by Being down one game was a familiar place for the Indians as they had lost both games ones in the lead-up playoff series. Game two would be a greater challenge as they faced the Marlin ace, pitcher Kevin Brown. Chad Ogea took the hill for the Tribe, he had pitched well in the ALCS despite his 0 – 2 playoff record. Ogea allowed only one run in the first inning of the game and then nothing after that as he looked sharp all night long. Timely hitting combined with a Sandy Alomar Jr. two run homerun gave Cleveland the 6 – 1 victory and sent the tied series back to Jacobs Field.
Frigid air greeted both teams as they arrived in Cleveland for game three. With the temperature just above freezing, it remains one of the coldest World Series games in history. The elements should have favored starting pitchers, Charles Nagy and Al Leiter, but the results were anything but favorable for either of them.
Nagy allowed a first inning solo homerun to Gary Sheffield that would set the tone for the rest of the night. The Indians scored two runs in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Matt Williams and Sandy Alomar Jr. to take the lead 2 -1. A Gary Sheffield walk with the bases loaded tied the game 2 – 2 in the top of the third. In the top of the fourth, Darren Daulton hit another solo homerun off of Nagy and Florida retook the lead 3 – 2.
Florida handed Al Leiter the lead as he took the mound for the bottom half of the fourth inning. Leiter wasted no time allowing Cleveland to tie the game by walking four of the first six batters he faced. Manny Ramirez followed the walks with a bases loaded two run single to put Cleveland ahead 5 – 3. The scoring was far from done as in the next inning Jim Thome slammed a two run homerun to make it a 7-3 Cleveland lead.
Charles Nagy continued to struggle despite being given a four run lead. The Marlins used a two run homerun by Jim Eisenreich to climb back into the game in the top half of the sixth. One inning later, timely hitting by Edgar Renteria and Gary Sheffield allowed Florida to tie the game. The Cleveland fans were freezing but the Marlin bats were on fire.
After a scoreless eighth inning, bewildered relief pitcher, Eric Plunk, took the mound to start the ninth in the hopes of holding the Marlins bats silent for another inning. Unfortunately, what unfolded was a series of mistakes and blunders committed by the Indians that led to a seven run inning for Florida. It was walks, intentional walks, errors and wild pitches that spelled doom for the Tribe. The Indians managed to score four runs of their own in the bottom half of the ninth before losing the game 14 – 11. Mike Hargrove reflects on what happened that led to the Indians loss, “Your job as a manager is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best and sometimes no matter who you have playing, things just get out of your control. It was just one of those things. They won all the odd games and we won all the even games so it was back and forth. Both teams played really hard and really well and it was a nail biter all the way through.”
The Indians had let one ”get away” in game three and vowed to play sharper in game four the next evening. Mike Hargrove once again turned to his rookie sensation, Jaret Wright, to try and even the series. He rewarded Hargrove’s faith in him by tossing a scoreless first inning. A two run homerun by Manny Ramirez off of Florida starting pitcher, Tony Saunders, gave Cleveland a 2 – 0 lead. Sandy Alomar Jr. hit an RBI double a few batters later and the Indians jumped out to a quick 3 – 0 lead after one inning. A couple innings later, RBI singles by Alomar Jr., Tony Fernandez and David Justice expanded the Cleveland lead to 6– 0.
Jaret Wright was cruising along and only gave up three runs through six innings. He received plenty of run support capped off by a two run homerun by Matt Williams in the eighth that finished the scoring with the Indians on top 10 – 3. It was a dominant win and evened the series heading into what would be a pivotal game five. Mike Hargrove explains how it was important to give Jaret Wright an early lead in his first World Series start, “It is much easier to play ahead then it is from behind because you can be more aggressive. So, it is really important when you have a young kid on the mound because when you beat the other team by putting more pressure on them then they do you. So anytime you can get a lead and put the pressure on the opposition, it gives you a chance to bury them.”
Game five was a rematch of Orel Hershiser versus Livan Hernandez. The Marlins raced out to a quick 2 -1 lead against Hershiser heading into the bottom of the third. The red hot Sandy Alomar Jr. turned the tide back in Cleveland’s favor as he smashed a three run homerun to put them on top 4 – 2. Things stayed that way until the bottom fell out for Hershiser in the top half of the sixth inning when he gave up a three run home run to Moises Alou. Later in the inning, Eric Plunk relieved Hershiser and promptly gave up a bases loaded walk to increase the Florida lead to 6 – 4.
Livan Hernandez held the Indians lineup in check through eight innings and did not allow them to score again. The Marlins scored two more insurance runs and held an 8 – 4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Jose Mesa gave up one of the runs in the top of the ninth and continued to look shaky throughout the entire playoff run. The Indians fought hard and rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the ninth to draw within one run. Florida closer, Rob Nen, was walking the tight rope as he gave up RBI singles to Jim Thome and David Justice, but managed to hold on and secure the 8 – 7 win for the Marlins. The series was headed back to Florida with the Marlins having two chances to win it all.
All the pressure was mounted squarely on the shoulders of Cleveland starting pitcher, Chad Ogea, for game six. He was matched up against the highly touted Marlin starter, Kevin Brown. Some of the media did not give Ogea a chance of coming out the victor. What the media and others didn’t count on was the heart shown by Ogea as he went out and pitched a gem.
Chad Ogea kept the Florida batters silent throughout most of the game, as he only allowed one run over five innings. Not only was Ogea contributing on the mound, but also at the plate as he drove in the first two runs of the game with a two run single in the top half of the second inning. Mike Hargrove shares why he thought that Ogea was so effective in game six, “Chad was a good athlete and competitor despite not being able to throw the ball 95 mph. He was more so 89 to 91 with a nasty changeup. Florida was a pretty good fastball hitting ball club so it was his changeup and his competitive nature that helped him play so well. He also turned out to be our best hitter in the lineup that evening as well. It was just one of those things that played into his strengths.” Cleveland was holding on to a 4-1 leading heading into the bottom of the ninth thanks to a pair of RBI sacrifice flies by Manny Ramirez. Despite a triple, Jose Mesa was able to hold the Marlins scoreless and the series became tied with a dramatic game seven set for the next night.
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