ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Braves at Expos – 09/15/2003
Three.
Hey, who woke up Robert Fick? Fick homered with two on in the second, his first round-tripper since July, and the Braves cruised from there. After the fourth inning it was 7-1 and it was 10-2 entering the bottom of the ninth. The Expos added four runs then to make it look good. Three Braves — DeRosa (still in for Giles) and the Joneses — had three hits apiece. Javy had one, but it was a two-run double to give him 100 RBI for the year.
Horacio Ramirez had another good start, seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out three. He’s verging on getting his ERA below four. His line’s not quite as impressive as in some of his recent starts, but it will do. Boom-Boom Bobby managed to get through an inning without giving up a run, but Trey Hodges was an utter disaster again, giving up four in the ninth. They’re all credited as unearned, but when you give up four runs you have some responsibility.
The Marlins and Phillies were idle… Maddux goes against Tomo Ohka tonight. A Braves win, or losses by the Phillies and Dodgers, would clinch a postseason berth for the Braves. I haven’t worked out all the details, though.
MLB’s offering free streaming video of games for the rest of the season if you’re willing to accept the SI “trial” subscription. Although you do have to remember to cancel the magazine subscription, it’s pretty cool if you’re outside of turner south’s broadcast range (all the way from turner field to stone mountain).
Ten years ago yesterday, Ron Gant bounced one off the top of the LF wall off Rob Dibble to cap a Braves 9th inning rally from a 6-2 deficit.
Today the Braves and Giants are 1.5 games apart in the old divisional standings. One would be facing the possibility of winning 100 games and then going home.
But hey, at least instead we have the tension of which team will win the wild card!
When I think of Rob Dibble I always think of this game:
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B08210CIN1991.htm
It’s 1991 and the Braves start August 21st 2.5 games behind the Dodgers. The Dodgers are starting Hershiser, so the Bravos will need a win to keep pace. The starting pitchers for the game are Armando Reynoso and Kip Gross so it’s a slugfest. The Reds take a 9-6 lead to the ninth and Atlanta has two out with nobody on. Dibble is throwing in the high ninties and overpowered Pendleton and Gant to get the first two outs. However, Justice doubles and Brian Hunter somehow coaxes a walk of Dibble, bringing up our man Francisco Cabrera. Frankie swings through a first pitch fastball, but connects on the next one a hits a game tying, three run bomb to dead center. Justice wins it in the 13th with a double off of Randy Myers.
The Cabrera memory is obviously the dominant one, but I’ll always remember the next batter after Cabrera was Rafael Belliard and you could actually see the fear in his eyes has he dug in against Dibble who was stomping around the mound like a crazy person. Predictably, he quickly struck out.
I sure enjoyed the Francisco Cabrera era. When I lived in Michigan, I used to drive down to Wrigley and watch Frankie carpetbomb the street beyond the left field fence with homers during BP. Too bad he never got a real chance to play.
Back to Colin’s point, in 1991 the Braves chased down the Dodgers and won the division by a single game. Very exciting. If the divisions were aligned as they are now, the Braves win the East by 16 games, the Dodgers the West by 9 games, and the Pirates the Central by 14 games. The only race is between the 84 win Cardinals and Padres for the wild card. Yawn. The wild card is a pox on baseball.
Ah yes, I remember that one. I was listening on my car radio in the middle of the Texas hill country, campimg in the back of my truck. That was a good time to be a fan. “LA Sucks” – remember?
reminds me of my favorite game from ’91. It was the first game of the Braves-Dodgers doubleheader of June 28, and I was actually able to attend. Tie game going to the ninth inning. Stan Javier homers in the top of the 9th, and looks like the Braves are going down. They come back to tie in the bottom of the 9th, though, and win it in the 10th on a 2 out bases loaded walk. To the pitcher (Mercker). Where he does not even take the bat off his shoulder. After an infield hit by Belliard to load the bases.
Braves got hammered in the 2nd game, but boy, that first game was a blast!
Man, I hope Mac didn’t pop a vessel last night.