The Florida Marlins were the first Wild Card team to win the Fall Classic. And it was in only their fifth year of existence. Then, they had to beat out three very imposing teams. They had Atlanta, San Francisco and finally Cleveland to get by.
The Marlins finished the 1997 campaign with a 92-70 record. Pretty good, eh? Well, only good enough for second in the National League East. The Atlanta Braves won 101 games and could give you 101 reasons why they were better then the Marlins. The Los Angeles Dodgers finished four games back in the Wild Card race, with 88 wins.
Florida got by San Francisco three games to none to spoil and chance of Barry Bonds making it to the World Series that year. Atlanta did the same to Houston. But in the National League Championship Series, it was Florida pulling it out in six over Atlanta. It was, however, a tight, back-and-forth race for the World Series, with pitching duels a-plenty. But Florida was off to meet Cleveland.
The Indians, back in the World Series again, lost to Atlanta in six games themselves in 1995, and must have been happy to see an expansion team in the other dugout. But soon, they'd erase that though. There was Devon White, Darren Daulton and Jim Eisenreich on that Florida team. They'd all played in the 1993 Fall Classic.
Florida, playing at home in game one, looked anything but nervous in the opening tilt. They stormed ahead 5-1 and 7-2, while Cleveland tried to play catchup. The Indians got as close as three runs, and that's the way it ended, 7-4. But Cleveland wasn't about to roll over, and squared it with a decisive 6-1 win in game two. It was on to American League territory. And game three was a wild one.
It was Cowboys and Indians. Or Marlins and Indians. But when the dust settled, it was Florida back on top with a 14-11 win. But Cleveland made game four a laugher, even worse then the second affair. 10-3 was the final. With the Series lead at stake, it was another high-scoring game in the fifth tilt. But Florida was coming home up 3-2 with a narrow 8-7 win.
Another decisive win by Cleveland, 4-1, in game six sent this to the limit. It was a classic, like so many game sevens.
Tony Fernandez drove in two with a double off his 1993 Toronto Blue Jays teammate, Al Leiter in the top of the third. The 2-0 Cleveland lead held through eight, although Bobby Bonilla got Florida on the board with a solo home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh.
The Indians were two outs away from it all in the bottom of the ninth, but Florida had already put the leadoff man, Moises Alou, on to start the inning. After an out, the Marlins got another single. Alou was on third. When Craig Counsell flied out, Alou tagged and scored. Jim Eisenreich then made the third out.
The game continued on into extra innings. Flordia ultiamtly won it in the eleventh. But I'm not sure everyone made it home by eleven. Bonilla started it with a single. A bunt moved him to second. And error by Fernandez put runners on the corners. Devon White had a chance to win it all, but grounded to second and Bonilla was out at home trying to win it all. Edgar Renteria did not need to rent any heroics. With two on and two outs, he singled to left. Counsell scored and Florida was the 1997 Fall Classic winners.
The 1997 Florida Marlins were obviously not the best team in the regular season. Talent-wise, they were not as good as Atlanta or Cleveland. But they had experienced players that had been there before in the Fall Classic. They were up against a tremendous team, and they were destined to go the limit. And some of the games they won were wild ones. But that should not take away from the fact of the wildness of the first ever Wild Card World Series Winners!
References
http://www.baseball-reference.com/
The Marlins finished the 1997 campaign with a 92-70 record. Pretty good, eh? Well, only good enough for second in the National League East. The Atlanta Braves won 101 games and could give you 101 reasons why they were better then the Marlins. The Los Angeles Dodgers finished four games back in the Wild Card race, with 88 wins.
Florida got by San Francisco three games to none to spoil and chance of Barry Bonds making it to the World Series that year. Atlanta did the same to Houston. But in the National League Championship Series, it was Florida pulling it out in six over Atlanta. It was, however, a tight, back-and-forth race for the World Series, with pitching duels a-plenty. But Florida was off to meet Cleveland.
The Indians, back in the World Series again, lost to Atlanta in six games themselves in 1995, and must have been happy to see an expansion team in the other dugout. But soon, they'd erase that though. There was Devon White, Darren Daulton and Jim Eisenreich on that Florida team. They'd all played in the 1993 Fall Classic.
Florida, playing at home in game one, looked anything but nervous in the opening tilt. They stormed ahead 5-1 and 7-2, while Cleveland tried to play catchup. The Indians got as close as three runs, and that's the way it ended, 7-4. But Cleveland wasn't about to roll over, and squared it with a decisive 6-1 win in game two. It was on to American League territory. And game three was a wild one.
It was Cowboys and Indians. Or Marlins and Indians. But when the dust settled, it was Florida back on top with a 14-11 win. But Cleveland made game four a laugher, even worse then the second affair. 10-3 was the final. With the Series lead at stake, it was another high-scoring game in the fifth tilt. But Florida was coming home up 3-2 with a narrow 8-7 win.
Another decisive win by Cleveland, 4-1, in game six sent this to the limit. It was a classic, like so many game sevens.
Tony Fernandez drove in two with a double off his 1993 Toronto Blue Jays teammate, Al Leiter in the top of the third. The 2-0 Cleveland lead held through eight, although Bobby Bonilla got Florida on the board with a solo home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh.
The Indians were two outs away from it all in the bottom of the ninth, but Florida had already put the leadoff man, Moises Alou, on to start the inning. After an out, the Marlins got another single. Alou was on third. When Craig Counsell flied out, Alou tagged and scored. Jim Eisenreich then made the third out.
The game continued on into extra innings. Flordia ultiamtly won it in the eleventh. But I'm not sure everyone made it home by eleven. Bonilla started it with a single. A bunt moved him to second. And error by Fernandez put runners on the corners. Devon White had a chance to win it all, but grounded to second and Bonilla was out at home trying to win it all. Edgar Renteria did not need to rent any heroics. With two on and two outs, he singled to left. Counsell scored and Florida was the 1997 Fall Classic winners.
The 1997 Florida Marlins were obviously not the best team in the regular season. Talent-wise, they were not as good as Atlanta or Cleveland. But they had experienced players that had been there before in the Fall Classic. They were up against a tremendous team, and they were destined to go the limit. And some of the games they won were wild ones. But that should not take away from the fact of the wildness of the first ever Wild Card World Series Winners!
References
http://www.baseball-reference.com/
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