On Oct. 15, 1988, Kirk Gibson hit what many consider the most dramatic home run in World Series history.

This is the story of that home run.

Kirk Gibson (Dodgers outfielder 1988-89; now Arizona Diamondbacks manager): I was with the Tigers my whole career and went through collusion and I had to stay there. When I left Detroit, a lot was said about me. They attacked me and my character and said things about my family. I remember my parents, especially my dad, defended me. Any father or mother would do that, but I told them, 'Don't worry about it, we'll have our day.'

Fred Claire (Dodgers general manager 1987-98): We needed to make some significant changes. We were 16 games under .500 the previous two seasons. I tried to make a trade for Kirk at the winter meetings in 1987, and at that time there was a big question mark if Kirk would be declared a free agent because of the whole collusion case.

I had long meetings with Tigers general manager Bill Lajoie and was willing to trade Pedro Guerrero for Kirk at the winter meetings. The trade never happened, but, when Kirk became a free agent soon after, we made sure to sign him.

Mel Didier (Dodgers scout 1983-98): I'd been trying to sign Kirk since he was at [Michigan State]. So when Fred Claire called me and said, "I got Kirk Gibson in my office, what do you think?" I said, "I don't give a god d--- if he wants the stadium, give it to him because he's going to help us win."

Mike Scioscia (Dodgers catcher 1980-92, now Los Angeles Angels manager): We all thought we were gamers and played the game hard, but Kirk brought us to a different level. His intensity was off the charts.

Orel Hershiser (Dodgers pitcher 1983-94, now ESPN analyst): The first game of spring training, Jesse Orosco put eye black inside the edge of Kirk's hat before Kirk went out to run his sprints before that game. The team and the crowd at Vero Beach laughed at Kirk because he had black streaks across his forehead when he took his hat off to run. He didn't take it very well.

Gibson: I thought I took it great.

Hershiser: He was so mad that he walked off the field and didn't play in that first game. We had a team meeting the next day, and he expressed his desire to play on a team that took the game seriously. Fun is fun, but, when it's game time, you don't mess with other people on your team and you do everything you can to win the game even if it's spring training. I think it was a significant moment.

Kirk Gibson brought a fiercely competitive attitude to the Dodgers' clubhouse in 1988. Tim Defrisco/Allsport/Getty Images

Gibson won the National League MVP award in 1988 -- hitting .290 with 25 home runs, 76 RBIs, 106 runs scored and 31 stolen bases -- and led the Dodgers to their first division title in three years.

In the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers upset the New York Mets in seven games. Gibson hit home runs in Dodgers victories in Games 4 and 5 but was slowed by sore knees and, in the top half of the ninth inning of Game 5, suffered a severely pulled hamstring while sliding to break up a double play at second base.

As the Dodgers prepared to face a heavily favored Oakland A's team in the World Series, Gibson looked unlikely to play.

'OH S---, THIS ISN'T GOOD'

Gibson: After I got hurt in Game 5 in New York, I immediately got an injection. I had gotten on first base, and I tried to break up the double play down there and, because of my leg and my hamstring, I went into second base funky and I twisted my knee on the bag. At that time, I thought I was invincible. I always figured I'd find a way to play. I slept and I got up at 5 in the morning and I immediately got out of bed and I said, 'This doesn't feel bad.' Then I jogged across my living room floor and it got me and I said, 'Oh s---, this isn't good.'

" Every inning I'd go into the clubhouse … and each time he put his thumbs down and I'd go back out. " -- Tommy Lasorda

Mickey Hatcher (Dodgers outfielder 1987-90): He could hardly walk. There was no way he was going to run. He couldn't play the outfield, so I knew I was probably going to play. I didn't even think he could pinch hit. I was hurting just watching him walk around the locker room before the game.

Gibson: I got to the stadium, and I told them I didn't think I could play. I played in Game 7 [of the NLCS], but this is an ugly feeling. They gave me some more injections in both injuries.

Bob Costas (NBC announcer 1980-present): I remember coming on the air and saying, "First item of business: Kirk Gibson will not play tonight." We had been told he was out. That was how we set the stage for Game 1.

Tommy Lasorda (Dodgers manager 1976-94, now Dodgers' special adviser to the chairman): When I came in, he told me he can't play. He was really suffering, and he couldn't do it. If he had half a chance of doing it, he would have done it, but he said, 'I just can't do it. My leg is really hurting me.' So I figured that was it. Every inning I'd go into the clubhouse and stand at the door of the trainer's room and say, 'How are you feeling, big boy?' Maybe he'd feel better and come back out, and each time he put his thumbs down and I'd go back out.

Tony La Russa would go on to lead the A's to a World Series win over the San Francisco Giants in 1989. USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers and A's knew each other well. Oakland's Game 1 starter, Dave Stewart, had been with the Dodgers from 1978 to 1983, and L.A.'s starter, Tim Belcher, had been in the Oakland farm system in 1987. The Dodgers also had former A's Jay Howell, Mike Davis and Alfredo Griffin on the roster in 1988, and the A's had former Dodgers Rick Honeycutt, Bob Welch and Matt Young.

As far as the A's were concerned, familiarity did not breed respect.

'I THOUGHT THEY WERE THE EASIER TEAM TO BEAT'

Lasorda: Don Baylor said he wanted to play the best team in the National League, which was the Mets. No way did they think we were the best team in the National League. I told our guys to make sure we showed Don Baylor who the best team in the National League was.

" The Mets were the better team, and I wanted to play the better team. " -- Don Baylor

Don Baylor (Oakland A's outfielder, 1988, now Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach): The Mets were the better team, and I wanted to play the better team. I was with the Boston Red Sox in 1986, and I wanted another shot at them after they beat us. I wanted another shot at the Mets. It wasn't meant as a slap at the Dodgers, but they took it and made it bulletin board material. That's fine. I don't care.

Tony La Russa (Oakland A's manager 1986-95): That was not received well. A couple of our guys made comments that they would rather play the Mets, and that was not smart. It was not sportsmanlike, and Tommy utilized it. That wasn't our style. You always want to pump up the team you're going to play even if they're in last place. We did the opposite of that.

Dennis Eckersley (A's pitcher 1987-95, now TBS analyst): I was happy the Dodgers won because they shouldn't have beaten the Mets. The better team was obviously the Mets. The Dodgers just played over their heads. I was happy when the Dodgers won because I thought they were the easier team to beat. I didn't want to go to New York.

Costas: On the face of it, it was a mismatch. I came on the air and said, 'Pitching aside, and pitching may carry them through, this could be the worst lineup ever to take the field for a World Series game.'

Hatcher: I don't think anyone could name our starting lineup or our starting pitching besides Orel Hershiser. You talk about World Series teams and everybody can go down the lineup and name them off the top of their head. You go down our lineup and it's: Who? Who? Who?

Alfredo Griffin (Dodgers shortstop 1988-91, now Angels first-base coach): Nobody believed that we could win. I was with Oakland the year before, and I knew how good they were. That's why I was so sad when Oakland traded me because I knew what kind of team they had and what they were going to do.

Mike Davis (Dodgers outfielder 1988-89): All of my buddies were over there with the A's. I had spent so much time with them the year before and was one of the cogs on that team, so I knew those guys very well. There were some great players over there. I heard what they were saying. They had won over 100 games and the Mets had won over 100 games, and they wanted to play each other. The way the Mets beat us during the season, and they really dominated us, they probably thought it was going to happen. But we were a different team in October.

Orel Hershiser's efforts (1 win, 1 SV, 24 IP, 3 ER) in the NLCS landed the Dodgers in the World Series. USA TODAY Sports

Backing up Gibson and NL Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser was a group of Dodgers reserves who called themselves "The Stuntmen" -- because they were ready to step in whenever the stars were unable to go.

Reserve outfielder Mickey Hatcher, who coined the term in spring training, started in place of Gibson in Game 1 of the Series. Hatcher had hit only one home run in the regular season but delivered a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning and sprinted around the bases afterward.

"He ran like he thought they were going to take it off the scoreboard," NBC color commentator Joe Garagiola said.

'I WAS ENJOYING THE RIDE, AND HE WAS IN IT FOR A SPEED RACE'

Hatcher: I had missed the playoffs and the World Series two times before. I was traded by the Dodgers before they won in 1981 and released by the Minnesota Twins before they won in 1987. Tommy kept teasing me that he was going to get rid of me in 1988. He said, 'Every time someone gets rid of you, they win it.' So to finally be in a World Series, my energy was through the roof. Honest to goodness, I didn't sleep much during the World Series. I was so excited.

" There was almost a rah-rah college atmosphere encouraged by Lasorda around that team. " -- Bob Costas

Lasorda: God must have said let's gift him a home run and let this happen for Mickey. He's such a great competitor. I still can't believe the team we fielded. Jesus! We had Danny Heep in the outfield. I told Danny Heep one time he's so god d--- slow, if he got in a race with a pregnant woman, he'd finish third.

Steve Sax (Dodgers second baseman, 1981-1988): He almost caught me. I was enjoying the ride, and he was in it for a speed race.

Costas: There was almost a rah-rah college atmosphere encouraged by Lasorda around that team. They were the little engine that could, and Hatcher kind of embodied that.

Mark McGwire (A's first baseman 1986-97, now Dodgers hitting coach): It's funny; when you get to the World Series, it's the guys you don't expect that come up big. You put so much emphasis on stopping a couple of guys, and Mickey was one of those high-energy players that always came up big.

Sax: The Stuntmen were great. They were a big part of the team. They took their jobs very seriously. They were a force. They weren't just guys who filled in, they took pride in what they did, like stuntmen. They added a lot of pizzazz for our ballclub.

Dave Anderson (Dodgers infielder 1983-89, now Texas Rangers third-base coach): That group came together and became The Stuntmen in spring training, where starters are only playing four or five innings and then the bench players come on. We'd come in late in games and end up winning games.

Scioscia: That was Mickey. He always came up with big hits when he got a chance. We didn't have star power, but I think we had a better team than people give us credit for.

Hershiser: Mickey was the ringleader. He was the personality of that group, and he really could have been the MVP of the World Series. If he had a better résumé going into the playoffs, he might have won it.

Lasorda: Hatcher was the guy who was supposed to go to Disneyland. They picked Hershiser instead.

In 1988, Jose Canseco became the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season. Ron Vesely/MLB Photos/Getty Images

The A's featured a powerful lineup anchored by the "Bash Brothers," Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, who had combined to hit 74 home runs and 223 RBIs that season. Canseco, the American League MVP, led the league in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage.

'I NEVER SAW THAT KIND OF POWER'

Didier: I'll never forget, before the series, we took about 30-40 at-bats that each hitter went through with a field that was drawn with the fence line. We went through it player by player, looking at tendencies, flipping through the pages and at one point, Joey Amalfitano, our third-base coach, stopped us. He said, "Jesus Christ! Who is this?" You looked at the chart and it was Canseco, and all but two of the balls he hit went to the warning track or over the fence. He couldn't get over it. We'd never seen anything like that before. I told him, 'That's Canseco. You make a mistake and he'll hit the ball a mile.'

" When Canseco hit that grand slam and hit the camera, I looked at my wife and said, 'We're going to have a long night.' " -- Mel Didier

Sax: I never saw that kind of power. When he hit it, I thought the center fielder was going to catch it. It was on a line the whole way. I thought, if this is what we're going to have to contend with, this is going to be a long road for us.

Didier: When Canseco hit that grand slam and hit the camera, I looked at my wife and said, 'We're going to have a long night.'

La Russa: Our team had a really relentless competitive, attitude that season. We never backed off, ever, but I thought we got comfortable after that. We didn't do enough work to keep our timing. Frankly, I didn't think I did as well as Tommy did to feel that urgency to compete. I wasn't real happy with myself. I'm still not.

Griffin: If we didn't have the right frame of mind, we would have given up, but, after we beat the Mets, we thought anything was possible. We never gave up.

Rick Honeycutt (Oakland A's pitcher 1987-93, now Dodgers pitching coach): I remember it knocked the camera guy off his stand in dead center field. I think it maybe gave us a false sense of confidence that we're going to run over these guys. That was our style to get a lead early and pile on after that.

Costas: The ball hit the side of the camera and dented it, and the next night Canseco went out and autographed the camera above the dent.

Lasorda: I thought it was going to be a tough day after that. Belcher was pitching, and I said, 'God d----, c'mon, man.' He started pitching after that, but it put us in a hole.

Tommy Lasorda took the Dodgers to four World Series and won twice, in 1981 and 1988. Mike Janes/Four Seam Images/AP Images

The Dodgers trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the eighth inning when the NBC cameras panned the Dodgers' dugout. Gibson was in the Dodgers' training room with bags of ice on both legs watching the game and listening to Vin Scully's call. Nearby, 25-year-old Dodgers bat boy Mitch Poole, who had clubhouse duty that night, was doing laundry while the game played in the background.

"There is no Gibson," Scully said. "The man who was the spearhead of the Dodgers' offense throughout the year, who saved them in the league championship series, will not see any action tonight, for sure. He is not even in the dugout."

'GO GET MY UNIFORM, MITCH'

Vin Scully (Dodgers announcer 1950-present, NBC announcer 1983-89): In the middle of the ninth inning of that game, we were in commercial, and I had told the producer and director, 'When we come out of commercial, follow me.' You don't do that very often, but, in this instance, I felt it was important, so, when we came out of commercial, there was a shot from the blimp of Dodger Stadium and I said, 'If you're in the ballpark with binoculars, your first thought would be, late in the game, Is Kirk Gibson in the Dodgers' dugout? The answer would appear to be no.' They did a slow pan from one end of the dugout to the other, and I basically said Kirk Gibson will not play tonight.

" When Tommy finally came waddling over, I said 'Hit Davis eighth, and I'll hit for the pitcher.' " -- Kirk Gibson

Gibson: I was sitting there, and, when Vin said that, I stood up and said, 'My a--!' It was time to go get dressed. That's not to say I wouldn't have gotten dressed if he hadn't said it, but he did say it, and I was vocal about it with whoever who was around me at the time.

Mitch Poole (Dodgers bat boy 1985-88, now Dodgers clubhouse manager): I happened to be walking through the training room and picking up some towels. I stood there for a little bit grabbing my stuff, and I saw Kirk there on the table, and Vin had said something about Gibby not being able to play in the game because of his injury. Gibby got angry and said, 'Go get my uniform, Mitch!' So I did.

Hershiser: I was in the video room because I wanted to watch the game on TV and not the bench because I wanted to scout them since I was pitching in Game 2. When Vin Scully said Gibby wasn't going to play, he got so mad. He got up, got the ice off and got his uniform on and went to go hit.

Scully: He told me later that it did something to him. He said he threw the ice off his legs and hollered 'Bulls---!'

Gibson: I told Mitch to go get the tee and set it up. I put the bare minimum on for the uniform.

Poole: I walked with Kirk back from the training room to this little cheap old cage area, and I set up the tee for him to hit off of. Ben Hines, our hitting coach, walked by, and I remember Kirk saying, 'Ben, can you help me out?' And Ben said, 'Why don't you get Mitch to help you?' It's not like I knew anything about hitting. I was just helping him out. He was telling the location of where he wanted it. I was sitting on the edge of a bucket and pulling the baseballs out of it and putting them on a tee. Halfway through us doing that, he looked down at me and didn't say anything. I go, 'Yeah?' He said, 'Mitch, this could be the script.'

Hershiser: He couldn't even bend back over to put the ball on the tee after he hit it. All he was trying to do was find a stance so that, when he swung the bat, he wouldn't fall over. He would swing the bat and hit the ball off the tee, and he would stumble, so he was changing the width of his stance and the crouch. He was trying to find a stable enough stance so that he could swing the bat. He was just trying to find a stance that he could stand up on two pegs.