The 1988 Toronto Blue Jays continued a pattern, and one the franchise would have preferred to avoid. In 1985, the Blue Jays had a terrific season, but lost a heartbreaker in the ALCS. That was followed by a 1986 season, that while a winning year, still had a hangover feel to it. In 1987, the […]
Tom Trebelhorn ushered in a new era of baseball in Milwaukee when he led the Brewers to a 91-win breakout season in 1987. Hopes were high in ’88. The final verdict depends on your perspective—the 1988 Milwaukee Brewers slipped a bit and weren’t quite as good. But the AL East they then resided in wasn’t […]
The 1988 World Series was supposed to be a coronation for the 104-win Oakland Athletics. It ended up being a stunning upset for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as an iconic baseball moment started the series and the dominance of LA ace Orel Hershiser took over from there.
The 1988 baseball season is remembered for an incredible home run in the first game of the World Series, one that capped a season-long run that seemed straight off the Hollywood set. But there was a whole lot of context that set the stage for that October moment, including the following… *The Los Angeles Dodgers […]
Pete Rose had returned to the Cincinnati Reds with much fanfare, as player-manager late in 1984 season. Rose broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record on the field, and in the dugout, he turned out a struggling franchise. The Reds went from cellar-dwellers to three straight second-place finishes from 1985-87. The Cincinnati Reds continued that string—but by now, second place was a disappointment and a tumultuous year was the precursor to the eventual end of Rose in baseball
The 1988 Detroit Tigers were on a redemption mission. One year earlier, they had won a thrilling AL East race to the wire against the Toronto Blue Jays and finished with the best record in baseball. But an upset loss to the Minnesota Twins in the 1987 ALCS ended the season. The ’88 Tigers looked like they might get back to October for a lot of the summer, but faded at the end.
The 1988 MLB season wasn’t filled with drama when it came to pennant races, but that didn’t stop the year from having an epic ending that was seemingly written in Hollywood and literally ended there.
The Oakland A’s had been off the radar since winning the AL West in 1981, with losing seasons each ensuing year through 1986. Midway through that ’86 campaign, the A’s hired Tony LaRussa as their manager. A year later they went .500. The big breakthrough came when the 1988 Oakland Athletics rolled to 104 wins and the American League pennant before a shocking World Series loss finally ended the run.
The results of the American League Championship Series were predictable—an Oakland sweep—but the Red Sox made each game competitive and the ALCS was filled with could’ve, should’ve moments that might have altered its course.
The bulk of the 1980s were good times for the New York Mets. They produced good, contending teams each year from 1984-88, won two NL East titles and the World Series in 1986. But if there’s any regret, it’s that these outstanding teams never produced a dynastic run. The 1988 New York Mets epitomized both sides of the equation, the excellence and the regret.
The two big markets of the National League battled in the 1988 NLCS, as the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The series had the best pitchers and best MVP candidates, and it went the full seven games, with several surprising plot twists, before the Dodgers finally prevailed