Setting the scene: This would have been a rematch of the 1995 Series, won by Atlanta in six games. That ended up being Bobby Cox’s only world championship with the Braves – though he’ll have a few more chances in our alternate reality version.
The ’95 result was seen as a bit of an upset because the Indians had won 100 games in the shortened (144-game) regular season. But the Braves were postseason veterans and they won 90, which would be about 101 in a normal-length season, so they weren’t slouches.
In those days, before All-Star Games “counted,” the leagues took turns with home-field advantage. It was the AL’s turn in 1996, so the Indians host the opener of our alternate Series – something that the Cleveland franchise has never done. All five of the Indians’ Series appearances have begun in the NL stadium.
As we’re using actual Series rules – DH in the AL park, pitchers bat when the NL team is at home – we’re also using 25-man rosters. For the teams that made it to the Series, like the Braves, the actual roster is used. For the teams like the Indians, we can use a roster from an early round. They used 24 in the division series loss to Baltimore, with Dennis Martinez being the only player who didn’t appear.
Indians: Though they had a great run in the late ’90s under GM John Hart and manager Mike Hargrove, the Indians weren’t able to end the team’s world championship drought that dates to 1948 – when they beat the Braves, then located in Boston. Even in our alternate version, this is their only shot with this group, as not surprisingly the Yankees will dominate as the AL representative.
In 1996, the Indians won the AL Central easily again, going 99-62 as they didn’t need to make up the rainout that could have given them a second straight 100-win season. The Braves won 96 games in ’96.
In the division series, Charles Nagy (17-5, 3.41 in the regular season) pitched the opener and former Cy Young winners Orel Hershiser (15-9, 4.24) and Jack McDowell (13-9, 5.11) followed. The Indians lost the first two and won the third game late. Instead of Martinez (9-6, 4.50) going in Game 4, Hargrove went back to Nagy on three days’ rest. The Indians were up 3-2 going to the ninth but Jose Mesa gave up the tying hit to Roberto Alomar with two outs, then gave up a homer to Alomar in the 12th. (What was he still doing in the game in the 12th inning?) Chad Ogea (10-6, 4.79), the other option for a fourth starter, only appeared after Mesa was finally removed, so perhaps he was being held back for Game 5 which of course never happened. I think we’ll go with Nagy, Orel and Black Jack in that order to open for the Tribe and see where we are when we get to the fourth game.
Braves: The defending champs usually opened with Greg Maddux (15-11, 2.72 in 1996), and Tom Glavine (15-10, 2.98) was coming off the ’95 World Series MVP. But John Smoltz won the Cy Young Award that year, going 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA, so he goes first, followed by Maddux and Glavine. The fourth starter is Denny Neagle (16-9, 3.50 overall) who was acquired from the Pirates as Steve Avery was losing effectiveness.
Ryan Klesko will be the Atlanta DH for the first two games with 19-year-old rookie Andruw Jones in left field and another youngster, Jermaine Dye, in right. Marquis Grissom was still in center for one more season.
1996 WORLD SERIES
GAME 1
Braves .... 001 202 000 – 5 10 0
Indians ... 103 000 002 – 6 8 1
W: Shuey L: Wohlers
HR: Franco, Wilson
Nigel Wilson – who had just 12 at-bats in the regular season for Cleveland – homered with a man on off Mark Wohlers in the bottom of the ninth. He had two homers in those 12 at-bats, so Hargrove sent him up to hit for Sandy Alomar after Manny Ramirez walked with one out. Wohlers had relieved John Smoltz, who gave up a three-run homer to Julio Franco in the third to fall behind 4-1 but pitched well after that. Charles Nagy went seven innings for the Indians, and gave up the lead in the sixth when Franco’s error kept the inning alive and Andruw Jones doubled home two runs. Paul Shuey went 1 1/3 for the win.
GAME 2
Braves .... 300 100 021 – 7 14 0
Indians ... 000 020 002 – 4 10 0
W: Maddux L: Hershiser S: Wohlers
HR: Blauser, Giles
After losing Game 1, Mark Wohlers struck out Albert Belle with two out to end it and tie the series heading to Atlanta. Greg Maddux went eight innings, giving up seven hits and two runs, and every Brave starter had at least one hit in support of him. Atlanta scored three in the first off Orel Hershiser when Lemke and Chipper Jones singled and McGriff doubled him home. A wild pitch scored another run and an infield out made it 3-0. Jeff Blauser’s solo shot in the fourth made it 4-0. Cleveland scored in the fifth on Omar Vizquel’s RBI double and Jose Vizcaino’s run-scoring groundout. The Braves tacked on a couple against Eric Plunk in the eighth. Dye singled, Andruw Jones doubled and Blauser and Eddie Perez each hit sacrifice flies. Jose Mesa gave up a run in the ninth, which proved to be big as Cleveland rallied. Brian Giles batted for Alomar and just as Nigel Wilson did in the opener, homered off Mike Bielecki. After Lofton singled and Kevin Seitzer doubled him in, Wohlers relieved and walked Thome before striking out Belle.
GAME 3
Indians ... 01(10) 040 001 – 16 17 0
Braves .... 200 000 001 – 3 9 1
W: McDowell L: Glavine
HR: Franco 2, Thome 4, Belle 2, Ramirez, Grissom, McGriff
Never in World Series play has there been a power performance like the Indians put on in Game 3. Jim Thome hit a record four homers in a single game, and he, Franco and Belle went back-to-back-to-back twice – in the same inning! The Braves led 2-1 when Franco led off the third with a homer off Tom Glavine. Thome, who struck out his first time up, went deep to put Cleveland ahead for good. Belle homered for a 4-2 lead and Manny Ramirez did the same – four in a row, which has only happened seven times in MLB history through 2010. Jeff Kent walked and Sandy Alomar hit into a double play. But Vizquel singled and Glavine walked Jack McDowell, who singled in Cleveland’s first run (and who never had an MLB at-bat). Lofton walked to load them up and Mike Bielecki relieved Glavine. Franco then cleared the bases with his second homer of the inning, giving him five RBI. Thome homered again and so did Belle before Ramirez struck out. Thome hit a three-run shot off Bielecki in the fifth and a solo shot off Brad Clontz in the ninth. Lost in the power show was McDowell’s solid outing. Marquis Grissom started the night with a homer and Chipper Jones’ RBI single made it 2-0 before McDowell had retired a batter, but thatwas it. He walked no one and struck out six in seven innings.
GAME 4
Indians ... 000 210 002 – 5 11 0
Braves .... 002 000 000 – 2 9 2
W: Martinez L: Neagle S: Mesa
HR: Lofton, Alomar, Blauser
After the record 11-homer Game 3, the teams only managed seven total runs, and veteran Dennis Martinez more than justified his spot on the roster, stopping the Braves on two runs in seven innings to push Cleveland just one game from its first Series title in 48 years. Blauser homered and Lemke singled in a run to give the Braves a 2-0 lead in the third, but for the second straight game, they couldn’t hold it. Sandy Alomar hit a two-run homer off Denny Neagle in the fourth, and a Blauser error followed by Belle and Ramirez singles put the Indians ahead 3-2 in the fifth. That was it for the scoring until the ninth, when Kenny Lofton homered off Greg McMichael with a man on in the ninth. Paul Shuey and Jose Mesa finished up for the Indians, with Mesa striking out the side in the ninth.
GAME 5
Indians ... 030 001 000 – 4 9 0
Braves .... 000 000 001 – 1 5 0
W: Nagy L: Smoltz
For the first time in 48 years, the Cleveland Indians are world champions. Charles Nagy pitched a phenomenal game, allowing just two hits in eight innings, and even singled home a run in the Indians’ three-run third off John Smoltz. The first run came in on Jose Vizcaino’s infield out and the third one on Julio Franco’s RBI hit. Nagy didn’t give up any hits in the first five innings, and the Braves didn’t score until Jose Mesa came on to try to close it out. Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko singled with one out and Andruw Jones’ two-out hit ended the shutout and brought the tying run to the plate. Jeff Blauser’s high foul ball was caught by Sandy Alomar and the celebration began in Cleveland.
WRAPUP
I’m letting the game engine’s awards system pick the Series MVP, unless there is a standout performance that they somehow ignored. They do keep pitchers and non-pitchers separate, so that could be a problem.
While Nagy had a great final game, it’s gotta go to a hitter. Tribe batsmen hit .307 in five games, with an incredible 14 homers. Amazingly, Thome had the four-homer game, but no other hits in the Series. So it’s tough to give it to him. He still finished second in the “voting” and the winner was Julio Franco, who was the top regular at .409 with three homers and a team-high nine RBI. He made the only error of the series for the Indians, but Nigel Wilson’s big homer in the opener erased that. He seems to be a fitting choice as he was part of the Indians in the 1980s before being dealt to Texas. And he played until he was almost 50, so who didn't love Julio?
Other thoughts on Game 3: The 16 runs was not a record, as the Yankees beat the Giants 18-4 in the second game of the 1936 Series (they won in six, and won the finale 13-5). The 10-run inning tied the record set by the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics and equaled by the 1968 Detroit Tigers.
The Braves managed just four homers, two by Jeff Blauser. Fred McGriff was the series’ top hitter for average at .421. Maddux had a great start, but Neagle was OK, Smoltz wasn’t that good and Glavine was a complete disaster. Interestingly, these were the last games at old Fulton County Stadium and the Braves lost all three, just as they did in the “real” Series against the Yankees.
But the Braves will be back in 1997 (and several more times) in their new home, Turner Field. They’ll face the Baltimore Orioles.
No comments:
Post a Comment