1997 world series game 7 highlights

We were probably playing at. We had a players' only meeting, and everybody was like, 'Hey, let's just do what we are supposed to do, have fun and don't worry about all the other stuff going on.

Let's just take care of business. In Toronto on Aug. From that point in the season, the Indians would go , the second-best record in the American League and would win the division by six games over the Chicago White Sox. Mike Hargrove Indians manager, : "At that time, any time you play the Yankees you knew you're in for a tough deal.

They were awfully, awfully good and always a challenge. You go into something like that. You want to win, you expect to win, you know that you are going to have to be on top of your game, and guys are going to have to execute, and do what they do best.

And we did. The teams would split the first two games of the division series before heading to Cleveland. Charles Nagy Indians pitcher, : "Like any team, when you are on the road in that type of environment, Yankee Stadium is a great place to play, but it is also tough place to play, especially during the playoffs.

Whenever you come out and split two games in New York, we were feeling good about ourselves. We lost the first one, won the second. So, we had a little momentum going home. Chad Ogea: "We were glad to come back home. That ballpark in Cleveland is just a great place to play. We knew the fans were going to be a little bit rowdy, because we were playing the Yankees. You didn't want to play anywhere else. I came up in the organization in when they lost games, and then I was there when the big stadium was built.

They call it magical. It really was. It was a great place to play, the fans were great. But the Indians stumbled as the Yankees won Game 3, In Game 4, ahead in the series two games to one, the Yankees got a two-run lead in the first inning. In the eighth inning, trailing , Indians catcher Sandy Alomar was set to face the Yankees' Mariano Rivera , a year-old, right-handed reliever who was second in the American League with 43 saves in his first full season as New York's closer.

Charles Nagy: "Mariano is Mariano, everybody knew, and knows, how good of a pitcher he is. He was very dominating at the time. We were very fortunate that Sandy came through for us. Mike Hargrove: "If you look at statistics, right-handed batters had more success against Mariano than left-handers did, which kind of goes against normal logic. Rivera's big pitch was, and always was, that cutter that he threw.

It was a tough deal. Sandy always came up big in big moments. I always liked having Sandy at the plate when there was a big moment. Chad Ogea: "Sandy hit it out. When [Rivera] came into the game, you thought the game was over, but that was Sandy's year.

He had a great year and it was fitting for him to hit that home run and beat Mariano Rivera. We got to him, which not many people did. The group of guys we had were veteran guys, that kind of stuff didn't enter their mind, it was like, 'Hey we'll beat anybody they put on the mound. In the top of the ninth inning, Michael Jackson put the Yankees down in order. With the score tied and Ramiro Mendoza pitching for the Yankees, Marquis Grissom led off the inning with a single to right field.

Grissom moved to second base on a bunt by Bip Roberts. Omar Vizquel hit a ground ball that bounced off Mendoza and past Derek Jeter into the outfield and Grissom scored all the way from second: Indians win Chad Ogea: "It was a little bit of a celebration, but everybody knew there was Game 5 to go. Cleveland fans remember how the home run by Sandy Alomar changed the mood of the entire city.

Compared to Game 4, Game 5 was somewhat less harrowing. The Indians jumped out to a lead after four innings and hung on to beat the Yankees, So everybody was looking ahead.

We were kind of like the underdogs. We knew what we were doing. We had been in the playoffs before. We just felt like being the underdogs, we just wanted to spoil that party and make sure that didn't happen. Chad Ogea: "That's the type of team we had. It was like a magical season and a magical time in Cleveland. It seemed like every time we got in those situations something happened special that turned the game around. We'd win a game, and keep going and keep going.

Instead, it was the pitchers who had problems, and the score was after eight frames. And in the top of the ninth, the Marlins scored seven runs, thanks in part to three Cleveland errors, three walks and a wild pitch. The Indians made things interesting with four runs off closer Robb Nen in the bottom of the ninth, resulting in a final. Game 4 witnessed the first World Series snowfall since Cleveland rookie Jaret Wright pitched six strong innings, Manny Ramirez and Matt Williams both chipped in with two-run home runs, and the Tribe cruised, In Game 5, Orel Hershiser was roughed up again, allowing six runs in five-plus innings.

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