Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 51
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 4 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 11 15 1
Cleveland Indians 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 8 10 1
Seven Home Runs Fly in Game 3 Slugfest; Marlins Outlast Indians 11-8
The lead changed hands four times and the ball left Jacobs Field seven times, and when it was done the Marlins had won 11-8 in a game that took three hours and forty-four minutes and made a reasonable argument for the abolition of the home run. Or perhaps for more of them. It depended on which dugout you were watching.

Florida opened a 4-0 lead in the second on a Daulton single that scored two and a Renteria triple to the left-center gap that scored two more. Cleveland answered with five in the third — a messy, resourceful inning built on walks and doubles and an Eisenreich throwing error, capped by Sandy Alomar Jr's two-run homer to left, 386 feet into the rain. The home team led 5-4, and the 44,880 had settled into their seats when the fifth inning arrived and blew the roof off the proceedings.

Alou hit a solo shot 408 feet to left-center. Bonilla hit one 411 feet to right-center. Charles Johnson hit one 384 feet to right. Three home runs in five at-bats, and Florida led 7-5. Jim Thome answered in the bottom half — a 419-foot three-run blast to left-center on a 1-2 pitch, with Vizquel and Justice aboard, and Cleveland led again at 8-7. For a few minutes the scoreboard looked stable. Then Alou came up in the sixth with Renteria on second and hit another one, 376 feet, and the Marlins led 9-8. That was the last time the advantage moved. Heredia, who had inherited the mess at 8-7, retired eight of ten Cleveland batters across the sixth through eighth. Sheffield's 440-foot solo blast in the ninth was pure excess, the longest ball hit all night and the least necessary. Robb Nen needed two pitches to end it — a called strike and a fly ball to center off Justice's bat — and that was the fifty-first version of this October Tuesday, settled at last.
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 2 0 1 2 .400 0 2
J. Eisenreich LF 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
M. Alou DH 5 2 3 3 0 0 1 .600 2 3
G. Sheffield RF 4 2 1 1 1 2 1 .250 1 1
a- K. Abbott 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B, RF 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 .500 1 1
D. Daulton 1B 5 1 1 2 0 1 2 .200 0 2
C. Johnson C 5 1 2 1 0 1 2 .400 1 1
D. White CF 5 1 4 1 0 0 0 .800 0 1
C. Counsell 2B 5 0 0 0 0 1 6 .000 0 0
Totals 43 11 15 11 2 8 19
a - K. Abbott substituted for G. Sheffield in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: D. White (1, 9th Inning off P. Assenmacher, 1 on, 2 outs) B. Bonilla (1, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 0 outs)
Triples: E. Renteria (1, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 2 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: G. Sheffield (1, 9th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 0 outs) C. Johnson (1, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs) B. Bonilla (1, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 1 out) M. Alou 2 (2, 5th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs; 6th Inning off E. Plunk, 1 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White 5 , G. Sheffield 4 , E. Renteria 4 , C. Johnson 5 , D. Daulton , B. Bonilla 6 , M. Alou 9
2-out RBI: D. White , E. Renteria , C. Johnson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , J. Eisenreich 2 , C. Counsell
Team LOB: 7

BASERUNNING
SB: E. Renteria (1)

FIELDING
Errors: J. Eisenreich
OF assists: 1 (Sheffield (Grissom at home))
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 .400 0 1
B. Roberts LF 3 1 3 1 1 0 0 1.000 0 1
D. Justice DH 4 2 1 1 1 1 2 .250 0 1
S. Alomar Jr C 3 1 1 2 1 0 2 .333 1 2
J. Thome 1B 4 1 1 3 0 1 1 .250 1 3
M. Ramirez RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .250 0 0
T. Fernandez 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
M. Williams 3B 3 1 0 0 1 2 1 .000 0 0
M. Grissom CF 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .000 0 0
Totals 33 8 10 8 5 6 8
BATTING
Doubles: O. Vizquel (1, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 1 out) B. Roberts (1, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 1 on, 2 outs) T. Fernandez (1, 4th Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: S. Alomar Jr (1, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 1 on, 2 outs) J. Thome (1, 5th Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 4 , O. Vizquel 3 , J. Thome 4 , B. Roberts 4 , M. Ramirez , D. Justice , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: S. Alomar Jr , J. Thome , B. Roberts , D. Justice
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: M. Grissom
Sac Bunt: B. Roberts
Team LOB: 4

BASERUNNING
CS: B. Roberts 2 (2)

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 4.2 8 8 8 3 3 2 90 53 15.43
F. Heredia W (1-0) 4.0 2 0 0 2 3 0 52 34 0.00
R. Nen SV (1) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 16
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 23, F. Heredia 15, R. Nen 1
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 2-7, F. Heredia 0-8, R. Nen 0-1
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 90-53, F. Heredia 52-34, R. Nen 2-2
Inherited Runners - Scored: R. Nen 1-0
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy 4.2 10 7 7 1 5 3 89 56 13.50
E. Plunk L (0-1) 3.1 4 3 3 0 1 2 48 31 8.10
P. Assenmacher 1.0 1 1 1 1 2 0 25 13 9.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 20
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 25, E. Plunk 15, P. Assenmacher 5
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 0-9, E. Plunk 1-8, P. Assenmacher 0-1
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 89-56, E. Plunk 48-31, P. Assenmacher 25-13
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Moises Alou
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:44
Attendance: 44,880