THE YEAR IN REVIEW : A Look Ahead, Behind : Many Struggled Through ‘88, but Near Year Offers Hope : SOCKERS

With apologies to David Letterman, we offer lists detailing what happened in 1988 and, in some cases, how 1988 will impact 1989 .

Six steps that made the Sockers’ spring and summer seem like a walk through the Twilight Zone, or the Museum of the Hard-To-Believe:

1. There’s a sign post up ahead, and your next stop is ...

The first indication this would not be a typical year came April 25. Ron Fowler, the chairman of Sockers’ Management Inc., filed for protection from creditors in a Federal Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 11. This action came despite the Sockers’ status as one of the most successful franchises in league history.

2. They come back, but Segota goes.

In Game 7 of the Western Division finals on May 28, Branko Segota, the Sockers’ leading scorer, injured his shoulder and was lost for the remainder of the playoffs. The Sockers advanced to the MISL Championship Series against the Cleveland Force without him, beating the Kansas City Comets, 8-5.

There was a sign the Kansas City series would be bizarre in Game 3, when the Sockers blew a 6-1 lead in the fourth quarter and lost in overtime, 7-6. Kansas City had a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series before the Sockers rallied.

3. Break up the Sockers.

The great all-star Sockers team of the 1980s played its last game together on June 7 and produced a 7-4 victory over Cleveland, wrapping up a four-game sweep of the MISL Championship Series and a sixth title in seven years.

Because of salary cutbacks, it was apparent that players such as Segota, Juli Veee, Hugo Perez, Kevin Crow, Fernando Clavijo, Zoltan Toth and Jim Gorsek would not all be able to come back for another season.

But Cleveland saw the Sockers at their best in the final game. Waad Hirmez notched a hat trick, and Perez broke a 4-4 tie with 3:34 remaining.

4. Fowler makes his bid ...

After it became obvious that nobody else was interested in buying the franchise, Fowler announced an offer to buy it out of bankruptcy for $825,000 on June 17.

Fowler’s bid was eventually lowered to $470,000. He will also threatened to withdraw it on June 29.

5. . . . but on second thought . . .

On the morning of July 8, Fowler arrived in court and was told by local reporter that the Tacoma Stars and Chicago Sting had folded, leaving the league with seven franchises.

Fowler, who maintained all along that the league must have at least eight franchises to exist, called a press conference that afternoon and announced that soccer in San Diego was pretty much dead.

Less than a week later, a group in Tacoma announced that it was going to try and re-start the Stars. So Fowler kept his offer alive.

Tacoma was eventually re-started, but Cleveland folded on July 22. After a weekend’s worth of meetings, the league decided to try another season with seven teams.

Fowler, who had come this far, elected to stick it out, and his second bid is accepted by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter W. Bowie on July 29.

6. Back to soccer.

On Nov. 5, after the team’s most tumultuous off-season, the Sockers opened their 1988-89 season against the Los Angeles Lazers. Gone were Gorsek, Hirmez, Veee, Perez, Clavijo, Brian Schmetzer, Raffaele Ruotolo and Jacques Ladouceur.

As if to put on exclamation point on the summer’s activities, ex-Sockers Hirmez and Gorsek led the Lazers to a 5-2 victory.

On Nov. 22, the Sockers signed Steve Zungul, the top scorer in the history of the game. Reunited with Segota, Zungul goes on a scoring spree (six goals in his first six games) and the Sockers are 7-7 going into the New Year.