FOR MANAGING GREAT, NOTHING TOPPED '88.

Byline: Johannes Tesselaar Daily News Assistant Sports Editor 

Could you blame Bob Costas?

Franklin Stubbs batting second? Mike Davis batting cleanup? Danny Heep as the designated hitter?

``Right before the game in the clubhouse the pre-game show came on and Bob Costas said that this was the worst lineup in the history of the World Series,'' Tom Lasorda said after his Dodgers had beaten the Oakland A's 4-3 in the fourth game of the 1988 World Series. ``They went nuts. I'm trying to calm them down. They're yelling, `We'll show 'em' and `Kill Costas.' I was just trying to calm them down.''

No matter that Costas actually said the Dodgers' injury-riddled lineup for that game was one of the ``weakest'' in World Series history. Lasorda had the fuel to fire up his team toward an unlikely victory.

If his game strategy often came under question, Lasorda's ability to motivate his players put Tony Robbins to shame. Never was that more evident than in 1988 when the Dodgers won the world championship, winning postseason series against two teams (the New York Mets and A's) that won 100 games in the regular season.

Every move Lasorda made as the Dodgers' manager that year paid off, from his decision to bring Orel Hershiser in to relief in Game 4 against the Mets to letting Davis swing at a 3-0 pitch in Game 5 of the World Series.

If pitching to Jack Clark in '85 was his albatross, '88 was Lasorda's shining moment.

And it came at a crucial time for the organization.

The Dodgers went 73-89 in 1986 and 1987 and even after a busy offseason brought in many new faces (Kirk Gibson, Alfredo Griffin, Jay Howell, Davis), the team wasn't expected to do much in 1988.

But Lasorda coaxed 94 wins and a division title out of his players, earning himself National League Manager of the Year honors.

The playoff series with the Mets had the appearances of a mismatch. The New Yorkers had won 10 of 11 regular-season meetings and then rallied from two runs down in the ninth in the opener to deal the Dodgers a disheartening loss.

It mattered not to Lasorda. He made sure his players found out about the disparaging remarks Mets pitcher David Cone made about the Dodgers after Game 1. L.A. responded by hammering Cone that night.

Down 2-1 in the series, the Dodgers desperately needed to win Game 4. After rallying for two in the top of the ninth, the Dodgers took a one-run lead in the 12th.

Time to bring in the closer? Lasorda couldn't since his top reliever, Howell, had been suspended earlier in the day for having pine tar in his glove.

When the Mets threatened to tie or win the game, Lasorda resorted to what he knows best.

In a classic moment, he went to the mound and screamed at reliever Jesse Orosco, who had just loaded the bases by walking Keith Hernandez. In full view of national-television audience, Lasorda not so gently told Orosco he better get the next batter, Darryl Strawberry, out.

Strawberry popped up for the second out.

Lasorda then went with a hunch. He brought in his ace pitcher, Orel Hershiser, to get the last out, even though Hershiser had already started two games in the series and had thrown 110 pitches the day before. Hershiser got the final out and the Dodgers won the series in seven games.

Las Vegas made the Dodgers 2-1 underdogs to the A's. And after 8-1/2 innings of Game 1, the oddsmakers were looking good. Oakland had a one-run lead and the game's best closer, Dennis Eckersley, on the mound.

With two out, Lasorda sent Davis up to pinch hit. And while Davis was batting, Lasorda had Dave Anderson in the on-deck circle, all the while knowing he would use the injured Gibson if the chance arose.

When Davis walked, Anderson went back to the dugout. And Gibson, with his two damaged knees, emerged to hit the most dramatic home run in franchise history.

Throughout the series, Lasorda continually had the upper hand on A's manager Tony LaRussa, considered one of the game's finest.

Lasorda stuck with Howell in Game 4, even though the reliever had given up a game-winning homer to Mark McGwire in Game 3.

Howell got the save.

That the Dodgers won the game with the likes of Stubbs, Heep, Tracy Woodson, Rick Dempsey and Jeff Hamilton was a minor miracle. Starters Mike Marshall and Mike Scioscia joined Gibson on the trainer's table. But Lasorda had the Dodgers hyped - but loose. What did that ``lousy'' lineup have to lose?

The next night, Lasorda was at it again. Holding a 2-1 lead in the fourth, Lasorda let Davis swing at a 3-0 pitch from Storm Davis. Davis, a free-agent bust, had only two regular-season homers.

His booming two-run shot to right made it that much easier for Hershiser to close out his magnificent campaign. Even when Hershiser appeared to weaken late in the game, Lasorda stayed with him.

Hershiser closed it out. And Lasorda, who retired Monday, had his crowning achievement.

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Photo

Photo: (color) Lasorda, right, and Kirk Gibson at a celebra tion following the Dodgers' 1988 World Series win over the Oakland Athletics.

John McCoy/Daily News