Twenty years to the day after Kirk Gibson hit the home run that became an enduring image in these parts, the video scoreboard at Dodger Stadium replayed the ninth-inning shot from Game 1 of the 1988 World Series in a last-ditch effort to galvanize the home team.
Could there be another miracle in the same place on the same day two decades apart?
Not a chance.
The season ended for the Dodgers on Wednesday night, as starter Chad Billingsley lasted only 2 2/3 innings and Rafael Furcal made three errors in a 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the National League Championship Series, four games to one.
"We sort of kept skidding," Manager Joe Torre said. "We just kept spinning our wheels. We couldn't get where we needed to go."
This game produced several moments to remember over the long winter, but none that are likely to replace Gibson's as one replayed over and over in the ballpark next year.
Billingsley, who gave up a home run to Jimmy Rollins to start the game, walked off the field to boos.
Furcal made a fielding and throwing error on the same fifth-inning play and made another errant throw later in the inning, the mistakes costing the Dodgers a pair of runs that buried them in a 5-0 deficit.
Russell Martin argued a strike three call with home plate umpire Mike Winters in the sixth inning and his protest was heated enough that he had to be restrained by coaches Larry Bowa and Mariano Duncan.
Jeff Kent, who might have played the final game of his career, also had words for Winters when he was called out on strikes in the seventh.
"The magnitude of the game," Martin said when asked what made him snap. "It was a must-win for us. I wanted to walk. I didn't want to strike out."
Martin hit .118 (two for 17) in the series.
"I didn't have my best at-bats," he admitted.
Only Manny Ramirez was able to elicit a substantial reaction from the paid crowd of 56,800 fans that didn't consist of moans.
With the bases empty in the sixth inning, Ramirez launched a ball over the right-field wall into Mannywood, perhaps for the last time. The shot closed the gap to 5-1.
The fans in left field, aware of Ramirez's impending free agency, chanted, "Manny stay!" when he took his defensive position in the top of the ninth.
