The 1988

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the America ...

was a best-of-seven series that pitted the East Division champion

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 ...

against the West Division champion

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 t ...

. It was the second meeting between the two in ALCS play. The Athletics swept the Series four games to none and lost to 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) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

in the 1988 World Series.

Summary

Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics

Game summaries

Game 1

Wednesday, October 5, 1988, at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

in Boston, Massachusetts In an interview conducted before Game 1,

José Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...

denied reports in that day's ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' by baseball reporter

Thomas Boswell Thomas M. Boswell (born October 11, 1947, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American sports columnist. Career Boswell spent his entire career at the '' Washington Post'', joining it shortly after graduating from Amherst College in 1969. He became ...

that he had used

steroids A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

. Canseco was supported in this denial by former slugger

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...

. The opening game in

pitted Bruce Hurst against Oakland's newfound ace, Dave Stewart. The game was scoreless until the fourth when Canseco, coming off the first 40–40 season in major league history, drilled a homer to give the A's a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh,

Jim Rice James Edward Rice (born March 8, 1953), nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder and designated hitter. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009, as the 103rd member voted in by the BBWAA. Rice p ...

walked and gave way to pinch-runner

Kevin Romine Kevin Andrew Romine (born May 23, 1961) is a former utility outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox throughout his career (1985–1991). Biography Romine attended Fountain Valley High School in Fountain Valley, Cal ...

Jody Reed Jody may refer to: *Jody (given name), a list of people with the given name *Jody (singer), French singer, real name Julie Erikssen * "Jody" (song), 1986 single by Jermaine Stewart *"Jody", a 1982 song by America from ''View from the Ground'' *"Jod ...

reached when Stewart hit him with a pitch. A single by

Rich Gedman Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated comm ...

loaded the bases with one out and Stewart gave way to reliever

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 ...

. Honeycutt induced a line out to left field by Wade Boggs that plated Romine and tied the game at one. Marty Barrett grounded out and the game was tied after seven innings. A

Carney Lansford Carney Ray Lansford (born February 7, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1978 to 1992, most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics team that wo ...

double and a

Dave Henderson David Lee Henderson (July 21, 1958 – December 27, 2015), nicknamed "Hendu", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athleti ...

single gave the A's a 2–1 lead, and

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, ...

held on for the save as the A's prevailed, 2–1. Hurst went the distance allowing only six hits and two runs but wound up with the loss, while Honeycutt got the win. The victory gave the A's a 1–0 series lead.

Game 2

Thursday, October 6, 1988, at

in Boston, Massachusetts Game 2 saw

Storm Davis George Earl "Storm" Davis (born December 26, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1982 to 1994. He is a two-time World Series champion. World Series experience Davis was the winning pitc ...

take the mound against

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...

. After five innings, the A's had two hits, the Red Sox one, and the game was still scoreless. In the bottom of the sixth, a sequence of errors gave the Red Sox two unearned runs. With two outs, Dwight Evans and

Mike Greenwell Michael Lewis Greenwell (born July 18, 1963) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire MLB career with the Boston Red Sox (1985–1996). He played a few games for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan (1997), before retir ...

walked. With two on and two out, Davis appeared out of the inning, but an error by

allowed Evans to score the first run of the game. Ellis Burks then singled home Greenwell to make it 2–0 Boston. Davis then threw a wild pitch that moved Burks to second but retired the side on a strikeout of

Todd Benzinger Todd Eric Benzinger (born February 11, 1963) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played a nine-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career from 1987 to 1995. Biography Benzinger was born in Dayton, Kentuck ...

. Trailing for the first time in the series, the A's deficit only lasted two batters. Henderson singled and

hit his second home run in two games to tie the score at two. Dave Parker singled but was forced at second by Lansford. Lansford got to go to second when Clemens

balk In baseball, a pitcher can commit a number of illegal motions or actions that constitute a balk. Most of these violations involve pitchers pretending to pitch when they have no intention of doing so. In games played under the Official Baseball R ...

ed and to third on a

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third str ...

. Lansford then scored on

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

's single to give the A's a 3–2 lead. Boston tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when

hit a home run off Oakland reliever Greg Cadaret. Three ninth-inning 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 with what proved to be the winning run. Eckersley retired the side again in the ninth for his second save and Oakland carried a two games to none lead with them back to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Gene Nelson got the win while Boston reliever Lee Smith was the losing pitcher.

Game 3

Saturday, October 8, 1988, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

After two calm games in Boston, Game 3 saw both teams mount an offense and go wild, scoring 11 runs in the first three innings (the first two games combined saw only 11 runs scored in 18 total innings). Game 3 saw two former post-season heroes square off against one another as Oakland threw

Bob Welch Bob Welch may refer to: *Bob Welch (baseball) (1956–2014), American baseball pitcher *Bob Welch (author) (born c. 1955), American author and newspaper columnist *Bob Welch (musician) (1945–2012), American musician and member of Fleetwood Mac ** ...

, famous for striking out Reggie Jackson to end Game 2 of the

1978 World Series The 1978 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1978 season. The 75th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Natio ...

, and Boston turned to

Mike Boddicker Michael James Boddicker (born August 23, 1957) is an American right-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles (1980–1988), Boston Red Sox (1988–1990), Kansas City Royals (1991–1992), and Milwaukee Brewers (199 ...

, the Orioles' post-season hero of

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. Neither pitcher lasted the first three innings. The Red Sox began quickly in the first. Ellis Burks singled and went to second on a balk. He reached third when Marty Barrett singled. A Wade Boggs single scored Burks and put Barrett at second.

then doubled both home, and the Red Sox had a 3–0 lead after only four batters. After a ground out by

, Welch promptly loaded the bases with walks to Evans and Gedman. With the bases loaded and only one out, Welch induced short outfield pop flies by Reed and Benzinger to get out of the first trailing only 3–0. The Red Sox had batted through in the first, so Burks led off the second with a double. Barrett bunted Burks to third, and Burks scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Boggs.

, who had doubled home two runs in the first, hit a home run to make the score 5–0 and send Welch to the showers. Gene Nelson came on in relief and got Rice to stop the deficit at 5–0. In the bottom of the second, the A's came back.

led off with a home run. Consecutive fielder's choice grounders put

Mike Gallego Michael Anthony Gallego (born October 31, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder from 1985 to 1997, most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics te ...

at first with two outs. Walt Weiss doubled and

homered, and the score after two was Red Sox 5, A's 4. With two outs in the third, the A's took the lead.

singled, and

drilled a two-run homer to put the A's in front, 6–5. Boddicker left and

Wes Gardner Wesley Brian Gardner (born April 29, 1961) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher who was drafted by the New York Mets in the 22nd round of the 1982 Major League Baseball draft, out of the University of Central Arkansas. New York Mets Gardner ...

came in to relieve. In the fifth, a McGwire single and Hassey double scored McGwire to make the score, 7–5. In the seventh, Boggs hit a single and went to second on Henderson's error. Boggs then scored on a single by Dwight Evans to make it 7–6. A Dave Parker double and a

Stan Javier Stanley Julián Antonio Javier ah-ve-ERR(born January 9, 1964) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1984 to 2001. A switch-hitter with good production from both sides of the ...

single made it 8–6. In the bottom of the eighth, a Lansford single and a Dave Henderson home run closed out the scoring as the A's prevailed, 10–6, to take a three games to none lead in the best-of-seven series. Gene Nelson got his second win in two games while Eckersley got his third save. Boddicker got the loss.

Game 4

Sunday, October 9, 1988, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in

The Oakland Athletics completed a four-game sweep against the Boston Red Sox to make their first World Series appearance 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; ...

. They faced the

who coincidentally were their opponent in that 1974 World Series. Game 4 was a rematch of Game 1 as Bruce Hurst squared off against Dave Stewart.

drilled his third home run in the bottom of the first to give the A's a 1–0 lead. In the third, two singles by Weiss and Lansford followed by a

double made it 2–0 A's. In the top of the sixth, the Red Sox cut the lead in half when Marty Barrett walked, went to second on a single, and scored on consecutive fielder's choice ground outs. Needing two runs to win, the Red Sox took the field with one series of at-bats left in the bottom of the eighth. Lee Smith, ineffective in Game 2, was again ineffective as the A's pushed across two insurance runs. Canseco singled, stole second, and came home on a McGwire single.

bunted to move McGwire to second and wound up on first due to poor execution by the Red Sox. A walk to

Luis Polonia Luis Andrew Polonia Almonte (born December 10, 1963) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and designated hitter. He currently resides in Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, his hometown. Signed by the Oakland Athletics as an amateur f ...

loaded the bases with nobody out.

Don Baylor Don Edward Baylor (June 28, 1949 – August 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and manager. During his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), Baylor was a power hitter known for standing very close to home plate (" crowdin ...

hit a sacrifice fly that scored McGwire and made the score 4–1. Smith retired the next two hitters, but the Red Sox were finished. Eckersley finished the ninth to get his fourth save in only four games, an all-time record (since matched by John Wetteland in the

1996 World Series The 1996 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1996 season. The 92nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion (and defending World Series champio ...

and

Greg Holland Gregory Scott Holland (born November 20, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington N ...

in the

2014 ALCS The 2014 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Baltimore Orioles against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to play in the 2014 World Series. The Royals won the series four ...

). Eckersley won the Most Valuable Player Award for his efforts.

Composite box

1988 ALCS (4–0):

over

References

External links

1988 ALCS at Baseball-Reference1988 ALCS Official Souvenir Program
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