1991 Atlanta Braves Season Retrospective

[selmaborntidefan]

October 25, 1991
Travel day
Braves lead series, 3-2

SPECTACULAR SERIES GIVES BASEBALL A MUCH NEEDED JOLT

Baseball has been in the news for more bad than good over the last decade. Ever since the 1981 baseball strike let fans without a game for the entire summer (June 12 through August 8), the feel good stories have been few and far between, and the bad news has been constant. Thankfully, we can credit an exciting series thus far between the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins for taking everyone's mind off the Recession and baseball's many problems, which may include a players' strike in 1994 if an agreement cannot be reached. The owners continue to overplay their hand, and the only thing standing between a long strike and no strike at all (or a brief one) may be Commissioner Fay Vincent, who can easily be removed by the owners simply by firing him if he doesn't do what they want. The good news right now is we can forget about those problems at least for a little bit.

Ever since the strike of 1981, baseball has been in almost perpetual war with itself and largely because of the strike, which left scars that have yet to heal. The owners fired their chief negotiator, Ray Grebey, and their commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, after feeling they got the raw end of the deal in the settlement that ended the impasse. They even got rid of Marvin Miller - temporarily - as the players' lawyer when he retired. And yet problems have continued in the game that only a healthy World Series can at least alleviate for awhile.

There were drug scandals, most notably the prison sentences given to Jerry Martin, Willie Wilson, and Willie Mays Aikens in addition to Vida Blue in 1983 for attempting to traffick cocaine. Then came the September 1985 drug trials in Pittsburgh that implicated the PIrate Parrot mascot (Kevin Koch), a caterer (Curtis Strong), and 11 major league players, including Tim Raines, and his unforgettable testimony that he dove into bases when stealing rather than sliding because he had vials of cocaine in his uniform pocket that he did not want to burst. Drugs destroyed the 1982 Cardinals when Manager Whitey Herzog cleaned house, including trading first baseman Keith Hernandez to the Mets, which helped launch their championship run. Hernandez spent years threatening to sue anyone who insinuated or accused him of cocaine use and then basicallly had to admit under oath that he did engage in recreational use of the drug.

There was an umpire strike just prior to the 1984 playoffs that saw replacement umps used to call the games while a settlement was worked out between new comissioner Peter Ueberroth -in his first week on the job - adjudicated the strike, which saw the Major League umpires who lived in the San Diego area return as a team to call Game 5 of the NLCS as a "good faith offer." Ueberroth likewise showed his savvy in limiting the 1985 players' strike in August to only two days. But he also committed a major mis-step by all but actually telling the MLB owners to collude against the players in an effort to keep salaries down and income high. The damages were set less than a year ago at $280 million, far more than the owners would have paid 14 free agents in salary. To mitigate their problems, of course, the owners simply invited two franchise teams to start playing in 1993 by forcing them to pay the lions' share of the settlement with "entry fees."

There was also the Pete Rose scandal, which saw one of the few well-known highlights among even non-fans in the last 10 years - Rose breaking Ty Cobb's career hits record - banished from the game for life for gambling on baseball. As if that were not bad enough, only eight days after banishing Rose, comissioner Bart Giammatti suffered a heart attack and died at Martha's Vineyard, leaving the game without a visible leader. By sheer coincidence, the office of deputy commissioner had been created and filled by Fay Vincent, which set him up as the most logical successor. Vincent then had the misfortune of seeing the 1989 World Series interrupted by an earthquake just prior to game three, gaining plaudits and praise for his quick decision-making to call the game and send fans home while it was still daylight. Vincent also got praise for his handling of the 1990 owners' lockout that delayed the start of the season in a dispute over the adoption of a salary cap. This issue hangs over the game sometime in 1994 if it is not resolved.

And there are rumors of steroid use as well. The most obvious suspect is Oakland Athletics' outfielder Jose Canseco, who has been directly accused by Washington Post baseball writer Tom Boswell, who appeared on "CBS Nightwatch" just prior to the first game of the 1988 ALCS and said that not only did Canseco get to his large size by steroid use but that he isn't the only major leaguer using them.

Baseball, in a word, is in trouble, and right now the Twins and Braves have given their own jolt to the system. It is to be hoped that this will do more than just delay the problems.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

October 26, 1991
Minnesota Twins 4 (W: Aguilera, 1-0)
Atlanta Braves 3 (L: Leibrandt, 0-2)
Series tied, 3-3

PUCKETT'S BIG NIGHT FORCES GAME 7; BRAVES, TWINS DOWN TO ONE GAME FOR ALL THE MARBLES

175 games down, and one to go.

In a series that has already given so much, tonight's game gave even more. Game Six has become synonymous in recent years with sheer drama. The most famous, of course, is Carlton Fisk's game-winning home run off the foul pole to force Game 7 in 1975, but there are others. Don Denkinger's ill-fated whiff at first base - where by coincidence he was umpiring tonight for the first time in a World Series since that game - in 1985 put the Kansas City Royals on their path to a championship. Bill Buckner's error in game six didn't lose the series (the game was already tied, which everyone forgets), but it did lose the game. And tonight it was Minnesota legend Kirby Puckett, who entered the game 3-for-18, who had the most unforgettable game of his career, a game that will be talked about into the next century and beyond. All Puckett did was drive home Minnesota's first run with a triple, score their second run moments later, drove home their third run with a sacrifice fly and plate the game-winner with a scintiliating home run into the left center field seats that sent Minneapolis into a homer hanky waving frenzy. In between those batting accomplishment, Puckett made one of the greatest catches in World Series history, a catch that likely cost the Braves at least one run if not more and dashed their hopes. Everyone Atlanta looked tonight, Puckett was there. Much second guessing went towards Braves Manager Bobby Cox for the questionable decision to bring in starter Charlie Leibrandt to face Puckett in the bottom of the 11th. Such ignores the fact the Braves kept getting the winning run on base but couldn't get the hit against the Minnesota bullpen to win the game. It is a credit to the Twins' bullpen that the series goes to a finale. However, Cox made a decision that was not nearly as bad the second-guessers want to insist.

Minnesota showed up for a must-win game against the almost unhittable Steve Avery, and for one inning, he pitched like a 21-year old second year player on a last place team. After retiring Dan Gladden, Avery gave up a single to rookie Chuck Knoblauch and then Puckett hit a ball right down the third base line that straddled the line and rolled well into foul territory as left fielder Brian Hunter gave pursuit. Knoblauch scored all the way from first while Puckett pulled into third. The ball would have been a double in almost any other park in the majors, but the Twins had some home field magic. Avery got slugger Chili Davis to fly out to short right, and Puckett wouldn't try Justice's arm. Moments later, Shane Mack, who was 0-for-15 for the series, picked an opportune time to get his first hit as he drove Puckett home to give the Braves a 2-0 lead against Avery. Baseball fans everywhere who had seen the youngster pitching throughout the post-season were shocked.

But Atlanta didn't find the driver's seat in the World Series as shrinking violets, and Scott Erickson has not been the pitcher in the second half of the season that he was in the first. The Braves hit several balls hard and then in the third, Lonnie Smith was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and Terry Pendleton then hit what appeared to be a sure double down the left field line that went foul as the last moment. He forced Smith but reached first with one out. Ron Gant, who was 8-for-22 in the series but without a home run, torched Erickson's first pitch deep to center field. It had extra base hit written all over it until Puckett timed his leap perfectly and caught it high against the Plexiglass, turned and fired to first where Pendleton beat a hasty retreat and barely avoided getting picked off for the double play. Erickson got David Justice to ground to first and the Twins still lead by two.



Avery found trouble in the fourth when Mack, apparently making up for lost time, doubled to start the inning. Moments later, the first Atlanta problem with the Dome roof happened when Brian Hunter took his eye off a pop up and didn't recover in time, an error that put runners at the corners with one out. Avery knuckled down and got the next two batters out, at which point the Braves' offense drew inspiration.

The Braves kept hitting Erickson hard but the ball went right at Twins fielders. And then Chuck Knoblauch made a rookie mistake that Atlanta cashed. Rafael Belliard singled and then Smith hit a double play ball to Scott Leius at third. Leius fired to Knoblauch to get Belliard but then he opted to not throw to first, and Smith was safe. Pendleton then made them pay, launching a game-tying home run that had the Twins bullpen up and ready to relieve Erickson. After Gant grounded out, Justice came to bat and got a high fastball for the first pitch. He turned on it and sent a towering shot to deep right field that just at the last moment curved foul. A home run would have given the Braves the lead and, perhaps, buried the Twins. Justice grounded out, and the game remained tied until the bottom of the inning, when the Braves made the cheap mistake. Dan Gladden walked, stole second, moved to third on a Knobluach fly to right, and scored on a Puckett fly to center. It was almost like the Braves could not take the lead on the road. Then in the seventh, the Braves tied the game but took the field knowing they should have had more.

Mark Lemke singled to center, and a series of managerial moves had Mark Guthrie on the mound against Jeff Blauser. Although he struck out Blauser, the threw a wild pitch that put Lemke on second. Smith walked and then Pendleton hit and infield single that loaded the bases with one out. Once again, Ron Gant came to the plate with runners in scoring position. And once again, he couldn't come up big when the team needed, although his speed saved the Braves. Gant hit into what appeared to be a double play, but his speed out of the box beat the throw, and Lemke scored to tie the game at three entering the seventh inning stretch. With the potential winning run on third, Justice struck out to end the inning. And Mike Stanton came on in relief of Avery. Stanton pitched the seventh and eighth and gave up two hits but was never seriously threatened.

Then in the ninth, Jeff Blauser singled to center with one out only to be erased on a double play grounder by Smith. Bobby Cox sent his closer, Alejandro Pena, into the game for the ninth, and he retired the Twins in order. In the tenth, Atlanta had to face Twins' closer Rick Aguilera. Pendleton ripped his fourth hit of the inning for a single, and for a brief moment had the world championship on base. It lasted on pitch. Cox called for a hit and run, and Pendleton bolted to second. Aguilera served up an outside fastball that Gant ripped right into the glove of Greg Gagne at short. Pendleton was dead to rights at second, and Gagne touched him for an unassisted double play. Justice popped to third to end the inning, and Pena came on for a second inning. Again, he was lights out, getting the Twins in order to send the game into the 11th.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Continued

Sid Bream opened the 11th by singling to right and was replaced by Keith Mitchell as a pinch runner. Playing aggressive, Cox called for a steal, a high percentage play with Harper's paltry percentage at throwing out runners. But this time Harper made the play, gunning down the rookie at second. Aguilera then got Hunter and catcher Greg Olson to pop out to end the inning. Cox was now faced with a decision: should I use Pena for the 11th or send out former AL pitcher Leibrandt. Much went into his decision, but two factors controlled what he chose: 1) three innings from Pena tonight might render him unusable should the Braves lose and need a seventh game; 2) Leibrandt was a well-rested starting pitcher who could go several innings if necessary. Cox rolled the dice and chose Leibrandt. What he may not have known, however, was that Puckett had hit Leibrandt at a .339 clip with three home runs.

Leibrandt fell behind in the count, 2-0, then threw a circle change up that Puckett watched for a strike. Leibrandt's fourth pitch was on the outside of the plate with little movement. Puckett swung quickly and the ball rocketed right over the head of the forlorn Keith Mitchell and the retired number 29 of Rod Carew into the bleachers for a game-winning home run. CBS announcer Jack Buck didn't even call it a home run, he said, "And we'll see ya tomorrow night!" Puckett did fist pumps around the bases as his team lined up to greet him at home plate, while Leibrandt looked as if he'd just been handed a death sentence by firing squad that was to commence in mere seconds. The Minnesota crowd roared in ecstasy and approval, much as the Atlanta crowd had both on October 5th upon winning the pennant and at the conclusion of Game Five.

To their credit, the two announcers were silent for no less than 83 seconds, letting the Metrodome crowd and reaction of Twins - and Braves - players tell the story. The camera followed Puckett to the dugout where he continued to high five teammates while the crowd absolutely would not stop cheering. Naturally - to his discredit - Tim McCarver had to open his big mouth and insult the viewing audience by telling them what they'd just seen. (My own theory is that Buck, the radio guy, threw McCarver on the ground and stomped on him for a solid minute until the old man had no punches left to give, and McCarver's mouth continues running like a Timex anyway). Buck then had to make the transition to telling the audience that there was a Game Seven, as if anyone smart enough to know who won wouldn't know that anyway. The camera work was every bit as good as the commentary was awful.

Puckett afterwards was classy and magnanimous - and exhausted, saying, "I feel like I've been in a 15-round fight, I'm so drained." As he shook his head in mock disbelief, Twins Manager Tom Kelly said what has to be on many minds right now: "Who is writing this?" And then there's the incredible story: tomorrow night gives us Game Seven of a World Series featuring a young, hot pitcher facing his boyhood idol when John Smoltz, the hottest pitcher in baseball since August 15, faced Jack Morris, who has the best home record of any pitcher in the big leagues this year. The Twins look good, but you also can't count out the Braves, who have been fighting all year long.

What a series. And there's one final chapter left to read.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I just wanted to take a beat to say that Kirby Puckett was one of my absolute favorite players as a kid.

He was such an underdog kind of guy who seemed to have this magnetic likability about him.

He was also a GREAT player.

10X All-Star, 6 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Slugger Awards, ALCS MVP, 2 WS's, and 1 Time Batting Champ

It's actually shocking to look back and see that he only won the Batting Title ONE time beause he was an outstanding hitter.

If fact when he retired his .318 avg was the 2nd highest in the AL All-time for a Pure RH hitter after only Joltin Joe Dimaggio.

He hit a whopping .356 in 1988 but missed the Batting title because Wade Boggs hit an insane .366

Anyway just wanted to show some love for Puckett.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

October 27, 1991
Minnesota Twins 1 (W: Morris, 2-0)
Atlanta Braves 0 (L: Pena, 0-1)
Twins win series, 4-3

TWINS WIN CLASSIC LAST-TO-FIRST SERIES WITH HALL OF FAME PERFORMANCE

Stop.

Before you go any further let’s make something crystal clear: while the October echoes continue to pulsate through our flesh, let’s pause for just a moment and acknowledge what is obvious to anyone who has watched the last seven baseball games of the 1991 season unfold before us, sprouting as a beautiful flower from the fertile soil of hope and talent – this was the greatest World Series ever played, and it will be a long time before another rivals this. They will play baseball games for eons and for the next half century men and women will tell their sons and daughters who are baseball fans about the unforgettable night of October 27, 1991, the night the Minnesota Twins pushed across a seemingly impossible run to capture a championship at the precise same moment the Atlanta Braves finally ran out of miracles. This was not a series for Minnesota or Atlanta, not a series to show how just a little effort and a lot of hope can deliver so much, this was a series for the baseball fans. How can you have watched the last seven games – quite frankly, the last 14 Braves games – and not believe that this sport can be a beautiful ballet of motion, strategy, and accomplishment mixed in with a lot of flawed humanity?

It was left to the youngest member of the Atlanta Braves to express the emotions of an entire geographical region of the United States. Asked about the series, Steven Thomas Avery buried his face into a towel and release gut wrenching sobs, the kind you hear at the funeral of a beloved friend. He wasn’t weeping only for how close he came to the pinnacle but to release the stresses of the last two months that have transformed the lives of every baseball fan in the Southern United States, the ones who for years have told jokes about the Atlanta Braves only to suddenly discover a deep and abiding love and appreciation for that same team when it showed it could put it all together when it counted. Several years ago, there were bumper stickers all over the Southeast with the chant “Go Braves!” on them. A few years later, there were bumper stickers that said, “Go Braves! And Take The Falcons With You!” But tonight it was a classic finale that this Fall Classic deserved that will be the lasting image of a classic series.

One lasting image - one that shows how truly incredible the series was entering Game Seven - is that of leadoff batter Lonnie Smith extended his handshake to catcher Brian Harper before the first pitch. It was a classy gesture made all the more ironic by the fact it was Smith that plowed into Harper in Game Four at home plate with the force of a small car. It was almost as though the Braves and Twins were saying to each other, "Let's put on a show."

And then they proceeded to do just that.

The pitching matchup was also the stuff of legend: aging veteran Jack Morris against a man who idolized Morris as a youngster, John Smoltz. Both showed up ready to win the game. Both teams went in order in the first and then David Justice led off the second with a singe. He moved to second on a ground out by Sid Bream, but he was stranded there. The Twins responded with back-to-back singles in the second by Brian Harper and Shane Mack, but that was where it ended. Then in the fifth, the Braves became the first team to make a legitimate threat.

Mark Lemke, the probable MVP if Atlanta won the series, led off with a single. With the game at the halfway point, Braves Manager Bobby Cox opted to play for one run, so he had shortstop Rafael Belliard bunt Lemke over to second for the first out. Smith then bunt singled to short and was safe, putting runners at the corners with one out, and the probable NL MVP at bat, Terry Pendleton. Pendleton popped up to short, bringing Ron Gant to the plate once again with a chance to help his team. Once again, Gant failed with runners in scoring position, striking out with the first run at third base. Smoltz continued to pitch slightly better than Morris, allowing fewer base runners and retiring Kirby Puckett on a double play after he reached on a single. By the beginning of the eighth inning, the game was still scoreless, the first time in history that a World Series Game Seven made it that far without a run crossing the plate. What followed in the eighth inning was one of the most tense, stressful, and anxiety ridden innings, particularly given the final outcome. In the eighth inning, the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins both managed to load the bases with less than two outs - and neither one scored, heightening the drama and tension beyond what it was moments earlier.

The Braves began when Smith singled to right to open the inning. Just moments later it appeared that Pendleton had struck out, but the strong eye of plate umpire Don Denkinger - calling the plate six years to the night after he tossed Cardinals Manager Whitey Herzog and pitcher Joaquin Andujar in another Game Seven - noted that Pendleton barely foul tipped the ball onto the ground. Indeed, so close was the play that it was third base umpire Terry Tata - who had a fabulous series calling so many close plays and got all of them right - who backed up Denkinger. With a 1-2 count, Morris threw a fastball on the outside of the plate, and Pendleton got solid wood on it as he connected. The moment the ball left the bat, every single Braves fan in America - and every Twins fan for that matter - saw it headed in the large gap between Kirby Puckett in center and Dan Gladden in left. Both began a seemingly futile pursuit of the ball, which hit at the base of the wall between the retired numbers of Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew. It bounded high into the air and Gladden had to wait for it to come down. There was no doubt - none whatsoever - that Lonnie Smith was going to score on the plate and give the Braves their first lead of the series in the Metrodome. And with Smoltz pitching like the second coming of Bob Gibson, the Atlanta Braves had the World Series trophy within arm's reach. Gladden threw the ball in to shortstop Greg Gagne behind second base and that's when everyone saw Smith strolling slowly into third as though he'd been hurt running on the play.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

It was left to the understated blowhard Tim McCarver to overreact in his typical fashion. McCarver roared that that "was horrible base running by Lonnie Smith." And then the television cameras showed the footage the will remain a point of discussion and controversy for years. When Pendleton made contact, Smith took off towards second like gangbusters. After he rounded second, Smith paused for several seconds peering into the outfield as opposed to watching third base coach Jimy Williams, who was waving desperately for Smith to come around all the way and score on the play. It seems like an eternity as Smith stalls and stutter steps sideways and then takes off for third. Pendleton came into second base, looked over to third and threw his hands up in exasperation at seeing Smith standing at third as opposed to crossing the plate. The point of discussion will concern whether or not second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and shortstop Greg Gagne faked as though a ground ball was hit to Knoblauch and they were turning a double play. In other words, they employed a decoy to fool Smith. But did they actually fool Smith? He insisted after the game that he never even saw the decoy attempt, and given the fact he did not slow down until after he passed second base suggests that Smith wasn't fooled by the decoy at all. If he thought they were turning a double play and yet rounded second looking into the outfield for the ball, it would be the strangest reaction to a ground ball perhaps in history. Knoblauch told Pendleton when he passed him, "I deked him," but the development of the play suggests that Smith lost sight of the ball in the white hankies waving behind the outfield fence.

Of course, the Twins were hardly out of it as the Braves now had runners on second and third and the heart of the batting order coming up. Ron Gant was up first and once again, he failed miserably when it counted. Gant popped up to the catcher and slammed his bat to the ground similar to the way Barry Bonds did in the NLCS. This brought David Justice to bat with one out, and there was no way to pitch to the slugger, so Minnesota walked him. With the bases loaded and one out, Sid Bream came to the plate with a chance to be a post-season hero. He hit a shot that Kent Hrbek fielded, gunned to the plate to retire Smith and then took the throw from Harper to retire Bream on a dazzling double play that had to have destroyed the psyche of the Atlanta Braves. Appropriately crushed, they took the field to give the game away to the Twins.

Except that's not what happened. Smoltz, who surely thought he would take the mound with a lead, gave up a single to pinch-hitter Randy Bush leading off the eighth. Al Newman came in to run for Bush, and Dan Gladden popped out to center field. With one out, Knoblauch singled to right, putting Newman on third. And just as well as last night's hero, Kirby Puckett, was at the plate swinging the bat menacingly, ready to deliver the Twins their second title in five years. Bobby Cox opted for his erratic middle relief that had come up gold in the post-season, choosing lefty Mike Stanton, who intentionally walked Kirby Puckett. All the Twins needed was a fly ball from the slugging Hrbek to win the World Series. The same Kent Hrbek who slugged a game-winning grand slam in the 1987 World Series. But Hrbek was having a forgettable series other than his first pro wrestling pin fall, and he drilled a liner to Lemke, who snagged the ball and quickly ended the inning with his own incredible double play on Knoblauch, unassisted. Incredibly, both teams had loaded the bases and both teams had come up empty as the high drama entered the ninth.

The Braves went in order in the ninth and then Chili Davis led off with a single. The much faster Jarvis Brown came on with the world championship in his cleats. Catcher Brian Harper attempted to bunt Brown to second and wound up making it to first himself, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Shane Mack, who was recovering from a horrible first four games of the series game up with two runners on and nobody out and - for reasons not exactly clear - he was instructed to swing away. The only bad thing he could do was hit into a double play, which is exactly what he did, putting Brown at third with two outs. Why he did not bunt is best asked of Tom Kelly, but the Twins still had the winning run 90 feet away in the bottom of the ninth. Furthermore, Stanton injured himself and had to be replaced, so Bobby Cox went in this do-or-die situation with his ace closer, Alejandro Pena. After walking the power hitting Pagliarulo, Pena faced pinch-hitter Paul Sorrento, who struck out, sending the game into the tenth inning. It was only the third time in baseball history that Game Seven went to extra innings, the first where it went scoreless to extra frames. The Braves went in order in the tenth, setting the stage for the Twins' chance at a championship in the tenth.

Dan Gladden lined to center and on his way out of the batter's box - with the luxury of doing so in a tie game - decided he was going to try for a double. He made it, raising Minnesota hopes and Atlanta fears simultaneously. Gladden was on second with a leadoff double, and every fan who had seen more than three baseball games knew what was coming next as Knoblauch bunted him over to third to put the Series winning run just 90 feet away from home plate. With Kirby Puckett - again - it was predictable what was coming as the Braves needed a situation where they could get a double play to get out of the inning. Walking Puckett was a given. But would the Braves also walk Hrbek, who was 3-for-26 and hadn't had a hit since Game Three? After the game, this would be the decision most criticized by Cox - which is absurd on its face.

The Braves were faced with a choice: pitch to the lumbering hulk Hrbek, who had crushed 253 home runs in his career or a reserve utility player with a .266 career batting average (Hrbek's career average is about 20 points higher in over 3,000 more at bats, and he topped .300 twice). It was a choice between setting up a double play at any base with a reserve batting or at only second base with a slugger batting. This was not even remotely a close call, and Cox went by the book. The bases were loaded with Twins, and it only took one to score to win the Series.

It also only took one pitch. Alejandro Pena, who had not failed all season as a Brave until Game Three of the World Series (which the Braves won) served up a first pitch fastball, and Gene Larkin connected, lifting a fly over the drawn in Atlanta outfield. The ball landed well behind rookie Brian Hunter in left field, and Gladden waited to make sure the ball wasn't caught then bounded home to score the run that ended the baseball season and Atlanta's miracle run. Jack Buck, with so many signature calls in his years as a broadcaster, provided another when he said, "The Twins are gonna win the World Series! The Twins have won it! It's a base hit. It's a 1-0 ten-inning victory."

About 950 miles to the South of Minneapolis, a young lad visiting his parents to see Game Seven was beside himself. Rather than mull over the pain of the loss, he took his young bride and headed towards his car to drive home about 20 miles away. Like a lot of Braves fans that night, a lot of thoughts went through his head. For three weeks - maybe more - he had felt as close a presence to his grandfather as he ever had, although the man had been gone for nearly six years. It was about as close to losing him again as was humanly possible. About an hour or so later, he looked at the clock and realized that since it was after midnight, he was now 22 years old. The enormity and overwhelming emotion of the two months the Braves had been playing live or die baseball every single night was simply too much.

And for the first time since he was a young baby, the new 22-year old cried himself to sleep.

The memories and epilogue will conclude tomorrow.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

EPILOGUE
The Atlanta Braves did not win the World Series in 1991. But they did lay the foundation for many years of success - 15 of them, in fact. The foundation had been under construction from the day Bobby Cox answered the call to come back to "The City Too Busy To Hate." A few pieces of the puzzle preceded him, but the 1991 Braves were largely a Bobby Cox creation in every facet. When the reviews of the World Series came in, it was clear that the pundits that watched the series all felt that the Braves were in better shape for future championship challenges despite losing this one than the Twins were despite winning it. That became prophecy one year later when the Braves became the first team in either league to win consecutive league championships since the Dodgers and Yankees both faced off in the World Series in 1977 and 1978, both won in six games by New York. The Braves fell to last place a full 7 games behind the lead in May of 1992 only to rebound and rise to second by the end of June. A 13-game winning streak in mid-July lifted them to the top of the division, the most lasting moment a sensational catch that saw Otis Nixon, now returned from his drug suspension, race up the center field wall of Fulton County Stadium as if it had steps on it and snare a game-winning home run attempt by Andy Van Slyke. In early August, the Braves torched the Reds with a three-game sweep that turned a 1/2 game lead in to a 3 1/2 game lead, and the Braves were never really challenged again the rest of the season.

The tossing aside of spare parts and acquisition of new ones began just eight days after the Braves lost the World Series on the turf at Minnesota. Jim Clancy, whom history will record as the first winning pitcher of record in the World Series for the Atlanta Braves, was released on November 4. He signed a minor league contract with the Cubs but then failed to report for spring training and announced his retirement from major league baseball at the age of 36. Randy St. Clare pitched in ten games for the Braves in August and September of 1992, but he was left off the post-season roster due to his ineffectiveness (a 5.87 ERA). St. Clare was then signed and released by the Braves, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Pittsburgh Pirates, and he only appeared in a major league game for the Blue Jays in 1994. Keith Mitchell never appeared in another game for the Braves, but he was on the 1992 roster until he was released in July. Mitchell bounced back and forth in the majors for a few teams before retiring in 1998.

The other 22 players who appeared for the Braves in the 1991 World Series all returned for the 1992 season with varying degrees of success. Perhaps the most rapid (though not surprising) fall was the sudden reversion to form of closer Alejandro Pena. Dodgers scout Mel Didier, best known for his advice to Kirk Gibson that Dennis Eckersley threw "back door sliders" to left-handed power hitters in must get out situations, warned the Braves up front that Pena's late 1991 success was a fluke and that they were about to pay $3 million a year to a guy who wasn't capable of being an every day closer. Didier was slightly off, but the Braves did sign Pena to a one-year contract worth $2.65 million plus performance bonuses that would push the value to about $3 million. Pena's first appearance of the 1992 season was in the year's second game against the Astros, when John Smoltz lost a shutout in the 9th. Pena game on with the tying run at the plate and retired the side in order, a continuation of the 1991 regular season. Pena pitched in middle relief two nights later and then did not pitch for an entire week. He came on in a tie game to face the Dodgers, and it took him two batters to lose the game when he gave up a single to Lenny Harris and a walkoff home run to Darryl Strawberry. Cox began using him in non-save situations to close or setup for Mike Stanton. Pena dropped another tie game he had entered to the Cubs and on May 6, 1992, he entered the ninth inning with a one-run lead that he lost, blowing the save but not the game - which he left for Ben Rivera to do in the 16th inning. Pena never recovered, and after he blew a save on August 20 after a spectacular pitching effort by Steve Avery took a 2-0 lead to the ninth, where Pena surrendered three runs, Bobby Cox no longer trusted him and went out and acquired career saves leader (at the time) Jeff Reardon for the pennant run.

Most of the 1991 Braves returned for the next season and most of them carried Atlanta to the National League flag. Jeff Treadway's injury that limited him in the 1991 post-season kept him out until late June of 1992, and he had only one at-bat in the 1992 World Series. But the core nucleus of the Braves remained intact. Generally speaking, the 1992 lineup was:

1B - Bream/Hunter platoon
2B - Mark Lemke (Treadway platooning later)
SS - Jeff Blauser start, Rafael Belliard in late innings
3B - Terry Pendleton
RF - David Justice
CF - Otis Nixon (upon his return)
LF - Ron Gant
OF - Lonnie Smith, Deion Sanders, Tommy Gregg, Melvin Nieves, Hunter
C - Greg Olson
SP - Glavine/Avery/Smoltz/Leibrandt/Bielecki
Part-time starters - Pete Smith, David Nied
Middle relief - Freeman, Mercker (spot starter), Wohlers, Stanton
Closer - Pena, Stanton, Reardon

Greg Olson did not make the post-season in 1992 after a violent collision at home plate with Ken Caminiti that broke his ankle and for all intents and purposes ended his career. The stroke of luck of picking up Damon Berryhill in late 1991 gave the Braves an established catcher to replace Olson.

Tom Glavine won 20 games again in 1992, and made a strong bid for the Cy Young Award, losing to Cubs starter Greg Maddux, whose stats were better on a worse team. John Smoltz followed his 14-13 season with a 15-12 season where he was more consistent. Steve Avery plummeted to 11-11, although his ERA was .18 better. Charlie Leibrandt was better in 1992 than in 1991, and even achieved his 1,000th career strikeout. Pete Smith recovered from his arm troubles to go 7-0 as a spot starter in 1992, and he was joined in August by rookie phenom David Nied, who went 3-0. Nied was so impressive that he was the first expansion draft choice of the Colorado Rockies after the 1992 season.

Perhaps the most important move was one that the Braves attempted to make but did not: pick up Pirates outfielder Barry Bonds and sign him to an extended (and expensive) contract to keep him out of free agency. The trade - as relayed through the years - would have sent Keith Mitchell, Alejandro Pena, and a player to be named later (and the Braves had plenty of those) in exchange for Bonds. The deal had been agreed to and was ready to be announced when Pirates manager Jim Leyland so terrified his club President that the deal was scrubbed immediately. What happened instead was Bonds played out his free agent year, the Pirates lost another seven-game series to the Braves, and Bonds left for the Bay Area while the Pirates became the discout bargain bin of the National League for the next 30 years. The trade for Bonds, a clubhouse cancer who never won a World Series ring, might well have destroyed the Atlanta run before it ever got started. The clubhouse already had David Justice, whose ego was so large that it had its own area code.

The Braves won the 1992 NLCS against Pittsburgh on - literally - the last pitch when Francisco Cabrera, who launched the Braves into the 1991 race, ripped a single into left field that scored Justice and the lumbering Sid Bream, who beat the throw home of Barry Bonds by a mile, by which I mean mere inches. The Braves then lost a classic six-game series to Toronto, who themselves finally made the Big Show, losing all four games by one run given up by the bullpen.

The day after Bonds signed with San Francisco, the Braves made the biggest free agent signing in Atlanta history. They added 1992 Cy Young winner Greg Maddux to their already stout pitching staff. All Maddux did was become the most elite pitcher of the 1990s, winning the next three Cy Young Awards and placing in the MVP voting in 1995. Cox mixed up his rotation so that they had the control righty Maddux followed by the control lefty Glavine followed by the flame throwing Smoltz and then the crafty mixture of control and speed of Avery. (What Braves fan would dare think that by 1993, Steve Avery would go from iconic to fourth starter on the team?).

Gifted with an abundant farm system of prospects that included Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko, Javier Lopez, Mike Kelly, Melvin Nieves, Bruce Chen, and Vinny Castilla, the Braves began switching out parts and picking up better ones. It took two more free agent signings - and a lights out closer - to put the Braves over the top. In July 1993, the Braves picked up first baseman Fred McGriff during San Diego's fire sale of free agents. Then just prior to the 1995 season, they picked up Expos outfielder Marquis Grissom, considered by many (including Tim McCarver) to be the best center fielder in either the NL or all of baseball. The men they replaced - Sid Bream, Lonnie Smith, Otis Nixon, Ron Gant - were all released and then came the elevation of Chipper Jones to the big leagues to replace Terry Pendleton. All of a sudden the Braves were stacked with Hall of Fame talent at nearly every position.

Four years and one day after their dreams lay in shambles on a rug in Minneapolis, Mark Wohlers threw the final pitch of the baseball season that Carlos Baerga popped to Grissom in center field - and Braves fans haunted by Lonnie Smith's faux pas could finally raise a glass and rest in peace as baseball fans.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I still blame Leibrandt for Game 6.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

WHY BRAVES FANS WILL NEVER FORGET 1991

1991 was a great year for sports. The Super Bowl came down to a missed kick on the last play, Michael Jordan validated his legacy with his first NBA championship, and Rick Mears won his fourth Indy 500. There was also tragedy as the Pittsburgh Penguins finally won a Stanley Cup only to see their head coach, Badger Bob Johnson, diagnosed with terminal cancer weeks after the title win and dying in November. Also in November, NBA icon Magic Johnson was diagnosed as HIV positive - a virtual death sentence in 1991 - and retired from the Los Angeles Lakers.

And then there was that little story that came out of Atlanta.

Most Braves fans of the time who are still alive today have that same wistful feeling about those Braves that some guy does about a college girl friend he never intends to marry. You think she's cool at the time, you don't even cry when it's over, and your memories when you look back are so fond and beautiful. And that's what this team was to so many people.

Braves games on WTBS from the time Ted Turner began them (when it was actually WTCG) until 1991 had largely been comic relief for people who loathed baseball or a chance to see your team play a weekend series televised on national TV. When the Braves suddenly climbed into the pennant race - you can really trace it to the six-run inning in late July in Deion's last game - it caught everyone by surprise. But let me explain what it was like in a way that may be difficult because all of us who experienced it know - just as we knew then - that never again will there ever be anything like it in our lives. Not even the capture of the brass ring in 1995 was quite like 1991.

Why is that?

For starters, when you have to finish in first place in order to make the playoffs, every game is do or die in a close race. Nowadays, Braves fans would take a relaxed, mostly non-emotional approach to being one game behind the Dodgers because in most cases that would get your team into the playoffs anyway. Once baseball created the wildcard position in 1994, pennant races ceased to exist. But there's also the reality that in 1991, we didn't all have phones to update us and a lot of people didn't even have cable television. Long distance calls were not cheap (more on that in a moment). Virtually nobody had a cell phone unless he or she was wealthy, and they were the size of a small boom box. So you didn't have access to the scores, and the lack of knowing what was going on 24/7 created its own anxiety, especially on nights the Braves were on Sports South (which was usually the Wednesday night game). And ESPN didn't have what they now have with the constant updates scrolling across the bottom of the screen. At most they had what was called the "28/58" update where they ran sports scores along the bottom of the screen at 28 after and 2 before the hour. You could tune in CNN Headline News and gets sports updates at 20 past and 10 until the hour. OR you could call 900-976-1313 and pay 50 cents a minute to hear the sports scores. Okay, you could wait and watch SportsCenter, but what if the non-Braves sports contest ran late as happened so often?

Your only other options were to watch the 10 o'clock news and hope your local sports guy told you the Braves score or wait until the next day and pick up a newspaper.

Much of what guided the fervor of the Braves fans of 1991 was the lack of access to scores on nights the Braves were not on WTBS. (Or - if you were like me and didn't have WTBS - every night). You got an almost rush of exhilaration as you waited to learn if the Braves were still in the lead or how many games out they were. Every loss was the one that was going to lose the pennant, every win further bolstering of your faith in your team and quite frankly making you a better person. But you can only have that one time - and now you'll never be able to have it again. Between the wildcard playoffs, ubiquitous broadcasts on the MLB app on your phone and your friends texting you - the same friends you'd have had to pay long distance charges in 1991 - the world that created that year for Braves fans no longer exists. That's part of why the Braves Nation didn't really crank up the emotion until the Braves went 2-0 up on the Dodgers.

I hope you've enjoyed this series. It has been fun to share both personal memories and learn more on my own about the 1991 baseball season. I think it only fitting to leave the update portion of this thread with these words:

"And so for Ernie Johnson, Joe Siimpson, Don Sutton, and Pete Van Wieren, I'm Skip Caray signing off for YOUR Atlanta Braves."

 

[selmaborntidefan]

October 29, 1991

BOBBY COX BECOMES FIRST MANAGER TO WIN "MANAGER OF THE YEAR" AWARD IN BOTH LEAGUES

Atlanta Braves skipper Bobby Cox added the first of what is likely to be many post-season awards to the Atlanta trophy case today when he was voted National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America for his guidance in leading the Braves to the National League pennant. It was the second time Cox won the award, which he also won for guiding the Toronto Blue Jays to the American League pennant in 1985. The two selections make Cox the first manager in history to win the BBWA award in both leagues. Cox also has the unique feat of being the first manager to win a pennant in consecutive full seasons in separate leagues.

Cox took over the Braves on June 22, 1990, after the Braves' General Manager - Cox himself - fired previous Braves manager Russ Nixon. Cox got 13 first-place votes, 10 second-place votes, and one third place vote, beating out Pirates Manager Jim Leyland, who got 9 first-place votes. Joe Torre of the St Louis Cardinals was third, and Dodger's Manager Tommy Lasorda finished fourth. The award comes two weeks after Cox won the Associated Press Manager of the Year Award.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Ok so I’ve been thinking about it, and I wanted to throw a question out here.

The response to this thread was pretty good so I wondered if y’all wanted me to do it again this year and - if so - what? It sounds like a few things happened last year with this:
1) favs who lived through it got about as close as you can get to reliving something
2) fans who didn’t got a certain level of day by say and
3) folks came away with a solid grasp not only of the Braves but of the entire 1991 baseball season. Probably fun to see names of “that guy’s first game was then” etc.


I have a few options here that I’d like input from y’all.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Braves
1993 - the last pennant race ever
1995 - Braves win it all

Or I can cover an entire season…..but I lean towards the fact this is the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Braves, who all these years later still hold the record for wins to start the season and had a year even more of a roller coaster than 1991.

It was almost fitting last year that I was doing the write up where the Braves had injury after injury to star after star and persevered, and signed multiple free agents, the only difference being the final result in the WS.

Or if this bores you that’s fine, too, but I’ll need to know soon.

Go Braves.

 

[B1GTide]

Ok so I’ve been thinking about it, and I wanted to throw a question out here.

The response to this thread was pretty good so I wondered if y’all wanted me to do it again this year and - if so - what? It sounds like a few things happened last year with this:
1) favs who lived through it got about as close as you can get to reliving something
2) fans who didn’t got a certain level of day by say and
3) folks came away with a solid grasp not only of the Braves but of the entire 1991 baseball season. Probably fun to see names of “that guy’s first game was then” etc.


I have a few options here that I’d like input from y’all.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Braves
1993 - the last pennant race ever
1995 - Braves win it all

Or I can cover an entire season…..but I lean towards the fact this is the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Braves, who all these years later still hold the record for wins to start the season and had a year even more of a roller coaster than 1991.

It was almost fitting last year that I was doing the write up where the Braves had injury after injury to star after star and persevered, and signed multiple free agents, the only difference being the final result in the WS.

Or if this bores you that’s fine, too, but I’ll need to know soon.

Go Braves.

I loved this and would vote for 1995, which was a memorable season for more reasons than the Braves winning it all.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

My vote is 1995. I want to forget about 1993 for many reasons not baseball related

 

[81usaf92]

Ok so I’ve been thinking about it, and I wanted to throw a question out here.

The response to this thread was pretty good so I wondered if y’all wanted me to do it again this year and - if so - what? It sounds like a few things happened last year with this:
1) favs who lived through it got about as close as you can get to reliving something
2) fans who didn’t got a certain level of day by say and
3) folks came away with a solid grasp not only of the Braves but of the entire 1991 baseball season. Probably fun to see names of “that guy’s first game was then” etc.


I have a few options here that I’d like input from y’all.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Braves
1993 - the last pennant race ever
1995 - Braves win it all

Or I can cover an entire season…..but I lean towards the fact this is the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Braves, who all these years later still hold the record for wins to start the season and had a year even more of a roller coaster than 1991.

It was almost fitting last year that I was doing the write up where the Braves had injury after injury to star after star and persevered, and signed multiple free agents, the only difference being the final result in the WS.

Or if this bores you that’s fine, too, but I’ll need to know soon.

Go Braves.

Could you do 1996 next year if you do 1995 this year with the Yankees as a side by side because I really want to see how much better we were than that team, and what the hell happened. Because nearly every Brave who played from 91-96, or some combination in between has said that the 96 Yankees were the worst team they played in the World Series out of all 5 world series.

 

[B1GTide]

Could you do 1996 next year if you do 1995 this year with the Yankees as a side by side because I really want to see how much better we were than that team, and what the hell happened. Because nearly every Brave who played from 91-96, or some combination in between has said that the 96 Yankees were the worst team they played in the World Series out of all 5 world series.

Living in the Northeast, even Yankee fans could not believe that they won that championship. But the Braves put it on cruise control after the first two games. Also, those early Yankee teams knew how to work a count to get to your bullpen. And that is where they were better than every other team in MLB. Their setup guy and closer were the best in baseball for a decade to come. In 1995 it was Rivera and Wetteland. Unhittable.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Could you do 1996 next year if you do 1995 this year with the Yankees as a side by side because I really want to see how much better we were than that team, and what the hell happened. Because nearly every Brave who played from 91-96, or some combination in between has said that the 96 Yankees were the worst team they played in the World Series out of all 5 world series.

I could do that, I could do it this year (but keeping TWO of those going is a lot more work than I can do as leisure, ha ha), but I can also lay it out for you right here - they're not wrong. The 1996 Yankees winning the World Series was a damned fluke that in all honesty cost the Braves a reputation as one of the greatest teams in the history of the game.

The problem of the 96 Yankeees is the problem of the 2001 Patriots - because of their LATER success with championships, people anachronistically read "this was a great team" back onto both teams. I'm not intelligent enough to evaluate how good overall the 2001 Patriots were, but as I recall it (I was in med school at the time), they basically won the Raiders game largely based on a bad rule, and they beat the Steelers largely because AGAIN Pittsburgh imploded in an AFC title game (14 of their 24 points came off a punt return and a blocked FG, and they won by 7, the blocked FG being the key). Well, the 96 Yankees were sorta the same. They had no business on the field with the Braves just to blunt about it. AT THE TIME, it was the BRAVES who had the reputation the Yankees later attained with all those championships in 1998-2000. The Braves had taken the pressure off by finally winning in 95 and could just go out and have fun.

The 1996 World Series final outcome came down to exactly three plays:
1) Jim Leyritz's home run in game four
2) Marquis Grissom's error that gave up the only run in game five.
3) Joe Girardi's triple in game six

Football always comes down to eight plays in a game; baseball doesn't work that way and RARELY can you trace the final outcome to one play. But if Leyritz doesn't connect, the Braves close that one out up 3-1, and if Grissom doesn't drop the fly ball (still one of the most mind-boggling plays ever from a sure handed outfielder), the Braves probably close out the series in five games.

And YES - the gap WAS that big.

Oh sure, Mariano Rivera WAS on the Yankees that year, but he wasn't the closer (he had only 5 saves in 61 appearances). Rivera was the setup man for John "I Like Sex With Children" Wetteland, who had 43 saves that year and won the WS MVP. (Setting aside the mere accusation, Wetteland's trial is ongoing in my county just down the street from me). So let's get a few things out of the way here.


1) The Cleveland Indians were the best team in the AL that year, but they were undone by the stupid wildcard rule that should have never been adopted as it was.

The Tribe made the WS in 1995 and 1997 with mostly the same team (Kenny Lofton being the most notable absentee). In all honesty, they probably should have made it in 1996, too, but for reasons that will never make sense, they had to start the ALCS ON THE ROAD in Baltimore and lost both games in a best-of-five series. Now why in the world you'd make the team with the best record start ON THE ROAD in the playoffs against a team that had the worst record...well, you'd have to ask MLB. The same stupid thing happened in 1995 - and it almost kept the Braves from ever making it out of the first round. Atlanta had to open in Colorado and entered the 9th inning of game one tied. If Chipper doesn't go yard in the top of the ninth, we probably lose that one. The next night we enter the ninth down by a run and are bailed out by a four-run rally. The Braves VERY EASILY could have been down 0-2 when they came back to Atlanta that year - just as Cleveland was in 1996.

And spare me the "well, the Yankees and Rangers had better regular season records against the Tribe" without indulging micro-analysis. The Braves were 9-3 against the Pirates in the 1991 regular season, too, but they had to scrape out wins in the last two games to take the NLCS.

Cleveland was the best team in the AL in 1996, not the NY Yankees.

2) The Yankees probably shouldn't have even won the Division Series that year.

Not in any way to just discredit the accomplishment, but the Yankees had to come back from deficits in all three of their wins against the Texas Rangers, and their good fortune was Texas didn't know how to spell "bullpen." The Yanks trailed by 3 runs in game 2, one in the 9th in game 3, and 4 runs in game 4. (And for those going with "but the Yankees beat Cleveland in the regular season," well, the Rangers also won the regular season series against the Yankees, 7-5). Don't get me wrong - the Yankees WERE the better team in the LDS, but they flirted with disaster early on. NOBODY who was paying attention to the pennant race or to the Division Series thought the Yankees were going to win the WS at that point.

3) Tell me who - AT THE TIME - you would have taken by position and tell me how NY is better?

1B - Fred Mc Griff vs Tino Martinez
2B - Mark Lemke vs Mariano Duncan
SS - Jeff Blauser vs Derek Jeter
3B - Chipper Jones vs Charlie Hayes
LF - Andruw Jones vs Tim Raines
CF - Marquis Grissom vs Bernie Williams
RF - Jermaine Dye vs Paul O'Neill
C - Javy Lopez vs Joe Girardi
DH - Ryan Klesko vs Cecil Fielder

Seriously, in the every day lineup the only indisputable guy on the Yankees better than the Brave is Derek Jeter, and even that wasn't as large in 1996 as it seems now. Jeter was the only guy who could have started for the Braves, but every other Brave would have started ahead of the Yankee in a direct trade. Oh and then remember that the only reason Jermaine Dye (a pretty good player) was starting was because David Justice, the slugger, was out with a shoulder injury. He had been having the best year of his career that far - .321, 6 homers and 25 RBIs, so he was on a pace for about 25 homers and 100 RBIs, great numbers in the pre-steroid era (and a solid BA).

The best pitcher on the Yankees - take Pettite OR Jimmy Key - would have been the FIFTH STARTER AT BEST on the Braves. Even at DH, you'd probably take Ryan Klesko over Cecil Fielder simply because if you had to, Klesko could at least play fair to middling defense.

The Yankees were only better than the Braves in two areas:
a) middle relief
b) bench

Even closer was a wash at the time. You would no more say Wetteland was clearly superior to Wohlers than you would say that Duncan was superior to Lemke. Probably less so.


Sadly, the 1995-97 Braves had the talent to win three series in a row (much like the 1956-59 Braves and 2017-2021 Astros). But they never did.

This one wasn't even close.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Living in the Northeast, even Yankee fans could not believe that they won that championship. But the Braves put it on cruise control after the first two games. Also, those early Yankee teams knew how to work a count to get to your bullpen. And that is where they were better than every other team in MLB. Their setup guy and closer were the best in baseball for a decade to come. In 1995 it was Rivera and Wetteland. Unhittable.

Absolutely this.

We had a Yankee fan in the lab at the time, and the moment they drew the Braves for the WS, he gave up. He thought they had a shot at beating the Cards, but when the Braves climbed off the mat in the LCS, he was like, "Oh boy." Years later I worked with a guy from Queens - and he told me the same thing. They were running around NYC celebrating when the Cards went up 3-1 and figuring they were home free.

Then they drew Atlanta and lost the first two and were just hoping to avoid a sweep.

 

[B1GTide]

Absolutely this.

We had a Yankee fan in the lab at the time, and the moment they drew the Braves for the WS, he gave up. He thought they had a shot at beating the Cards, but when the Braves climbed off the mat in the LCS, he was like, "Oh boy." Years later I worked with a guy from Queens - and he told me the same thing. They were running around NYC celebrating when the Cards went up 3-1 and figuring they were home free.

Then they drew Atlanta and lost the first two and were just hoping to avoid a sweep.

Yep, but I watched the Yankees a lot that year and Rivera/Wetteland were probably the best setup guy / closer pair that I have ever seen. For sure, Wetteland pitched over his head that year, but for one year he was an absolute monster.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Yep, but I watched the Yankees a lot that year and Rivera/Wetteland were probably the best setup guy / closer pair that I have ever seen. For sure, Wetteland pitched over his head that year, but for one year he was an absolute monster.

I'll give them that, and also they kinda did like the 1995 Braves did when we picked up Devereaux and Polonia late in the year for the post-season, too.

I'm not in any way discounting them, but I DO think a lot of the look back is - from fans who were young or not alive - "wow, Rivera was on the 96 Yankees blah blah." Yeah, he was, but he wasn't the Rivera we all know now, either in the sense of being the lights out closer. That's why I give the Yanks middle relief (Atlanta's middle relief even when Wohlers was the best closer of the division dynasty years was always a bit spotty).

And Wetteland for a few years there even with the 94 Expos was surely one of the best closers in the game. I don't know that's it's 100% you'd take him over the 95-96 Wohlers, but yes even then one would surely take the Mendoza-Rivera-Wetteland combo over any other set in the league.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

The Braves, of course, could get away with not having middle relief in the regular season because their gunslingers could all pitch 7-8 innings almost every game.