by Game seven was set for Sunday October 26, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. Mike Hargrove hoped to celebrate his birthday with a World Series Championship that evening. The fans of Cleveland wished for a miserable forty nine year run without a World Series Championship to finally end. Mike Hargrove shared what he told the team before the start of game seven, “Again, there is nothing to say, you play so many games starting in the middle of February and by then it was October 26, which was my birthday. So there is not a whole lot you can say that they are ready to listen to, they are ready to play. We had a short meeting before and pitchers meeting and hitters meetings so they knew what they had to do. They knew it was game seven and the importance.” The hopes of everyone would rest on the shoulders of rookie, Jaret Wright. Hargrove was not only skipping over Charles Nagy’s spot in the rotation, but also pitching Wright on short rest. Hargrove explains why he started Jaret Wright over Charles Nagy, “That was a tough decision. Charles Nagy was one of my all-time favorite players. I just felt like that every time we asked Jaret to pitch in a crucial game, he did a great job. I just felt like it gave us our best chance to win.” Hargrove told Nagy personally that he wasn’t starting the game and shared how hard it was to make that choice, “It was really hard because of my own personal feelings for him and because during the season he was one of our best pitchers. It was a very difficult decision, but Charlie in his typical fashion despite not being too happy with it understood and accepted it.”
Charles Nagy shares his feelings towards being bumped out of his scheduled start in game seven, for favor of Jaret Wright, “As we went through game six, I kind of felt like that was the way we were leaning. It was all hands on deck at that point. I had a feeling that was the decision because I had been up in the bullpen several times in game six. They made decisions on how they felt what was best for the team, but I still knew I had to be ready. It was game seven and all hands were on deck again, it was the full gauntlet of emotions because I was supposed to start and they chose otherwise. Jaret went out and pitched great, I was very excited and happy for him because he deserved it. Jaret gave us a great chance to win game seven.”
Jaret Wright and Florida Marlins starter, Al Leiter, both held their opposing lineups scoreless through the first two innings. Cleveland got things started in the third when Thome walked and Grissom followed with a single. Jaret Wright laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and moved both runners into scoring position with only one out. Omar Vizquel failed to score the runners when he popped out to the shortstop. The pressure was on starting second basemen, Tony Fernandez, as he came to the plate with two in scoring position with two out. Fernandez was a savvy veteran and came up big in the clutch by hitting a two run single that gave the Indians a 2 – 0 lead.
Mike Hargrove shares what was going through his mind when Tony Fernandez hit a two run single in the top of the third inning to putting the Indians ahead, “It was good because we wanted to play ahead.” Thanks in large part to a great pitching effort by Jaret Wright, the 2 – 0 lead stood until the bottom of the seventh inning when Bobby Bonilla smashed a solo homerun to cut the lead in half. Hargrove justifies his decision in keeping Jaret Wright into the sixth inning, “He was still throwing quite well and it was just one bad pitch. It was a first pitch changeup that he left over the plate and Bobby crushed it. I knew that both Jaret and Sandy thought Bobby was looking for a first pitch fastball, but it just didn’t work out.” Jaret Wright went six plus innings only giving up one run. It was more than anyone in Cleveland could have asked for.
Mike Hargrove goes into a bit more detail about the bullpen set up with Mike Jackson leading into Jose Mesa, “We rode Mike Jackson really hard and my pitching coach, Mark Wiley, walked around and talked to our relievers with a little note card. He kept a card with him asking them how much they have thrown and how much they have left going into that night. Mark said that Jackson stated he only had one hitter left in him. So I brought him in the eighth and went to Mesa in the ninth.” The Marlins pitchers had been sharp as well holding the Indians to only two runs heading into the ninth inning.
The Indians would need an insurance run as Jose Mesa had been shaky in the postseason and a one run lead hardly seemed safe. They almost got their wish as two men reached base in the top half of the ninth. With only one out, Sandy Alomar Jr. had a chance to score as he raced home on a ground ball hit to the shortstop, but for some reason Sandy chose not to slide and was thrown out at home. It may have not seemed like a big mistake at the time, but only minutes later the inability to score that run became enormous. Hargrove discloses that he never considered having a pinch runner for Sandy Alomar Jr., “No, Sandy ran pretty well and was our best catcher. He was a large part of the team and for me there was no reason to pull him from the game. Not in the seventh game of the series with a one run lead.
Many stories have been told about the mental condition of Jose Mesa as he took the mound to try to save the game in the bottom of the ninth and none of these stories are flattering. On paper, it looked like a foregone conclusion that Mesa would get the save and Cleveland would finally get that long awaited championship parade. After all, Mesa had been one of the most dominant closers in the game for three straight seasons. As Cleveland Indians fans held their breath, Mesa bounced his first warm up pitch two feet in front of home plate and it was all downhill from there.
Moises Alou continued his amazing series by hitting a line drive single to start the inning. The next batter, Bobby Bonilla, failed to capitalize and struck out. It looked for a moment that Mesa was only two outs away from giving the Indians the World Championship title. Tragically for Cleveland fans, the Indians would never get any closer. Charles Johnson hit a line drive single to right field which allowed Alou to advance to third base with only one out. Mesa needed a strikeout or double play to keep the lead. He was unable to get either as Craig Council hit a long sacrifice fly ball to right field which allowed Alou to tag from third and score.
The game was tied and Mesa had blown his third playoff save in a matter of weeks. The game’s momentum shifted squarely to Florida and the air was completely taken out of the sails of Cleveland and their fans. Mike Hargrove shares what happened when Mesa left the mound at the end of the inning as well as the mood of the dugout at the time, “I didn’t say anything to Jose and I never have since. The mood was a downer and it really took the wind out of our sails after that happened.”
It was only appropriate that Charles Nagy would be the one to come out of the bullpen to face the Marlins in the bottom of the eleventh. Nagy had suffered through so many lousy years as the Cleveland team rebuilt, while continually fighting to stay positive about the team. Charles Nagy was one of the most beloved Indians of the 90’s. Sadly for Nagy, on this evening, he wasn’t pitching against the Marlins, he was pitching against destiny.
Bobby Bonilla led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. Up next, Greg Zaun failed to execute the bunt and popped out to Nagy. It looked like maybe the Indians were about to catch a break when destiny reared its ugly head yet again. Craig Counsell hit a tailor made double play ground ball towards Tony Fernandez. The Indians were seconds away from getting out of the jam when Fernandez let it roll between his legs. At that one moment, it seemed as if time stood still. Fernandez had built a reputation as a solid defensive player and this error was almost unthinkable.
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