World Series: Did You Know?

The 1999 Fall Classic had, four the second straight year, four different winning pitchers and four different losing pitchers. Alas, Orlando Hernandez was the only pitcher from both World Series involved in a decision. The New York Yankees had their second straight sweep for good measure, this time against the Atlanta Braves.

Hernandez took the opener, and he pitched very well. Chipper Jones hit a solo home run off him in the bottom of the fourth, but that was the only hit he allowed over seven innings. The Yankees touched home four times in the eighth, and three relief pitchers got the job done from there on just one more Atlanta hit, and New York drew first blood. Greg Maddux took the loss for Atlanta despite holding the Yankees at bay for the first seven innings on a three-hitter of his own. New York ended the day with six hits to Atlanta's two.

In game two it was New York's David Cone going seven innings on one-hit ball himself. This time, the offence was provided early and often. Kevin Millwood was shaky for the Braves and the Bronx Bombers pounced on him and delivered an early KO. The Yankees scored three times in the top of the first, and that was all Cone would need. But the Bronx Bombers scored twice more in the top of the third to make it 5-0. They still weren't done as single tallies in the next two innings closed out the Yankees offence. The Braves didn't score until the bottom of the ninth, as three hits produced two runs, but New York was heading home up two games to none.

In game three at Yankee Stadium, it was Atlanta with the early offence on Andy Pettitte. They surged ahead 5-1 after four, but New York refused to go away. The tallied once in the bottom of the fifth, and once again in the bottom of the seventh. It was 5-3, Atlanta. New York then tied it with two runs the next inning courtesy of a Chuck Knoblauch two-run home run. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth and tenth for New York, setting the stage for the final blow. It was delivered by Chad Curtis. He'd started the comeback with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth off Tom Glavine. In the bottom of the ninth, he played hero as he took Mike Remlinger out of the park. 6-5, New York, final score. The Yankees were up three games to none and going for the sweep in game four.

John Smoltz, looking to keep Atlanta in it, had only one bad inning in game four. New York scored three times in the third frame to go up 3-0. In the next four innings, New York had only one hit. Smoltz finished the game just six hits allowed in seven innings and eleven strikeouts. His team, however, could not score until the top of the eighth. New York then got that right back in the bottom of the frame with a run off Terry Muholland. Roger Clemens, was amazing for New York. He allowed just one hit in thee first four innings, and stymied the Atlanta batters all game long. A hit in the top of the fifth was quickly erased via a double play. Not until there were two outs in the top of the eighth did he falter. Roger ended the game with just four hits allowed (Two through seven), one run, and four strikeouts. Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera took over from there and allowed just one hit and no runs over the final 1 1/3 innings. The Yankees had game four, 4-1, just like in game one. And they had a sweep.

It takes more then one pitcher to make a staff great. Both New York and Atlanta had superb pitching staffs in 1999. New York had Clemens and Pettitte (despite not getting a decision in game three) with over 250 wins each. Cone won 194. Rivera sealed the deal when these guys couldn't. Atlanta had Hall-Of-Famers in Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine, plus Millwood won 169 game for good measure. While it may have been a sweep, the 1999 Fall Classic showcased some of the game's very best pitchers in the decisions.



References

http://www.baseball-reference.com/