Infinite Cleveland

1997 World Series: Game 3
FLORIDA MARLINS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
OCTOBER 21, 1997
TIMELINE 67
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida Marlins 2 4 0 3 4 3 0 6 0 22 27 0
Cleveland Indians 7 1 1 1 7 0 0 2 4 23 36 1
Indians Score Six in Ninth to Win 23-22 in 45-Run Spectacle
Forty-five runs walked into Jacobs Field on a Tuesday night and forty-five runs walked out, which is the kind of sentence you write about a bar fight, not a baseball game. Cleveland 23, Florida 22. Sixty-three hits. Two grand slams. A lead that changed hands like a counterfeit bill at a poker table. Somewhere around the fifth inning the sport of baseball quietly excused itself and was replaced by something closer to a dice game played by men in uniforms.

Jim Thome opened the proceedings with a grand slam in the first inning — 359 feet into the left-field seats on a 1-1 count, the ball still rising when it cleared the wall — and that shot was worth exactly as much as a single run by the end of the evening, which is to say it was a drop in a bucket the size of Lake Erie. Tony Fernandez went six-for-seven, raking line drives and grounders through every hole the Marlins' infield could offer, and even that felt like the B-plot. Edgar Renteria answered Thome's grand slam with one of his own in the eighth — 431 feet, first pitch, a line drive that left his bat at 106.9 and put Florida ahead 22-17 in a way that felt less like competition and more like two drunks taking turns buying rounds.

Florida led 22-17 after that eighth-inning explosion. David Justice pulled Cleveland within three with a two-run shot off Tony Saunders, but the math still looked terminal. Down three in the ninth against Robb Nen. One out, nobody on. The arithmetic of a funeral.

Then Vizquel singled. Roberts singled. Justice walked. Alomar doubled on a 2-2 pitch — a flyball that had no business splitting the outfielders but did — and two runs scored. Ramirez singled home another. Tie game. And Fernandez, who had been hitting all night the way some men breathe, grounded one through the left side on the second pitch he saw, and Alomar came home standing up. Cleveland 23, Florida 22. In this particular reshuffling of the deck, even the apocalypse has a walkoff.
FLORIDA 1997 BATTING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
E. Renteria SS 7 4 4 4 0 2 4 .571 1 4
J. Eisenreich LF 7 4 5 2 0 1 3 .714 0 2
M. Alou DH 6 3 4 6 1 1 3 .667 1 6
G. Sheffield RF 3 1 0 2 3 0 3 .000 0 2
a- K. Abbott 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
B. Bonilla 3B, RF 6 3 4 3 0 2 4 .667 1 3
D. Daulton 1B 5 1 2 3 2 3 2 .400 0 3
C. Johnson C 5 1 3 1 2 2 4 .600 1 1
D. White CF 7 3 4 1 0 3 5 .571 0 1
C. Counsell 2B 4 2 1 0 1 2 6 .250 0 0
Totals 50 22 27 22 9 16 34
a - K. Abbott substituted for G. Sheffield in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: J. Eisenreich 4 (4, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 2 on, 1 out; 4th Inning off E. Plunk, 0 on, 1 out; 5th Inning off P. Assenmacher, 2 on, 0 outs; 8th Inning off B. Anderson, 0 on, 2 outs) D. Daulton (1, 5th Inning off P. Assenmacher, 2 on, 2 outs) M. Alou 2 (2, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 2 on, 1 out; 4th Inning off E. Plunk, 1 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: E. Renteria (1, 8th Inning off B. Anderson, 3 on, 2 outs) C. Johnson (1, 2nd Inning off C. Nagy, 0 on, 0 outs) B. Bonilla (1, 4th Inning off E. Plunk, 1 on, 2 outs) M. Alou (1, 1st Inning off C. Nagy, 1 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: D. White 4 , E. Renteria 7 , C. Johnson 6 , J. Eisenreich 9 , D. Daulton 3 , C. Counsell , B. Bonilla 7 , M. Alou 9
2-out RBI: E. Renteria , D. Daulton , B. Bonilla
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , D. White 2 , C. Johnson , J. Eisenreich , B. Bonilla , M. Alou
Sac Bunt: C. Counsell
Sac Fly: G. Sheffield , B. Bonilla
Team LOB: 13
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
O. Vizquel SS 7 3 4 1 0 0 6 .571 0 1
B. Roberts LF 7 4 4 1 1 2 4 .571 0 1
D. Justice DH 5 4 4 4 3 0 2 .800 1 4
S. Alomar Jr C 8 4 5 4 0 1 4 .625 0 4
J. Thome 1B 5 1 1 5 3 4 5 .200 1 5
M. Ramirez RF 7 2 4 2 1 2 4 .571 0 2
T. Fernandez 2B 7 2 6 3 1 1 3 .857 0 3
M. Williams 3B 7 2 4 2 0 2 8 .571 0 2
M. Grissom CF 7 1 4 1 0 2 5 .571 0 1
Totals 60 23 36 23 9 14 41
BATTING
Doubles: S. Alomar Jr 3 (3, 2nd Inning off F. Heredia, 0 on, 0 outs; 5th Inning off D. Cook, 3 on, 1 out; 9th Inning off R. Nen, 3 on, 1 out) M. Ramirez 2 (2, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 0 on, 1 out; 5th Inning off D. Cook, 0 on, 0 outs)
Triples: M. Williams (1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 2 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: J. Thome (1, 1st Inning off A. Leiter, 3 on, 1 out) D. Justice (1, 8th Inning off T. Saunders, 1 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: S. Alomar Jr 8 , M. Williams 6 , O. Vizquel 4 , J. Thome 4 , B. Roberts 4 , M. Ramirez 6 , D. Justice 7 , M. Grissom 4 , T. Fernandez 6
2-out RBI: M. Ramirez , T. Fernandez 2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Alomar Jr , M. Williams 3 , O. Vizquel , J. Thome , D. Justice , M. Grissom
Sac Bunt: O. Vizquel
Team LOB: 19

FIELDING
Errors: S. Alomar Jr
OF assists: 1 (Ramirez (Alou at home))
FLORIDA 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE CLEVELAND 1997 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
A. Leiter 0.1 6 7 7 1 0 1 28 17 189.00
F. Heredia 1.1 6 1 1 0 2 0 31 21 6.75
J. Powell 1.2 5 2 2 2 4 0 50 30 10.80
D. Cook 1.0 7 7 7 0 1 0 31 20 63.00
L. Hernandez 2.2 6 1 1 1 5 0 53 34 3.38
T. Saunders 1.0 1 1 1 3 1 1 34 15 9.00
R. Nen L (0-1), BS (1) 0.1 5 4 4 2 1 0 29 16 108.00
PITCHING
Game Score: A. Leiter 2
Batters Faced: A. Leiter 8, F. Heredia 10, J. Powell 12, D. Cook 10, L. Hernandez 15, T. Saunders 7, R. Nen 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: A. Leiter 0-1, F. Heredia 1-1, J. Powell 0-1, D. Cook 1-1, L. Hernandez 2-1, T. Saunders 0-2, R. Nen 0-0
Pitches - Strikes: A. Leiter 28-17, F. Heredia 31-21, J. Powell 50-30, D. Cook 31-20, L. Hernandez 53-34, T. Saunders 34-15, R. Nen 29-16
Inherited Runners - Scored: F. Heredia 1-1 , J. Powell 3-0 , D. Cook 2-0 , L. Hernandez 2-2 , T. Saunders 1-1
WP: F. Heredia
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
C. Nagy 1.1 8 6 6 0 2 2 39 27 40.50
E. Plunk 2.1 4 3 3 1 4 1 46 32 11.57
P. Assenmacher 1.0 5 4 4 1 2 0 36 22 36.00
A. Morman 0.2 4 3 3 0 1 0 19 13 40.50
J. Mesa H (1) 0.2 1 0 0 2 0 0 21 9 0.00
J. Wright H (1) 1.0 2 3 2 2 2 0 31 16 18.00
B. Anderson W (1-0), BS (1) 2.0 3 3 0 3 5 1 49 29 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: C. Nagy 10
Batters Faced: C. Nagy 12, E. Plunk 12, P. Assenmacher 9, A. Morman 6, J. Mesa 4, J. Wright 7, B. Anderson 12
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Nagy 2-0, E. Plunk 2-1, P. Assenmacher 0-1, A. Morman 0-1, J. Mesa 0-1, J. Wright 1-0, B. Anderson 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Nagy 39-27, E. Plunk 46-32, P. Assenmacher 36-22, A. Morman 19-13, J. Mesa 21-9, J. Wright 31-16, B. Anderson 49-29
Inherited Runners - Scored: E. Plunk 1-0 , P. Assenmacher 1-0 , A. Morman 1-0 , J. Mesa 3-2 , J. Wright 1-0 , B. Anderson 3-3
WP: J. Wright
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: David Justice
Ballpark: Jacobs Field
Weather: Rainy (47 degrees F), 25 MPH wind (left to right)
Start Time: 8:24 PM EST
Time: 5:53
Attendance: 44,880
Special Notes: RP Felix Heredia was injured while pitching. SP Brian J Anderson was injured while pitching.