Without injured sluggers Kirk Gibson (25 HR) and Mike Marshall (20)….the Dodgers started the game with what was statistically one of the weakest hitting World Series teams since the Dead-ball era. During the regular season the Game 4 starting line up of Steve Sax (2B), Franklin Stubbs (1B), Mickey Hatcher (LF), Mike Davis (RF), John Shelby (CF), Danny Heep (DH), Jeff Hamilton (3B), Mike Scoscia (C) and Alfredo Griffin (SS) combined for a total of just 36 home runs…..with only Shelby having 10 or more home runs (he had exactly 10).
Between the A’s “Bash Brothers”, José Canseco and Mark McGwire had hit 74 home runs for Oakland. Canseco alone had in fact hit more home runs (42) than the Dodger lineup….while McGwire with 32 almost matched the Dodgers.
The Dodgers got two in the first when Steve Sax walked, went to third on a Mickey Hatcher single….then scored on a passed ball by A’s catcher Terry Steinbach…..and that is when Hatcher scored the second run on a ground out by John Shelby. The A’s got one back in their half when Luis Polonia led off with a single…..went to second on a passed ball…..and later scored on a José Canseco ground out.
The Dodgers went up 3–1 when Franklin Stubbs doubled….and scored on A’s shortstop Walt Weiss’s throwing error on a ball hit by Mike Davis…..but the A’s answered in the sixth on an RBI single by Carney Lansford.
A key play came when the Dodgers got their final run in the seventh….which came about with Alfredo Griffin on third and Steve Sax on first with one out….when pinch-hitter Tracy Woodson hit what looked to be an inning ending double play grounder….but Dodgers Mgr Tommy Lasorda had called for a hit and run play so Sax was going on the pitch and barely beat the throw to second…..so when the throw to first beat Woodson, it was only the second out, allowing Griffin to score.
The A’s half of the seventh was also full of drama…..when with one out, Weiss singled and reached second when he was called safe on a double-play grounder hit by Polonia….and A’s Dave Henderson cut the Dodger lead to 4–3 on a two-out RBI double…..when José Canseco walked…..and Dave Parker reached on a Griffin error to load the bases…..but Mark McGwire popped out, stranding three and ending the inning.
While hosting Game 4 on NBC, Bob Costas angered many members of the Dodgers (especially Manager Tommy Lasorda) by commenting before the start of the game that the Dodgers quite possibly were about to put up the weakest-hitting lineup in World Series history. That comment ironically fired up the competitive spirit of the Dodgers…..when later, while being interviewed by NBC’s Marv Albert….after the Dodgers had won Game 4….Lasorda sarcastically suggested that the MVP of the 1988 World Series should be Bob Costas.
