Mussina hurls 8 shutout innings and allows just 1 hit‚ while walking 2 and striking out 10. Charles Nagy does not give up a run in 7 1/3rd innings for the Indians‚ while surrendering 9 hits‚ as the O's leave 14 batters on base.
The pitcher who gave up the Pennant-winning homer to Fernández? Armando Benitez. It is not the last time he will mess up a postseason game, but it is the last time he will do so for the Orioles. The O’s now had a 4-6 record in postseason games played at Camden Yards. Having finally gotten back to the postseason in 2012, but crashed out in the 2012 ALDS and the 2014 ALCS, that record now stands at 6-8, including 1-7 in ALCS games.
The pitcher who gave up the Pennant-winning homer to Fernández? Armando Benitez. It is not the last time he will mess up a postseason game, but it is the last time he will do so for the Orioles. The O’s now had a 4-6 record in postseason games played at Camden Yards. Having finally gotten back to the postseason in 2012, but crashed out in the 2012 ALDS and the 2014 ALCS, that record now stands at 6-8, including 1-7 in ALCS games.
Fernández was a 5-time All-Star, known for his fielding, winning 4 Gold Gloves. But he finished his career with a fine .288 batting average and 2,276 hits -- only 94 of them home runs. That he got a hit that won a Pennant shouldn't have been a big surprise. That it was a home run was.
Just 11 days later, in Game 7 of the World Series, he made a key error that costs the Indians the game. Heroism can be fleeting in sports. But the Indians wouldn't have gotten there without him.
The 1997 season turned out to be his only Pennant. He also reached the postseason with the 1985 and 1989 Toronto Blue Jays and the 1995 New York Yankees, and was with the Cincinnati Reds when they were leading the National League Central Division when the Strike of '94 hit. The Blue Jays elected him to their version of a team hall of fame, the Level of Excellence. He developed kidney disease, and died in 2020, only 47 years old.
Also on this day, the 1st supersonic (faster than the speed of sound) land speed record is set by Andy Green: 763 miles per hour. I have a separate entry for this event.
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October 15, 1997 was a Wednesday. The National League Championship Series ended the day before, with the Florida Marlins beating the Atlanta Braves for the Pennant. Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 16 days.
There were 9 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Ottawa Seantors, 5-1 at the Corel Center in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre. The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)
* The Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 1-1 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.
* The Buffalo Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 3-3 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
* The Florida Panthers beat their arch-rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Miami Arena.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-0 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was named at the time).
* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played to a tie, 2-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now named the Honda Center).
* And the Boston Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
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