This Day In Sports History is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Your Favorite Sport's Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In 1988, Kirk Gibson's dramatic 9th inning home run beat the Oakland A's in game one of the World Series.

In 1989, Los Angeles King Wayne Gretzky surpassed Gordie Howe to become the NHL's all-time points scorer.

In 1946, Enos Slaughter scored on a mad dash from first to surprise the Boston Red Sox and win the World Series.

And in 1912, Boston's Royal Rooters rioted to disrupt the start of the game 7 of the World Series. It cost their team but didn't cost them the series.

THIS DAY IN SPORTS BACKGROUND

Relive the greatest moments in sports every day of the year. From the triumphs to the tragedies, the first to do it to the last time it happened, the unbelievable to the strange, This Day in Sports History is a 365-day journey remembering those significant events that made a lasting impact.

STEVE WHITE BIO

The host of 'This DiSH' is me, Steve White. I've spent most of my life behind a microphone. As a kid, I realized the power of the spoken word, hanging out with my dad while we talked to people around the world via ham radio. Later, I put that penchant for communication into practice and ventured into radio and TV.  I've worked for a few television stations in North Carolina doing sports reporting and anchoring before transitioning to voiceover in 2015.

'This Day in Sports History' evolved from a lifetime of watching, listening to, and going to ballgames, reading books, magazines, and newspaper articles about my favorite teams and sports heroes. It's not only a labor of love but a voyage of discovery, finding those forgotten tidbits or fascinating things I never knew. 

Takeaways:

• On October 15, 1988, Kirk Gibson's iconic home run stunned the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the World Series.
• Wayne Gretzky became the NHL's all-time points leader on October 15, 1989, surpassing Gordy Howe.
• Enos Slaughter's daring baserunning in the 1946 World Series clinched the championship for the Cardinals.
• The Royal Rooters, a famous group of Red Sox fans, caused chaos in 1912 over double-sold seats.
• Kirk Gibson's legendary performance was notable as he only played one game in the series.
• Brian Wilson's high school music project led to the creation of the Beach Boys' hit 'Surfin'.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Hey, and welcome to another edition of this day in sports history.

They had a near murderer's row of young hitters such as Jose Canseco, who had just become the first 40 home run, 40 stolen base guy in Major League Baseball history, and he would be named MVP of the American League in a few weeks.

Fellow bash brother Mark McGuire had a bit of an off year with just 32 home runs in 88, but he had led the league in homers in 87 and of course would eventually go on to set a new single season record for homers a decade later.

As a team, the Dodgers didnt figure in the top five of any offensive category except for team batting average, which they were fifth in the National League.

Kirk Gibson led the team with 25 home runs that season, and he would be named National League MVP in a few weeks.

But Gibson was listed as day to day coming into this series, and he didnt start game one due to a hamstring injury he had suffered in the NLCS, along with a swollen knee and ligament damage he could barely even walk around.

LA had solid pitching, though, with soon to be Cy Young Award winner Oral Hersheyser, and maybe that could keep the Oakland bats at bay.

But many assumed that the ace would simply overpower the Dodgers and a four game sweep was not really out of the question.

Oh, and the A's had the best closer in the game at that point.

And Dennis Eckersley, he'd lead the American League with 45 saves and he would finish second in the American League Cy Young balloting.

In essence, if the A's had a lead in the bottom of the 9th, it was going to be lights out on this day.

It was game one of the 88 World Series, and maybe the tone for this one and what would eventually happen in this game was set in the first inning with an unlikely home run by Mickey Hatcher, the man who was replacing the injured Kirk Gibson in the lineup with a man on in the bottom half of the first.

Hatcher, a man making his first plate appearance in the World Series ever and whod hit just one home run all season long, unloaded on a Dave Stewart fastball and parked it in the left field seats to make it 20 Dodgers.

He became just the 17th player to homer in his first World Series at Batna Kinseko would erase that advantage in the second with a grand slam to make it four two as the Dodgers added a run in the 6th to make it four three.

And it stayed that way into the bottom of the 9th.

Stuart was replaced on the mound by Eckersley, who got the first two batters out.

Mike Davis came to the plate and Lasorda sent Dave Anderson to the on deck circle.

Davis had hit Eckersley pretty well in the past, so he kind of pitched around him a bit, feeling that a walk would probably not hurt them, especially with a weak hitting Anderson coming up after him.

Technically, you don't want to put the tying run on, but with two outs and a guy who'd hit just two homers all season on deck, the odds were against, and so Davis took ball four and he trotted to first.

But Anderson was a bit of a ruse.

Kirk Gibson had been swinging a bat and hitting off a tee in the Dodger locker room.

Lasorda had watched him take a few cuts and he felt that it was worth a shot.

So he pulled Anderson and he sent Gibson to the plate.

Down a run with a man on and two outs.

Just to reiterate, Gibson's right knee had ligament damage and was badly swollen and it caused him immense pain.

His left hamstring was also on fire, so walking, let alone running, was simply painful.

Well, here's the legendary call by Jack Buck that night.

We have a big three two pitch coming here from Eckersley.

Gibson swings and a fly ball to deep right field.

This is going to be a home run.

Unbelievable.

A home run for Gibson, and the Dodgers have won the game five to four.

I don't believe what I just saw.

I don't believe what I just saw.

Is this really happening, Bill?

It is happening, and they've got to help him home.

The third base coach, Joe Malfitano, had to give him a little push.

And all the Dodgers around all play.

I don't believe what I just saw.

One of the most remarkable finishes to any World Series game, a one handed home run by Kurt Gibson.

So a couple of more things to know about this game and that play.

That was the first home run that Eckersley had given up in nearly two months.

According to baseballreference.com, the chance for a Dodger win in that situation was about 4%.

It was the only appearance by Gibson in the series, and the Dodgers would also win games two, four and five to beat the athletics four games to one and win the championship.

Passing Gordy Howe.

The Los Angeles Kings were on the road playing at Edmonton, where Gretzky had spent the first nine years of his NHL career and had led them to four Stanley cup titles.

This was just the second season with the Kings, but here he was on the doorstep to hockey immortality.

He assisted a Bernie Nichols goal in the first period to pick up his first and tie Howe.

But as time wound down in the third and the Oilers on top four three, it appeared that the celebration would have to wait.

The game was paused several minutes to honor the moment, but Gretzky was not done for the night.

With the score tied, it went to overtime, and Gretzky netted the game winner at the 324 mark to win the game for the Kings five four.

Gordy had amassed his points over a 26 year career.

Gretzky had passed him in just over ten.

Louis Cardinal Enos Slaughter ran a stop sign and surprised the Boston Red Sox with his bold baserunning.

The game was tied at two.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Slaughter let off with a single, but after a couple of flyouts, he was still there.

He was getting a little bit antsy.

The next man up was Harry Walker, who lined one to the gap in left center, and Slaughter took off at the crack of the bat.

Boston center fielder Leon Culberson actually got to the ball before it could roll to the wall, and he threw it into shortstop Johnny Pesky.

Well, Pesky expected to turn around and see men on first and third, but instead he saw Slaughter streaking for home.

He had blown through the hold up sign at third and kept on chucking.

Pesky's hesitation cost him precious time, and his throw to the plate was just up the line and a bit late.

The Red Sox threatened in the top of the 9th, but they couldn't score, and the Cardinals were World Series champs, thanks to what became known as Slaughter's mad dash.

And let's finish off today.

But this story is not specifically about the team, but more about a group of fans called the Royal Rooters and what happened to them on this day.

At the time, this group was the most famous of supporters of any major league team.

And there were several well known and prominent men amongst the group, such as Honey Fitz Fitzgerald, who was JFKs grandfather, along with well known tavern owner Michael Nuffsed McGreeveye.

So this group, the Royal Rooters, traveled with the team.

They cheered them loudly, they sang songs, and they gave opposing players a hard time.

And another thing is that the Royal Rooters always sat together in the exact same section of seats for home games known as Duffys Cliff at Fenway park.

Well, on this day, 112 years ago, it was game seven of what would become an eight game series between the Red Sox and the New York Giants.

Side note, game two ended in a time they ran out of daylight and there weren't lights at stadiums yet.

So they didn't finish game two.

But instead of finishing it the next day, they played an additional game.

However, the players were not compensated for playing an additional game in the series.

In fact, their share only came from gate receipts to the first four games.

I'm getting a bit off track, but I thought it was important to kind of point out since I talked about the Black Sox scandal yesterday.

Okay, so back to this one.

The Red Sox were one win away from winning the series.

A ticket seller made a mistake and sold the Duffy's cliff section of seats to some other people.

And when the Royal Rooters got to the game and found out that their seats had been double sold, they rioted.

The Rooters broke through the outfield fence, marched around on the field, and then bothered the players.

The police were called in to restore order, which took several minutes, delaying the start of the game.

The Red Sox starter, Larry Gardner, must have cooled off in the melee.

He allowed six first inning runs.

Once play resumed, New York went on to win game 711 four.

McGreevey led a demonstration in front of the Red Sox box office and declared a boycott by the Royal Rooters for game eight.

But they were all seen celebrating the championship in the streets of Boston after the game.

And time now for today's got nothing to do with sports.

Fun fact.

Instead, he wrote the melody for what would later become the song surfin.

With the lyrics added, surfin would go on to be the breakout song for the Beach Boys, peaking at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and propel the band to stardom.

But the story doesn't end there.

That's all I've got for you today.

Thanks for stopping by.

And I'll be back tomorrow with another edition of this day in sports history.

This has been an original thrive suite production.