October 28, 1995: The South Rises In the World Series

October 28, 1995: The Atlanta Braves win Game 6 of the World Series, beating the Cleveland Indians, 1-0‚ on a combined 1-hitter by Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers.

David Justice's 6th-inning home run accounts for the game's only run. Having noticed that Cleveland's Jacobs Field (renamed Progressive Field in 2007) seemed a lot louder in Games 3, 4 and 5 than Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium had in Games 1 and 2, Justice called on the Braves' fans to be louder for Game 6. They were, especially when he hit his homer.

Catcher Tony Peña's leadoff single in the 6th was Cleveland's only hit. The Indians, who won 100 games in the strike-shortened 144-game season, and won their 1st American League Pennant in 41 years, led the majors in homers and runs scored. But in this Series, they batted just .179‚ the lowest average for a 6-games series since 1911.

This was the 1st time that two of the "Big Four" sports' titles were held by Southern teams. The Houston Rockets had won the NBA title in June.

It was Ted Turner's 20th season owning the Braves. By trusting John Schuerholz as general manager, and trusting Schuerholz's trust in Bobby Cox as field manager, he finally got his title.

In winning‚ the Braves become the 1st team to win World Championships representing 3 different cities: Boston in 1914‚ Milwaukee in 1957‚ and Atlanta in 1995. It was their 30th season in Atlanta, and despite having had such talents as Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro and Dale Murphy, they mostly struggled through their 1st 25 years, winning Division titles in 1969 and 1982.

They won the National League Pennant in 1991 and 1992, but lost the World Series both times. They lost the NL Championship Series in 1993, and the 1994 season was cut short by a strike. In 1995, they won it all, led by their pitching "Big Three": Glavine went 16-7, Greg Maddux went 19-2, and John Smoltz went 16-7. Justice, Fred McGriff, Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko and Javy López led the attack. And so, the Braves became the 1st team from a former Confederate State to win a World Series.

How key for the Braves was Justice? The following season, the Braves won the Pennant again, but he was injured for the World Series, and they lost it to the New York Yankees. Foolishly, the Braves let him go, to the Indians, and he helped them win the Pennant in 1997. He later helped the Yankees win the AL Pennant in 2000 (winning the World Series) and 2001 (losing it). Although he fell short of career stats for the Baseball Hall of Fame -- 1,571 hits, 305 of them home rums -- he was one of the top clutch performers of his era.

UPDATE: Justice hit his homer off Jim Poole. Although a native of Rochester, New York, Poole had pitched in Atlanta, for Georgia Tech. He died of ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease, in 2023, only 57 years old.

*

October 28, 1995 was a Saturday. This was also the day of the worst subway disaster in human history. I have a separate entry for that event.

In college football, Number 1 Florida State were idle. They would lose their next game, away to the University of Virginia, and fall from the top spot.

These were among the games played that day:

* Number 2 Nebraska beat Number 7 Colorado, 44-21 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. Nebraska went on to win the last Big Eight Conference title, before the Big 8 took on half the Southwest Conference and became the Big Twelve. Colorado accepted a bid from the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 3 Florida beat Georgia, 52-17 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. They were played a home-and-home series on campus, because the old Gator Bowl, the neutral-site game where the game was usually played, had been torn down to make way for the new Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium. Florida went on to win the Southeastern Conference title. They turned down the accompanying automatic bid to the Sugar Bowl, to set up a Number 1 vs. Number 2 battle for an undisputed National Championship in the Fiesta Bowl. Nebraska beat them for that title.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Number 25 Iowa, 56-25 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 5 Tennessee beat South Carolina, 56-21 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Rivalry: Number 6 Kansas were upset by Number 14 Kansas State, 41-7 at KSU Stadium (now Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium) in Manhattan, Kansas.

* Rivalry: Number 8 Northwestern beat Illinois, 17-14 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Northwestern won the Big Ten Conference title for the 1st time since 1936, and went to the Rose Bowl for the 1st time since the 1948 season.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Michigan won the Little Brown Jug by beating Minnesota, 52-17 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 10 Oregon were upset by Arizona State, 35-24 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon accepted a bid from the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Colorado.

* Number 11 Auburn were upset by Arkansas, 30-28 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

* Number 12 Notre Dame beat Boston College, 20-10 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame accepted a bid to the the Orange Bowl, where they played Florida State, which won the Atlantic Coast Conference title. Florida State won.

* Number 13 Southern California (USC) and Number 17 Washington played to a tie, 21-21 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. USC went on to win the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Northwestern in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 14 University of Texas had the week off. They went on to win the last Southwest Conference title, and turned down the accompanying automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl to play in the more prestigious Sugar Bowl.

The deals had already been made: At the conclusion of the 1995-96 schoolyear, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor left the SWC, and joined the Big Eight, making it the Big Twelve Conference. The remaining SWC teams, joined other leagues: The 2 Dallas-area schools, Southern Methodist University (SMU) of Dallas and Texas Christian University (TCU) of Fort Worth; and the 2 Houston schools, Rice University and the University of Houston.

* Number 16 Penn State beat Indiana, 45-21 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Virginia Tech, as yet unranked, beat West Virginia, 27-0 at Mountaineer Field (now Milan Puskar Stadium) in Morgantown, West Virginia. Tech went on to win the Big East Conference title, and advanced to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Texas.

* Rivalry: The University of Nevada beat the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), 55-32 at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Colgate, 56-14 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Air Force beat Fresno State, 31-20 at Bulldog Stadium (now Valley Children's Stadium) in Fresno, California; and Navy had the week off.

* And in New Jersey, Rutgers beat the University of Pittsburgh, 42-14 at the new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway.

The NBA season started 6 days later. There were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* In an all-New England matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-0 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 2-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

September 30, 2007: The Mets' Greatest Choke

His name was Seth Fleischauer. "Sad Mets Fan" was then 28 years old.

He now lives in Los Angeles, runs an education company,

and attended the Mets' 2015 Pennant clincher against the Dodgers.

September 30, 2007: One of the darkest days in Mets history. This is the game that got Tom Glavine branded "The Manchurian Brave" by Met fans.

Having led the NL East by 7 games with 17 to go, the Mets have collapsed, but they go into the regular-season finale, against the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium, needing a win or a Philadelphia Phillies loss to clinch their 2nd straight National League Eastern Division title, and a win or a Colorado Rockies loss to at least win the 1 Wild Card available at the time.

Glavine starts. He walks Hanley Ramirez. He gets Dan Uggla to ground into a force play at 2nd base. So far, not terrible. But then, the roof caves in. He gives up a single to Jeremy Hermida. He gives up a single to Miguel Cabrera, scoring Ramirez. He gives up a double to Cody Ross, and when the ball comes back to him in the infield, he tries to throw Ross out at 3rd, and makes a bad throw, and Ross becomes the 3rd run of the at-bat.

He allows a single to Mike Jacobs. He walks Matt Treanor. He gives up a single to future Met Alejandro de Aza, loading the bases. He faces the opposing starting pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, and hits him, forcing Jacobs in. Manager Willie Randolph has seen enough, and removes him with the score 5-0. He'd faced all 9 batters in the Marlin starting lineup, and had gotten exactly 1 of them out.

Jorge Sosa is the new pitcher, and he strikes Ramirez out. But he allows a double to Uggla, who drives in Treanor and de Aza, both of whose runs are charged to Glavine. When he finally gets Hermida to ground to 1st, it is Marlins 7, Mets 0.

By the time the game mercifully ends, the Mets have used 8 pitchers, and lost 8-1. The Phillies beat the Nationals, 6-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and win a Playoff berth and the Division for the 1st time in 14 years. And the Rockies complete their own amazing surge, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-3 at Coors Field in Denver. It's not enough to win them the NL Western Division, but it's enough to get them a tie with the San Diego Padres for the Wild Card berth, instead of it going to the Mets.

"I'm not devastated," Glavine says after the game. "I'm disappointed, but devastation is for much greater things in life." Feeling pretty devastated themselves, Met fans never forgive him for this, and he never pitches for them again. He is released, and returns to Atlanta for a final season.

One of the pitchers the Mets used was former Yankee star Orlando Hernández, who pitches the 3rd inning, allowing 2 long fly outs, a triple to Willis, and then a foul pop to end the threat. It turns out to be the last MLB appearance of El Duque's career.

The Mets had blown a 3-games-to-2 lead over the Oakland Athletics in the 1973 World Series, a 2-games-to-1 lead and a 9th-inning lead in Game 4 over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 NL Championship Series, needed to win 1 of their last 5 to clinch the Wild Card berth but lost them all and missed the Playoffs in 1998, blew a lead and a Pennant in Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS, lost the 2000 World Series to the New York Yankees at Shea, and took a 1-1 tie into the 9th inning before losing Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 2008, history would repeat itself: They only led the NL East by half as much, 3 1/2 games, going into September, but, again, had to beat the Marlins at home on the last day of the regular season to make the Playoffs, and lost. They would win their next Pennant in 2015, but set a new record by blowing leads in 5 games in a single World Series, including the 1 game they ended up winning anyway. In 2016, they took a 0-0 tie at home into the 9th inning of the NL Wild Card Game, and lost to the San Francisco Giants.

But the September 2007 collapse remains the greatest choke in the history of New York baseball. And Met fans can't even blame the other teams cheating, the way the Yankees can for 2004.

*

September 30, 2007 was a Sunday. These other games were played on the last day of the Major League Baseball regular season:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Derek Jeter goes 1-for-2 with a walk. Alex Rodriguez goes 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Jose Molina goes 3-for-5. However, the Yankees only get the American League's Wild Card berth, ending a streak of 9 straight AL Eastern Division titles.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-5 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 13-3 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 11-6 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. It is the last game for future Hall-of-Famer Craig Biggio, who goes 1-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum). It is the last game for former Met star Mike Piazza. He leads off the bottom of the 9th for the A's, singles, and is replaced by pinch-runner Shannon Stewart. Marco Scutaro bunts Stewart over to 2nd. Jack Hannahan singles to load the bases with nobody out. Kurt Suzuki singles to give the A's a 3-2 win. So Piazza is far luckier on this day than his old team is.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Barry Bonds, unpopular everywhere but San Francisco, but especially so in Los Angeles, does not play. He had played his last game 4 days earlier, in the Giants' home finale. His contract had run out, and not even the Giants were willing to sign him anymore. They had gotten what they needed out of him, and were not letting him go. He is forced to retire with 762 home runs, more than any player in history, but a tainted record.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 16-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 17-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-7 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Houston Texans, 26-16 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins, 35-17 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the former Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, 27-13 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears 37-27 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Denver Broncos, 38-20 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 23-16 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the St. Louis Rams, 35-7 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-14 at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 30-16 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers, 23-3 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars, the New Orleans Saints, the Tennessee Titans and the Washington Redskins had a bye week.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-13 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.