Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 7
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 5 8 0
Cleveland Indians 0 1 10 0 5 0 0 2 X 18 17 0
Indians Score 10 in Third, Rout Florida in Game 3
Al Leiter lasted seven outs. In another life — in another arrangement of this particular October evening — that might register as a shocking failure for Florida, but in the seventh dealing of the hand at Jacobs Field, it felt almost mechanical, as though the simulation had simply decided to see what happens when the dam breaks against Florida during the third inning and nobody bothers to repair it. Daulton's two-run single in the first had given Florida an early lead, and Thome's solo homer in the second (400 feet on a full count, a high fly that vanished into the rain beyond left-center) had trimmed it to one. Then the third happened.

Ten runs. Eight hits. Fourteen batters. Grissom walked, Vizquel singled, Roberts singled Grissom home, Justice walked to load the bases, and Sandy Alomar Jr — grinding through a ten-pitch at-bat — singled to score Vizquel. Thome walked to force in another. Ramirez singled to score Justice. Williams beat out an infield hit to score Alomar. Then Grissom came up a second time and lined a double to left at 96 miles per hour that cleared everyone — Thome, Ramirez, and Williams all scoring — and Roberts singled him home before Justice singled in Roberts. Cook had replaced Leiter after the Williams hit, but the arithmetic was only 6-2 then, and by the time Grissom doubled, Roberts singled, and Justice singled, it was 11-2 and the evening had crossed from contest into exhibition.

Cleveland added five more in the fifth — Grissom singling, Alomar singling him home, Thome singling Justice home, and then Ramirez crushing a three-run homer on a full count, 398 feet to right-center at 94 miles per hour, the exclamation point on a sentence that was already shouting. By the eighth, Jeff Conine was pitching for Florida — a first baseman pressed into mop-up duty on a night when the bullpen had been emptied of meaning — and Grissom greeted him with a two-run homer to left, 338 feet, the sort of indignity that only happens when the universe has decided, with the quiet cruelty of a loop that cannot be broken, that one team will score eighteen runs and the other will simply have to watch.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 0 0
a- A. Arias PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0
J. Eisenreich DH 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 2 2 1 1 3 0 0 .500 1 1
G. Sheffield RF 3 0 0 0 2 1 1 .000 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 5 0 1 2 0 1 4 .200 0 2
C. Johnson C 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 .000 0 0
D. White CF 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 .250 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 4 0 3 1 0 1 1 .750 0 1
C. Floyd LF 4 0 1 1 0 1 3 .250 0 1
Totals 34 5 8 5 7 6 20
a - A. Arias pinch hit for E. Renteria in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: C. Floyd (1, 6th Inning off B. Anderson, 1 on, 2 outs) C. Counsell 2 (2, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 1 out; 8th Inning off B. Anderson, 1 on, 2 outs) A. Arias (1, 9th Inning off B. Anderson, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: B. Bonilla (1, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White , C. Floyd 2 , D. Daulton , C. Counsell 5 , B. Bonilla 4 , A. Arias 2
2-out RBI: C. Floyd , C. Counsell
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , E. Renteria 2 , C. Floyd
GIDP: D. Daulton
Team LOB: 9
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 6 1 1 0 0 1 2 .167 0 0
B. Roberts LF 5 2 2 2 0 3 1 .400 0 2
D. Justice DH 3 2 2 1 2 0 0 .667 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 5 2 2 2 0 1 2 .400 0 2
J. Thome 1B 4 3 2 3 1 1 0 .500 1 3
M. Ramirez RF 4 2 2 4 1 2 0 .500 1 4
T. Fernandez 2B 5 1 2 0 0 1 4 .400 0 0
M. Williams 3B 5 1 1 1 0 1 3 .200 0 1
M. Grissom CF 4 4 3 5 1 0 0 .750 1 5
Totals 41 18 17 18 5 10 12
BATTING
Doubles: M. Grissom (1, 3rd Inning off D. Cook, 3 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: J. Thome (1, 2nd Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 0 outs) M. Ramirez (1, 5th Inning off L. Hernandez, 2 on, 2 outs) M. Grissom (1, 8th Inning off J. Conine, 1 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 2 , M. Williams , O. Vizquel , J. Thome 5 , B. Roberts 2 , M. Ramirez 5 , D. Justice 2 , M. Grissom 7 , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: S. Alomar Jr , J. Thome , B. Roberts , M. Ramirez , D. Justice , M. Grissom
Team LOB: 3

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Morman-Alomar Jr-Thome)
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter L (0-1) 2.1 7 9 9 3 3 1 60 36 34.71
D. Cook 1.2 4 3 3 1 1 0 43 26 16.20
L. Hernandez 0.2 3 4 4 1 1 1 29 16 54.00
F. Heredia 2.2 2 1 1 0 5 0 44 30 3.38
J. Conine 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 1 5 5 13.50
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 3
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 17, D. Cook 10, L. Hernandez 6, F. Heredia 10, J. Conine 3
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 1-3, D. Cook 1-3, L. Hernandez 0-1, F. Heredia 2-1, J. Conine 0-2
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 60-36, D. Cook 43-26, L. Hernandez 29-16, F. Heredia 44-30, J. Conine 5-5
Inherited Runners - Scored: D. Cook 3-3 , L. Hernandez 1-1 , J. Conine 1-1
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 5.0 4 3 3 4 4 1 103 62 5.40
B. Anderson 3.1 4 2 2 2 2 0 66 38 5.40
A. Morman 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 3 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 47
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 23, B. Anderson 16, A. Morman 2
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 1-10, B. Anderson 1-7, A. Morman 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 103-62, B. Anderson 66-38, A. Morman 7-3
Inherited Runners - Scored: A. Morman 2-0
WP: C. Nagy , B. Anderson
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Marquis Grissom
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 4:13
Attendance: 44,880