Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 16
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 3 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 8 16 3
Cleveland Indians 0 0 6 4 1 0 0 1 X 12 15 2
Sloppy Game 3 at Jacobs Field: Indians Survive 31-Hit Slugfest
This was not a baseball game. This was a building built by pitchers collapsing in slow motion over four hours, while both teams rummaged through the rubble collecting hit after hit after hit. Thirty-one combined hits, five errors, nine pitchers, both starters pulled before the fourth inning ended, balls ricocheting off gloves and walls and the slick October grass at Jacobs Field — Cleveland 12, Florida 8, a fitting final score for a baseball game that looked more like a football game played in the rain by men who had forgotten how to tackle. Nobody covered a base correctly all night. Nobody threw to the right cutoff man.

Florida scored three in the first inning and must have believed they were in control, which in retrospect is the funniest thing that happened all evening. In the bottom of the third Cleveland sent eleven men to the plate and scored six runs on six hits and two errors — Sheffield's throw from right field sailing into the dugout, Renteria booting a groundball at short, Manny Ramirez blooping a single into no-man's land with two on, Tony Fernandez singling home two more, and then Ramirez tagging up from third on a fly ball to right because why not, why not try everything, the game had already lost its mind. Leiter hit Jim Thome with a pitch and left having recorded seven outs and allowed seven hits. Felix Heredia entered to face the wreckage. The whole inning took twenty-two minutes but felt like an hour.

The fourth was worse, or better, depending on your tolerance for anarchy: Bip Roberts homered on a 2-0 count, Ramirez doubled off the wall at 110 miles per hour, Fernandez doubled to left-center at 108 and cleared the bases, and it was 10-6 after four innings and both teams had burned through their starters and their first relievers and were reaching deep into bullpens that had not expected to be needed this early or this desperately. Darren Daulton hit two solo home runs later — one in the seventh, one in the ninth — with the resigned air of a man putting furniture back in a house that has already flooded. The game ended 12-8 in what can only be described as this particular night's attempt to cram two weeks of baseball into a single incoherent sitting.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 1 3 0 0 1 1 .600 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 5 2 2 0 0 1 2 .400 0 0
M. Alou DH 5 0 0 0 0 2 6 .000 0 0
G. Sheffield RF 4 2 2 1 1 2 3 .500 0 1
B. Bonilla 3B 5 1 2 2 0 0 3 .400 0 2
D. Daulton 1B 5 2 3 3 0 0 2 .600 2 3
C. Johnson C 5 0 3 2 0 1 0 .600 0 2
D. White CF 5 0 1 0 0 3 5 .200 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
Totals 44 8 16 8 1 11 26
BATTING
Doubles: B. Bonilla (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 2 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: D. Daulton 2 (2, 7th Inning off A. Morman, 0 on, 0 outs; 9th Inning off P. Assenmacher, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White , G. Sheffield 2 , E. Renteria 3 , C. Johnson 3 , J. Eisenreich 2 , D. Daulton 9 , B. Bonilla 3
2-out RBI: G. Sheffield , C. Johnson , D. Daulton , B. Bonilla
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , D. Daulton , C. Counsell
GIDP: B. Bonilla
Team LOB: 10

FIELDING
Errors: G. Sheffield , E. Renteria , J. Eisenreich
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 6 1 2 0 0 2 5 .333 0 0
B. Roberts LF 6 1 1 2 0 3 4 .167 1 2
D. Justice DH 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 .400 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 .500 0 1
J. Thome 1B 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 .000 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 4 3 3 1 1 0 2 .750 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 5 0 2 4 0 0 4 .400 0 4
M. Williams 3B 4 0 2 0 1 0 3 .500 0 0
M. Grissom CF 4 1 1 2 0 0 6 .250 0 2
Totals 40 12 15 11 4 7 25
BATTING
Doubles: O. Vizquel (1, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 1 on, 0 outs) M. Ramirez 2 (2, 2nd Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 1 out; 4th Inning off F. Heredia, 2 on, 1 out) D. Justice (1, 5th Inning off J. Powell, 0 on, 1 out) T. Fernandez (1, 4th Inning off F. Heredia, 2 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: B. Roberts (1, 4th Inning off F. Heredia, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: M. Williams 2 , O. Vizquel 3 , B. Roberts 4 , M. Ramirez 5 , D. Justice 3 , M. Grissom , T. Fernandez 3 , S. Alomar Jr 2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: M. Williams , O. Vizquel 2 , B. Roberts 2 , T. Fernandez , S. Alomar Jr
Sac Fly: M. Grissom
Hit by Pitch: J. Thome , S. Alomar Jr
Team LOB: 10

BASERUNNING
SB: O. Vizquel (1)

FIELDING
Errors: J. Thome , T. Fernandez
Double Plays: 1 (Vizquel-Fernandez-Thome)
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter 2.1 7 6 5 0 3 0 38 29 19.29
F. Heredia L (0-1) 1.0 3 4 4 1 1 1 32 18 36.00
J. Powell 1.2 3 1 1 2 1 0 40 21 5.40
D. Cook 2.0 0 1 1 1 2 0 33 18 4.50
L. Hernandez 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 14 9 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 20
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 16, F. Heredia 9, J. Powell 10, D. Cook 7, L. Hernandez 5
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 3-1, F. Heredia 1-1, J. Powell 2-2, D. Cook 3-1, L. Hernandez 1-2
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 38-29, F. Heredia 32-18, J. Powell 40-21, D. Cook 33-18, L. Hernandez 14-9
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 2-1 , J. Powell 1-0 , D. Cook 1-0 , L. Hernandez 1-1
WP: J. Powell
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter , F. Heredia
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy 3.2 9 6 3 1 4 0 98 66 7.36
E. Plunk W (1-0) 1.2 3 0 0 0 1 0 28 19 0.00
A. Morman 1.2 2 1 1 0 1 1 24 14 5.40
P. Assenmacher 2.0 2 1 1 0 5 1 33 23 4.50
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 26
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 23, E. Plunk 8, A. Morman 6, P. Assenmacher 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 7-0, E. Plunk 3-1, A. Morman 3-0, P. Assenmacher 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 98-66, E. Plunk 28-19, A. Morman 24-14, P. Assenmacher 33-23
Inherited Runners - Scored: E. Plunk 1-0 , A. Morman 2-0 , P. Assenmacher 1-0
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Manny Ramirez
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 4:06
Attendance: 44,880