Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 59
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 2 0 3 3 0 2 7 3 0 20 20 1
Cleveland Indians 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Alou Hits Two Homers, Scores Five as Marlins Demolish Cleveland 20-1
Al Leiter pitched six and two-thirds innings of shutout ball and might have finished, but by then the Marlins had scored seventeen runs and the exercise had lost whatever shape a baseball game is supposed to have. Florida won 20-1, which is not a score that belongs on a diamond. It belongs on a football field, or perhaps a particularly bitter arithmetic exam.

Moises Alou hit a solo home run 434 feet into the rainy October dark in the third inning and a three-run shot to left in the fourth. He scored five times. He walked three times. He did everything short of selling peanuts. Sheffield matched the appetite if not the poetry: three hits, a three-run homer in the eighth, five driven in. The seventh inning alone produced seven Florida runs on six hits and a throwing error by Bip Roberts, the sort of half-inning where a manager exhausts his bullpen and considers the second baseman's arm.

Cleveland managed four hits in nine innings. Their lone run arrived in the bottom of the ninth on a passed ball — Tony Fernandez had doubled, and scored when Charles Johnson's glove betrayed him with nobody swinging. Not a single RBI in the Cleveland box score. Forty-four thousand, eight hundred and eighty souls sat in 47-degree rain to witness this, which is either loyalty or penance. In this particular retelling of the night, the game was not contested. It was administered like a dental procedure with no anesthetics.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 7 2 4 0 0 1 2 .571 0 0
J. Eisenreich LF 6 3 1 1 0 0 6 .167 0 1
M. Alou DH 3 5 2 4 3 0 0 .667 2 4
G. Sheffield RF 4 4 3 5 2 1 2 .750 1 5
B. Bonilla 3B 5 3 4 2 1 0 1 .800 0 2
D. Daulton 1B 6 1 3 3 0 1 4 .500 0 3
C. Johnson C 5 0 1 3 0 1 5 .200 0 3
D. White CF 5 1 1 2 1 0 2 .200 1 2
C. Counsell 2B 5 1 1 0 1 2 0 .200 0 0
Totals 46 20 20 20 8 6 22
BATTING
Doubles: G. Sheffield (1, 7th Inning off B. Anderson, 2 on, 1 out) E. Renteria (1, 7th Inning off B. Anderson, 0 on, 1 out) C. Johnson (1, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 2 on, 2 outs) J. Eisenreich (1, 7th Inning off B. Anderson, 1 on, 1 out) D. Daulton (1, 7th Inning off J. Wright, 1 on, 1 out) B. Bonilla (1, 6th Inning off A. Morman, 1 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: D. White (1, 7th Inning off J. Wright, 1 on, 2 outs) G. Sheffield (1, 8th Inning off J. Wright, 2 on, 1 out) M. Alou 2 (2, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 1 out; 4th Inning off E. Plunk, 2 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White 4 , G. Sheffield 7 , E. Renteria 5 , C. Johnson 2 , J. Eisenreich 2 , D. Daulton 4 , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla 5 , M. Alou 8
2-out RBI: D. White , C. Johnson , D. Daulton , B. Bonilla
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , C. Johnson 2 , J. Eisenreich
Sac Fly: C. Johnson
Team LOB: 7

FIELDING
Errors: B. Bonilla
Double Plays: 1 (Bonilla-Counsell-Daulton)
PB: C. Johnson
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
B. Roberts LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0
D. Justice DH 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .333 0 0
S. Alomar Jr C 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000 0 0
J. Thome 1B 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 .000 0 0
M. Ramirez RF 3 0 0 0 1 2 4 .000 0 0
T. Fernandez 2B 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .500 0 0
M. Williams 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .250 0 0
M. Grissom CF 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 .000 0 0
Totals 31 1 4 0 5 10 14
BATTING
Doubles: D. Justice (1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 2 outs) T. Fernandez (1, 9th Inning off F. Heredia, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: M. Williams , D. Justice 2 , T. Fernandez 3
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , O. Vizquel 2 , M. Ramirez
GIDP: T. Fernandez
Hit by Pitch: J. Thome
Team LOB: 9

FIELDING
Errors: B. Roberts
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter W (1-0) 6.2 2 0 0 5 6 0 114 66 0.00
F. Heredia 2.0 2 1 1 0 4 0 23 20 4.50
T. Saunders 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 71
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 27, F. Heredia 9, T. Saunders 1
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 12-1, F. Heredia 1-1, T. Saunders 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 114-66, F. Heredia 23-20, T. Saunders 5-4
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 3-0 , T. Saunders 1-0
WP: A. Leiter
Hit Batsmen: A. Leiter
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy L (0-1) 3.0 6 5 5 2 4 1 68 38 15.00
E. Plunk 0.1 3 3 3 1 0 1 19 12 81.00
A. Morman 2.0 2 2 2 3 0 0 35 17 9.00
B. Anderson 1.0 3 4 4 1 0 0 27 16 36.00
J. Wright 1.0 5 6 6 1 1 2 42 22 54.00
J. Mesa 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 25 18 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 27
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 17, E. Plunk 5, A. Morman 11, B. Anderson 7, J. Wright 9, J. Mesa 6
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 1-4, E. Plunk 1-0, A. Morman 1-5, B. Anderson 2-1, J. Wright 1-1, J. Mesa 2-2
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 68-38, E. Plunk 19-12, A. Morman 35-17, B. Anderson 27-16, J. Wright 42-22, J. Mesa 25-18
Inherited Runners - Scored: A. Morman 1-0 , B. Anderson 2-1 , J. Wright 1-1
WP: B. Anderson , J. Mesa
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: 4:16
Attendance: 44,880
Special Notes: RP Felix Heredia was injured while pitching.