Watch Kirk Gibson get heartwarming ovation at Dodger Stadium in return with Tigers

1988 still feels like yesterday.

Washington Nationals v Detroit Tigers
Washington Nationals v Detroit Tigers | Mark Cunningham/GettyImages

Dodgers icon Kirk Gibson hit the most indelible home run in franchise history, and modern Dodger fans proved again on Wednesday night that they refuse to let his memory fade.

Gibson doesn't spend much time in Hollywood these days. Instead, he's stepped out of the dugout into the Detroit Tigers broadcast booth, leaving the field behind after being dismissed as the Diamondbacks' manager at the end of the 2014 season.

The Parkinson's diagnosis that changed Gibson's life came the very next year. Now 66, the 1988 NL MVP shares Tigers color analyst duty with primary voice Craig Monroe, but still puts forth a remarkable workload as he manages his condition. That daily grind -- along with MLB's very helpful balanced schedule rule changes -- brought Gibson to Dodger Stadium this week.

That allowed him to both soak in the crowd's adoration and check out a very special mural that had been commissioned in LA's Atwater Village commemorating his Game 1 clout off Dennis Eckersley/benefitting his foundation.

Mid-inning on Wednesday, the Dodgers played a video of Gibson admiring the mural and meeting its artist on the big board, then panned to the booth to allow the capacity crowd to shower one of Michigan's favorite sons, a gutty player they were proud to borrow during his gilded years.

Former Dodgers hero Kirk Gibson shown appreciation by Dodger Stadium fans (new mural in Atwater Village)

Gibson's foundation, which benefits Parkinson's research and aims to aid in both the maintenance and eradication of the disease, was founded in 2015 in the wake of the star's shocking diagnosis.

The mural, which depicts Gibson at his strongest in Dodger Blue, is entitled "The Impossible Can Happen," using his defining moment as a beacon of hope for all those who are battling the disease alongside him.

In the wake of the ovation, Gibson returned to the air clearly overwhelmed, stating, "It's very humbling. Um...you come into the stadium, and you know what happened. They've always been extremely supportive. And I'm trying to support and help others, so we're all in it together, still."

Situated a few feet away from where Vin Scully once intoned, "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened," Gibson surely believed in lightning striking a second time.

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