Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 9
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 7 10 0
Cleveland Indians 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 2 X 8 13 0
Fernandez Homer Lifts Indians Past Marlins in Tight Game 3
This was a game that kept changing its mind about who it belonged to, which is to say it belonged, in the end, to whichever side had the last word — and in this ninth turning of the wheel at Jacobs Field, that side was Cleveland, though barely, and with the kind of margin that leaves a crowd of forty-four thousand standing in the rain not quite sure whether to celebrate or simply exhale. The final read 8-7, a score that sounds tidy enough until you trace the path it took to get there: Florida ahead early on Gary Sheffield's solo shot in the second, Cleveland answering with four in the fourth, the Marlins storming back to tie it in the sixth, and then one side pulling ahead only to feel the other tugging at its sleeve all night long.

David Justice set the tone of the Cleveland fourth with a home run that traveled 401 feet into the right-field October darkness on a 1-2 count, and from there the inning unraveled Leiter's composure entirely — Manny Ramirez lacing a full-count double to right that scored Alomar, Tony Fernandez beating out an infield single to plate Thome. But Bobby Bonilla's two-run blast in the sixth, 405 feet into right-center, announced that Florida had no intention of going quietly, and when Sheffield followed with a double and came around on Charles Johnson's sacrifice fly, the game sat level at four apiece. It was Fernandez who broke the deadlock, pulling a 2-2 pitch from Leiter just inside the left-field foul pole for a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth — 365 feet, the distance of a man who has perhaps stood in this box before and knows exactly where the wall begins.

The ninth inning nearly undid everything. Michael Jackson inherited runners and surrendered Edgar Renteria's run-scoring double, then watched Jim Eisenreich line another down the left-field line that brought home two more and pulled Florida within a single run. Bonilla stepped in representing the tying run, and forty-four thousand people held what seemed like one collective breath in the damp October air. He lifted a flyball to left — shallow, routine, decisive. Cleveland 8, Florida 7, and the strange sense that this particular evening's arithmetic, for all its twists, had been working toward this answer from the start.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 1 1 1 0 2 1 .200 0 1
J. Eisenreich DH 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 .600 0 2
B. Bonilla 3B 5 1 1 2 0 1 2 .200 1 2
G. Sheffield RF 4 2 2 1 0 1 0 .500 1 1
D. Daulton 1B 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .333 0 0
C. Johnson C 3 1 1 1 0 1 2 .333 0 1
D. White CF 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 3 1 1 0 1 1 2 .333 0 0
C. Floyd LF 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 .000 0 0
Totals 36 7 10 7 2 12 13
BATTING
Doubles: G. Sheffield (1, 6th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs) E. Renteria (1, 9th Inning off M. Jackson, 2 on, 2 outs) J. Eisenreich 3 (3, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs; 6th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs; 9th Inning off M. Jackson, 2 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: G. Sheffield (1, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs) B. Bonilla (1, 6th Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: G. Sheffield 6 , E. Renteria 2 , C. Johnson , J. Eisenreich 6 , D. Daulton , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla 4
2-out RBI: E. Renteria , J. Eisenreich
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: E. Renteria , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla 2
Sac Fly: C. Johnson
Team LOB: 3

BASERUNNING
SB: C. Counsell (1)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 2 (Renteria-Counsell-Daulton, Renteria-Counsell-Daulton)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 5 0 1 0 0 2 3 .200 0 0
B. Roberts LF 4 0 1 0 1 3 1 .250 0 0
D. Justice DH 5 2 3 3 0 0 1 .600 1 3
S. Alomar Jr C 5 1 3 0 0 0 3 .600 0 0
J. Thome 1B 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 .500 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 4 1 1 1 0 1 3 .250 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 3 2 2 2 1 0 0 .667 1 2
M. Williams 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0
M. Grissom CF 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .333 0 0
Totals 35 8 13 6 4 7 14
BATTING
Doubles: M. Ramirez (1, 4th Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: D. Justice (1, 4th Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 0 outs) T. Fernandez (1, 6th Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 3 , O. Vizquel , J. Thome , B. Roberts , M. Ramirez 2 , D. Justice 6 , M. Grissom , T. Fernandez 5
2-out RBI: D. Justice
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Alomar Jr , M. Ramirez
GIDP: M. Williams , M. Ramirez
Hit by Pitch: J. Thome
Team LOB: 8
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter L (0-1) 6.0 10 5 5 0 4 2 108 72 7.50
F. Heredia 1.0 2 2 2 2 2 0 34 18 18.00
D. Cook 1.0 1 1 1 2 1 0 28 15 9.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 36
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 27, F. Heredia 7, D. Cook 6
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 5-7, F. Heredia 1-0, D. Cook 0-2
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 108-72, F. Heredia 34-18, D. Cook 28-15
Inherited Runners - Scored: D. Cook 1-1
WP: F. Heredia
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy 5.1 6 4 4 2 6 2 101 62 6.75
E. Plunk W (1-0) 2.2 1 1 1 0 5 0 31 22 3.38
P. Assenmacher 0.1 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 3 27.00
M. Jackson SV (1) 0.2 2 1 1 0 1 0 13 10 13.50
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 44
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 24, E. Plunk 9, P. Assenmacher 2, M. Jackson 4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 0-10, E. Plunk 1-2, P. Assenmacher 0-1, M. Jackson 0-1
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 101-62, E. Plunk 31-22, P. Assenmacher 4-3, M. Jackson 13-10
Inherited Runners - Scored: E. Plunk 1-0 , P. Assenmacher 1-0 , M. Jackson 2-2
WP: E. Plunk
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: David Justice
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:54
Attendance: 44,880