1997 World Series

The four year-old expansion team known as the Florida Marlins represented the best (and worst) of parody in Major League baseball. Despite becoming the youngest team to ever win a Fall Classic and the first Wild Card team to earn a world championship, the franchise would be unable to support it's expensive list of mercenary players and would eventually find itself on the verge on contraction in a few short years. Jim Leyland had been the Marlin's biggest purchase after having a series of semi-successful seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The gritty skipper had become disenchanted with the Pirates organization after watching the majority of his biggest players (including Bobby Bonilla and Barry Bonds) dealt to other teams during his tenure in the Steel City, but his farm-team phobia would soon come back to haunt him in the Sunshine State.

The Cleveland Indians had lost the Series in '95 (against the Atlanta Braves), but had regrouped to retake the American League for their fifth championship title. The much-more experienced Indians were heavy favorites going into the contest, but the surprise Marlins would present a major challenge pushing the proposed sweep aside for a seven game marathon.

The opener debuted the first post-season outing at Pro Player Park that had barely begun to show signs of use in its four years of operations. Leyland went with Livan Hernandez against Cleveland standout Orel Hershiser and the righty (along with Dennis Cook, Jay Powell and Robb Nen) responded with a 7-4 victory despite giving up eleven hits. Both teams boasted two home runs a piece with Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome connecting for Cleveland and Moises Alou and Charles Johnson matching for the Marlins. Game 2 evened the contest as the Indians managed six runs to Florida's one thanks in part to Sandy Alomar's blast that set the momentum for the visiting team. The third outing was a slugfest with eleven pitchers surrendering a combined twenty-five runs. Marlin Al Leiter emerged the winner (barely) with support from Gary Sheffield, Darren Daulton and Jim Eisenreich who all nailed home runs of their own. Thome added a second blast to his stats, but it was no match for the National's performance that looked more like batting practice and less like a game.

Game 4 finally tipped the scales in Cleveland's favor after Jaret Wright and Brian Anderson combined on the mound for a 10-3 decision with Ramirez and Matt Williams in support at the plate. The clutch win tied the Series at two-games-apiece and most fans anticipated the contest coming down to the wire. As Hernandez returned for Game 5, he faced six of his rival's counterparts (led by Hershiser) and prevailed over them all in an 8-7 decision that was won in the final inning. Both Alou and Alomar added additional homers to their stats as the heavily outnumbered Hernandez bested the Indians rotation permitting only nine hits to their combined fifteen. Game 6 witnessed even odds on the mound with four pitchers each going toe-to-toe and Chad Ogea kept the Indians alive with a crucial 4-1 win that extended the contest another day.

As both teams took the field for Game 7, the Marlins felt that they had finally earned the respect they deserved. After entering the Series on what some writers called a wing, a check and a prayer, the expansion team silenced their critics by going the distance with a real postseason veteran. The grand finale was one of the most exciting as well as the second longest game in World Series history. Not leaving anything in the bag, both sides exhausted their line-ups and rotations as twelve combined aces went at it for the game-set-and-match. Jaret Wright and Al Leiter held each other in check for seven innings and after their replacements followed suite the game moved into extra-innings. Finally in the eleventh, Florida managed the go-ahead run crowning them as the youngest World Champions in baseball history. The party on the peninsula would soon come to an end though as Leyland and the rest of the Marlins roster was bound for "greener pastures". In fact the following season the defending champions would go 54-108 while finishing in a disappointing fifth place.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"How many broken bats and choppers were there? What do you do? No matter how well you pitch, you have to have a little luck to win." - Kevin Brown

1997 World Series

1997 World Series Program

1997 World Series Official Program

Florida Marlins (4) vs Cleveland Indians (3)

Game 1 Date / Box Score 10-18-1997
Location Pro Player Park
1st Pitch From To
Shomari Dailey (Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar) Gregg Zaun
Attendance 67,245
National Anthem Hanson (Pop Band)
Game 2 Date / Box Score 10-19-1997
Location Pro Player Park
Attendance 67,025
National Anthem Gloria Estefan (Singer / Grammy Winner)
Game 3 Date / Box Score 10-21-1997
Location Jacobs Field
Attendance 44,880
National Anthem Reba McEntire (Singer / Grammy Winner)
Game 4 Date / Box Score 10-22-1997
Location Jacobs Field
Attendance 44,887
National Anthem Lea Thompson (Actress)
Game 5 Date / Box Score 10-23-1997
Location Jacobs Field
Attendance 44,888
National Anthem Bruce Hornsby & Branford Marsalis (Musicians)
Game 6 Date / Box Score 10-25-1997
Location Pro Player Park
Attendance 67,498
National Anthem Jon Secada (Singer / Grammy Winner)
Game 7 Date / Box Score 10-26-1997
Location Pro Player Park
1st Pitch From To
Toni Giamatti (Son of A. Bartlett Giamatti) Al Leiter
Attendance 67,204
National Anthem Mary Chapin Carpenter (Singer / Grammy Winner)
1997 World Series Fast Facts

1997 World Series
Game 1

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 4 11 0
Florida 0 0 1 4 2 0 0 0 x 7 7 1
Orel Hershiser (L)
Jeff Juden (5th)
Eric Plunk (6th)
Paul Assenmacher (8th)
Livan Hernandez (W)
Dennis Cook (6th)
Jay Powell (8th)
Robb Nen (9th)
Manny Ramirez (5th)
Jim Thome (6th)
Moises Alou (4th)
Charles Johnson (4th)

1997 World Series
Game 2

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 6 14 0
Florida 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0
Chad Ogea (W)
Mike Jackson (7th)
Jose Mesa (9th)
Kevin Brown (L)
Felix Heredia (7th)
Antonio Alfonseca (8th)
Sandy Alomar, Jr. (6th) None

1997 World Series
Game 3

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 7 14 16 3
Cleveland 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 4 11 10 3
Al Leiter
Felix Heredia (5th)
Dennis Cook (W, 8th)
Robb Nen (S, 9th)
-
-
-
Charles Nagy
Brian Anderson (7th)
Mike Jackson (7th)
Paul Assenmacher (8th)
Eric Plunk (L, 8th)
Alvin Morman (9th)
Jose Mesa (9th)
Gary Sheffield (1st)
Darren Daulton (4th)
Jim Eisenreich (6th)
Jim Thome (5th)
-
-

1997 World Series
Game 4

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 6 2
Cleveland 3 0 3 0 0 1 1 2 x 10 15 0
Tony Saunders (L)
Antonio Alfonseca (3rd)
Ed Vosberg (6th)
Jay Powell (8th)
Jaret Wright (W)
Brian Anderson (S, 7th)
-
-
Moises Alou (6th)
-
Manny Ramirez (1st)
Matt Williams (8th)

1997 World Series
Game 5

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Florida 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 8 15 2
Cleveland 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 9 0
Livan Hernandez (W)
Robb Nen (S, 9th)
-
-
-
-
Orel Hershiser (L)
Alvin Morman (6th)
Eric Plunk (6th)
Jeff Juden (7th)
Paul Assenmacher (8th)
Jose Mesa (9th)
Moises Alou (6th) Sandy Alomar, Jr. (3rd)

1997 World Series
Game 6

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 7 0
Florida 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 0
Chad Ogea (W)
Mike Jackson (6th)
Paul Assenmacher (8th)
Jose Mesa (S, 9th)
Kevin Brown (L)
Felix Heredia (6th)
Jay Powell (8th)
Ed Vosberg (9th)
None None

1997 World Series
Game 7

Line Score / Box Score

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Cleveland 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2
Florida 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 8 0
Jaret Wright
Paul Assenmacher (7th)
Mike Jackson (8th)
Brian Anderson (8th)
Jose Mesa (9th)
Charles Nagy (L, 10th)
Al Leiter
Dennis Cook (7th)
Antonio Alfonseca (8th)
Felix Heredia (9th)
Robb Nen (9th)
Jay Powell (W, 11th)
None Bobby Bonilla (7th)

1997 World Series

Composite Hitting Statistics

Kurt Abbott
Antonio Alfonseca
Moises Alou
Alex Arias
Bobby Bonilla
Kevin Brown
John Cangelosi
Jeff Conine
Dennis Cook
Craig Counsell
Darren Daulton
Jim Eisenreich
Cliff Floyd
Felix Heredia
Livan Hernandez
Charles Johnson
Al Leiter
Robb Nen
Jay Powell
Edgar Renteria
Tony Saunders
Gary Sheffield
Ed Vosberg
Devon White
Gregg Zaun
dh-1
p
of
3b-1,dh-1
3b
p
ph
1b
p
2b
1b-5,dh-1
1b-2,dh-2
dh-1
p
p
c
p
p
p
ss
p
of
p
of
c-1
3
3
7
2
7
2
3
6
3
7
7
5
4
4
2
7
2
4
4
7
1
7
2
7
2
3
0
28
1
29
3
3
13
0
22
18
8
2
0
2
28
0
0
0
31
0
24
0
33
2
0
0
9
0
6
0
1
3
0
4
7
4
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
9
0
7
0
8
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
6
1
5
0
0
1
0
4
7
1
1
0
0
4
0
0
0
3
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
3
0
0
2
0
2
2
3
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
3
0
5
0
2
0
.000
.000
.321
.000
.207
.000
.333
.231
.000
.182
.389
.500
.000
.000
.000
.357
.000
.000
.000
.290
.000
.292
.000
.242
.000
0
0
3
0
3
0
0
0
0
6
3
3
1
0
0
1
2
0
0
3
0
8
0
3
0
1
0
6
0
5
1
2
0
0
5
0
1
1
0
0
6
0
0
0
5
0
5
0
10
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
Totals 250 68 12 1 8 37 34 .272 36 48 4

1997 World Series

Composite Hitting Statistics

Sandy Alomar, Jr.
Brian Anderson
Paul Assenmacher
Jeff Branson
Tony Fernandez
Brian Giles
Marquis Grissom
Orel Hershiser
Mike Jackson
Jeff Juden
David Justice
Jose Mesa
Alvin Morman
Charles Nagy
Chad Ogea
Eric Plunk
Manny Ramirez
Bip Roberts
Kevin Seitzer
Jim Thome
Omar Vizquel
Matt Williams
Jaret Wright
c
p
p
ph
2b
of-2
of
p
p
p
of-4,dh-3
p
p
p
p
p
of
2b-4,of-2
ph
1b
ss
3b
p
7
3
5
1
5
5
7
2
4
2
7
5
2
2
2
3
7
6
1
7
7
7
2
30
0
0
1
17
4
25
2
2
0
27
0
0
0
4
0
26
22
1
28
30
26
2
11
0
0
0
8
2
9
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
2
0
4
6
0
8
7
10
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
4
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
0
1
0
5
0
0
0
1
1
5
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
1
0
3
3
0
8
5
8
0
10
0
0
0
4
2
2
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
2
0
6
4
0
4
1
3
0
.367
.000
.000
.000
.471
.500
.350
.000
.000
.000
.185
.000
.000
.000
.500
.000
.154
.273
.000
.286
.233
.385
.000
2
0
0
0
0
4
4
0
0
0
6
0
0
0
0
0
6
3
0
5
3
7
0
3
0
0
1
1
1
4
1
1
0
8
0
0
0
1
0
5
5
0
7
5
6
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
Totals 247 72 12 1 7 44 42 .291 40 51 5

1997 World Series

Composite Pitching Statistics

Antonio Alfonseca
Kevin Brown
Dennis Cook
Felix Heredia
Livan Hernandez
Al Leiter
Robb Nen
Jay Powell
Tony Saunders
Ed Vosberg
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
3
2
3
4
2
2
4
4
1
2
0
2
0
0
2
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6.1
11.0
3.2
5.1
13.2
10.2
4.2
3.2
2.0
3.0
0.00
8.18
0.00
0.00
5.27
5.06
7.71
7.36
27.00
6.00
6
15
1
2
15
10
8
5
7
3
5
6
5
5
7
10
7
2
2
2
0
10
0
0
8
6
4
3
6
2
1
5
1
1
10
10
2
4
3
3
Totals 4 3 27 7 0 2 0 64.0 5.48 72 51 39 40

1997 World Series

Composite Pitching Statistics

Brian Anderson
Paul Assenmacher
Orel Hershiser
Mike Jackson
Jeff Juden
Jose Mesa
Alvin Morman
Charles Nagy
Chad Ogea
Eric Plunk
Jaret Wright
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
3
5
2
4
2
5
2
2
2
3
2
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3.2
4.0
10.0
4.2
2.0
5.0
0.1
7.0
11.2
3.0
12.1
2.45
0.00
11.70
1.93
4.50
5.40
0.00
6.43
1.54
9.00
2.92
2
5
15
5
2
10
0
8
11
3
7
2
6
5
4
0
5
1
5
5
3
12
1
0
13
1
1
3
0
5
2
3
4
0
0
6
3
2
1
2
5
3
4
10
Totals 3 4 32 7 0 2 0 63.2 4.66 68 48 33 36
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Game 4 temperature in Cleveland, Ohio was fifteen degrees ( 15º farenheit) which was a new Fall Classic record for the coldest game in World Series history.

The Florida Marlins victory during Game 7 gave them two (2) records; the youngest team to ever win a Fall Classic (four years old) and the first Wild Card team to earn a World Championship.

Did you know that Game 7 of the 1997 World Series was the second longest game seven ever played in any World Series to date?