1997 World Series
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The 1997 World Series was widely regarded as one of the most exciting Series in recent memory. It featured the Cleveland Indians, who were heading to their second World Series in three years. Their opponents were the Florida Marlins, who had set a record by reaching the Series in only their fifth season of operation. The Marlins were huge underdogs as they capped a stunning season by beating the Indians in seven games, four games to three. The final of Game 7 was decided in extra innings on an Edgar Rentería single.
Umpires: Ed Montague (NL), Dale Ford (AL), Joe West (NL), Greg Kosc (AL), Randy Marsh (NL), Ken Kaiser (AL)
Series MVP: Livan Hernandez
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Game 1
October 18, 1997 at Joe Robbie Stadium (Florida Marlins)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Cleveland Indians 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 4 11 0
Florida Marlins 0 0 1 4 2 0 0 0 X 7 7 1
PITCHERS: CLE - Hershiser, Juden (5), Plunk (6), Assenmacher (8)
FLA - Hernandez, Cook (8), Nen (9)
WP - Hernandez
LP - Hershiser
SAVE - Nen
HOME RUNS: CLE - Ramirez, Thome
FLA - Alou, Johnson
ATTENDANCE: 67,245
Game 2
October 19, 1997 at Joe Robbie Stadium (Florida Marlins)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Cleveland Indians 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 6 14 0
Florida Marlins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0
PITCHERS: CLE - Ogea, Jackson (7), Mesa (9)
FLA - Brown, Heredia (7), Alfonseca (8)
WP - Ogea
LP - Brown
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: CLE - Alomar
FLA - none
ATTENDANCE: 67,025
Game 3
October 21, 1997 at Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Florida Marlins 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 7 14 16 3
Cleveland Indians 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 4 11 10 3
PITCHERS: FLA - Leiter, Heredia (5), Cook (8), Nen (9)
CLE - Nagy, Anderson (7), Jackson (7), Assenmacher (8), Plunk (8), Morman (9), Mesa (9)
WP - Cook
LP - Plunk
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: FLA - Sheffield, Daulton, Eisenreich
CLE - Thome
ATTENDANCE: 44,880
Game 4
October 22, 1997 at Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Florida Marlins 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 6 2
Cleveland Indians 3 0 3 0 0 1 1 2 X 10 15 0
PITCHERS: FLA - Saunders, Alfonseca (3), Vosberg (6), Powell (8)
CLE - Wright, Anderson (7)
WP - Wright
LP - Saunders
SAVE - Anderson
HOME RUNS: FLA - Alou
CLE - Ramirez, Williams
ATTENDANCE: 44,877
Game 5
October 23, 1997 at Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Florida Marlins 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 8 15 2
Cleveland Indians 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 9 0
PITCHERS: FLA - Hernandez, Nen (9)
CLE - Hershiser, Morman (6), Plunk (6), Juden (7), Assenmacher (8), Mesa (9)
WP - Hernandez
LP - Hershiser
SAVE - Nen
HOME RUNS: FLA - Alou
CLE - Alomar
ATTENDANCE: 44,888
Game 6
October 25, 1997 at Joe Robbie Stadium (Florida Marlins)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Cleveland Indians 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 7 0
Florida Marlins 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 0
PITCHERS: CLE - Ogea, Jackson (6), Assenmacher (8), Mesa (9)
FLA - Brown, Heredia (6), Powell (8), Vosberg (9)
WP - Ogea
LP - Brown
SAVE - Mesa
HOME RUNS: CLE - none
FLA - none
ATTENDANCE: 67,498
Game 7 (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_97ws_gm7_clefla)
October 26, 1997 at Joe Robbie Stadium (Florida Marlins)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cleveland Indians 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2
Florida Marlins 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 8 0
PITCHERS: CLE - Wright, Assenmacher (7), Jackson (8), Anderson (8), Mesa (9), Nagy (10)
FLA - Leiter, Cook (7), Alfonseca (8), Heredia (9), Nen (9), Powell (11)
WP - Powell
LP - Nagy
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: CLE - none
FLA - Bonilla
ATTENDANCE: 67,204
Trivia
- Game 7 was played on Indians manager Mike Hargrove's birthday.
- This was third time in the 1990s that the World Series ended on the final at-bat (as was the case in 1991 & 1993 respectively).
- NBC commentators made light of Indians outfielder Bip Roberts' bout with the flu during the course of the series.
- Soon after Game 7 was complete, rumors on the internet started to spread that the 1989 (released four years before the Florida Marlins made their debut) film Back to the Future Part II accurately predicted their 1997 World Series victory.
- Midway through one of the games in Miami, "surprise guest" Joe Dimaggio joined NBC's Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker in the television booth. Dimaggio joked that Morgan was a "Hall of Famer", Costas was a "Future Hall of Famer", yet didn't know what to think of when it came to Uecker. Ironically, several years later, Bob Uecker would be inducted in the broadcasters' wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- NBC's West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer disturbed Major League Baseball when publically wished the World Series to end in a four game sweep so that it wouldn't derail NBC's fall entertainment schedule.
- Many Marlins players wrote the #32 on their caps in support of pitcher Alex Fernandez, who tore his rotator cuff during the first round of the playoffs.
- The Game 4 temperature in Cleveland, Ohio was fifteen degrees (15º fahrenheit) which was a new record for the coldest game in World Series history.
- Game 7 of the 1997 World Series was the second longest game seven ever played in any World Series to date.
- Livan Hernandez's mother was permitted to attend Game 7 on a visa before having to leave early for security reasons.
- Even though Livan Hernandez was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1997 World Series, Moises Alou in retrospect, was the true star as he lead the Marlins by hitting .321 with three home runs and nine RBIs.
External links
- 1997 World Series by Baseball Almanac (http://baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1997ws.shtml)
- History of the World Series - 1997 (http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/worldseries/1997.html)
- 1997 Florida Marlins (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/teams/1997marlins.stm)
- 1997 Cleveland Indians (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/teams/1997indians.stm)
- Did the 1989 film Back to the Future II predict that the Florida Marlins would win the 1997 World Series? (http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/bttf2.asp)