The 1988 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 1988 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. In the National League, the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

returned to the postseason for the second time in three years, and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

returned to the postseason for the fourth and final time this decade. In the American League, the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

returned to the postseason for the first time since

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, and the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

also returned for the second time in three years. The playoffs began on October 4, 1988, and concluded on October 20, 1988, with the Dodgers shocking the Athletics in five games in the

1988 World Series The 1988 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1988 season. The 85th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the Na ...

. The series was notable for injured Dodger Kirk Gibson's dramatic pinch-hit walk-off home run off Athletics closer

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

in Game 1. It was the second title in nine years for the Dodgers, and their sixth overall.

Playoff seeds

The following teams qualified for the postseason:

American League

–

AL East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

champions, 89–73 *

– AL West champions, 104–58

National League

– NL East champions, 100–60 *

– NL West champions, 94–67

Playoff bracket

American League Championship Series

Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics

This was a rematch of the

1975 ALCS The 1975 American League Championship Series pitted the Boston Red Sox against the three-time defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics for the right to advance to the World Series. The Red Sox swept the series in three games to w ...

, which the Red Sox won in a sweep over the Athletics, ending their hopes for a fourth consecutive title. This time, Oakland would sweep Boston, and return to the World Series for the first time since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. Despite ending in a sweep, each game of the series was decided by four runs or less.

Rick Honeycutt Frederick Wayne Honeycutt (born June 29, 1954) is an American former professional baseball coach and pitcher. Honeycutt pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six different teams over 21 years, from 1977 to 1997. He pitched in 30 post-season ...

helped keep the Red Sox offense at bay in Game 1 as the Athletics narrowly prevailed. The Athletics won by one run again in Game 2, as in the top of the ninth, singles by

Ron Hassey Ronald William Hassey (born February 27, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians (1978–1984), Chicago Cubs (1984), New York Yankees (1985–1986), ...

, Tony Phillips, and Walt Weiss scored Hassey to break a 3-3 tie and put the A's up for good. When the series moved to Oakland, the Athletics prevailed in a Game 3 slugfest, 10-6, to go up 3-0 in the series. Dave Stewart and ace closer

held the Red Sox to just one run in Game 4 as the Athletics completed the sweep and secured the pennant. The Red Sox would return to the postseason in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, but were swept by the Athletics in the ALCS yet again. This was the first of three consecutive AL pennants won by the Athletics. The next year, they defeated the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in five games, and in

they again defeated the Red Sox in a sweep.

National League Championship Series

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets

This was the first postseason meeting between the Mets and Dodgers. The Dodgers upset the heavily favored Mets in seven games and returned to the World Series for the first time since

(in the process denying a rematch of the

1973 World Series The 1973 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1973 season. The 70th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion (and defending World Series ch ...

between the Mets and Athletics). In Los Angeles, the first two games were split by both teams – the Mets overcame a 2–0 Dodgers lead in the top of the ninth to win by a 3–2 score in Game 1, and in Game 2, the Dodgers drove Mets' starting pitcher

David Cone David Brian Cone (born January 2, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, and current color commentator for the New York Yankees on the YES Network and WPIX as well as for ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball.Kirk Gibson to tie the series at two. The Dodgers fended off a late rally by the Mets in Game 5 to take a 3–2 series lead headed back to Los Angeles. The Mets won Game 6 by a 5–1 score thanks to a complete-game performance from Cone to force a seventh game. In Game 7, Orel Hershiser, despite being on three days rest, led the Dodgers to the pennant with a complete-game shutout in Game 7, 6–0. This was the first time that the Mets lost in the NLCS. This would be the last postseason appearance for the Mets until

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. This was the last time the Dodgers won the NL pennant until

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, where they defeated the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in five games en route to the World Series. The Mets and Dodgers would meet two more times in the postseason, in the NLDS in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, with the Mets winning both times.

1988 World Series

Oakland Athletics (AL) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)

The 1988 World Series was the second to feature two teams from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was also a rematch of the

1974 World Series The 1974 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1974 season. The 71st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion (and two-time defending World S ...

, which the Athletics won in five games en route to a three-peat. This time, the Dodgers shocked the heavily-favored Athletics in five games to win their sixth championship in franchise history. The series was notable for injured Dodger Kirk Gibson's dramatic pinch-hit walk-off home run off Athletics closer

in Game 1. Orel Hershiser pitched a three-hit complete-game shutout in Game 2 as the Dodgers blew out the Athletics, 6-0, to take a 2–0 series lead headed to Oakland. The Athletics would take Game 3 off a walk-off home run from Mark McGwire to avoid a sweep, but that would be their only win of the series. Dodgers' relief pitcher

Jay Howell Jay Canfield Howell (born November 26, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds (1980), Chicago Cubs (1981), New York Yankees (1982–1984), Oakland Athletics (1985–1987), Los Angeles Dodgers (1988–1992), ...

held off a late comeback by the Athletics in Game 4 to preserve a one-run Dodgers victory and take a commanding 3-1 series lead. In Game 5, the Dodgers jumped out to an early lead in the first inning and maintained it, thanks to stellar pitching from Hershiser, who pitched another complete game in a 5-2 Dodger victory. Hershiser got the final out by striking out Tony Phillips, as the Dodgers clinched the title in Oakland. The Athletics would return to the World Series the very next year, and swept the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in another all-

matchup. This would be the last postseason appearance by the Dodgers until

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. It would also be the last World Series appearance for the Dodgers until

, where they lost to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

in seven games. The Dodgers’ next title would come in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, where they defeated the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

in six games.

Broadcasting

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

televised both LCS nationally in the United States. NBC then aired the World Series.

References

External links

League Baseball Standings & Expanded Standings - 1988
{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 Major League Baseball Season Major League Baseball postseason