Dennis Eckersley threw out the first pitch of World Series Game 4 to Kirk Gibson

Thirty years ago, Dennis Eckersley threw a pitch to Kirk Gibson that made him one of Dodgers’ fans favorite people. In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series the Oakland A’s were enjoying a 4-3 ninth inning lead at Dodger Stadium when Gibson pinch hit with a man on first.

You know the story. Gibson, with injuries to both legs and barely able to get a confident swing off, cracked a home run to right and hobbled around the bases to win the game and put the Dodgers on the road to a 4-1 series win. They haven’t won a World Series since.

On Saturday night, Gibson was meant to throw out the first pitch to kick off the second game of three at Dodger Stadium this series. He was supposed to do so during one of the games in Los Angeles last year but was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease last fall. So on Saturday he went out to the mound ostensibly to throw the ball himself only for Eckersley to come out of the dugout to do the honors himself.

Gibson first stood at the plate with a bat, just to truly mimic the famous moment from so many years ago, but then took up his position behind the plate to catch a pitch from Eck — who stood a little bit in from the mound to make sure the ball got to its target easily.

Eckersley has never shaken his reputation from allowing that home run. Last year, when entering the stadium for one of his postseason gigs, he apparently forgot his credential and simply said he was “the guy who gave up that home run” as identification. Seeing these two guys recreate the most famous moment from either of their respective careers is the kind of thing that could only happen in the World Series.