March 1, 1998
Our
AS LATE AFTERNOON rolled around on Thursday, September 18, 1997,
the majority of the 52,140 people at Candlestick Park probably realized
the importance of it all. How could they not have? It was the top of the
tenth inning. It was tied at five. It was the Giants. It was the
Dodgers. It was the pivotal game in the race for the National League's
Western Division title. The division winner would advance to the
playoffs and a shot at winning it all. The division loser would watch
those very playoffs from home, having the entire winter to ponder "what
could have been."
After this game, there would be only nine more to play. The
Dodgers had a one-game lead over the Giants. A Los Angeles win would put
the Dodgers up by two games, and as most baseball fans know, overcoming
a two-game deficit with only nine to go is not as easy as it sounds. A
San Francisco win would move the Giants into a tie with the Dodgers. The
Giants clearly appeared to have the advantage over Los Angeles over the
span of those nine games, playing the last place San Diego Padres in
seven of those nine. The Dodgers would battle the red hot Colorado
Rockies seven times out of nine, including four at Coors Field to close
out the season.
The tension, anxiety, and excitement were heavy in the
Candlestick air. Fans of both teams hung on to each and every pitch. The
Dodgers needed this one to gain a relatively comfortable lead. The
Giants needed it strictly for survival. This game alone seemed to have a
season's worth of memories. Flash back to that glorious September day
with me, won't you?
TOM CANDIOTTI VERSUS Terry Mulholland. A 40-year-old
knuckleballer against a man in his third tour of duty with the Giants.
In fact, many Giants fans were aghast when Mulholland was acquired in
August. Those same fans undoubtedly groaned with disgust upon learning
Mulholland would start the season's biggest game. When Otis Nixon, a man
with a grand total of nine home runs in his 15-year career, took
Mulholland deep in the first inning, even the most optimistic Giants
fans had to view that as a bad omen. But in the bottom half of the
inning, Glenallen Hill's single scored Barry Bonds to even the score.
Mulholland settled down, and San Francisco took the lead in the fourth
inning on a J.T. Snow homer.
In the fifth inning, Darryl Hamilton and Bill Mueller singled,
and Bonds, who had been under fire all season for his struggles with
runners on base, slugged a towering home run to right field, giving the
Giants a 5-1 lead. Bonds' two-run homer in the first inning the previous
night had lifted the Giants to a 2-1 win. It was just what the Giants
needed - their best player getting hot at exactly the right time. Bonds
was proving the old saying right. Great players aren't always great.
They're just great when they have to be.
Mulholland started to show signs of fatigue in the sixth inning.
Los Angeles pushed two runs across the plate in the sixth, but the
Giants still had to feel good about their chances. They still had a
two-run lead, and their bullpen had been strong all season. But the
Dodgers rallied to tie the score at five on Mike Piazza's two-run single
off Roberto Hernandez in the seventh.
DUSTY BAKER CALLED on Rod Beck to pitch the tenth inning. In
Atlanta just three nights earlier, Beck came on in the ninth to protect
a 4-1 lead. Before you knew it, Fred McGriff's two-run homer off Beck
had given the Braves an improbable 5-4 win. It was the most demoralizing
loss the Giants had suffered all year, and many fans and members of the
media figured it would be the game that finally killed the Giants.
Remembering what had taken place in Atlanta, Beck took the
Candlestick mound to more boos than he usually heard. Piazza led off by
dumping a single to short right field. Karros followed with a single to
left. Raul Mondesi then hit a sharp single to right. Had it been anyone
other than Piazza on the basepaths, a run would have scored. But the
Dodgers' slow-footed catcher could only make it to third base.
Bases loaded. Nobody out. Beck was booed like he had never been
booed before. Baker popped out of the dugout and made the long walk out
to the mound. Lefthander Rich Rodriguez was throwing in the Giants'
bullpen, and one had to think Baker had seen enough of Beck. But in an
instinctive decision, the Giants' skipper stayed with Beck, who
responded by striking out Todd Zeile for the first out. Los Angeles
manager Bill Russell then sent veteran slugger Eddie Murray to the plate
to bat for reliever Antonio Osuna. The Dodgers had signed Murray, a
future Hall of Famer with more than 500 home runs and 3000 hits in his
career, for exactly this kind of situation. In a pennant race, you can
never have too many battle-tested veterans.
BECK KNEW MURRAY was a notorious first pitch fastball hitter, so
he chose to start him off with a split-finger fastball. Murray chopped
the ball to second baseman Jeff Kent, who fired home for one out.
Catcher Brian Johnson gunned the ball back to first, nipping Murray by
half a step to complete the double play. Just like that, Beck and the
Giants had come out of the mess unscathed. Beck stomped off the mound,
and the Giants' dugout erupted, with Baker leading the cheers. The same
fans who were mercilessly booing Beck just moments earlier were now on
their feet, cheering him like he was a returning war hero. It was now
obvious there was NO WAY the Giants would lose this game. Not today. Not
after this.
Beck worked two more perfect innings, although he had a scare in
the twelfth. Karros jumped all over a split finger that stayed up, and
hit a high drive to deep left field. Bonds backpedaled to the warning
track. But the infamous Candlestick Park wind knocked down Karros' fly
ball and Bonds put it away to end the inning.
Russell went to southpaw Mark Guthrie in the twelfth inning.
After an outstanding 1996 campaign, Guthrie had endured a miserable
season in 1997. He was about to hit rock bottom.
GUTHRIE'S FIRST PITCH to Johnson, leading off the twelfth, was a
fastball. Johnson hit a line drive to left field that looked like it
maybe did not have enough height to clear the fence. Dodgers' left
fielder Todd Hollandsworth went back to the wall, timed his leap,
jumped ... and came down empty handed. THE GIANTS HAD WON IT 6-5!!! The
San Francisco dugout emptied, mobbing Johnson at home plate. Bonds
picked up Baker in a bear hug and looked like he would never let go of
him. Johnson, who had been acquired from the Detroit Tigers only two
months earlier, was the unlikely hero, and he will be forever etched
into the memories of Giants fans worldwide. His home run was perhaps the
most memorable ever hit by a San Francisco Giant at Candlestick Park.
The Giants would go 6-3 over that final nine-game stretch, while
the Dodgers never fully recovered from their misfortunes in San
Francisco. They went home, only to see the Rockies come in and sweep
them in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles would go on
to take three of four in Colorado to close out the season, but it was
too little, too late. Meanwhile, the Giants clinched their first Western
Division crown since 1989 with a 6-1 win over the Padres on September 27
at Candlestick. Beck, the Giants' elder statesman, had the privilege of
striking out Greg Vaughn to wrap it up and start the celebration.
WHY MAKE SO much of the Thursday afternoon game with the
Dodgers? Because it was THE game of the year. Had the Giants come out on
the losing end that day, it is very likely they would have been the
runners up. That game was really a microcosm of the season. The Giants
get off to a nice early lead, but here come the Dodgers to tie it up.
And just when you think the end is near, when Los Angeles is about ready
to deliver the knockout blow, Beck finds the inner strength - through
guts, determination, heart, and sheer will - to wriggle out of a bases
loaded, nobody out jam. And then of course, an unlikely hero emerges,
and the Giants somehow, some way, win a game they desperately need.
The playoffs ended far too quickly. San Francisco dropped two
heartbreakers in Florida, twice losing one-run ballgames in the bottom
of the ninth. Facing elimination, they returned to Candlestick, but
there was simply no magic left. The Giants held a 1-0 lead into the
sixth inning of Game 3 when Wilson Alvarez suddenly lost control,
loading the bases and then surrendering a grand slam to Devon White. It
was all she wrote for the Giants, as the Marlins completed the
three-game sweep.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL in baseball is winning the World Series. But
many think the most difficult achievement is to be the best team in a
division over the course of 162 games. Playing every day for six months,
the best team wins the division every single time. The Giants and their
fans will always have that to be proud of. Memories of ninth inning
singles by Moises Alou and Edgar Renteria, along with White's grand
slam, will always make Giants fans cringe, just as the memories of Jose
Oquendo, Salomon Torres, and Candy Maldonado in right field at Busch
Stadium will always evoke plenty of "what ifs." But my memories of the
1997 season do not include the October games against Florida.
Instead, I remember the nine-game winning streak in April that
vaulted San Francisco into first place. Jeff Kent, playing hurt the
entire second half of the season, yet having the year of his life. J.T.
Snow, hitting 27 homers and driving in 82 runs from June 1 on. Bill
Mueller's hustle and grit. Jose Vizcaino, playing a solid shortstop and
being a true cheerleader. Stan Javier, losing both his mother and
grandmother during the season, but giving the Giants a very professional
hitter in the 6-spot of the lineup. Barry Bonds, having a subpar year by
his lofty standards, but carrying the team the final 11 games. Darryl
Hamilton, hampered by nagging injuries thoughout the year, but providing
spectacular defense in center field along with leadership in the
clubhouse. Brian Johnson, for his clutch hitting that started the day he
donned the orange and black. Shawn Estes and Kirk Rueter, going from
boys to men, combining for 32 wins and pitching brilliantly down the
stretch. Mark Gardner, the staff leader, winning big game after big game
into August. Rod Beck, an All Star the first half, who ended up sharing
closer duties with Hernandez in September, but handling it like a true
professional. Hernandez, blowing his 100 mph fastball by everybody. And
to the unsung heroes of the 1997 Giants: Rich Aurilia, Marvin Benard,
Damon Berryhill, Glenallen Hill, Mark Lewis, Wilson Alvarez, Danny
Darwin, Osvaldo Fernandez, Doug Henry, Terry Mulholland, Joe Roa, Rich
Rodriguez, Julian Tavarez, and William VanLandingham. Without the
contributions of those players, 1997 would not have been nearly as
memorable.
GONE FROM THE 1997 club are Berryhill, who went to the A's,
Hill, who signed with Seattle, and Lewis, who signed with the Phillies.
Vizcaino is the new shortstop in Los Angeles, Henry is now in the
Astros' bullpen, and VanLandingham will get a shot with Anaheim. Alvarez
and Hernandez signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Beck and
Mulholland both signed with the Cubs.
The new faces on the 1998 squad include longtime enemy Orel
Hershiser, who joins the rotation after spending the last three years in
Cleveland. Closer Robb Nen comes aboard from the world champion Marlins.
Steve Reed will bolster the Giants' bullpen after pitching for the
Rockies since 1993. Brent Mayne, after spending last season in Oakland,
is the new backup catcher. Infielders Charlie Hayes and Rey Sanchez were
acquired from the Yankees. Baker will give youngsters like shortstop
Rich Aurilia and outfielder Jacob Cruz every opportunity to become
starters. For these two players, it is their time to show that they can
handle the rigors of being a regular in the big leagues. Cruz led the
Pacific Coast League with a .361 average last year. Aurilia has been the
backup shortstop since late 1995. They will never be more ready than
they are now, and the Giants have to see what they can do.
AS THE 1998 season draws upon us, expectations for the Giants
are low, just as they were last year. San Francisco was picked to finish
last in 1997, and most publications rank them fourth in a five-team
division for 1998. It is anyone's guess as to where they will finish,
but Giants fans should take solace in knowing that they have as good a
manager as there is in Baker. General manager Brian Sabean has displayed
an ability to find "diamonds in the rough" and seeing talent in players
that other teams have not seen. The ownership team, led by Peter
Magowan, has proved that it will increase the payroll by bringing in
veteran help down the stretch if need be. Magowan is part of a dying
breed. He is an owner who cares about more than the bottom line. He is a
baseball fan and has the game's best interests in mind.
In just two short years, Giants fans will be rewarded after
dealing with 40 years of Candlestick's shortcomings. Pacific Bell Park
will open in April 2000, giving the Giants and their fans a jewel of a
ballpark in the heart of the most beautiful city in the world.
All this baseball talk has me thinking.
I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL MARCH 31 ....
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