Cleveland Indians @ New York Yankees - September 4th, 1993
by Scrooge McSuck
- I know the last time I did a column on a game of this magnititude, I bashed myself for selecting that particular one based on the lack of anything to note other than an ass load of strikeouts. However, I'm a sucker for going back on my word, so there!
I always found Jim Abbott to be an interesting case. Abbott, playing from 1989-1999, had an incredibly unremarkable career if you look at his overall numbers, but he was definitely not an unremarkable person. Jim Abbott, for those new to baseball, was born without a right hand. Through hard work and dedication, Abbott eventually made it to the Majors, being drafted by the California Angels, and made his MLB Debut without playing a Minor League Game. As a young child, I found it remarkable that a man missing a hand was able to effortlessly, at least to the casual fan, pitch while keeping a quick rhythm of having to constantly adjust his mitt from one arm to the other, catching and setting up the pitch. Abbott's career took him from California, to New York, Chicago (American League), and finally, Milwaukee. If there was ever a true inspirational story in sports, Jim Abbott can never be excluded from the debate.
Anyway, onto the game at hand. The Yankees still had hopes for a playoff birth, trailing the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East by just 2 games. The Indians, however, posted a record of 65-70 going into play, and were well behind both teams, sitting in 6th place in the same division. We've got a day game here, with a 1:30 start time for the first pitch. Your Umpires for the game are Ted Hendry, Jim Evans, Terry Craft, and Ed Hickox. Originally aired on the MSG Network. Broadcast duties are handled by Dewayne Staats and... um... God, I'm going to hate myself for this one, cause I don't know the name, but I know the voice. Al Trautwig also supplies commentary for the game.
The Lineups for the days game....
Cleveland Indians
CF Kenny Lofton
SS Felix Fermin
2B Carlos Baerga
LF Albert Belle
1B Randy Milligan
DH Manny Ramirez
RF Candy Maldanado
3B Jim Thome
C Junior Ortiz
SP Bob Milacki (4-3, 3.39 ERA; Minor League Stats)
New York Yankees
3B Wade Boggs
LF Dion James
1B Don Mattingly
DH Danny Tartabull
RF Paul O'Neill
CF Bernie Williams
C Matt Nokes
2B Mike Gallego
SS Randy Velarde
SP - Jim Abbott (9-11, 4.31 ERA, 175.1 IP)
Cleveland 1st Inning:
Jim Abbott's first pitch of the game is right out of Major League, JUST a bit outside. Lofton was hitting .636 (7 for 11) against Abbott in his career at this point. Lofton takes a walk to lead off the game on a 3-1 pitch. Lofton was 57 for 69 in stolen base attempts. The old strike zone was a lot more liberal than now-a-days. Fermin with a grounder down third base, and Boggs turns the 5-4-3 double play. Baerga batting .319 with 20 HR and 102 RBI, pretty good numbers for a 6th place team's top player. Pop to center field, and Dion James records the final out of the inning.
New York 1st Inning:
Milacki has some good career numbers against New York, but his career appears to be nearly over at this point. Boggs flys to left field for the first out. Dion James flies to deep center field for a quick second out. Mattingly grounds a 0-2 pitch between first and second for the third and final out.
(CLE 0, NYY 0)
Cleveland 2nd Inning:
Abbott is 3-4 in his career versus Cleveland, thanks to a nice little on-screen tidbit. Belle ends up striking out, swinging, on a 3-2 pitch. The audio is WAY behind here, by a good 7-8 seconds. Milligan slices the first pitch offered to him foul down the right field side. He ends up taking the second walk of the game. Rookie Manny Ramirez takes Abbott to a full count before flying out to center. the previous night, He hit his first two major league home runs. Maldanado another player with some good career numbers against Abbott. A long at bat ends with Candy striking out, swinging.
New York 2nd Inning:
Danny Tartabull is a fine example of bad Yankee personel decisions. Over-rated hacker did little to help the Yankees other than to create headaches with his lazy play and lack of getting the big hits. He grounds out, shortstop to first. Paul O'Neill takes Milacki deep with an 8 pitch at bat before grounding out in the same manner. Williams also takes Milacki to a full count, ending up with a walk. Nokes hacks at the first pitch and flies to deep, deep right to end the inning.
(CLE 0, NYY 0)
Cleveland 3rd Inning:
Jim Thome is playing third base. Damn, that's so long ago that thinking of it now would make someone laugh. He goes to a full count before flying to center. Junior Ortiz, a name I should remember but don't, grounds out 4-3. Lofton is up again, showing little patience, hacking one to Gallego on the first pitch for the final out. Only nine pitches thrown in the inning by Abbott.
New York 3rd Inning:
Mike Gallego leads off. I remember him more for his time playing with Oakland, prior to joining the Yankees. Not a great hitter, but he was a pretty good fielder from what I recall. I should research that, but I won't. Prove me wrong! It's very weird seeing anyone besides Derek Jeter wearing #2. He walks on a 3-1 pitch. Randy Velarde is next up, and I'm sure I recall him being named in the Steroid Bible Book. I liked him, so whatever. It's not like he was on any of the championship clubs. Velarde with a bunt attempt, but Ortiz makes a pretty damn good catch in foul territory, for the first out. Boggs singles into right field, and now we've got runners at 1st and 2nd with 1 out. James has 1 hit in his last 11 at bats. James singles up the middle, scoring Gallego, but a bad throw from center allows Boggs to score, and a bad throw from Thome to home, allows James to score on on the double-error, giving New York a 3-0 lead. Mattingly strikes out swinging on a 1-2 count, and Tartabull ends the inning popping out to the second baseman.
(NYY 3, CLE 0)
Cleveland 4th Inning:
Fermin grounds to Gallego on the first pitch of the inning. Mike Gallego loosens up on the field, worrying the broadcasters. Baerga up for the second time, and he grounds out the same on a 2-1 pitch. Albert Belle takes the count to 2-2 before grounding to third base for another very quick inning, only 10 pitches thrown by Abbott.
(NYY 3, CLE 0)
Cleveland 5th Inning:
Milligan leads off the inning, having struck out his first at-bat. Ball low and inside nearly hits him in the foot. He ends up taking a walk on four pitches. Ramirez continues getting hyped up, plus the fact he's a local boy doesn't hurt. Manny Ramirez with a buzzcut is NOT a visual I can see ever again. Manny does me proud, grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. Maldanado has another lengthy at bat before popping out to left field to end the inning.
New York 5th Inning:
Randy Velarde leads off the inning, and sends a 2-1 pitch over the 385 foot mark in center field for a solo home run, giving New York a 4-0 lead. Boggs takes eight pitches before flying out to deep right field. James comes back with another big hit, doubling to center field. Mattingly takes a walk on 5 pitches. Mr. Clutch Danny Tartabull hits a grounder, forcing Mattingly at second, and there's runners at 1st and 3rd with two out. O'Neill slugs the 6th pitch of his at bad hard, but right to the center fielder, to end the inning.
(NYY 4, CLE 0)
Cleveland 6th Inning:
Thome leads off, 0-for-1 so far, and hits a liner to Velarde for the first out. Junior Ortiz takes a walk on just four pitches. Lofton has a battling at-bat before flying out to deep left field. Fermin gets swing happy and goes after the first pitch, grounding out to third base to end the inning. Got to take some pitches, guy!
(NYY 4, CLE 0)
Cleveland 7th Inning:
Baerga leads off, batting 0-for-2 on the day. Swinging on the first pitch, and Mattingly with the unassisted play at first for the first out of the inning. Albert Belle grounds out to third base, and Milligan also grounds out on the first pitch, and as well it's to the third base. Only 6 pitches in this inning for Abbott, the shortest inning of work in the game for him, so far.
(NYY 4, CLE 0)
Cleveland 8th Inning:
We get a clip from May 29th, where against the Chicago White Sox, Abbott went 7.1 innings without allowing a hit, before Bo Jackson broke it up with a bloop single up the middle. For the record, Jackson was another of my favorite players as a kid. Gerald Williams takes over for Dion James in left field. Manny strikes out swinging for the first out of the inning, Nokes took the bat across the back on the follow through, and damn, that looked painful. Maldonado grounds out short to first on the second pitch he sees. Thome takes Abbott to a full count before taking the 5th walk of the game. Sandy Alomar Jr. pinch hits for Ortiz (catcher), but it's all for naught, grounding out to third base to end the inning.
(NYY 4, CLE 0)
Cleveland 9th Inning:
We're coming down to the end folks. Dewayne Staats breaks protocol by mentioning, straight up, that Abbott is throwing a no-hitter. Lee Smith, should-be Hall of Fame Closer, is warming up in the bullpen, just in case. Lofton tries bunting, but that goes foul. Bullshit attempt, there. Boggs is about 5 feet in from the dirt near third base. Grounder up the middle, and Gallego throws to first for the first out of the inning. First pitch strike to Fermin. He's grounded out three times today. Hacking swing on a 1-1 pitch sends it way foul to left. Fastball inside squares the count. Another hacking swing sends the ball foul down the left field line. Another hack, and this time Bernie makes the running catch in deep center field for the second out. Baerga is the last hope of the day for Cleveland. We see Gene Michael pacing in the owners box after the second out. Grounder to short, throw to first, and Jim Abbott has thrown a No-Hitter! Obviously, he gets mugged by his teammates and gets a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Final Box Score:
Cleveland 0 0 2
New York 4 8 0
WP: Jim Abbott (10-11)
LP: Bob Milacki (0-1)
Interesting Notes/Scrooge Thoughts No One Cares About:
I've already touched up on Jim Abbott and laid the bad mouth on Tartabull. 1993 marked the first season for Paul O'Neill, fresh off a trade from
Cincinnati for Roberto Kelly (rip off!), as well as the emergance of Bernie Williams in regularly outfield duty. Guys like Matt Nokes, Dion James, and Mike Gallego make me wonder how the Yankees were contending around this time. Boggs wasn't hitting like he did with Boston, Mattingly's career was dimming, and their pitching wasn't THAT good. Cleveland sported a lot of great, young players. Lofton was breaking out, Manny and Thome would go on to, and still are, having grerat careers. Baerga had a nice little run before losing it in the late 90's. The rest of the lineup is meh, though.
Again, while it wasn't too terribly exciting to go into detail the game itself, I kind of appreciate a no hitter more here than with other games. I guess I'm just a big softie. The Yankees scored most of their runs on bad fielding, and Abbott wasn't over-powering the Cleveland lineup, but the stars aligned correctly, and we got a memorable no-hitter out of everything. Cool to check out if your a Yankee fan, or if you just like to see the underdog come through. After all, while a lot of people hate the Yankees, everyone loves an underdog.
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