Orel Hershiser Finishes Off Oakland to Cap a Historic Season

On October 20, 1988, Orel Hershiser pitched a complete game to beat the Oakland Athletics 5-2 in Game 5 of the World Series, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers the championship in five games. It was the final act of one of the greatest individual pitching seasons ever recorded.

Hershiser entered the Series having set the all-time record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings during the regular season. He won the NL Cy Young Award, the NLCS MVP, and now the World Series MVP. He threw 267 innings with a 2.26 ERA and 23 wins. Across the 1988 postseason, he went 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA in four starts.

Mickey Hatcher and Mike Davis each hit two-run home runs to support Hershiser in the clincher. Hatcher, a career utility player, had already homered in Game 1 and became an unlikely October hero. The A's lineup, featuring Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, and Dave Henderson, had been expected to overpower Los Angeles. They managed a .177 team batting average for the Series.

The Dodgers were heavy underdogs. Their best hitter, Kirk Gibson, could barely walk due to injuries to both legs. Gibson's pinch-hit home run off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 remains one of the most replayed moments in baseball history, but Gibson never appeared again in the Series. The Dodgers won anyway, carried by Hershiser's right arm and a supporting cast that outperformed expectations at every turn.

Hershiser's 1988 remains the standard for a pitcher carrying a team through an entire season and postseason. He started the year as a good pitcher and ended it as a historically dominant one, finishing off the A's dynasty before it ever fully formed.