Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 17
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 6 13 0
Cleveland Indians 0 0 5 1 0 0 3 1 X 10 13 0
Vizquel Swipes Three in Game 3, Cleveland Runs Past Florida
Omar Vizquel stole three bases on a night when the rain was falling sideways and the dirt at Jacobs Field had turned to something closer to clay, and if you want to understand the seventeenth playing of this game you could start there — with the shortstop running wild through the weather as though daring the Marlins to throw him out, as though he had done this before and already knew they wouldn't. He went 3-for-5 and scored three times, each run the product of his own legs and his own timing, and his evening set the table for David Justice to do the damage that would decide things.

Justice's two-run home run in the third inning came on the eleventh pitch of the at-bat — an extraordinary battle against Leiter in which he fouled off three consecutive pitches with a full count before finally driving a fastball 342 feet into the right-field seats. It turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 Cleveland lead, and the roar of 44,880 people carried a quality of relief, the sound a crowd makes when something they have been holding in their lungs for ten pitches finally escapes. Fernandez singled home another run before the inning ended, and it was 5-2, and Leiter's night was functionally over even if he lingered into the fourth.

The seventh brought more of the same pattern — Alomar singling, Thome singling, Ramirez doubling to right-center to score one, and then Fernandez delivering again with a line drive to right-center that scored two more when Ramirez never stopped running from third. It was 9-5 after seven, and the Marlins' 13 hits — scattered across nearly every inning like a trail of breadcrumbs leading nowhere — had produced only six runs against Cleveland's ability to answer every small Florida rally with a larger one of their own. Jose Mesa closed the door with two and two-thirds innings of relief, and the final was 10-6, another reshuffling that found Cleveland holding the heavier hand.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 .400 1 1
J. Eisenreich LF 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 .400 0 0
M. Alou DH 3 1 0 0 2 0 1 .000 0 0
G. Sheffield RF 4 2 2 0 1 0 2 .500 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 5 1 2 1 0 0 3 .400 0 1
D. Daulton 1B 3 0 1 2 0 1 3 .333 0 2
C. Johnson C 4 0 2 1 0 0 3 .500 0 1
D. White CF 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .333 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 4 1 1 1 0 0 4 .250 1 1
Totals 36 6 13 6 4 2 19
BATTING
Doubles: G. Sheffield (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs) C. Johnson 2 (2, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 1 out; 6th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: E. Renteria (1, 8th Inning off J. Mesa, 0 on, 2 outs) C. Counsell (1, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: D. White , G. Sheffield 3 , E. Renteria 5 , C. Johnson 4 , J. Eisenreich 2 , D. Daulton , C. Counsell 4 , B. Bonilla 2
2-out RBI: E. Renteria
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , E. Renteria , C. Johnson , B. Bonilla
GIDP: C. Counsell , M. Alou
Sac Fly: D. Daulton
Team LOB: 8

BASERUNNING
SB: B. Bonilla (1)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 .600 0 0
B. Roberts LF 5 1 1 2 0 1 2 .200 0 2
D. Justice DH 4 1 2 4 0 0 0 .500 1 4
S. Alomar Jr C 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 .200 0 0
J. Thome 1B 3 2 2 0 1 1 0 .667 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 .667 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 4 0 2 3 0 0 2 .500 0 3
M. Williams 3B 3 1 0 0 1 0 4 .000 0 0
M. Grissom CF 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .000 0 0
Totals 36 10 13 10 3 6 12
BATTING
Doubles: M. Ramirez (1, 7th Inning off D. Cook, 2 on, 1 out) D. Justice (1, 4th Inning off A. Leiter, 1 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: D. Justice (1, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 1 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr , O. Vizquel 3 , J. Thome 2 , B. Roberts , M. Ramirez 3 , D. Justice 6 , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: D. Justice , T. Fernandez
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Alomar Jr , M. Williams 2
Sac Fly: D. Justice
Team LOB: 4

BASERUNNING
SB: O. Vizquel 3 (3)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 2 (Fernandez-Vizquel-Thome, Williams-Fernandez-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) 3.2 7 6 6 3 3 1 87 50 14.73
F. Heredia 2.2 2 1 1 0 2 0 38 27 3.38
D. Cook 1.0 4 3 3 0 1 0 23 15 27.00
T. Saunders 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 21
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 21, F. Heredia 10, D. Cook 7, T. Saunders 2
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 1-7, F. Heredia 2-4, D. Cook 1-1, T. Saunders 1-1
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 87-50, F. Heredia 38-27, D. Cook 23-15, T. Saunders 4-3
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 1-0 , D. Cook 1-1 , T. Saunders 1-1
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 6.0 10 4 4 3 0 1 105 61 6.00
P. Assenmacher H (1) 0.1 2 1 1 1 0 0 19 10 27.00
J. Mesa SV (1) 2.2 1 1 1 0 2 1 40 26 3.38
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 33
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 28, P. Assenmacher 4, J. Mesa 9
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 5-10, P. Assenmacher 1-0, J. Mesa 3-3
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 105-61, P. Assenmacher 19-10, J. Mesa 40-26
Inherited Runners - Scored: J. Mesa 2-0
WP: C. Nagy
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: 3:47
Attendance: 44,880