Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 50
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 9 0
Cleveland Indians 3 0 1 0 1 3 2 0 X 10 13 0
Thome Three-Run Blast in First Sets Tone; Indians Cruise 10-2 in Game 3
Charles Nagy threw seven innings of one-run ball on a rainy October night, but the real authorship belonged to Jim Thome, who wrote the first sentence and most of what followed. Down two strikes in the opening frame, with Justice and Alomar aboard, Thome turned on a pitch and drove it 368 feet into the left-field seats. The Marlins trailed 3-0 before Al Leiter had recorded his third out, and the evening took on the character of a formality.

Justice contributed his own solo shot in the third — 364 feet to right, a second-deck souvenir nobody in the sparse upper reaches was positioned to catch — and by the fifth, when Grissom walked and scored on Bip Roberts's single through the hole, the outcome was arithmetic rather than drama. Leiter departed after four and a third, having thrown 69 pitches and absorbed five runs. The rain kept falling. The 44,880 who'd come to Jacobs Field settled into their damp seats and watched Cleveland go about its work with the unhurried competence of men who had, perhaps, done this before.

The sixth brought three more: a Williams sacrifice fly after Fernandez's single loaded the bases, then a Grissom double scoring two more. The seventh brought two, both on doubles by Thome and Ramirez, Thome driving in Alomar and Ramirez driving in Thome in succession like matched gears. Thome finished 2-for-3 with four runs batted in and three runs scored, his line so clean it might have been ordered from a catalog.

Gary Sheffield hit a solo home run off Eric Plunk in the eighth — 367 feet, a meaningless gesture of professional pride against a nine-run deficit. Plunk retired the side in the ninth. The final was 10-2, and if this particular shuffling of the October deck seemed to lack suspense, it had instead a kind of ruthless clarity. Some nights the story writes itself on the first pitch. This was one of them.
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 2 .000 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .500 0 0
M. Alou DH 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
G. Sheffield RF 4 1 1 1 0 0 3 .250 1 1
B. Bonilla 3B 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 .250 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 4 0 0 0 0 3 1 .000 0 0
C. Johnson C 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
D. White CF 4 0 2 1 0 2 1 .500 0 1
C. Counsell 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .333 0 0
Totals 35 2 9 2 0 9 12
BATTING
Doubles: C. Johnson (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs) B. Bonilla (1, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home Runs: G. Sheffield (1, 8th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: D. White 2 , G. Sheffield 4 , C. Johnson 2 , J. Eisenreich 2 , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla 2 , M. Alou
2-out RBI: D. White , G. Sheffield
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , G. Sheffield , E. Renteria , C. Counsell
GIDP: B. Bonilla
Team LOB: 5

BASERUNNING
SB: D. White (1) , J. Eisenreich (1)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Leiter-Renteria-Daulton)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .500 0 0
B. Roberts LF 5 0 1 1 0 1 3 .200 0 1
D. Justice DH 5 2 1 1 0 3 2 .200 1 1
S. Alomar Jr C 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 .500 0 0
J. Thome 1B 3 3 2 4 1 0 0 .667 1 4
M. Ramirez RF 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 .667 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 .500 0 0
M. Williams 3B 3 0 0 1 0 1 5 .000 0 1
M. Grissom CF 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 .333 0 2
Totals 34 10 13 10 3 8 15
BATTING
Doubles: J. Thome (1, 7th Inning off T. Saunders, 1 on, 1 out) M. Ramirez (1, 7th Inning off T. Saunders, 1 on, 1 out) M. Grissom (1, 6th Inning off F. Heredia, 2 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: J. Thome (1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 2 outs) D. Justice (1, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 2 , O. Vizquel 2 , J. Thome 6 , B. Roberts , M. Ramirez 3 , D. Justice 4 , M. Grissom 2 , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: J. Thome , D. Justice
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: M. Williams , B. Roberts , M. Grissom
GIDP: B. Roberts
Sac Bunt: O. Vizquel
Sac Fly: M. Williams
Team LOB: 4

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (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) 4.1 7 5 5 1 3 2 69 47 10.38
F. Heredia 1.0 2 3 3 2 1 0 27 15 27.00
T. Saunders 2.2 4 2 2 0 4 0 44 27 6.75
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 31
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 20, F. Heredia 7, T. Saunders 12
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 6-3, F. Heredia 1-1, T. Saunders 2-2
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 69-47, F. Heredia 27-15, T. Saunders 44-27
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 1-0 , T. Saunders 1-0
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 7.0 8 1 1 0 5 0 108 78 1.29
E. Plunk 2.0 1 1 1 0 4 1 32 22 4.50
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 62
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 28, E. Plunk 7
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 8-7, E. Plunk 0-2
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 108-78, E. Plunk 32-22
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Jim Thome
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:20
Attendance: 44,880