Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 42
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 10 0
Cleveland Indians 8 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 X 13 15 1
Indians Score Eight in First, Rout Marlins 13-3 in Game 3
In the forty-second arrangement of this particular October evening, the Cleveland Indians required approximately twelve minutes to render the remaining two hours and forty-three minutes ceremonial. Eight runs in the bottom of the first inning — the lineup batting around, three doubles scattered among the wreckage like evidence at a crime scene — and Al Leiter was gone after recording a single out, the cold air turning his thirty-two pitches into a bowling exhibition — balls dropping short, bouncing in the dirt, skipping past the catcher, the wet October grass and heavy cold air conspiring to turn baseballs into slick bowling balls streaking across a freshly oiled lane. The crowd, rehearsed across multiple retellings of this particular Tuesday, needed no prompting. 'Boooooooooooowliiiiiiiiiiiiiing' arrived as soon as the eighth run crossed, 44,880 Clevelanders reminding Al Leiter that he was, fundamentally, a bowler who had wandered into the wrong sport.

The sequence had a mechanical beauty to it. Bip Roberts walked on seven pitches, stole second on the next, and scored when David Justice lined a full-count double into the right-field corner. Sandy Alomar Jr. singled him home, Justice scoring on the throw from center. Jim Thome walked to put runners at first and second, and Manny Ramirez scored Alomar with a first-pitch double down the left-field line — the ball skipping off the wet warning track in the forty-seven-degree rain. Tony Fernandez then singled softly to left, and two men scored because Eisenreich, perhaps stunned by the sheer accumulation of baserunners, never made a throw. After a pitching change that accomplished nothing, Omar Vizquel doubled on a 1-2 count to score two more, and Roberts — batting for the second time in the same inning — fought off three foul balls before legging out an infield hit that brought Vizquel home. It was 8-0 and the crowd of 44,880 had not yet finished their first beer.

Charles Nagy, given the sort of cushion that makes an October start feel almost pastoral, worked six innings of two-run ball through the mist, throwing 102 pitches with the unhurried confidence of a man who knows the arithmetic is already done. The Marlins managed ten hits on the evening but never mounted anything resembling a threat until Moises Alou launched a solo home run to left in the ninth — 372 feet into the rain, a gesture of pure personal pride against an eleven-run deficit. The final score was 13-3, the kind of result that arrives perhaps once in every few dozen shufflings of this particular deck, when every swing finds its line and the opposing starter never locates the strike zone long enough to matter.

One wonders whether Leiter, walking off after that abbreviated first inning, felt something — not memory exactly, but the faintest residue of having stood on that same mound, in that same rain, and watched the same hitters do the same impossible damage. Probably not. The body forgets what the scoreboard remembers.
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 1 7 .000 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 .200 0 0
M. Alou DH 5 1 2 1 0 0 1 .400 1 1
G. Sheffield RF 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .333 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 4 1 1 1 1 0 4 .250 0 1
D. Daulton 1B 5 0 2 1 0 1 4 .400 0 1
C. Johnson C 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 .000 0 0
D. White CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
C. Counsell 2B 4 0 3 0 0 1 2 .750 0 0
Totals 36 3 10 3 4 7 26
BATTING
Doubles: G. Sheffield (1, 9th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 1 out) D. Daulton (1, 6th Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: M. Alou (1, 9th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: G. Sheffield 2 , J. Eisenreich , D. Daulton 3 , C. Counsell 3 , B. Bonilla , M. Alou 5
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , E. Renteria 2 , D. Daulton 2 , B. Bonilla
GIDP: E. Renteria
Hit by Pitch: G. Sheffield , E. Renteria
Team LOB: 11

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Renteria-Counsell-Daulton)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 3 1 1 4 1 0 2 .333 0 4
B. Roberts LF 4 1 2 2 1 0 2 .500 0 2
D. Justice DH 5 2 2 1 0 2 3 .400 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 5 2 2 1 0 2 1 .400 0 1
J. Thome 1B 4 1 2 2 1 1 0 .500 0 2
M. Ramirez RF 4 1 2 1 1 1 2 .500 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 5 2 2 2 0 0 3 .400 0 2
M. Williams 3B 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 .333 0 0
M. Grissom CF 3 1 1 0 1 1 1 .333 0 0
Totals 36 13 15 13 5 7 15
BATTING
Doubles: S. Alomar Jr (1, 8th Inning off L. Hernandez, 0 on, 0 outs) M. Williams (1, 7th Inning off L. Hernandez, 0 on, 0 outs) O. Vizquel (1, 1st Inning off F. Heredia, 2 on, 2 outs) M. Ramirez (1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 1 out) D. Justice (1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 1 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 3 , M. Williams 2 , O. Vizquel 2 , J. Thome 2 , B. Roberts 2 , M. Ramirez 3 , D. Justice 3 , M. Grissom , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: O. Vizquel , B. Roberts
GIDP: T. Fernandez
Sac Fly: O. Vizquel
Hit by Pitch: M. Williams
Team LOB: 5

BASERUNNING
SB: B. Roberts (1)

FIELDING
Errors: M. Ramirez
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 L (0-1) 0.1 4 6 6 2 0 0 32 17 162.00
F. Heredia 2.2 4 2 2 1 3 0 60 41 6.75
T. Saunders 2.2 3 3 3 2 3 0 46 27 10.12
L. Hernandez 2.1 4 2 2 0 1 0 37 21 7.71
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 9
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 7, F. Heredia 13, T. Saunders 13, L. Hernandez 10
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 1-0, F. Heredia 3-2, T. Saunders 4-0, L. Hernandez 3-2
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 32-17, F. Heredia 60-41, T. Saunders 46-27, L. Hernandez 37-21
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 1-1 , L. Hernandez 1-0
WP: T. Saunders
Hit Batsmen: T. Saunders
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 6.0 6 2 2 2 5 0 102 61 3.00
E. Plunk 2.1 4 1 1 2 2 1 45 26 3.86
A. Morman 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 8 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 55
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 28, E. Plunk 12, A. Morman 2
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 7-6, E. Plunk 4-0, A. Morman 2-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 102-61, E. Plunk 45-26, A. Morman 12-8
Inherited Runners - Scored: A. Morman 1-0
Hit Batsmen: C. Nagy 2
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Charles Nagy
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:55
Attendance: 44,880