Who won baseball's 1988 World Series, beating the Oakland A's 4 games to 1?

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1988 World Series, defeating the Oakland Athletics four games to one. It was the Dodgers’ sixth championship and their first since moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

The Dodgers entered the Series as underdogs against Oakland’s powerful lineup, nicknamed the “Bash Brothers” because of sluggers José Canseco and Mark McGwire. Los Angeles seized momentum in Game 1 when an injured Kirk Gibson came off the bench and hit a dramatic, two-run walk-off home run against Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley.

The Dodgers ultimately won the decisive fifth game on October 20, 1988. Pitcher Orel Hershiser was named World Series Most Valuable Player after dominating the postseason, while Gibson’s Game 1 homer became one of baseball’s most iconic moments. A common mix-up is confusing this Series with the Dodgers’ 1981 championship or their 1974 World Series loss to Oakland; the 1988 matchup ended with Los Angeles on top, 4–1.