- [Clara] We're at Pro Player Stadium in Florida.
It's just after midnight on October 27th, 1997.
It's the bottom of the 11th inning
of Game 7 of the World Series
between one of the American League's original franchises
and one of the National League's newest.
The score is tied 2-2, there are two outs,
and the bases are loaded.
Edgar Renteria would absolutely love to get a hit here.
Charles Nagy does not want that.
And while the World Series could come down
to this at-bat between these two athletes,
there are a whole lot of other at-bats and athletes
and managers and owners that got us to this point.
So let's rewind.
Just one out, and Cleveland survives
to try and capture their first title since 1948.
Now, they have been contender more recently than that.
1995.
They won a league-best 100 games,
they took the pennant,
and even won two games in the World Series,
which isn't enough games.
Disappointing, but another year, another chance,
another league-best record.
Only that time, they didn't even get out of the ALDS.
Pretty big bummer.
So they made some roster moves.
They let All-Star Silver Slugger,
three-time RBI leader Albert Belle go in free agency.
He had a history of being a distraction.
They'd miss Belle's contributions,
but they still had a more-than-stacked lineup.
Kenny Lofton was the best leadoff hitter at the time,
and everybody loved him.
But then he was traded.
The fans weren't pleased.
In return, Atlanta sent Marquis Grissom
and David Justice to Ohio.
Justice was cool, but Grissom struggled early.
He didn't win over any fans, or management for that matter.
By midseason he was dropped from the leadoff position.
Actually, not a lot was going right
for the franchise by midseason,
and manager Mike Hargrove was updating his resume.
But the old white and red and navy got things together
by the end of the season and won 16 games in September.
And while an 86-75 record is their worst in four years,
it was enough to get 'em to the postseason,
where they dispatched the 96-win reigning champion Yankees.
Then they got a little revenge on Baltimore,
beating them in six games to take the pennant.
Grissom actually played a big role in the ALCS victory.
And here they are, back in the World Series
for the second time in three years.
They face the Marlins,
who also added some new faces this season.
Although all their players are kinda new,
the team's only been around five years.
The Marlins were an expansion team in 1993,
which makes them the fastest club
to get to the Fall Classic ever.
But they've never had a winning season until this year.
So how'd they do it?
One word: love.
Just kidding, money. The one word is "money."
They spent so much money.
First, billionaire owner Wayne Huizenga
lured Jim Leyland from Pittsburgh.
After 11 years with the Pirates,
Leyland had never been to the World Series,
yet he was still regarded as one
of the best managers in baseball.
Some even believed he was smarter than a brain pie,
but I'm reserving judgment till I've tasted one.
Next, Huizenga spent 89 million on six free agents.
The biggest spends were for star pitcher Alex Fernandez
and big hitter Moises Alou and Bobby Bonilla.
Then the owner gave Gary Sheffield
a 61 million, 6-year extension.
And what do you know? It worked!
While not all the big contracts yielded results,
enough of 'em did.
Fernandez was dominant,
and Bonilla and Alou delivered on offense.
And the Fish finished the '97 season
with their first winning record.
But spending multi-millions on your team adds some pressure,
and Huizenga said he wanted to sell.
Maybe a strong postseason run would change his mind?
As the wildcard team, the Marlins faced off
against the Giants in the Division Series.
They won Game 1 on the last at-bat.
They won Game 2 on the last at-bat.
Enough with the drama,
Alex Fernandez gave 'em some breathing room in Game 3,
and that was a sweep of the NLDS.
Up against Atlanta for the pennant,
Florida got the first game,
but then they were crushed in Game 2,
because Fernandez lasted just 2-2/3 innings.
It was later revealed he had a torn rotator cuff.
The Marlins suffered more misfortunes in the NLCS,
though none were quite so devastating.
Alou jammed his wrist and couldn't start in Game 2 or 3.
Kevin Brown, who hadn't lost since July,
got sick and couldn't play in Game 4.
He wasn't better in time for Game 5 either,
but that kinda worked out.
Rookie Livan Hernandez filled in
and threw an NLCS-record 15 strikeouts.
Some people though the strike zone was way too big,
but hey, I'm not trying to bring Hernandez down.
The Cuban defector had had a rough go of it
since he came to America in '96.
His family was back in Cuba, he didn't really know English,
and he consoled himself by overeating.
A year later, he's in better shape and setting records.
Good for him.
In elimination Game 6,
Kevin Brown was finally healthy and got the win.
With Atlanta defeated,
the Marlins became the first wildcard team
to make it to the World Series.
But not everyone was happy for them.
Apparently "rich guy buys success"
wasn't the most endearing storyline.
And now that we're complaining, people weren't thrilled
Cleveland was in the World Series either.
They only won 86 games. What are they doing here?
General consensus was this was gonna be
a boring World Series full of not-great baseball.
But, uh, it doesn't really get more exciting
than extra innings in do-or-die Game 7.
Though there was some bad baseball in the series.
Just ask Charles Nagy.
And wait, why is Nagy pitching right now?
He's not a closer.
And actually, Nagy wasn't supposed to play at all tonight.
Nagy started Game 3 and was slated to pitch again
in Game 7 schedule-wise,
but Game 3 went so poorly the team lost confidence in him.
And Hargrove thought Nagy lost confidence in himself,
so the pitcher would sit Game 7.
Now, Game 3 was not a defensive showcase.
Mike Hargrove referred to the 4-hour and 12-minute game
as "just about the ugliest game you'll ever see."
Oh, the Marlins won,
so maybe that influenced Hargrove's opinion.
Game 4 went a lot better for Cleveland.
Jaret Wright, a rookie three years out of high school,
pitched like a hardened veteran,
and that's who Hargrove decided should start Game 7
despite just three days' rest.
He'd last as long as he could.
For six innings, Wright held Florida to one hit and no runs.
But after he gave up a homer to Bonilla in the seventh,
Hargrove took him out
and started running through the bullpen.
In the bottom of the ninth, with Cleveland leading 2-1,
he went to his closer, Jose Mesa.
Mesa was unbelievable in their '95 run,
but this year his numbers were down.
He struggled early,
but earned his way back to the closer spot
and returned to form.
And tonight he needed just one more save
to win a championship.
Perfectly doable.
Likely, even.
So likely that the Commissioner's Trophy
was wheeled into Cleveland's locker room.
Plastic went up over the lockers
to protect them from the celebratory champagne
that was sure to rain down in just a few...
Oh. Well, wait a sec.
Alou opened with a broken-bat single. Uh-oh.
Then, with runners on the corners,
Craig Counsell hit a sac fly and Alou scored.
Tie game.
After Mesa gave up two singles in the 10th,
Hargrove finally took him out
and he only had one pitcher left to put in: Charles Nagy.
So here we are. Nagy's looking for redemption.
But he's not the only one.
Over here, covering second base
with the weight of the world on his shoulders,
is Tony Fernandez.
In the Dominican Republic at 11 years old,
Tony Fernandez was so good he attracted scouts
despite playing with a makeshift mitt
and a knee issue that needed surgery.
Once scout even wanted Fernandez
to come live with him to prepare for MLB,
but Fernandez was like, "I'm 11?"
When the scout offered to pay for his knee surgery
a few years later, Fernandez made the move.
And in 1979, when Fernandez was 16,
the scout signed him to the Blue Jays
and told no one about the surgery.
Lies of omission barely count as lies,
especially when everything works out.
Fernandez was called up to the Majors in '83,
and three years later he recorded
the most single-season hits by a shortstop since 1941.
His fielding might've been even better.
He won four Gold Gloves
and become known for his signature sidearm flip.
He bounced around the Majors a bit in the early '90s,
but in '93 he was back in Toronto
helping the Blue Jays to a title.
This year, at age 35, coming off an injury,
he signed with Cleveland in a reduced role,
at second rather than shortstop.
But he made the most of it.
In fact, he was the hero of the ALCS.
In Game 6, Fernandez was a late replacement
for Bip Roberts, who was injured during batting practice.
And good thing he was--sorry, Bip--
because in the 11th, Fernandez homered for the 1-0 win,
giving his team the ALCS.
But Hargrove still preferred to play Roberts
over Fernandez in the World Series.
Fernandez is a better fielder,
but Roberts is the better batter.
Fernandez is only playing tonight because Bip got the flu,
and once again, it's kind of a good thing.
Once again, sorry, Bip.
In the third, Fernandez hit a two-out, two-run single,
giving his team its only appearance
on the scoreboard tonight.
And in the 11th, Craig Counsell hit a textbook double play
right to the four-time Gold Glove winner...
Oof.
- [Announcer] Fernandez...
It got by him into right field!
Ramirez over to...
All the Gold Gloves of the past
won't take the sting of this one away.
- [Clara] Devastating.
Instead, the inning continued.
Nagy intentionally walked Jim Eisenreich
and the bases were loaded.
Resilient Fernandez kept his cool after his fudge-up
and got the force-out at home,
but the bases are still loaded.
Tony Fernandez lost a chance
to be the hero of the World Series,
and now that title is someone else's for the taking.
Edgar Renteria is at the plate.
Renteria grew up on the coast of Colombia,
helping his mother sell fish and fruit
to support his family.
Like Fernandez, he used a makeshift glove as a kid.
The Colombian coast is the only part of the country
that plays baseball; it's a soccer country.
In fact, Renteria himself planned
to be a professional soccer player,
but he had more luck with baseball.
When he was 16 he signed with the Marlins,
and in '96 at age 19, he was called up to the Majors.
Not necessarily because he was ready,
but because Kurt Abbot got hurt.
Renteria was instantly a great defender.
When Abbot got healthy, he was moved to third base
so Renteria could stay at shortstop.
And Edgar wasn't too shabby on offense either.
He was runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year.
Some thought he only came in second
because the Marlins weren't in the playoffs
and thus he had less TV exposure.
This year he's been a big part of the Marlins' success.
He's not one of the hired guns,
but he batted before them, so he got a lot of pitches
and he hit a lot of those pitches.
He has an ability to adjust during an at-bat
and isn't afraid to go the other way.
Oh, and one more relevant detail:
he has ice in his veins.
Renteria has recorded seven game-winning hits this year,
five of which were in the bottom of the ninth
or during extra innings,
and one of those was a two-out walk-off single
in the bottom of the ninth in the NLDS opener
against the Giants.
At least one paper has dubbed Renteria "Mr. Late Inning."
But other than the winning hit in the opener,
Renteria wasn't hitting that well in the NLDS.
He was better in the next round, and how's he been tonight?
Well, he made a pretty heads-up play in the ninth.
With runners on the corners, Renteria fielded the ball,
but instead of going for the double play,
he threw Sandy Alomar out at home.
Had Alomar scored...
Well, let's just say nobody would've had
to take the champagne out of the visiting locker room.
But come on, quit burying the lede.
What about his hitting tonight?
That's all anybody cares about right now.
He had a double in the first and a single in the tenth,
but neither amounted to runs.
And on this potential game-winning at-bat,
the very clutch hitter actually looked out of sorts.
- [Announcer] Renteria thought it was gonna hit him.
That's how good that pitch was.
- [Clara] And here we are.
One of the oldest franchises needs an out to survive.
One of the newest needs a run
to become the fastest team to a title ever.
In the dugout, Jose Mesa hopes his team
can make everyone forget his blown save.
On the mound, Charles Nagy wants redemption
for a game so ugly he got benched.
On second, Tony Fernandez needs redemption
for a mistake that's beneath him.
And at the plate is Mr. Late Inning.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Announcer] The 0-1 pitch.
A liner! Off Nagy's glove!
Into center field!
The Florida Marlins have won the World Series.
- [Clara] Thanks for watching, everybody.
Hope you had a good time.
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For Secret Base, I'm Clara Morris.
Good night and good game.