When the Dodgers won the National League West title in 1988, NPR assigned me to cover the playoff series with the New York Mets.
The Mets had won 100 games that season to the Dodgers 94. They d beaten the Dodgers 10 times in 11 games during the regular season. But the series would open in Los Angeles and the Dodgers would send their ace, Orel Hershiser, to the mound in Game 1.
Hershiser, as all Dodger fans know, had thrown a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings coming into that ballgame. He hadn t allowed a run in more than a month.
Hershiser kept it up in Game 1 against the Mets. He threw 8 shutout innings and took a 2-0 lead to the top of the 9th. But the Mets rallied for 3 runs in the top of the 9th and won the game 3-2.