Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 61
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 9 0
Cleveland Indians 3 2 0 0 3 2 1 2 X 13 14 2
Roberts Goes 4-for-4; Indians Score in Six Innings to Rout Florida
Al Leiter walked Omar Vizquel on four pitches to start the bottom of the first — four balls, not one of them close. Roberts singled. Then Leiter walked David Justice on four more balls, and before the left-hander had recorded an out the bases were full and the evening was already leaning Cleveland's way. It leaned further with each inning — three runs in the first, two in the second, three in the fifth, two in the sixth, one in the seventh, two in the eighth. Cleveland scored in six of its eight turns at bat, which is less a baseball game than a metronome. Final: Cleveland 13, Florida 4.

Bip Roberts went four for four with four runs batted in, and if that sentence reads like a typesetter's error it looked like one too — the man simply would not make an out. He singled in the first to start the procession, singled in the fifth to drive home two, singled in the seventh to keep things moving, and singled in the eighth to plate two more. The Indians drew ten walks on the night. Florida's pitching staff — Leiter, Heredia, Powell, Saunders — combined to issue free passes the way a stadium usher tears tickets.

The defense finished what the offense started. Cleveland turned four double plays, the Vizquel-Fernandez-Thome combination working with the bored efficiency of men who have done this before, perhaps more often than they know. Eisenreich grounded into two of them himself. Florida collected nine hits and stranded enough runners to fill a bus, but every time a rally threatened, the ball found a glove.

Marquis Grissom's solo home run in the second was the only long ball of the night, which hardly mattered. This sixty-first version of the game required no drama and offered none — only the steady accumulation of small advantages that is, in its way, the cruelest kind of defeat. The rain fell. The Indians kept hitting. The Marlins kept walking back to the dugout.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 .400 0 1
J. Eisenreich LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 0 0
M. Alou DH 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
G. Sheffield RF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B 4 1 1 0 0 2 2 .250 0 0
D. Daulton 1B 4 0 2 1 0 0 2 .500 0 1
C. Johnson C 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .250 0 0
D. White CF 2 1 1 1 2 0 2 .500 0 1
C. Counsell 2B 4 1 1 1 0 1 4 .250 0 1
Totals 34 4 9 4 2 6 16
BATTING
Doubles: B. Bonilla (1, 4th Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 2 outs)
Triples: C. Counsell (1, 3rd Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White , E. Renteria 2 , C. Johnson , D. Daulton 2 , C. Counsell 3 , B. Bonilla 2 , M. Alou
2-out RBI: D. White , D. Daulton
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. White , C. Counsell
GIDP: J. Eisenreich 2 , C. Counsell , M. Alou
Hit by Pitch: G. Sheffield
Team LOB: 6
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 3 3 1 1 3 0 2 .333 0 1
B. Roberts LF 4 1 4 4 2 0 0 1.000 0 4
D. Justice DH 5 2 0 0 1 2 7 .000 0 0
S. Alomar Jr C 5 0 2 3 0 0 2 .400 0 3
J. Thome 1B 4 1 1 1 1 3 3 .250 0 1
M. Ramirez RF 5 1 2 1 0 1 3 .400 0 1
T. Fernandez 2B 4 1 2 1 0 0 3 .500 0 1
M. Williams 3B 3 1 1 1 1 1 4 .333 0 1
M. Grissom CF 3 3 1 1 2 1 3 .333 1 1
Totals 36 13 14 13 10 8 27
BATTING
Doubles: S. Alomar Jr (1, 7th Inning off J. Powell, 1 on, 2 outs) M. Ramirez 2 (2, 3rd Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 0 outs; 6th Inning off J. Powell, 1 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: M. Grissom (1, 2nd Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 3 , M. Williams , O. Vizquel , J. Thome , B. Roberts 4 , M. Ramirez 4 , M. Grissom 4 , T. Fernandez 2
2-out RBI: S. Alomar Jr , O. Vizquel , B. Roberts 2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: M. Williams , O. Vizquel , J. Thome 3 , D. Justice
Sac Fly: M. Williams , T. Fernandez
Team LOB: 7

BASERUNNING
SB: M. Williams (1)

FIELDING
Errors: M. Williams , M. Grissom
Double Plays: 4 (Fernandez-Vizquel-Thome, Vizquel-Fernandez-Thome, Vizquel-Fernandez-Thome, Fernandez-Vizquel-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) 4.0 5 5 5 6 5 1 92 47 11.25
F. Heredia 0.2 2 3 3 2 0 0 24 11 40.50
J. Powell 2.0 5 3 3 0 0 0 30 22 13.50
T. Saunders 1.1 2 2 2 2 3 0 36 20 13.50
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 31
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 23, F. Heredia 6, J. Powell 11, T. Saunders 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 5-2, F. Heredia 0-2, J. Powell 2-4, T. Saunders 0-1
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 92-47, F. Heredia 24-11, J. Powell 30-22, T. Saunders 36-20
Inherited Runners - Scored: J. Powell 1-0 , T. Saunders 1-0
WP: A. Leiter , F. Heredia
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy W (1-0) 7.0 8 4 4 1 5 0 99 62 5.14
E. Plunk 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 28 15 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 49
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 30, E. Plunk 7
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 8-5, E. Plunk 2-2
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 99-62, E. Plunk 28-15
Hit Batsmen: C. Nagy
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Bip Roberts
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 3:41
Attendance: 44,880