in history
March 29 - Ted Kluszewski, 63, All-Star first baseman for the Reds who led NL in homers and RBI in 1954 and batted .300 seven times, known for his sleeveless jersey; later a Reds coach
April 29 - Dom Dallessandro, 74, outfielder for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs between 1937 and 1947, who hit .304 in 1944
June 9 - Newt Allen, 87, All-Star second baseman for the Negro Leagues' Kansas City Monarchs
July 4 - Lee Weyer, 51, National League umpire since 1963 who worked in four World Series and 5 NL Championship Series
July 20 - John W. Galbreath, 90, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1945 to 1985, during which period the team won three World Series
July 26 - Al Flair, 62, first baseman for the 1941 Boston Red Sox
August 22 - Bob Daughters, 74, played for the 1937 Boston Red Sox
September 2 - Jim Bagby, Jr., 71, All-Star pitcher for the Red Sox and Indians, led AL in starts and innings in 1943
September 16 - Bob Trice, 62, first black player in Philadelphia Athletics history
October 14 - Vic Raschi, 69, All-Star pitcher who won 20 games for the Yankees three straight years (1949-51), won World Series clinchers in 1949 and 1951
November 21 - Carl Hubbell, 85, Hall of Fame pitcher who won 253 games for the New York Giants, second most among NL lefthanders upon retirement; named NL's MVP in 1933 and 1936, he led league in wins and ERA three times each and had 1.79 ERA in six World Series starts; 1677 strikeouts were NL record for lefthanders until 1958, and won 24 straight games in 1936-37
November 22 - Ray Kelly, 74, sportswriter who covered the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies since the late 1940s
November 30 - Wally Berger, 83, All-Star center fielder for the Boston Braves who had four 100-RBI seasons, batted .300 lifetime; led NL in homers and RBI in 1935
December 12 - Joe Reichler, 73, sportswriter and author who wrote for the Associated Press for 20 years and served as an assistant to the commissioner after 1966; editor of the Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia since its first edition in 1969
December 21 - Willie Kamm, 88, third baseman for the White Sox and Indians who led AL in fielding average eight times and in putouts seven times; batted .308 in 1928 and led league in walks in 1925
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