It's a Mystery, Where's Kirk Gibson's Home Run Ball?

Often used to commemorate special moments in history are the exact pieces of equipment that were involved in the event. At the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York, you'll find cleats, hats, bats, jerseys, gloves, batting gloves, and any other product that could've been used on-field to produce a special moment. In fact, last week a bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling in the 2004 playoffs drew a ton of speculation after a report surfaced that the blood on the sock was fake. But one item of baseball history you won't find at the Hall of Fame, nor on ebay, nor anywhere else, is the game-winning two-run walk-off home run ball by Kirk Gibson to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers against the A's.

"It's our biggest mystery," said team historian Mark Langill. "We have no idea where it ended up."
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"There is no defining video of someone holding up a ball," Langill said. "The cameras go from the brake lights to Gibson rounding the bases, and they never go back into the stands."

So is it possible that the ball ended up with nobody taking it home? Were the fans all too concerned with celebrating rather than searching for memorabilia? Or is there one happy fan sitting at home on a lottery ticket quietly waiting for the right time to cash in? Nobody knows the answer, and we may never know. But we do have video for you to review (and try not to remain fixated on Lasorda bolting out of the dugout):

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-30-2007 @ 10:25PM

PocketAces said...

When pure joy of baseball glory was genuine and for 80 percent, the same today. Sure the diehard fan remembers the greatest achievements of their team. Hard to top Gibson's Homerun on Crutches! And I'm not a Dodger fan, rest of family is though...

5-01-2007 @ 2:16AM

Mike said...

Even if somebody does have that ball how will you know it's THE ball, not just some funky old baseball?
Do they have serial numbers? There could be some real scams happening here.

5-01-2007 @ 3:40PM

JON HEXUM said...

i have the ball,its yours for the right price

5-01-2007 @ 9:21PM

Johnny-Oh! said...

Forget about the Gibson home run ball, even though, admittedly, it is one of the most dramatic ever BUT they have NEVER found the Bobby Thompson home run ball and I do not believe that they have ever found the Mazeroski ball - and they won a pennant and a world series so Gibson's ball is #3 on the list!

7-21-2007 @ 1:44AM

chris mccartney said...

i was at game 1, and i was in the right field bleachers with my fingers crossed hoping gibby would hit it out. i was about five rows in back of where the ball landed (me and my buddy are on the highlight reel). As the ball came at us, i jumped over the seats trying to get to the ball. as i recall, the ball changed hands a few times because people were literally fighting over it. the ball did finally end up with 1 person-a young guy in his mid twenties/black hair. i talked to him underneath the bleachers for a minute or so and he was showing me and a few other people the homerun ball-everything about the day was magical including how i got the tickets for game 1-true story!