Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 18
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 5 0
Cleveland Indians 0 7 0 7 0 0 0 3 X 17 16 0
Indians Take Game 3 17-5: Fernandez Grand Slam Buries Leiter Early
Al Leiter recorded four outs. In those four outs he allowed five hits, two walks, seven runs, and a grand slam to Tony Fernandez that cleared the bases before the second inning was eight minutes old. the cold October air turning his pitches into bowling balls that dropped and bounced in the dirt before they reached the plate. By the time he recorded his fourth out and departed, someone in the upper deck had started a long, rolling 'Boooooooooooowliiiiiiiiiiiiiing' that spread until 44,880 people were reminding Al Leiter, in unison, that bowling alleys are open late in October.

The architecture of a 17-5 game is not complex. Seven runs in the second, seven runs in the fourth — a left-right combination so symmetrical it felt rehearsed, as though someone had programmed the same catastrophe to execute twice with different pitchers absorbing the damage. Fernandez's grand slam opened the wound; Sandy Alomar Jr.'s two-run double later in the inning made it arterial. By the time Marquis Grissom cleared the bases with a double off Tony Saunders in the fourth, Florida had already cycled through three pitchers and the game had taken on the quality of an obligation rather than a contest. Livan Hernandez, the third arm summoned from the bullpen, pitched four innings of relative calm simply because there was nothing left to destroy.

Alomar finished 4-for-5 with three doubles, each one struck with the same flat, authoritative swing, as if he had memorized not just the pitchers but the precise coordinates where their mistakes would arrive. Charles Nagy, working opposite this wreckage, threw eight innings of three-hit ball and struck out eight, his dominance almost an afterthought in a game where the offense had already settled everything by the fourth. The 25-mph wind and 47-degree rain made the later innings feel like penance for whoever remained in the stands.

Florida managed two home runs in garbage time — Moises Alou in the seventh, Charles Johnson a three-run shot in the ninth off Eric Plunk — and both landed with the hollow sound of gestures made too late to matter. The 44,880 at Jacobs Field had long since stopped watching a baseball game and started watching a ceremony. Some timelines produce drama; this one produced a final score that reads like a football result and a starter's line that will outlive every other number from this evening, if only as a cautionary tale.
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 2 .000 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 .000 0 0
M. Alou DH 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 .333 1 1
G. Sheffield RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
a- K. Abbott PH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 4 1 1 1 0 1 2 .250 0 1
C. Johnson C 3 1 1 3 1 2 1 .333 1 3
D. White CF 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 .000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .000 0 0
Totals 31 5 5 5 5 8 11
a - K. Abbott pinch hit for B. Bonilla in the 9th

BATTING
Home Runs: C. Johnson (1, 9th Inning off E. Plunk, 2 on, 2 outs) M. Alou (1, 7th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: G. Sheffield , C. Johnson 4 , D. Daulton , M. Alou 4 , K. Abbott
2-out RBI: C. Johnson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: B. Bonilla
Team LOB: 3

BASERUNNING
SB: G. Sheffield (1)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Renteria-Counsell-Daulton)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 5 2 3 2 1 0 0 .600 0 2
B. Roberts LF 5 2 2 1 0 0 3 .400 0 1
D. Justice DH 5 1 1 1 0 2 3 .200 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 5 3 4 3 0 0 0 .800 0 3
J. Thome 1B 4 1 0 1 1 1 3 .000 0 1
M. Ramirez RF 5 2 3 1 0 1 1 .600 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 3 3 2 5 2 0 1 .667 1 5
M. Williams 3B 4 1 0 0 1 1 3 .000 0 0
M. Grissom CF 3 2 1 3 2 2 2 .333 0 3
Totals 39 17 16 17 7 7 16
BATTING
Doubles: S. Alomar Jr 3 (3, 2nd Inning off F. Heredia, 2 on, 2 outs; 4th Inning off T. Saunders, 2 on, 0 outs; 8th Inning off L. Hernandez, 0 on, 0 outs) M. Ramirez (1, 8th Inning off L. Hernandez, 1 on, 1 out) M. Grissom (1, 4th Inning off T. Saunders, 3 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: T. Fernandez (1, 2nd Inning off A. Leiter, 3 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 7 , O. Vizquel 3 , B. Roberts 2 , M. Ramirez 4 , D. Justice , M. Grissom 2 , T. Fernandez 5
2-out RBI: S. Alomar Jr , O. Vizquel 2 , M. Grissom
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: J. Thome , B. Roberts , M. Grissom
GIDP: D. Justice
Hit by Pitch: B. Roberts
Team LOB: 6

BASERUNNING
SB: O. Vizquel (1)
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter L (0-1) 1.1 5 7 7 2 1 1 45 27 47.25
F. Heredia 1.2 2 3 3 2 3 0 48 29 16.20
T. Saunders 0.2 3 4 4 2 1 0 32 18 54.00
L. Hernandez 4.0 6 3 3 1 2 0 55 35 6.75
D. Cook 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 9
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 11, F. Heredia 10, T. Saunders 7, L. Hernandez 18, D. Cook 1
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 1-2, F. Heredia 1-1, T. Saunders 1-0, L. Hernandez 4-5, D. Cook 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 45-27, F. Heredia 48-29, T. Saunders 32-18, L. Hernandez 55-35, D. Cook 1-1
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 2-2 , T. Saunders 2-2 , L. Hernandez 1-0 , D. Cook 2-0
Hit Batsmen: F. Heredia
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 8.0 3 2 2 3 8 1 117 74 2.25
E. Plunk 0.2 2 3 3 2 0 1 27 12 40.50
A. Morman 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 4 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 73
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 29, E. Plunk 6, A. Morman 1
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 5-10, E. Plunk 1-1, A. Morman 0-1
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 117-74, E. Plunk 27-12, A. Morman 7-4
Inherited Runners - Scored: E. Plunk 1-1 , A. Morman 1-0
WP: E. Plunk
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Tony Fernandez
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:57
Attendance: 44,880