NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES : A Twist of Fate : Gibson Homers by Night and by Day, Then Aggravates Hamstring Injury

Kirk Gibson encounters stop and go signs only on the highway. The Dodgers generally let him run on his own, figuring that to cage his drive and intensity would be depriving Gibson of his strengths.

Should Gibson put up his own bars at times?

New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez said yes Monday, suggesting that Gibson hadn’t been playing it smart when he stole second base on his own in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the National League’s championship series.

“That’s all hindsight,” said Gibson, now an uncertain starter for Game 6 at Dodger Stadium tonight after aggravating the hamstring pull behind his left knee on the steal.

The Dodgers were up 6-4, but Gibson sensed the need for more. The Dodgers got it when pinch-runner Jose Gonzalez scored on an ensuing triple by Mike Marshall, the final insurance in a 7-4 victory that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Gibson, limping severely, was given a cortisone injection from Dr. Frank Jobe and said:

“I don’t know about tomorrow. I don’t have a crystal ball, but don’t count me out. I’m hoping it’s a tear in the scar tissue and not the hamstring. I’ll say some prayers tonight and maybe they’ll reach the right person.”

The Dodgers will offer prayers of their own.

Intangibles are one thing, but Gibson had seemed to regain a groove he had lost while playing irregularly over the last half of September because of the original strain.

He hit a 3-run homer in the fifth inning Monday, after having ending a 1-for-16 struggle in the early hours of the same day with a 12th-inning homer that won an improbable Game 4, 5-4.

His steal in the ninth Monday followed an infield hit he had legged out, encouraging him to believe that the soreness he had felt in the aggravated area while running down a seventh-inning drive by Wally Backman was nothing serious. Still, he had mentioned it to Hernandez after reaching first on the infield hit.

“Between pitches, he told me he had hurt it earlier,” Hernandez said. “Then I saw him take a lead and he’s stealing. A tie game or a 1-run lead and I can accept it. I couldn’t believe he was doing it with a 2-run lead.

“There comes a time when you’ve got to harness your mind and play it smart. I admire him. I’d love to play with him, but there comes a time when you’ve got to use your head. He’s too important to the Dodgers. He should understand that.”

Gibson saw it differently.

“We were only 2 runs ahead and it wasn’t like the Mets were laying down,” he said. “They keep coming at you every inning. They weren’t conceding the game, but they weren’t paying attention to me.

“I had just beat out the infield hit, my leg felt fine. I didn’t feel I was jeopardizing it by running. I wanted the other run and made up my mind to go.

“I’m sure they’re sitting over there thinking I’m a dumb . . . but this injury is actually in a little different area than where I had felt it earlier.

“Besides, I can’t change my style. I have to play aggressively.”

Said Manager Tom Lasorda: “There have been times when Kirk has come to me and said he can’t run, and there have been times when he’s made it a point to say he can.

“He knew we needed the other run today, but he wouldn’t have (attempted the steal) unless he felt good enough to try. You saw what Kirk Gibson is all about the way he beat out that hit.”

Gibson slid hard on the steal, not knowing that Roger McDowell’s pitch had bounced away from catcher Gary Carter.

“I felt a sharp pain, a pop, in my final strides,” he said. “I called time out while I was sliding. I knew I was headed for the trainer’s room. For me to leave the game, you know I have to be concerned.”

Gibson was expected to keep ice on the injured area during the Dodgers’ Monday night flight to Los Angeles. Dr. Jobe said Gibson would probably not play today, were this the regular season, but he added:

“I don’t think it’s as severe as when he hurt it before. Kirk generally feels it takes him 2 days to respond to an injection, but we got to it quickly, and we’ll just have to wait and see.”

The Shea Stadium partisans cheered Gibson’s injury with vigor. He smiled later and said:

“I looked around to see what the reaction was about. I thought there was a ball on the field or something. Then I realized it was directed at me and I regarded it as a sign or respect. Those kind of things inspire me.”

Gibson had also been hearing from the fans before his homer in Game 4. They were letting him know he was 1 for 16, keeping him informed of his slump.

“I’m lucky they bring their calculators,” Gibson said, laughing. “They let me know what my stats are. That’s what’s great about playing here.”

Gibson had responded to that 12th-inning homer in Game 4 by saying he had been feeling that he was letting the club down. He amended that after his 3-run blast off Sid Fernandez in Game 5, saying it was more a matter of being disappointed with his production than a feeling of letting anyone down.

“I think we all feel that if we’re giving an honest effort we’re not letting each other down, and I feel I was giving an honest effort,” he said.

“Now I really feel much better at the plate. I didn’t have many at-bats the last 2 weeks of September and I had to come back in this series against one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. I’ve had to make adjustments under game pressure and I’ve been somewhat overmatched at times.

“Now I’m starting to do some things right, which is why this injury is frustrating, very frustrating. I have a burning desire to play, particularly now.”

If Gibson can’t play tonight, catcher Mike Scioscia suggested facetiously that the Dodgers may wear K.G. on their uniform sleeves, similar to the J.H. some wore when Jay Howell was suspended Sunday. Gibson is now leaving his mark on these playoffs, as he has others.

Said Lasorda: “What did I think when he came up hurt? It scared me. It scared me a lot. We’ve got to have him in the lineup. He means a lot to the team just being out there. That’s why I say he’s the MVP in the league.”

That announcement will be made in November. Game 6 is in the immediate future.

Said Hernandez, offering a little more advice: “They’ve got to let him rest for 24 hours. He’s a key cog and he’s got to rest that leg. I can’t see them playing him. They’ve got a game to spare with (Orel) Hershiser going (in Game 7).”

Said Gibson: “Maybe he’s right. Maybe it would be better to sit it out. I can’t say for sure until tomorrow.”

In the meantime, the key cog will be praying he can do more than sit.