GaryMrMets
10-29-2003, 08:19 PM
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/atl/news/atl_news.jsp?ymd=20031024&content_id=592700&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
10/24/2003 4:39 PM ET
1996 World Series remembered
Atlanta vs. New York was one for the ages
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
ATLANTA -- As the Yankees head back to the Bronx for the conclusion of the World Series this weekend, they find themselves facing the same kind of uphill battle they encountered when their postseason dominance began in 1996.
During the 1996 World Series, the Braves took the first two games at Yankee Stadium and seemed destined to win a second consecutive world championship. But when the Series shifted south to Atlanta, so too did Atlanta's fortunes.
Backed by strong pitching performances from Andy Pettitte, David Cone and Jimmy Key, the Yankees swept the next four games and won their first of four World Series titles over the course of five seasons.
"That was ultimately the worst year you can ever imagine," said John Smoltz, the 1996 NL Cy Young Award winner. "We should have repeated. We're up 2-0 and then the floor gave out."
Smoltz got the Braves started on the right foot with six solid innings in a 12-1 Game 1 victory that was highlighted by the exploits of a young Andruw Jones. The Braves Gold Glove center fielder joined Gene Tennace as the only players to ever homer in their first two World Series at-bats.
In addition, at 19 years, 6 months and 28 days, Jones became the youngest player to ever homer in a Fall Classic.
Jones was held hitless in Game 2, but the Braves needed very little offense to help Greg Maddux ensure the two-games-to-none series advantage. The four-time Cy Young Award winner allowed just six hits over eight scoreless innings to help the Braves claim a 4-0 win and leave Yankees fans wondering if there would be another game in the Bronx that season.
Tom Glavine gave the Braves another sparkling mound effort in Game 3. But he left the eventual Yankees 5-2 win with a 2-1 deficit in the seventh inning. The deficit grew insurmountable when Bernie Williams touched Greg McMichael for a three-run homer in the eighth inning.
Even with the Game 3 loss, the Braves still had a two-games-to-one series advantage and the benefit of two more home games. But momentum quickly shifted and the face of history may have dramatically shifted on Oct. 23, 1996 when Atlanta was left with a disheartening defeat that brought back sour memories of the 1991 World Series.
After touching Yankees starter Kenny Rogers (the same pitcher who issued the series-clinching, bases-loaded walk to Andruw Jones in the 1999 NLCS) for four runs in the second inning and owning a 6-0 lead after five innings, the Braves saw their bullpen lose its matchup against Mariano Rivera, John Wetteland and four other Yankees relievers.
Mike Bielecki worked two scoreless innings in relief of Braves starter Denny Neagle, who was touched for three runs (one was unearned due to a Jermaine Dye error in right field) before recording an out in the sixth inning, and then gave way for what was supposed to be a two-inning Mark Wohlers save.
But the Braves' 6-3 lead vanished when Jim Leyritz drilled a Wohlers slider for a game-tying, three-run homer just over the reach of Jones in left field. The four-hour, 17-minute contest ended in the 10th when a Ryan Klesko error helped the Yankees score two runs against Steve Avery.
Suddenly the World Series had a new-look and it was up to Smoltz to redirect the momentum back to Atlanta's side. Looking back, his Game 5 matchup against Pettitte was one for the ages. The two hurlers currently are tied for the most wins (13) in postseason history.
Smoltz and Pettitte provided one of the greatest World Series pitching duels ever, in what was the last game ever played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The lone run scored in the contest came just after Dye sprinted from right field into center field and blurred Marquis Grissom's vision enough to enable Charlie Hayes to reach safely with nobody out in the fourth inning.
One out later, a Cecil Fielder single scored Hayes and accounted for just one of four hits the Yankees managed in eight innings against Smoltz. Pettitte earned his moniker as a "big-game pitcher" by limiting the Braves to five hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings.
With momentum now heavily resting in their corner, the Yankees headed home and used a three-run, third inning against Maddux to give them a 3-2 Series-clinching, Game 6 win that enabled the ghost of Ruth to once again victoriously smile down on Yankee Stadium.
Since that 1996 season, the Yankees have returned to the World Series five times. Meanwhile, the Braves' lone trip back came in 1999, when they were swept by the Yankees and saw their Fall Classic losing streak extended to eight games.
"If you think about it, it pole-vaulted the Yankees to do what they did," Smoltz said of the 1996 World Series. "If we beat the Yankees, who knows what George (Steinbrenner) does? If we beat the Yankees like we would have 99 out of 100 times we play that Series, who knows what happens to the Yankees?"
A few years down the road, Marlins and Yankee fans may be looking back at this year's World Series and realize just how much influence it had on the organization's future.
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/images/2003/10/24/qOJcOPbx.jpg
Andruw Jones watches his second home run in Game 1 on the 1996 World Series. (Mark Lennihan/AP)
10/24/2003 4:39 PM ET
1996 World Series remembered
Atlanta vs. New York was one for the ages
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
ATLANTA -- As the Yankees head back to the Bronx for the conclusion of the World Series this weekend, they find themselves facing the same kind of uphill battle they encountered when their postseason dominance began in 1996.
During the 1996 World Series, the Braves took the first two games at Yankee Stadium and seemed destined to win a second consecutive world championship. But when the Series shifted south to Atlanta, so too did Atlanta's fortunes.
Backed by strong pitching performances from Andy Pettitte, David Cone and Jimmy Key, the Yankees swept the next four games and won their first of four World Series titles over the course of five seasons.
"That was ultimately the worst year you can ever imagine," said John Smoltz, the 1996 NL Cy Young Award winner. "We should have repeated. We're up 2-0 and then the floor gave out."
Smoltz got the Braves started on the right foot with six solid innings in a 12-1 Game 1 victory that was highlighted by the exploits of a young Andruw Jones. The Braves Gold Glove center fielder joined Gene Tennace as the only players to ever homer in their first two World Series at-bats.
In addition, at 19 years, 6 months and 28 days, Jones became the youngest player to ever homer in a Fall Classic.
Jones was held hitless in Game 2, but the Braves needed very little offense to help Greg Maddux ensure the two-games-to-none series advantage. The four-time Cy Young Award winner allowed just six hits over eight scoreless innings to help the Braves claim a 4-0 win and leave Yankees fans wondering if there would be another game in the Bronx that season.
Tom Glavine gave the Braves another sparkling mound effort in Game 3. But he left the eventual Yankees 5-2 win with a 2-1 deficit in the seventh inning. The deficit grew insurmountable when Bernie Williams touched Greg McMichael for a three-run homer in the eighth inning.
Even with the Game 3 loss, the Braves still had a two-games-to-one series advantage and the benefit of two more home games. But momentum quickly shifted and the face of history may have dramatically shifted on Oct. 23, 1996 when Atlanta was left with a disheartening defeat that brought back sour memories of the 1991 World Series.
After touching Yankees starter Kenny Rogers (the same pitcher who issued the series-clinching, bases-loaded walk to Andruw Jones in the 1999 NLCS) for four runs in the second inning and owning a 6-0 lead after five innings, the Braves saw their bullpen lose its matchup against Mariano Rivera, John Wetteland and four other Yankees relievers.
Mike Bielecki worked two scoreless innings in relief of Braves starter Denny Neagle, who was touched for three runs (one was unearned due to a Jermaine Dye error in right field) before recording an out in the sixth inning, and then gave way for what was supposed to be a two-inning Mark Wohlers save.
But the Braves' 6-3 lead vanished when Jim Leyritz drilled a Wohlers slider for a game-tying, three-run homer just over the reach of Jones in left field. The four-hour, 17-minute contest ended in the 10th when a Ryan Klesko error helped the Yankees score two runs against Steve Avery.
Suddenly the World Series had a new-look and it was up to Smoltz to redirect the momentum back to Atlanta's side. Looking back, his Game 5 matchup against Pettitte was one for the ages. The two hurlers currently are tied for the most wins (13) in postseason history.
Smoltz and Pettitte provided one of the greatest World Series pitching duels ever, in what was the last game ever played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The lone run scored in the contest came just after Dye sprinted from right field into center field and blurred Marquis Grissom's vision enough to enable Charlie Hayes to reach safely with nobody out in the fourth inning.
One out later, a Cecil Fielder single scored Hayes and accounted for just one of four hits the Yankees managed in eight innings against Smoltz. Pettitte earned his moniker as a "big-game pitcher" by limiting the Braves to five hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings.
With momentum now heavily resting in their corner, the Yankees headed home and used a three-run, third inning against Maddux to give them a 3-2 Series-clinching, Game 6 win that enabled the ghost of Ruth to once again victoriously smile down on Yankee Stadium.
Since that 1996 season, the Yankees have returned to the World Series five times. Meanwhile, the Braves' lone trip back came in 1999, when they were swept by the Yankees and saw their Fall Classic losing streak extended to eight games.
"If you think about it, it pole-vaulted the Yankees to do what they did," Smoltz said of the 1996 World Series. "If we beat the Yankees, who knows what George (Steinbrenner) does? If we beat the Yankees like we would have 99 out of 100 times we play that Series, who knows what happens to the Yankees?"
A few years down the road, Marlins and Yankee fans may be looking back at this year's World Series and realize just how much influence it had on the organization's future.
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/images/2003/10/24/qOJcOPbx.jpg
Andruw Jones watches his second home run in Game 1 on the 1996 World Series. (Mark Lennihan/AP)