Kirk Gibson became a topic of conversation after Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series on Saturday.
Gibson told Dodgers Insider that he didn’t watch most of the game because he was out on his farm in Michigan. But when he did check in, he had a feeling of what could happen with Freeman at the plate and the bases loaded.
“I just thought, ‘This is going to happen,’” Gibson told Dodgers Insider. “I could just feel it.”
Freeman’s clutch moment led Dodger fans and baseball pundits to draw comparison between his and Gibson’s home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
Gibson had been dealing with injuries to both legs and hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run to etch his name in the Dodgers history books. It was his only at-bat of the 1988 World Series.
Freeman sprained his ankle before the postseason and is spending extra hours in the training room before playoff games.
Gibson was elated that Freeman was able to capitalize on that moment considering all the first basemen had to overcome this season.
“All he’s been through this year and it’s incredible,” Gibson told Dodgers Insider. “He’s got to feel incredible. It’s not been all smooth sailing. … It couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kirk Gibson on Freddie Freeman’s in World Series Game 1 moment