fects alone were not a draw. When the similarly
tongue-in-cheek time-travel action filmBack to the Fu-
ture(1985) also became a blockbuster the following
year, Hollywood took notice.
Further Reading
Coleman, John. “Ghostbusters.”New Statesman 108
(December 7, 1984): 35.
Kael, Pauline. “Ghostbusters.”The New Yorker60 (June
25, 1984): 104.
Schickel, Richard. “Ghostbusters.”Time123 (June
11, 1984): 83.
Bernard E. Morris
See also Action films; Film in the United States;
Murray, Bill; Science-fiction films; Special effects;
Weaver, Sigourney.
Gibson, Kirk
Identification American baseball player
Born May 28, 1957; Pontiac, Michigan
During the 1980’s, Gibson played on two World Series-
winning baseball teams and won the National League
Most Valuable Player Award, but he is best remembered for
an improbable and memorable home run hit in the opening
game of the 1988 World Series.
Kirk Gibson, whose Major League Baseball career
began in 1979, played his first nine seasons with the
Detroit Tigers. He was a member of the great 1984
Tigers team that opened the season by winning
thirty-five of its first forty games and went on to win
the World Series. Gibson batted .333 in that World
Series and hit two home runs in the fifth and final
game. Gibson, an outfielder, is best remembered for
a home run that he hit as a member of the Los An-
geles Dodgers in 1988.
Gibson left the Tigers as a free agent after the 1987
season and had an excellent first season in Los An-
geles. He batted .290, hit twenty-five home runs, and
won the National League Most Valuable Player Award.
He also built a reputation as a dangerous clutch hitter
when a game was on the line. The Dodgers finished
in first place in the National League’s Western Divi-
sion, won the National League Championship Series,
and faced the heavily favored Oakland As in an all-
California World Series.
A leg injury kept Gibson on the bench in the first
game of the World Series, but in the bottom of the
ninth inning of that game—with two outs, one run-
ner on base, and the Dodgers trailing 4 to 3—
manager Tommy Lasorda summoned Gibson to
pinch-hit. Gibson could not run, but he told Lasorda
that he could swing the bat. On the mound was Oak-
land’s ace relief pitcher, Dennis Eckersley, at the
time the best reliever in baseball. Gibson fouled off
several of Eckersley’s pitches, grimacing in pain with
each cut. Drama built with each swing of the bat.
Then, Gibson connected, sending a high line drive
over the right field wall to give the Dodgers an im-
probable 5-4 victory. Gibson hobbled around theThe Eighties in America Gibson, Kirk 413
Los Angeles Dodger Kirk Gibson raises his arm in celebration as he
hobbles around the bases after hitting a game-winning home run
in the first game of the 1988 World Series.(AP/Wide World
Photos)