Andruw Jones tied a Fall Classic record in game one of 1996. He went out of the yard twice. And it didn't take him very long to do that.
Jones' Atlanta Braves were taking on the New York Yankees in the first game in the Big, Bad Bronx. But it would be the Braves' centre fielder with some surprises for the Yankee Stadium faithful in this contest. New York was hoping to see the Yankees win for the fist time since 1978. The days of Reggie Jackson and company.
But as pitcher Andy Pettitte learned early on, the best place to throw it to Andruw on this night was under the plate. Anything else, and the results were spectacular for Jones and the Braves.
The first inning was scoreless and Pettitte looked comfortable as he got Atlanta out 1-2-3 on just twelve pitches. But that did not carry over to the second inning.
Fred McGriff struck out, but Javier Lopez singled. Pettitte got Jermaine Dye out on a liner to deep left. But then Jones stepped in. And this inning wasn't over by a longshot. Pitching carefully, Pettitte got behind in the count 2-0. He battled back to 2-2, but the count was destined to go the distance. But on the payoff pitch, it was Jones that sent a rocket to left. It reached the seats and Atlanta was up for good. But the 2-0 lead was only the beginning.
Three more runs in the top of the third finished Pettitte, who departed with runners on first and second and just one out. Brian Boehringer got the first batter to face him, Dye, out. But then Jones was back at the dish, and trouble was brewing for Boehringer and the Yankees.
Jones again was going to a full count. And again he hit it out of the park. That made it 8-0 Atlanta and the game was essentially over. Fred McGriff got into the home run trot in the top of the fifth to make it 9-0. Jones was not done and singled the next inning. Andruw eventually scored. Before the inning was over Atlanta had scored twice more to make it a 12-1 game (New York had finally scored in the bottom of the fifth on a Wade Boggs double.
Jones ended the game 3-4 with three runs scored and five batted in. Two of those runs scored and RBIs were himself, of course. There was no further scoring the rest of the way by either team.
Jones didn't hit another home run in the 1996 World Series. Atlanta won game two, 4-0, and it looked like they were on the way to their second straight Fall Classic win. But it was not to be. With New York's John Wettland getting four straight saves, it was the Yankees who swept through the next four games and taking it in six. Jones had to be satisfied with tying a Fall Classic record for getting a home run in the first two plate appearances of a World Series. Only Gene Tenace in 1972 had done that.
References
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 14 August 2015.
Youtube. Web. 14 August 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>
Jones' Atlanta Braves were taking on the New York Yankees in the first game in the Big, Bad Bronx. But it would be the Braves' centre fielder with some surprises for the Yankee Stadium faithful in this contest. New York was hoping to see the Yankees win for the fist time since 1978. The days of Reggie Jackson and company.
But as pitcher Andy Pettitte learned early on, the best place to throw it to Andruw on this night was under the plate. Anything else, and the results were spectacular for Jones and the Braves.
The first inning was scoreless and Pettitte looked comfortable as he got Atlanta out 1-2-3 on just twelve pitches. But that did not carry over to the second inning.
Fred McGriff struck out, but Javier Lopez singled. Pettitte got Jermaine Dye out on a liner to deep left. But then Jones stepped in. And this inning wasn't over by a longshot. Pitching carefully, Pettitte got behind in the count 2-0. He battled back to 2-2, but the count was destined to go the distance. But on the payoff pitch, it was Jones that sent a rocket to left. It reached the seats and Atlanta was up for good. But the 2-0 lead was only the beginning.
Three more runs in the top of the third finished Pettitte, who departed with runners on first and second and just one out. Brian Boehringer got the first batter to face him, Dye, out. But then Jones was back at the dish, and trouble was brewing for Boehringer and the Yankees.
Jones again was going to a full count. And again he hit it out of the park. That made it 8-0 Atlanta and the game was essentially over. Fred McGriff got into the home run trot in the top of the fifth to make it 9-0. Jones was not done and singled the next inning. Andruw eventually scored. Before the inning was over Atlanta had scored twice more to make it a 12-1 game (New York had finally scored in the bottom of the fifth on a Wade Boggs double.
Jones ended the game 3-4 with three runs scored and five batted in. Two of those runs scored and RBIs were himself, of course. There was no further scoring the rest of the way by either team.
Jones didn't hit another home run in the 1996 World Series. Atlanta won game two, 4-0, and it looked like they were on the way to their second straight Fall Classic win. But it was not to be. With New York's John Wettland getting four straight saves, it was the Yankees who swept through the next four games and taking it in six. Jones had to be satisfied with tying a Fall Classic record for getting a home run in the first two plate appearances of a World Series. Only Gene Tenace in 1972 had done that.
References
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 14 August 2015.
Youtube. Web. 14 August 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>
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