How Long It's Been: The Los Angeles Dodgers Won a World Series

Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1, in Game 6 of the World Series at Globe Life Field, in Arlington, Texas. They won the Series, 4 games to 2.

It was their 1st World Championship since October 20, 1988: World Series MVP Orel Hershiser ended his dream season with a 5-2 four-hitter over the Oakland Athletics in Game 5. Mickey Hatcher started the Dodger scoring with a 2-run home run in the 1st inning off Storm Davis‚ his 2nd homer of the Series. Hershiser was named Most Valuable Player of the World Series. Kirk Gibson, whose home run won Game 1, was later named MVP of the National League.

The win gave the Dodgers a tremendous upset, and their 5th World Championship since moving to Los Angeles 30 years earlier, their 6th overall.

But it took them 27 years, more than a quarter of a century, to win another Pennant. They've now won 3 Pennants in the last 4 years, but this was their 1st series win since October 20, 1988, 32 years. How long has that been?

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At the time, the Dodgers were perennial contenders. It was the 4th time in the decade that they were NL Western Division Champions, the 7th time in the last 15 seasons. In their 1st 31 seasons in Los Angeles, they reached at least a 163rd game (counting the 1962 and 1980 tie-forced playoffs) 13 times. In the next 27 seasons, they made it 14 times, but never got closer than 2 games from the Pennant. From October 12, 1988 to October 9, 2004, 16 years, they didn't win so much as a single postseason game.

In contrast, their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, hadn't won a World Series, and had only won 1 Pennant, since 1954, when both teams were still in New York. But since 1988, the Giants have won 5 Pennants and 3 World Series.

There was an MLB team in Montreal, but not in Washington, D.C., nor in Florida, nor in the entire Mountain Time Zone. Among existing teams in 1988, the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers had never made the Playoffs.

The Rangers, the team then known as the California Angels, the Houston Astros and the Toronto Blue Jays had not yet won their 1st Pennant. The Angels and Jays had not yet won their 1st World Series.

The Boston Red Sox had not won a World Series in 70 years, the Chicago White Sox in 71, the Chicago Cubs in 80. The Cleveland Indians had not won a Pennant in 34 years, a fact emphasized by a movie then being filmed, Major League. The Braves had not won a Pennant since moving to Atlanta, indeed it had been 30 years since the Milwaukee Braves had won one. The Montreal Expos franchise (now the Washington Nationals) had never won a Pennant. Neither they nor the Houston Astros had ever won a World Series.

The Astros were in the National League, and the Milwaukee Brewers were in the American League. There were no Central Divisions, Wild Cards, stadiums with retractable roofs, Asian-born players or Australian-born players. There was no regular-season Interleague play.

And the Mets, who had just won their 2nd NL Eastern Division title in the last 3 years, only 2 seasons removed from a World Championship, were, unquestionably, the best and most popular baseball team in the New York Tri-State Area.

All of those facts have now changed.

Only 6 stadiums in use by MLB teams in 1988 are still in use: The Dodgers' home of Dodger Stadium, Anaheim (now Angel) Stadium down Interstate 5, Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago, Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium in Kansas City, and the home stadium of the team the Dodgers beat in the '88 Series, the Oakland Coliseum.

More than half of MLB, 16 out of the 26 existing teams, had to "groundshare" with pro football teams: Atlanta, California, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Montreal, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto. Minnesota and San Diego had it worst of all, also having to share with college football teams. (Admittedly, the Brewers only had to hand Milwaukee County Stadium over to the Green Bay Packers 4 times a year, once in the preseason. That arrangement lasted from 1953 to 1994.) With the move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas, there are now no MLB teams groundsharing with pro football teams.

Mark Koenig, the last survivor of the 1927 Yankees, was still alive. So were some of the legends of the 1930s, like Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, and Giants legends Carl Hubbell and Bill Terry, both of whom would die in the next few weeks.

Most of the defining players of my childhood were retired: Willie Stargell played his last game in 1982, Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Bench in 1983, Rod Carew in 1985, Tom Seaver and Pete Rose in 1986, Reggie Jackson in 1987, and Steve Carlton earlier in 1988. Mike Schmidt would retire the next year, leaving only George Brett and Nolan Ryan to last until 1993.

The defining players of this generation? Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz were in junior high school. Jimmy Rollins was about to turn 10 years old. Albert Pujols was 8. David Wright, Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera were 5. Zack Greinke turned 5 the next day. Alex Gordon and Max Scherzer were 4. Yoenis Cespedes, Felix Hernandez and Andrew McCutchen were 3. Buster Posey was a year and a half. Clayton Kershaw was 7 months old. Stephen Strasburg was 3 months old.

Were Madison Bumgarner, Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Altuve, Gerrit Cole, Mike Trout, Christian Yelich, Kris Bryant, Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Blake Snell, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto even born yet? As Harper would say, "That's a clown question, bro."

The opposing managers in this Series, Tommy Lasorda of the Dodgers and Tony La Russa of the A's, are both in the Hall of Fame now. Current Dodger manager Dave Roberts was 13 years old, and current A's manager Bob Melvin was a catcher for the Giants.

Of the current New York Tri-State Area teams' mangers and head coaches: Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks was an assistant coach at Harvard University, Barry Trotz of the Islanders was a scout for the Washington Capitals, Lindy Ruff of the Devils was playing for the Buffalo Sabres, David Quinn of the Rangers was taking time off from hockey due to illness, Aaron Boone of the Yankees was in high school, Steve Nash of the Nets was 14 years old, Ronny Deila of New York City FC was 13, Gerhard Struber of the Red Bulls was 11, Adam Gase of the Jets was 10, Luis Rojas of the Mets was 9, Joe Judge of the Giants was 8, and Walt Hopkins of the Liberty was 3.

The Dodgers had dethroned the Minnesota Twins as World Champions. The titleholders in the other sports were the Washington Redskins in the NFL, the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA and the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL. Mike Tyson was the undefeated, undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The Olympics had just been held in Seoul, Korea. They have since been held in America twice, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Britain, Russia, Brazil, and Korea again. The World Cup has since been held in America, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

The idea that corporations were "people," and thus entitled to the rights and protections thereof, was ridiculous. But then, so was the idea that people of the same gender could marry, and get all the legal protections of marriage. No Justice then on the Supreme Court is still on it now.

The President of the United States was Ronald Reagan. Vice President George H.W. Bush was about to be elected to replace him. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy were still alive. Bill Clinton was in his 4th term as Governor of Arkansas. George W. Bush was working for his father's campaign, and was soon to buy the Texas Rangers. Barack Obama had just entered Harvard Law School.

The day the Dodgers won the 1988 World Series, Kamala Harris was a student at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in Berkeley, and celebrated her 24th birthday. Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mike Pence was a lawyer running for Congress in Indiana, but, in spite of getting an Oval Office photo-op with Reagan and running in the conservative State of Indiana (with its Senator Dan Quayle on the ticket for Vice President), lost. And Donald Trump was getting caught cheating on his 1st wife with his 2nd, and losing money by the bucketful. 

The Mayor of Los Angeles was Tom Bradley, and the Governor of California was George Deukmejian. Current Mayor Eric Garcetti was in high school, and current Governor Gavin Newsom was at Santa Clara University.

The Governor of the State of New York was Mario Cuomo, and his son Andrew Cuomo, now Governor himself, was a lawyer running an organization named Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP). The Mayor of the City of New York was Ed Koch. Current Mayor Bill de Blasio was working for a charity in Nicaragua. The Governor of New Jersey was Tom Kean. Current Governor Phil Murphy was a young broker moving up through the ranks at Goldman Sachs.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and working with the Jesuit community in Cordoba, Argentina.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Brian Mulroney, and of Britain Margaret Thatcher. The British monarch was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. Liverpool Football Club had won England's Football League, but were denied "The Double" when South London club Wimbledon, a.k.a. The Crazy Gang, shocked them in the FA Cup Final. Liverpool would win the Cup in the 1988-89 season that had just begun, but would again be denied The Double when North London's Arsenal beat them on the final day of the season. There have since been 6 Presidents of the United States, 7 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

There were still surviving veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Boer War, the Philippine Campaign, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Russo-Japanese War. There were still survivors of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903, the General Slocum Fire of 1904, and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

Major novels of 1988 included Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake, The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Major films released in October 1988 included Alien Nation, Punchline, The Accused and Mystic Pizza. The TV shows Yo! MTV Raps, Dear John, Empty Nest and Roseanne had recently premiered. The modernized Mission: Impossible, Murphy Brown and Mystery Science Theater 3000 soon would.

Christopher Reeve had stopped playing Superman, Lynda Carter was still the last live-action Wonder Woman, and Nicholas Hammond was still the last live-action Spider-Man. But Lou Ferrigno was still playing the Hulk, and Michael Keaton was now filming Batman. Timothy Dalton was James Bond, and Sylvester McCoy was The Doctor.

No one had yet heard of Zack Morris, Hayden Fox, Dale Cooper, Deadpool, The Seinfeld Four, Buffy Summers, Alex Cross, Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Andy Sipowicz, Jay & Silent Bob, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Doug Ross, Bridget Jones, Xena, Ash Ketchum, Austin Powers, Harry Potter, Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope, Sarah Manning and Maggie Bell.

The Number 1 song in America was UB40's reggae cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine," soon to be replaced by Phil Collins' improbably lame cover of the Mindbenders' "A Groovy Kind of Love." Even more improbably, the Beach Boys were about to hit Number 1 with the theme from the film Cocktail, "Kokomo," written by lead singer Mike Love, producer Terry Melcher, 1967 one-hit wonder Scott McKenzie, and Mamas & Papas leader John Phillips.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. launched their Rat Pack Reunion Tour, selling out sports arenas from coast to coast despite being 72, 71 and 62 years old, respectively. Keith Richards released his solo album Talk Is Cheap, proving that he needed Mick Jagger a whole lot less than Mick needed him, and sparking the Rolling Stones to reunite the next year to record the album Steel Wheels

and embark on their 25th Anniversary tour.

Steve Earle released his best-remembered album, Copperhead Road. Kenny G released his breakthrough album Silhouette. Roxette released their breakthrough album, Look Sharp! The Bangles released Everything, including "Eternal Flame." Michael Jackson was raking in royalties from his big release the year before, Bad. People were beginning to notice his altered appearance, but he wasn't considered that weird yet.

U2 released the soundtrack to their film Rattle and Hum. Yoko Ono released her own documentary and soundtrack album: Imagine: John Lennon. Paul McCartney released a live album of his recent Soviet Union concert -- but only in the Soviet Union, leading to the juxtaposition of the West having to get it on bootlegs, instead of the other way around like they used to have to do back in the U.S.S.R. 

George Harrison was enjoying the praise for his comeback album Cloud Nine and his "supergroup" the Traveling Wilburys, but mourning the death of personal hero and Wilburys bandmate Roy Orbison. Bob Dylan was also a Wilbury, as were Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra. George, fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, and Lynne would soon help Petty record Full Moon Fever.

Kourtney Kardashian was 9. Kim would turn 8 the next day. Khloe was 4. Rob was a year and a half. Kendall and Kyle weren't born yet. Beyonce was 7. Lady Gaga was 2 1/2. Rihanna was 8 months old. Kevin was the only Jonas Brother who had yet been born. Neither Miley Cyrus, nor Selena Gomez, nor Demi Lovato, nor Nicki Minaj, nor Ariana Grande, nor Justin Bieber, nor Halsey, nor any member of One Direction, nor any member of BTS had yet been born.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $2.20 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 25 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.00. The average price of a gallon of gas was 96 cents, a cup of coffee $1.35, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.28, a movie ticket $4.13, a new car $13,933, and a new house $140,400. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 2,181.19.

The Nintendo NES was the leading home video game system. Personal computers were now in a majority of phones, but the Internet as we know it had not yet been developed. There was no World Wide Web, no Netscape, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no Pinterest, no Skype. But on November 2, 13 days after the Dodgers won the World Series, the Morris Worm, the world's 1st computer virus, was launched from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There were birth control pills, but no Viagara.

In the Autumn of 1988, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Discovery, resuming flights after the

Challenger disaster 2 1/2 years earlier. The Soviets launch their own ripoff of the American shuttle, the unmanned Buran -- making its one and only flight. A riot in Algeria led to the government killing 500 protestors and torturing many more. Tamil mercenaries fail to topple the government of the Maldives. The French government allowed the distrubition of RU-486, which became known as "the Morning-After Pill." And the United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Actor John Houseman, and boxing champion Henry Armstrong, and soccer legend Jackie Milburn died. Masahiro Tanaka, and Derrick Rose, and Mesut Özil were born.

October 20, 1988. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. Now, they have finally won another.