1995 World Series

The anger of Indians fans was dramatically different. In 1994, for the first time in 40 years, they had had a contending team that could win it all, just as Akron native Dick Jacobs had promised when he became Indians owner in 1986. And in 1994, they finally had their field of dreams, Jacobs Field, which had opened to rave reviews in April. Fans packed the ballpark and loved the team they saw, a combination of seasoned vets and talented, exciting youngsters, all focused on bringing baseball’s World Series championship back to Cleveland. This was no Major League. This was the real thing. Indians fans were ecstatic. So when the 1994 season came to a screeching halt on August 12 with their Indians’ record at 66-47 and the team only a game out of first place in its division, Indians fans were angry. They’d been cheated out of a champion. And unlike the rest of the baseball world, in Cleveland the minute 1995 single-game ticket sales were announced to start in February 1995, at reduced prices, no less (because of the possibility of replacement players), fans started buying. Season ticket sales rose too. By the Indians’ home opener on May 5, with the strike over and the players fans had come to know and love in 1994 on hand, not only was that game sold out but almost every future game. From June 12 on every game was a complete sellout, the beginning of a 455-game sellout record.

The 1995 Indians did not disappoint. They came out of the gate fast, moved into sole possession of first place in the Central Division by May 11 and never relinquished that spot, powering their way to a 100-44 record, topping their closest competitors, the Kansas City Royals, by 30 games, the best record in major-league baseball.

A new postseason alignment forced the Indians to hurdle two rounds of playoffs instead of one before they could get to the World Series. The Tribe swept through the American League Division Series, beating Boston in three straight with the combination of good pitching, speed, and timely hitting that had characterized the team throughout the season. They faced a tougher opponent in the American League Championship Series, the Seattle Mariners. In a dramatic Game Six on the road, the Indians’ Dennis Martinez outpitched the Mariners’ young superstar Randy Johnson for the win. The victory gave the Tribe their first American League championship in 41 years. And when the Indians’ normally stoic and long-suffering manager, Mike Hargrove, screamed into Herb Score’s microphone during postgame interviews, “Hey, Herbie, we’re going to the Series!,” Indians fans throughout the world screamed with him.1 At last, fans believed, their Indians, so long a butt of jokes, and were now winners, destined to win it all. At a Cleveland steakhouse filled with jubilant diners, owner George Dixon III exclaimed, “We’re fated to be champions this year. … We’ll go to Atlanta, and our bats will explode. … The city is on such a roll, and this is a cherry on top.”2 The day before Game One against the Atlanta Braves, more than 30,000 fans formed a rally in Public Square in downtown. Even the dour bronze statue of Moses Cleaveland sported an Indians batting helmet.

The euphoria of Indians fans was met with the wary hopes of Braves fans. Unlike the Indians, the Braves had been to the World Series recently. After a 33-year drought and a change of home cities from Milwaukee to Atlanta, the Braves had reached the World Series in 1991, the same year the Indians lost a record 105 games. The Braves lost that Series to the Minnesota Twins. As the Indians began their climb to respectability, the Braves went to the Series again in 1992, and lost again, this time to the Toronto Blue Jays. They just missed winning the National League pennant in 1993 and were in position to win at least a wild-card spot in 1994 when the strike ended their quest. The Braves seemed able to win everything but the “Big One.” Still, in 1995, the Braves seemed more dominant than in prior championship runs. They finished 21 games ahead of the Mets and the Phillies in the National League East. They won 90 games in the shortened regular season, second in the major leagues only to the Indians, who had won 100. And they swept through their postseason series against the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds, both hard-hitting teams. Braves manager Bobby Cox, who like Indians manager Hargrove had skippered his team in bad times as well as good, summed up is team’s feelings heading into the Series: “I and my coaches and everyone connected with the Atlanta Braves want to win very, very badly.”3

Without a doubt the 1995 World Series would feature the two best teams in baseball. Oddsmakers made the Indians only slight underdogs heading into the Series. And sportswriters’ predictions were almost evenly split. Invariably writers who picked the Braves did so because of their pitching, relying on the old baseball adage “Good pitching beats good hitting.” One might add that, since their last World Series loss in 1992, the Braves had acquired Greg Maddux, generally assumed to be the best pitcher of the day, to join Tom Glavine and John Smoltz in future Hall of Fame rotation. Early in 1995 the Braves also installed Mark Wohlers as their closer, and further solidified their bullpen by reacquiring Alejandro Pena late in the season as setup man and relying on former Indian farmhand Greg McMichael in middle relief. In the Braves’ NLCS sweep of the Reds, the bullpen allowed only one run in 11 innings and the starters allowed only four runs in 28 innings. And, while the Braves’ .250 team batting average was the second-worst in the National League, they won 25 regular-season games in their last at-bat and added four more such wins in the playoffs

Still, those who picked Cleveland were best represented by Dale Hoffman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who picked the Indians in seven: “Their pitching is closer to the Braves’ pitching than the Braves’ hitting is to the Indians’ hitting.”4 The Tribe’s rotation was led by veteran and proven postseason winners, 37-year-old Orel Hershiser and 40-year-old Dennis Martinez. Added to complete the rotation were younger stars: Steady, hard-working Charles Nagy, who had come up through the Indians’ system, and Ken Hill, a late-season addition with National League experience. The Indians, too, had a great closer in Jose Mesa, who had an American League-leading 46 saves and a microscopic 1.13 ERA. Paul Assenmacher solidified the middle relief. And the Indians pitchers were supported by one of the most dominant offenses ever assembled. Tribe batters were among the leaders in every offensive category in 1995. Albert Belle finished first in home runs (50), extra-base hits (103), and slugging percentage (.690) and tied for first in runs batted in (126). Kenny Lofton led the league in stolen bases (54). Four regulars batted better than .300 and the Indians had a .291 team batting average. While the Indians’ offense did not dominate in the postseason as it had in the regular season, batting only .219 against Boston and .257 against Seattle, the Indians’ pitching rotation produced a record almost matching the Braves’, going 6-1 with a 1.29 ERA.

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Game One
Atlanta Braves 3, Cleveland Indians 2
October 21, 1995
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

Maddux is Masterful

Even before the first pitch the Indians were thrown a curve. Without the 1994 strike the American League winner would have had home-field advantage in a 1995 World Series according to the MLB rule under which the leagues alternated home-field advantage. But since the last Series was in 1993, when the American League had home-field advantage, the advantage went to the National League instead. Still the Indians were confident. They had their ace, Orel Hershiser (19-6), who had never lost in seven postseason starts including World Series experience with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would face the Braves’ Greg Maddux (21-1), who was appearing in his first World Series after posting a so-so record in this postseason of 3-2 with a 5.57 ERA.

Things started out well for the Indians as the leadoff man, center fielder Kenny Lofton, who had batted .458 in postseason play thus far with five steals and three RBIs, grounded to short, but ended up at first when Braves shortstop Rafael Belliard misplayed the ball for an error. The next batter, shortstop Omar Vizquel, struck out swinging, but Lofton stole second. During second baseman Carlos Baerga’s at-bat, Lofton helped himself to third base and when Maddux got Baerga to ground out to short, Lofton sped home with the Indians’ first run.

In the bottom of the first inning the Braves’ leadoff man, center fielder Marquis Grissom, smacked a line-drive single and advanced to second when second baseman Mark Lemke grounded out. But rookie third baseman Chipper Jones hit a line drive to short that Vizquel turned into a double play, catching Grissom off second to end the inning.

In the bottom of the second, Braves first baseman Fred McGriff, another addition since Atlanta lost the 1992 World Series, led off with a home run to deep center field to tie the game at 1-1.

Both starting pitchers were masterful throughout the middle innings. Strikeouts and groundouts were the order of the day with only the Indians even hitting the ball to the outfield, Albert Belle’s fly to deep right in the fourth inning being the hardest-hit ball.

Then came the bottom of the seventh inning. Hershiser, who like Maddux, had been cruising through the Atlanta lineup, giving up only two hits to Maddux’s one, suddenly could not find the strike zone, missing high. He opened the inning by walking McGriff. When he walked the next batter, outfielder David Justice, pitching coach Mark Wiley came to the mound intending to give Hershiser a brief break. He was, after all, facing the heart of the Braves’ lineup the third time around and had thrown 101 pitches. But Hershiser surprised Wiley by taking himself out of the game. Hershiser later said that while he was fine physically, he couldn’t “execute.” So when Wiley asked him how he felt, the veteran righty answered, “I can’t make the adjustment.” Hershiser said later, “I knew the mistakes I was making were right where [the next hitter Ryan] Klesko likes to hit it.”5 Given that analysis, Hershiser thought the lefty reliever Assenmacher would have a better chance of getting the left-handed Klesko out.

But when Hargrove brought in Assenmacher, Bobby Cox countered with right-handed pinch-hitter Mike Devereaux and Assenmacher walked him to load the bases. The managerial chess match continued as Hargrove, in a double switch, brought in first baseman Paul Sorrento for Assenmacher and right-handed reliever Julian Tavares for Eddie Murray, who had been playing first. Cox then replaced his right-handed batter, catcher Charlie O’Brien, with lefty-swinging Luis Polonia. In a critical decision Hargrove chose to play the infield back at double-play depth, conceding a run to keep the inning from getting out of hand. And Polonia obliged, hitting a sure double-play ball to shortstop Vizquel. But then the unthinkable happened. The usually sure-handed Vizquel bobbled the ball and got only a force at second while McGriff scored from third, putting Atlanta in the lead, 2-1. Although Cox argued that Vizquel had not even had control when he touched second, the ruling stood and Cox was ready with his next move, one that effectively put the game in the bag for the Braves. With Justice on third and Polonia on first, Rafael Belliard made up for his first-inning error by executing a perfect suicide squeeze bunt that scored Justice with what turned out to be the winning run.

After grounding out to end the seventh, Maddux returned to the mound and continued his mastery over the Indians. The daring Kenny Lofton gave Tribe fans some hope in the ninth inning when he singled with one out, raced from first to third on Vizquel’s groundout to second, and scored when first baseman McGriff threw wildly to third to try to get him. But Maddux got the next batter, Baerga, on a foul pop, only his 95th pitch, and the Indians’ hopes were dashed. Maddux had held the best-hitting lineup in the majors to two singles.

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Game Two
Atlanta Braves 4, Cleveland Indians 3
October 22, 1995
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

Javy Lopez Catches Indians by Surprise

With all-time home-run king Hank Aaron throwing out the ceremonial first pitch and the weather (65 degrees and dry at game time) something the large contingent of Clevelanders who had followed their heroes to Atlanta could really appreciate, Sunday evening was an almost perfect night for baseball. Tribe fans everywhere hoped for perfection on the field as well. After all, they reasoned, their team had been behind in the ALCS twice to the Mariners before beating them on the road in Seattle in six games. And whose masterful pitching had finished off the Mariners? “El Presidente” Dennis Martinez, the same Dennis Martinez who was starting for the Tribe in Game Two. Even though he was working on four days’ rest instead of the six he’d had before the Seattle game and he was 40 years old, the third oldest pitcher ever to appear in a World Series, Tribe fans had faith.

But Martinez’s struggles started early. After Braves’ starter Tom Glavine set down the Indians in order in the top of the first inning. Martinez loaded the bases in the bottom of the first before getting slugger Ryan Klesko to pop to third. Martinez got support in the top of the second inning when the Indians again scored first, this time on a two-run homer by Eddie Murray, driving in Albert Belle, who had singled. Martinez followed by getting the Braves in order in the bottom of the second, but ran into trouble again in the third inning. He hit leadoff hitter Grissom with a pitch, then compounded his problem by trying to pick Grissom off second after the next batter, Lemke, had singled him there. Grissom moved to third on the errant throw and the next batter, Chipper Jones, drove him in with a fly ball. After Martinez got McGriff on a groundout, Justice singled to bring Lemke in from second and tie the score at 2-2.

Martinez stayed out of further trouble in the fourth and fifth innings while Glavine, a finesse pitcher like Maddux, allowed only one more hit after the home run to Murray. But after Glavine took care of the Indians in order in the top of the sixth, Martinez made a crucial mistake again. Facing the Braves’ hard-hitting young catcher Javier Lopez with David Justice on base and one out, Martinez had Lopez down 1-and-2 in the count, and then threw him a fastball, which Lopez hammered to deep center field. Unlike his fourth-inning blast to right field, which Albert Belle caught against the wall, this one went well over the 402-foot sign where even the great center fielder Kenny Lofton couldn’t reach it without a helicopter. Later Martinez said he’d tried to “go away” with the fastball but it had ended up in the middle of the plate. Lopez agreed it was a fastball, but it was “away” in the same spot as the changeup away he’d hit to right in the fourth. Either way, the Braves now led 4-2. Martinez struck out Belliard for the second out. But Bobby Cox then had Dwight Smith pinch-hit for Glavine. Smith singled and, after Grissom followed with another single, Hargrove pulled Martinez for Alan Embree, who got the final out.

The Indians got one run back in the top of the seventh, striking at Greg McMichael, who had replaced Glavine on the mound. Again it was not the power-hitting Indians fans had come to expect during the season. Instead speedster Kenny Lofton jumped into the breach. After McMichael got two quick outs, Lofton singled, stole second, and scored when left fielder Mike Devereaux, who had just come in to replace Klesko, overran Omar Vizquel’s line drive, turning it into a two-base error. McMichael then walked Carlos Baerga. With two men on and Albert Belle coming up, Tribe fans were loudly welcoming the man who had hit 50 home runs and driven in 126 runs during the shortened season. But Bobby Cox brought in Alejandro Pena, who immediately dampened fans’ hopes by getting Belle on a foul pop to catcher Lopez.

Still, the rest of the heat of the Indians’ lineup was due up in the eighth and the Braves were pitching from their bullpen. Pena started the eighth by getting Eddie Murray to fly out. Then Manny Ramirez singled. With power-hitting Jim Thome at bat, the real drama ended up being the faceoff between two young players, Ramirez on first and Lopez behind the plate, each only in his second full major-league season. With a 2-and-2 count on Thome, Ramirez was the one who made the youthful error, taking a huge lead off first base. Catcher Lopez watched him carefully, remembering that his first baseman, McGriff, had said that the first time Ramirez singled, he took a big lead. After Manny took his lead this time, Lopez gave McGriff the sign, took the ball three Pena had thrown and in one motion threw a strike to McGriff, nailing Ramirez before he could get back. Lopez, who had already used his bat to put the Braves in the lead, used his brain and arm to snuff out the Indians’ last real hope. Thome ended up walking, which would have put Ramirez at second had he not been picked off. Cox then brought in fire-balling closer Mark Wohlers, who finished the inning by getting Paul Sorrento to fly to center, then mowed down the Indians in the ninth, allowing only a two-out single to Vizquel.

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Game Three
Cleveland Indians 7, Atlanta Braves 6 (11 innings)
October 24, 1995
Jacobs Field, Cleveland

Home Cooking Warms Indians’ Bats and Crowd

After their two best pitchers lost in Atlanta and the vaunted Tribe power offense never got on track, many in the Cleveland media made comparisons to Game Three in 1954, when the Indians also returned home 0-2 after their two best pitchers failed to tame the New York Giants. But 1995 was as different from 1954 as night from day.

With a day off after flying back to Cleveland, Indians players were able to enjoy all the comforts of home cooking and sleep in their own beds as well as get in a full practice session the day before the next game, which would be in their beloved Jacobs Field. And Carlos Baerga, who had been playing with a sore left ankle and was 0-for-8 thus far in the Series, got to receive treatment. Baerga echoed the thoughts of his teammates when he said: “This is do-or-die for us. We’ve got to go out and win it right away. We can’t even talk about playing Games Four or Five in Jacobs Field.”6 As a team, the Indians, after posting a .291 batting average in the regular season, were hitting .235 overall in 11 postseason games and only .125 in the Series.

Instead of facing a day game in heat and oppressive humidity hours after they arrived home by train as the 1954 team had done, the 1995 Indians had a night game after that restful night at home and another day to get ready. And on this Tuesday night, the weather was real Cleveland late-October weather, 49 degrees at game time with a 25-mph wind blowing out to right field making it feel like 29 degrees, which was more of a shock to the Braves players than to the Indians. And the sellout crowd of 41,877 may have been bundled in coats and clapping with their mittens on, but they came to cheer loudly for their Tribe.

Another plus for Indians hitters was that instead of a third finesse pitcher in a row, they were facing the fastball pitcher John Smoltz. And starting for the Tribe was the workmanlike Charles Nagy, who during the regular season had inspired the greatest run support from his teammates. But clubhouse man Tom Foster and his staff left nothing to chance. Channeling Major League, they brought out of hiding Joeboo, the Chia-pet version of the Indians’ voodoo doll mascot in that film. They’d stationed him on a perch on a pole next to the Tribe’s dugout during the season, but he’d been damaged. Now, restored to green-haired and two-eyed glory, he’d watched batting practice on Monday and, just before Game Three, he got two buckets of fried chicken donated by the Bay Village Jaycees sacrificed to him in the traditional Major League ceremony.

Kenny Lofton, the one Tribe star of this Series so far, had an even better idea. He called a pregame meeting with his teammates. In it the players talked about what they weren’t doing right, like focusing at the plate and swinging only at good pitches. Every one of them realized that each one had to do something. Together they pledged that, if they were going down, they’d go down fighting. The Indians were ready to do battle. Mickey Mantle’s widow, Mervyn, with her sons beside her, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and an inspired choice in the opening ceremonies only helped the players’ determination – black and white film clips of their predecessors, the 1948 and 1954 Indians, were shown on the replay screen while “Circle of Life” from The Lion King thundered over the sound system.

This time the Braves took the early lead, scoring a run in the top of the first on a double by Chipper Jones followed by a single by Fred McGriff. But in the bottom of the inning the Indians struck right back. Kenny Lofton singled to lead off. Vizquel followed with a triple to deep right field, scoring Lofton. Then Carlos Baerga’s groundout to first scored Vizquel.

In the bottom of the third the Tribe struck again, knocking Smoltz out of the game. Lofton, again leading off, doubled to center. Vizquel followed with a bunt single, moving Lofton to third. Baerga, with his first hit of the Series, drove in Lofton with a single to left. Albert Belle then sent a ball through the hole to center field, scoring Vizquel and moving Baerga to second. Although Smoltz struck out Eddie Murray, he walked the next batter, Jim Thome, loading the bases with one out. Bobby Cox had seen enough. He pulled Smoltz for Brad Clontz, who got Manny Ramirez to ground out into a 6-4-3 double play, ending the threat.

Meanwhile sturdy Charley Nagy mastered the Braves until the sixth inning, when he gave up a solo homer to Fred McGriff. When he gave up another home run to slugger Ryan Klesko in the top of the seventh, the crowd began to worry. The Indians’ lead was slowly slipping away. But, after a stretch and a rousing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the Indians got an insurance run, with Kenny Lofton leading the way again. With one out, he worked a walk off lefty reliever Kent Mercker, moved to second when Vizquel grounded out, and stole third with Baerga at the plate. When Baerga singled, Lofton scored with the Tribe’s fifth run. The Indians had a chance for more when the next batter, Albert Belle, walked. But Bobby Cox went to his bullpen again, dipping into what seemed an endless supply of quality relief pitchers for all situations. This time he picked Greg McMichael, who came in to strike out Eddie Murray for the third out.

Unlike Cox, Mike Hargrove had been criticized for leaving his starters in too long and, in some critics’ opinions, costing the Tribe two close games. This time, though, with the Indians adding that insurance run in the bottom of the seventh and Nagy having thrown only 81 pitches, Hargrove’s choice to leave him in seemed reasonable despite the two solo homers Nagy had surrendered in the prior two innings. Unfortunately for Hargrove, his faith was not rewarded. Facing the top of the Braves order, Nagy gave up a double on the first pitch to Grissom, then a run-scoring single to Luis Polonia. Hargrove brought in the lefty Assenmacher, but things did not get better. With Chipper Jones at bat, Polonia stole second. Assenmacher then walked Jones. McGriff flied out to center, moving the runners up to second and third with only one out. Assenmacher might have got out of the inning without further damage when he induced David Justice to hit a groundball to second. But Baerga booted it. Polonia scored, tying the game. Managerial maneuvers continued as Hargrove replaced Assenmacher with righty Julian Tavares and Cox countered by pinch-hitting for DH Ryan Klesko with Mike Devereaux. Devereaux responded by lashing a single to right field, scoring Jones, to put the Braves in the lead. With Justice now on second, Tavares was able to avoid further damage by getting catcher Javy Lopez to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. But the Braves were now leading and the Indians had only two innings to come back.

And come back they did, as the Tribe tied the game again in the bottom of the eighth. Sandy Alomar doubled off the Braves’ premier closer, Mark Wohlers, scoring Manny Ramirez. From that point on it was a duel between two of the best closers in baseball, Wohlers and the Indians’ Jose Mesa, each stretching his abilities beyond the normal one inning through the ninth and 10th. Mesa made things a bit too interesting for Tribe fans by getting into jams in both the ninth and 10th, counting on his fielders to deliver sterling plays to get him out. Rookie first baseman Herbert Perry came to his rescue in the ninth and Baerga bailed him out in the 10th. But in the top of the 11th, Mesa set down the Braves in order.

For the bottom of the 11th, Bobby Cox, figuring that Wohlers had reached his limit by pitching the equivalent of three innings since he came on to close out the eighth, replaced him with Alejandro Peña. For once Cox’s move proved to be wrong. The first man Peña faced was Carlos Baerga, whose error in the eighth had led to the Braves’ go-ahead run. Baerga worked Pena to a 3-and-2 count, and then lined a double to deep center. Alvaro Espinoza ran for him. Peña intentionally walked the dangerous Albert Belle and took on the venerable Eddie Murray instead. But Murray lined the first pitch to center, scoring Espinoza and giving the Indians their first World Series win in 47 years.

It was 12:42 A.M. Wednesday when the game ended, 4 hours and 9 minutes after it started, the longest night game in World Series history and the third longest of all World Series games to date. But the cold, bleary-eyed Tribe fans who remained danced their way toward the exits to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days,” which blared from the sound system while fireworks burst into the frigid air.

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Game Four
Atlanta Braves 5, Cleveland Indians 2
October 25, 1995
Jacobs Field, Cleveland

Battle of the Bullpens

For the second time on this Wednesday, the Indians would be playing a World Series game. They and their fans hoped the result would be the same this night as it was at 12:42 A.M., when they ended a long night of baseball by securing an 11-inning victory over Atlanta in Game Three. The Indians’ prodigious hitting seemed finally back on track with 12 hits in Game Three. They’d won in their last at-bat as they’d done 28 times already this year. Jacobs Field Magic was back. And, to the relief of Tribe fans, Bobby Cox decided not to start the virtually unhittable Greg Maddux in Game Four. He chose instead the young lefty Steve Avery, who had a 7-13 record with a 4.67 earned-run average during the regular season, although his ERA in the postseason was 1.36. Mike Hargrove countered with right-hander Ken Hill, who had been picked up late in the season specifically to bolster the starting pitching in the postseason and who only the season before had finished second to Maddux in the National League Cy Young Award voting. Hill already had two playoff victories for the Tribe, one in relief and one as a starter, while pitching shutout ball.

Indians all-time great pitcher Bob Feller, a veteran of both the 1948 and 1954 American League champion teams, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Pitching dominated the game for the first five innings, both pitchers justifying the faith their managers placed in them. The game was scoreless after five. The Braves had four hits; the Indians, two.

In the top of the sixth, however, the Braves again scored first on a one-out solo homer belted 400 feet to right field by Ryan Klesko. But Hill set down the next two batters to end the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, as they had in Game Three, the Indians immediately came back when Albert Belle homered to right. Although Belle hit his homer with two men out, the Tribe had a chance for a bigger inning as Avery gave up his fifth walk to the next hitter, Eddie Murray. Then, with Manny Ramirez at the plate and the count already 2-and-0, Avery was called for a balk and Murray went to second. Avery put Ramirez on with an intentional walk. But rookie Herbert Perry, starting in his first Series game at first base after his defensive heroics the previous night, struck out swinging.

In the top of the seventh, Hill started well, striking out Belliard. But then he walked Grissom and the next batter, Polonia, laced Hill’s first pitch to deep right field for a double, scoring the speedy Grissom from first and putting the Braves back in the lead. That ended Hill’s night as Hargrove brought in Assenmacher to face the heart of the Braves’ lineup. But the Indians’ troubles continued. Assenmacher intentionally walked Chipper Jones. Then, with Fred McGriff at bat, a passed ball put Polonia on third and Jones on second. Assenmacher struck out McGriff for the second out. But David Justice lined a single to center field, driving in both runners. Assenmacher struck out Klesko for the final out, but the damage was done; the Braves led 4-1.

Greg McMichael came on to protect Atlanta’s lead in the bottom of the seventh. After giving up a leadoff double to Jim Thome, McMichael easily handled the Tribe, getting six straight groundouts in the seventh and eighth, while Cleveland relievers struggled. Julian Tavares gave up two hits and a walk in the eighth before Alan Embree replaced him to get the final out with the bases loaded when Chipper Jones flied to deep right. In the ninth, however, it was Embree in trouble. He gave up two hits, the second a line-drive double by Javy Lopez that drove in Fred McGriff for the Braves’ fifth run.

Once again the Tribe was down to its last chance and fans could only hope that what happened so many times before could happen again. Cox brought in his closer, Wohlers, despite his extended outing the night before. When the first batter, Manny Ramirez, homered to deep left field and pinch-hitter Paul Sorrento doubled to left, Tribe fans took heart. But then Cox brought forth from the bullpen yet another reliever Tribe hitters had not yet seen in the Series: Pedro Borbon. He quickly struck out Thome and Alomar. Then he faced Kenny Lofton who, for the first time in the Series, had not got on base in this game. Lofton lined a sharp drive to right, but right fielder Justice made a fine running backhanded catch near the warning track to end the game.

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Game Five
Cleveland Indians 5, Atlanta Braves 4
October 27, 1995
Jacobs Field, Cleveland

Happy Birthday, Grover!

With the Indians down three games to one and the feared Greg Maddux again on the mound, Tribe fans packed Jacobs Field one last time, the sellout crowd inside and the hundreds outside peering through the iron gates. Win or lose, this would be the last contest in this season of dreams at Cleveland’s field of dreams. And after a full night’s sleep this time, fans were set to cheer their lungs out for their Tribe. They brought optimistic signs – “There is no fat lady in Cleveland”; “Not here – Not tonight.” They brought streamers and balloons to help celebrate manager Mike Hargrove’s 46th birthday.

Grover himself opted for a short pregame talk reminding his players that they had won the American League championship and deserved to be in this World Series. He asked them to play this game as they’d played throughout the year. To do that against Maddux, the Indians knew they had to make adjustments. The hitters would try to crowd the plate more and swing at the first two pitches. For his part, Orel Hershiser thought of adjusting his release point and thought of Sandy Koufax’s advice to him when he was with the Dodgers that if he wanted the ball to go down he had to stand tall.

The team was ready to do their best. The fans were charged up. And if heavenly intervention was needed to beat Maddux, they got at least a semblance of that in the opening ceremonies. For the first time the ceremonial first pitch was thrown from outer space by Commander Ken Bowersox, on board the space shuttle Columbia, surrounded by the crew members. The ceremony was transmitted from the shuttle via satellite and played on the Jacobs Field scoreboard. Through animation the ball made its way through space to downtown Cleveland. Then the crowd saw a ball appear to fly in and land in center field near the Indians’ mascot, Slider. The crowd cheered.

The cheers continued from the first pitch Hershiser threw and never stopped. And Hershiser did not disappoint. With the exception of a two-out double by Chipper Jones, he handled the top of the Braves’ lineup easily. Then in the bottom of the first came ignition and liftoff for the Tribe batters against Maddux. Maddux walked the second man he faced, Vizquel. He then got Baerga on a groundout, which moved Vizquel to second. With two outs, Albert Belle came up and did what he’d done so often this year, hit the first pitch to deep right field off the top of the wall and bouncing into the crowd for a home run. For the first time, the Indians had scored earned runs off Maddux and now held a two-run lead.

Indian fans were already cheering wildly, but the inning held more drama. Maddux followed up with a first-pitch strike to the next batter, Eddie Murray. Then he threw a high, tight fastball that Murray just barely dodged. The usually quiet Murray had words with the umpire and Braves catcher O’Brien, then angrily stalked toward the mound. Both benches and bullpens emptied, with Indians players surrounding Murray to avoid a full-scale brawl. Even Hershiser came out and spoke briefly to Maddux. Maddux told him he wasn’t trying to hit Murray, just “jam” him. Hershiser replied: “You can do better than that.”7 Maddux, the master of control, said nothing in reply. When the dust settled, Maddux walked Murray, but catcher O’Brien picked him off first to end the inning.

Both starting pitchers mastered the hitters through the second, third, and fourth innings, with Hershiser giving up only a leadoff homer to Polonia in the fourth. In the top of the fifth, however, Klesko singled to open the inning. The next batter, Lemke, grounded to Hershiser, who threw to second to try to get the lead runner. The throw was wild and both runners were safe. y O’Brien bunted the runners to second and third. Hershiser gave an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Dwight Smith to load the bases. Marquis Grissom then drove in the tying run with an infield single. With still only one out, Tribe fans anxiously waited. The next batter, Polonia, a key force in other games, drilled a hard grounder up the middle and the sure-handed Vizquel grabbed it and quickly turned it into an inning-ending double play. The crowd cheered in relief.

Tribe batters didn’t get to Maddux again until the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Baerga doubled to left. Maddux intentionally walked his first-inning nemesis Belle. Murray’s fly to right moved Baerga to third. Then, with two outs, Jim Thome, who’d had only two hits so far in the Series, singled sharply up the middle to drive in Baerga. Manny Ramirez followed with another single to right to drive in Belle. The Indians had pulled ahead, 4-2.

Hershiser added two more masterful innings, closing his eight innings of work with a flourish. Mike Mordecai, now playing short for the Braves, led off the eighth with a single and Grissom followed with a line shot at Hershiser, who snared the ball and doubled Mordecai off first. Hershiser pumped his fist, and then returned to the mound to strike out Polonia swinging. Jim Thome added an insurance solo homer in the bottom of the eighth off Brad Clontz, who had replaced Maddux in the eighth.

The Indians led 5-2 with only three outs left for the Braves. Hargrove brought in closer Jose Mesa to do the honors. Once again Mesa made the inning more interesting than Tribe fans wanted. Chipper Jones, leading off, lined deep to right, a sign of things to come. The next batter, McGriff, lined a double to right and went to third on Justice’s groundout to second. But balls were being hit hard. Tribe fans could not relax. Klesko justified their worst fears when he launched a home run to deep right, cutting the Indians’ lead to 5-4. Finally Mesa, as he had done 46 times during the season, turned up the heat and struck out Mark Lemke to salvage the win for the Tribe.

“Glory Days” played one last time as the Indians left the field to go on to Atlanta with their fans’ deafening cheers still ringing in their ears.

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Game Six
Atlanta Braves 1, Cleveland Indians 0
October 28, 1995
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

Justice Backs Mouth With Bat

Atlanta city officials had been so confident that Maddux would bring the Braves home a winner that they planned a victory parade for Saturday to celebrate the Braves’ finally winning a World Series. Instead they got to host the Indians for Game Six and Braves fans were feeling insecure now that their ace was beaten and the Braves would face Dennis Martinez, who had pitched a Game Six gem on the road to bring the Tribe the American League championship. Would the World Series championship slip away a third time? A soaking rain Friday further dampened Atlantans’ mood.

The rain washed out both teams’ Friday workouts at Atlanta’s ballpark as well. The Braves hitters got in some practice at the batting cage under the stands. Tribe hitters went to their videotapes of Tom Glavine, who had allowed them only two runs on three hits in Game Two. They wanted to make the right adjustments against him as they had against Maddux. The rain didn’t keep Braves outfielder David Justice from sounding off. After cursing Orel Hershiser for saying Thursday that the pressure was on the Braves now, Justice ripped into Atlanta fans for not having the same boundless love for the their team as Cleveland fans did for theirs. He compared Tribe fans giving their team a steady ovation even when they were three runs down in the ninth inning of Game Four with Atlanta fans who, he said, would boo the Braves out of their own ballpark if they got behind and who hadn’t seen the Braves off at the airport when they’d left for Cleveland.

The rain cleared up for Saturday night’s game, although at 56 degrees with the wind blowing to right field at 15 mph, it seemed the Indians had brought their weather with them. It wasn’t too cold for 51,875 fans to pack the ballpark, some with their own choice words for David Justice. “Hope your bat is as big as your mouth,” read one fan’s sign. Justice had struggled through the entire postseason, with a .214 batting average and no extra-base hits in 42 at-bats.

With the same starters facing each other, the game developed into even more of a pitchers’ duel than Game Two. Neither side scored in the first five innings. The Tribe’s 40-year-old starter, Martinez, who had allowed only two hits before the fourth, began to tire in that inning, allowing a double to Justice after two were out, then, after intentionally walking Klesko, using 12 pitches before walking Javy Lopez to load the bases. He got Belliard on a short fly to center to end the inning. In the fifth Martinez again got the first two batters out. But after a seven-pitch walk to Lemke and a single by Chipper Jones and the heavy-hitting part of the order coming up, Mike Hargrove had seen enough. He replaced Martinez after his 82nd pitch with the fresh arm of lefty Jim Poole. Poole struck out McGriff to end the threat.

In the top of the sixth, Indians catcher Tony Peña led off with a single, the first and only hit off Glavine, but Poole, batting for himself, couldn’t move him to second, popping up his bunt attempt. Peña was forced out at second when Kenny Lofton hit a grounder to Glavine. Lofton stole second, but Glavine easily retired Vizquel on a foul pop to first.

Poole returned to the mound for the bottom of the sixth and David Justice, who had been on deck when McGriff struck out, stepped in. With something to prove to himself as well as Braves fans, he homered to deep right field, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead. Braves batters did no more damage to Poole in the sixth. But after another quick top of the seventh by Glavine, the Braves mounted another threat. Ken Hill started the bottom of the seventh and gave up a single to his former Expos teammate Grissom on a 3-and-1 pitch. Alan Embree relieved Hill and got the first out when Lemke sacrificed Grissom to second. Embree intentionally walked Chipper Jones. Fred McGriff then sent a liner to deep left but Albert Belle grabbed it at the wall, deflating the hopes of Braves fans. Embree had to pitch next to Justice, whose bat had suddenly awakened in this game with a walk and two hits, including the go-ahead homer. With Embree pitching carefully, Grissom stole third. Embree then walked Justice to load the bases. The Braves couldn’t add to their lead, however, as the next batter, Mike Devereaux, hit a pop fly to second to end the inning. Glavine breezed through the eighth as did Indians relievers, Tavares and Assenmacher, in the bottom of the inning.

The Indians were now only three outs from the end of their season and suddenly they had to face the fireballing closer, Mark Wohlers, whom Cox brought in to start the ninth after consulting with Glavine. Glavine told his manager his back had stiffened in the eighth and, as much as he would have liked to finish the game, Wohlers was the man for the situation. With Kenny Lofton set to lead off, Indians fans hoped for one last Lofton Special miracle. It was not to be. Throwing fastballs approaching 100 mph, Wohlers got Lofton on a foul pop, then made quick work of pinch-hitter Paul Sorrento and Carlos Baerga on two fly balls to center, giving the Braves their first World Series championship in three tries. The victory parade was back on.

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Series Lost, but Not the Dream

Good pitching doesn’t always beat good hitting. But truly great pitching can stymie even the best hitting. The Indians, most of whom had never played in postseason games let alone the World Series, faced three future Hall of Fame pitchers and still beat two of them. Every game was close. Manager Mike Hargrove, who had also been an Indians player and coach, accentuated the positive. “This was a good season,” he said. “The only thing we didn’t do this year was win this thing. But we played like champions. I really feel we did.”8

Tribe fans felt the same. Their feelings even right after the loss were, “They’re still our Tribe.” The fans would be ready for next year. Despite their disappointment, the players, too, sounded optimistic about the future. Carlos Baerga spoke for all when he said: “We’ve got to learn from our mistakes and be ready the next time we get here.”9 This was no idle boast because the foundation of this winning team was a plan that general manager John Hart and his assistant Dan O’Dowd had devised in the early ’90s – sign young players to long-term contracts before they were eligible for free agency. That way a team could keep a core together for a number of years. At the time it was a revolutionary thought and it certainly didn’t set well with superagent Scott Boras, who advised his clients to hold out for free agency. But two of his clients, Sandy Alomar and Carlos Baerga, were the first to sign the long-term contracts Hart offered and then led others to do so. The Indians had given them their first real chance to play and they appreciated that as well as the feel of the team. As a result the nucleus of this championship team would be Indians in 1996 and beyond.

The good feeling of all of Cleveland about the future showed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial the following Monday, which thanked the Indians for a great season, recounted the great memories, and reminded Indians’ fans: “So let there be no whining about not winning it all on the first try. The 1995 Indians were as legitimate as an uncorked bat. They’ll be back. There’s no ‘maybe’ about next year.”10

JEANNE M. MALLETT was a writer and an attorney who resided in Washington D.C. before passing away in November, 2017. Thanks to her father, she was a lifelong baseball fan who appreciated the glory and tragedy of America’s grand game, especially for Cleveland fans. Although she was not allowed to play Major League Baseball, she often wrote about it. This was her fifth baseball-themed publication.