Round One – 1997 Florida Marlins vs. 1961 New York Yankees

Ballhalla Times

Marlins Stun Yankees in Opener

Round One – 1997 Marlins vs. 1961 Yankees

Ballhalla (BP) – Bobby Bonilla’s 2 run homerun in the 3rd off Yankee ace Whitey Ford proved to be the difference as the Florida Marlins take the first game in this best of seven with a 3-1 victory. With two out in the inning Gary Sheffield singled home Craig Counsell who had doubled, and the Sheffield rode home on Bonilla’s blast down the left field line.

Kevin Brown pitched masterfully for the Marlins as he lasted 8.2 innings before giving way to Robb Nen. The relief ace walked pinch hitter Bob Cerv to load the bases, but then got Bobby Richardson to fly out to center to Devon White to end the game. White had made the first out of the inning on a spectacular grab in right center on a Yogi Berra smash. That catch may have been as instrumental as any thing in the Florida win. Brown struck out 9. The lone NY run was unearned.

The Marlins did not play pretty baseball. They committed 3 errors. However, they toughed it out, led by their bulldog starter. Said manager Jim Leyland after the game, “Kevin did not have his best stuff, but he worked through some tough spots and kept us in it.”

Meanwhile, back in the Yankee dugout it looked like business as usual. Here are some of the quotes:

Howard: “They licked us. Not much you can do but go out and get ‘em next time.”

Ford: “I had one rough inning and Bonilla hit a pretty good pitch.”

Houk: “We’re sending Terry tomorrow. It’s no time to panic … just win.”

Somehow I did not expect Houk to use the P word just yet, however, he did and it would seem to indicate that there may be some concern in the Yankee camp, at least more than just 3 hours ago.

Game 1

FL 003 000 000 - 3

NY 000 010 000 - 1

FLORIDA AB R H BI

C.COUNSELL, 2b 5 1 1 0

E.RENTERIA, ss 4 0 2 0

G.SHEFFIELD, rf 4 1 2 1

B.BONILLA, 3b 4 1 1 2

M.ALOU, lf 5 0 1 0

J.CONINE, 1b 4 0 2 0

C.JOHNSON, c 2 0 1 0

D.WHITE, cf 4 0 0 0

K.BROWN, p 4 0 0 0

R.NEN, p 0 0 0 0

TOTALS 36 3 10 3

NY YANKEES AB R H BI

B.RICHARDSON, 2b 5 0 2 1

T.KUBEK, ss 4 0 0 0

R.MARIS, rf 4 0 0 0

M.MANTLE, cf 4 0 1 0

Y.BERRA, lf 4 0 1 0

E.HOWARD, c 4 1 2 0

B.SKOWRON, 1b 4 0 1 0

C.BOYER, 3b 4 0 1 0

J.BLANCHARD, ph 1 0 0 0

B.CERV, ph 0 0 0 0

W.FORD, p 2 0 0 0

J.COATES, p 0 0 0 0

TOTALS 36 1 8 1

FL IP H R ER BB SO

BROWN W 8.2 8 1 0 0 9

NEN S 0.1 0 0 0 1 0

NY IP H R ER BB SO

FORD L 7.0 7 3 3 2 6

COATES 2.0 3 0 0 2 2

E-B.BONILLA (1), G.SHEFFIELD (1), C.COUNSELL (1). 2B-E.RENTERIA (1), C.COUNSELL (1). HR-B.BONILLA (1). SB-E.RENTERIA (1), LOB-FL 11, NY 9. DP-FL 1, NY 1. UMPIRE: HP-V.Smith; 1B-Sudol; 2B-Gorman; 3B-V.Smith. T: 2:23 Temp 71, Wind: L->R 14 MPH.