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.
"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 Series1997 World Series Official Program Florida Marlins (4) vs Cleveland Indians (3) |
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1997 World Series Fast Facts | |||
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
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1997 World Series Game 1 Capsule | ||||||||||||
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 |
Cleveland Pitcher(s) | Florida Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Orel Hershiser (L) Jeff Juden (5th) Eric Plunk (6th) Paul Assenmacher (8th) |
Livan Hernandez (W) Dennis Cook (6th) Jay Powell (8th) Robb Nen (9th) |
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Cleveland Home Runs | Florida Home Runs | |||||||||||
Manny Ramirez (5th) Jim Thome (6th) |
Moises Alou (4th) Charles Johnson (4th) |
1997 World Series
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1997 World Series Game 2 Capsule | ||||||||||||
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 |
Cleveland Pitcher(s) | Florida Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Chad Ogea (W) Mike Jackson (7th) Jose Mesa (9th) |
Kevin Brown (L) Felix Heredia (7th) Antonio Alfonseca (8th) |
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Cleveland Home Runs | Florida Home Runs | |||||||||||
Sandy Alomar, Jr. (6th) | None |
1997 World Series
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1997 World Series Game 3 Capsule | ||||||||||||
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 |
Florida Pitcher(s) | Cleveland Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
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) |
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Florida Home Runs | Cleveland Home Runs | |||||||||||
Gary Sheffield (1st) Darren Daulton (4th) Jim Eisenreich (6th) |
Jim Thome (5th) - - |
1997 World Series
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1997 World Series Game 4 Capsule | ||||||||||||
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 |
Florida Pitcher(s) | Cleveland Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Tony Saunders (L) Antonio Alfonseca (3rd) Ed Vosberg (6th) Jay Powell (8th) |
Jaret Wright (W) Brian Anderson (S, 7th) - - |
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Florida Home Runs | Cleveland Home Runs | |||||||||||
Moises Alou (6th) - |
Manny Ramirez (1st) Matt Williams (8th) |
1997 World Series
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1997 World Series Game 5 Capsule | ||||||||||||
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 |
Florida Pitcher(s) | Cleveland Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
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) |
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Florida Home Runs | Cleveland Home Runs | |||||||||||
Moises Alou (6th) | Sandy Alomar, Jr. (3rd) |
1997 World Series
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1997 World Series Game 6 Capsule | ||||||||||||
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 |
Cleveland Pitcher(s) | Florida Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
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) |
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Cleveland Home Runs | Florida Home Runs | |||||||||||
None | None |
1997 World Series
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1997 World Series Game 7 Capsule | ||||||||||||||
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 |
Cleveland Pitcher(s) | Florida Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||||
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) |
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Cleveland Home Runs | Florida Home Runs | |||||||||||||
None | Bobby Bonilla (7th) |
1997 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
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 SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
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 SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
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 SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
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 |
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?