Age: 31 (May 28)
1st season
with Dodgers
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’3” Weight: 215
Prior to 1988:
A Michigan
native, Gibson played football, basketball, and ran track in addition to
baseball at Waterford-Kettering High School. Attending Michigan State on a
football scholarship he became a starting flanker as a freshman. Later
approached about playing baseball as well, Gibson excelled with his speed and
power. In one season of baseball he hit .390 in 48 games with 16 home runs, 52
RBIs, and 21 stolen bases. Selected by the Detroit Tigers with the twelfth
overall pick in the 1978 amateur draft and recognizing that baseball had better
long-term career potential than pro football, Gibson signed with the Tigers for
six years and $200,000. Initially assigned to Lakeland of the Class A Florida
State League, in 54 games he batted .240 with 8 home runs and 40 RBIs. With his
contract allowing him to return to Michigan State for his final football
season, he performed well and was chosen by the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals in
the seventh round of the 1979 NFL draft. Assigned to Evansville of the Class
AAA American Association in 1979, he suffered a knee injury that required
arthroscopic surgery and appeared in only 89 games in which he hit .245 with 9
home runs and 42 RBIs. His average improved toward the end of the season, and
Gibson excelled in the American Association playoffs, won by Evansville. A
late-season call-up to the Tigers resulted in 39 plate appearances with a home
run, four RBIs, and three stolen bases. Gibson impressed manager Sparky
Anderson enough to remain with the club in 1980. Placed in center field, he
showed promise until sidelined by a wrist injury that required surgery and
limited his rookie season to 51 games in which he batted .263 with 9 home runs
and 16 RBIs. Primarily playing in right field before being moved back to center
field during the strike-interrupted 1981 season, Gibson started slowly until
catching fire following the strike and ended up hitting .328 with 9 home runs,
40 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases. Various injuries limited him to 69 games in 1982
in which he batted .278 with 8 home runs and 35 RBIs. Utilized significantly as
a Designated Hitter in 1983 Gibson hit .227 in an uneven season with 15 home
runs and 51 RBIs. The Tigers won the World Series in 1984 and Gibson, with an
improved attitude and performance, contributed significantly to the
championship season by hitting .282 with 27 home runs and 91 RBIs while
starting in right field. In the postseason he was the MVP of the ALCS triumph
over Kansas City by batting .417 with a home run and significantly contributing
defensively. In the five-game World Series victory against San Diego he hit
.333 with two home runs, including the clincher in Game 5, and 7 RBIs. He
finished sixth in American League MVP voting. The team dropped to third in the
AL East in 1985 although Gibson had another solid season in which he hit .277
with 29 home runs and 97 RBIs. He started the 1986 season fast until sidelined
for 33 games due to an ankle injury. Appearing in 119 games he batted .268 with
28 home runs and 86 RBIs. “Gibby” started the 1987 season on the DL due to a
torn rib muscle. Shifted to left field upon his return to the lineup he batted
.277 with 24 home runs and 79 RBIs as the Tigers returned to the top of the AL
East. In the offseason he signed a three-year, $4.5 million contract with the
Dodgers, where he quickly established himself as a team leader.
1988 Season Summary
Appeared in 150
games
LF – 148, CF –
1, PH – 3
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 632 [20]
At Bats – 542
Runs – 106 [2]
Hits – 157 [19]
Doubles – 28 [20,
tied with Ron Gant & Von Hayes]
Triples – 1
Home Runs – 25 [7,
tied with Andy Van Slyke]
RBI – 76 [16]
Bases on Balls
– 73 [11]
Int. BB – 14
[7, tied with Barry Bonds & Tim Raines]
Strikeouts – 120
[9]
Stolen Bases – 31
[14, tied with Kevin Bass]
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .290
[11]
OBP - .377 [4]
Slugging Pct. -
.483 [9]
Total Bases – 262
[11]
GDP – 8
Hit by Pitches
– 7 [8, tied with Mike Marshall, Candy Maldonado & Gary Carter]
Sac Hits – 3
Sac Flies – 7 [13,
tied with seven others]
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 15, RBI – 46, AVG - .299, SLG - .517
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Cincinnati 8/11 – 10 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 7 games
HR at home – 14
HR on road – 11
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Chi. Cubs 7/14
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 4 at Atlanta 4/9
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 3 (.000) with 1 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 329
Put Outs – 311
Assists – 6
Errors – 12
DP – 3
Pct. - .964
Postseason: 8 G
(NLCS vs. NY Mets – 7 G; World Series vs. Oakland – 1 G)
PA – 31, AB – 27,
R – 3, H – 5, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 3, RBI – 8, BB – 3, IBB – 2, SO – 6, SB – 2, CS
– 0, AVG - .185, OBP - .258, SLG - .519, TB – 14, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 1
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Silver Slugger
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Kirk Gibson, LAD:
272 pts. - 13 of 24 first place votes, 81% share
Darryl
Strawberry, NYM: 236 pts. – 7 first place votes, 70% share
Kevin
McReynolds, NYM: 162 pts. – 4 first place votes, 48% share
Andy Van Slyke,
Pitt.: 160 pts. – 48% share
Will Clark, SF:
135 pts. – 40% share
---
Dodgers went 94-67
to finish first in the NL Western Division by 7 games over the Cincinnati Reds.
The revamped Dodgers, benefiting from the presence of Gibson, strong pitching
and a deep bench, won with regularity and took control of the NL West race in
August and September. Won NLCS over the New York Mets, 4 games to 3. The series
turned on Gibson’s 12th inning home run that capped a dramatic Game
4 win. Won World Series over the Oakland Athletics, 4 games to 1. Gibson was
felled by a leg injury suffered during the NLCS but sparked the underdog
Dodgers with a dramatic pinch home run that won Game 1.
Aftermath of ‘88:
Still bothered
by his knee injury from the 1988 postseason, Gibson appeared in just 71 games
in 1989 and batted .213 with 9 home runs and 28 RBIs before undergoing surgery.
He returned to action with the Dodgers in June of 1990 and over the course of
89 games hit .260 with 8 home runs and 38 RBIs, although he stole 26 bases in
28 attempts. Gibson departed the Dodgers as a free agent in the offseason,
joining the Kansas City Royals, who signed him to a two-year contract. With the
Royals in 1991 he batted .236 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. Traded to the
Pittsburgh Pirates in the spring of 1992, he was released in May after playing
in only 16 games. Gibson returned to the Tigers in 1993 where he hit .261 with
13 home runs and 62 RBIs. Never regarded as an outstanding defensive player, he
was primarily a DH in ’93 and again in 1994 when Gibson batted .276 with 23
home runs and 72 RBIs in the strike-shortened season. He retired in August of
the 1995 season at age 38 while hitting .260 with 9 home runs and 35 RBIs. For
his career, Gibson batted .268 with 1553 hits that included 260 doubles, 54
triples, and 255 home runs. He further scored 985 runs and compiled 870 RBIs
and 284 stolen bases. In 310 games with the Dodgers he batted .264 with 293 hits,
56 doubles, 3 triples, 42 home runs, 142 RBIs, and 69 stolen bases. Appearing
in 21 postseason games Gibson hit .282 with 7 home runs and 21 RBIs. He placed
in the Top 20 in MVP balloting on four occasions and also was awarded one
Silver Slugger. After returning to major league baseball as a coach, he went on
to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks for all or parts of five seasons and
compiled a 353-375 record that included one division title.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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