Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 38
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 4
Cleveland Indians 0 0 0 5 7 2 0 3 X 17 16 1
Cleveland Dismantles Florida 17-2 in Game 3: Four Errors, Four Wild Pitches
There are blowouts and then there are dismantlings, and this was the latter — seventeen runs on sixteen hits, four errors, six wild pitches, five Florida pitchers summoned and exhausted in turn. The Marlins led 1-0 through three innings and then the game simply ceased to function as a contest, the machinery of competition grinding to a halt somewhere in the fourth inning and never restarting.

Cleveland scored five in the fourth on three hits and two errors, the runs coming not from power but from Florida's inability to field routine grounders or throw the ball to the intended base. They scored seven more in the fifth on four hits, three walks, and two wild pitches — an inning in which Heredia could not find the plate and Powell could not find the will, and in which runs scored on pitches that never touched a bat. Ramirez added a first-pitch two-run home run in the sixth, 373 feet, almost as an afterthought. Roberts cleared the bases with a first-pitch double in the eighth against the fourth pitcher of the night, a man named Tony Saunders who had surely done nothing to deserve this assignment.

The final was 17-2, and the charitable thing would be to move past it quickly — to note that Nagy pitched five innings of two-run ball, that Cleveland collected sixteen hits, that the game was played before 44,880 people who got their money's worth and then some. But there is no moving past a game like this. It sits in the record as a kind of fever dream, one of those October nights where the same field, the same teams, the same cold air produced something that looked less like baseball than like a system failing in every possible way at once.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 0 0 0 0 1 7 .000 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 4 0 1 1 1 1 0 .250 0 1
M. Alou DH 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 .200 0 0
G. Sheffield RF 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 .333 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 .000 0 0
a- K. Abbott PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 5 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 0 0
C. Johnson C 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 0 0
D. White CF 3 2 3 0 1 0 0 1.000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 3 0 2 1 1 0 1 .667 0 1
Totals 36 2 8 2 6 8 23
a - K. Abbott pinch hit for B. Bonilla in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: D. White (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs) M. Alou (1, 9th Inning off A. Morman, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White 4 , G. Sheffield , J. Eisenreich , C. Counsell 2 , M. Alou 2
2-out RBI: C. Counsell
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , E. Renteria 2 , D. Daulton , B. Bonilla 2
Team LOB: 12

FIELDING
Errors: C. Johnson , D. Daulton , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla
Double Plays: 1 (Counsell-Renteria-Daulton)
OF assists: 1 (White (Roberts at 3rd base))
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 4 2 1 1 2 1 5 .250 0 1
B. Roberts LF 6 0 4 6 0 1 2 .667 0 6
D. Justice DH 5 1 1 1 0 0 4 .200 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 6 2 1 0 0 1 4 .167 0 0
J. Thome 1B 3 2 1 0 2 2 1 .333 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 4 3 3 3 1 0 2 .750 1 3
T. Fernandez 2B 4 3 2 2 1 0 1 .500 0 2
M. Williams 3B 4 2 2 1 0 0 4 .500 0 1
M. Grissom CF 4 2 1 1 1 1 4 .250 0 1
Totals 40 17 16 15 7 6 27
BATTING
Doubles: B. Roberts 2 (2, 4th Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 2 outs; 8th Inning off T. Saunders, 3 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: M. Ramirez (1, 6th Inning off J. Powell, 1 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr , M. Williams 2 , O. Vizquel , J. Thome , B. Roberts 6 , M. Ramirez 6 , D. Justice , M. Grissom , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: O. Vizquel , B. Roberts
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Alomar Jr , O. Vizquel , M. Ramirez , M. Grissom
GIDP: B. Roberts
Sac Fly: M. Williams , D. Justice
Team LOB: 8

FIELDING
Errors: T. Fernandez
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter L (0-1) 4.0 6 6 1 2 3 0 80 47 2.25
F. Heredia 0.0 2 6 4 3 0 0 23 9 0.00
J. Powell 2.1 5 2 2 0 1 1 36 25 7.71
T. Saunders 1.0 3 3 3 2 1 0 28 15 27.00
L. Hernandez 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 11 7 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 37
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 21, F. Heredia 6, J. Powell 12, T. Saunders 8, L. Hernandez 2
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 5-2, F. Heredia 0-0, J. Powell 3-3, T. Saunders 1-1, L. Hernandez 0-1
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 80-47, F. Heredia 23-9, J. Powell 36-25, T. Saunders 28-15, L. Hernandez 11-7
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 1-1 , J. Powell 3-3 , T. Saunders 1-0 , L. Hernandez 1-0
WP: A. Leiter 2 , F. Heredia , J. Powell 3
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 5.0 4 2 1 3 4 0 101 62 1.80
E. Plunk 3.0 3 0 0 2 2 0 51 29 0.00
A. Morman 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 16 11 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 54
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 23, E. Plunk 14, A. Morman 5
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 8-3, E. Plunk 4-3, A. Morman 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 101-62, E. Plunk 51-29, A. Morman 16-11
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: 4:02
Attendance: 44,880