Kirk Gibson
American baseball player and manager (born 1957)
Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager. Gibson spent most of his career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers, but also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He batted and threw left-handed. He is currently a special assistant for the Tigers.
While with the Dodgers, Gibson was named the National League MVP in 1988. During his career, he hit two dramatic home runs in the World Series, each one coming against an eventual Hall of Fame relief pitcher. With the Tigers in 1984, he clinched the title in Game 5 with a three-run homer off Goose Gossage, who had refused to walk him with a base open. With the Dodgers in 1988, Gibson faced closer Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning of the first game and hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run—often described as one of the most exciting moments in World Series history. He was named to the All-Star team twice as a reserve, in 1985 and 1988, but declined the invitation both times.
Following his retirement as a player, he spent five seasons as a television analyst in Detroit and then became a coach for the Tigers in 2003.
The public source identifies “Kirk Gibson” as american baseball player and manager (born 1957). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kirk, Gibson and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1185498. VIAF identifies the subject as 33736929. The Library of Congress control number is n97022510. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1957, 1988, 1984 and 1985.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kirk Gibson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.