GAME 7 - Ebbets Field - BKN 2, ATL 1
Tommy Glavine vs Clem Labine
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife as fans filed into the famed rotunda on Sullivan and McKeever places. Like so many times before these fans were treated to heartbreaking game 7's it was impossible for them to feel any sort of confidence. However today had the chance to be different for as they cast their eyes across the field to the first base dugout they saw a team and a franchise that mirrored their own. It's not a great stretch for one's imagination to see the parallels between the 1940's-1950's Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1990's-2000's Atlanta Braves. Like no time before or after both franchises dominated the National League, only to have their dreams crushed by the Yankees in the World Series or some upstart team who got hot in the NL to block their pennant quest. Both teams cobbled together a magical 15 year string of league dominance only to win 1 World Championship. The Dodgers winning theirs in 1955 and the Braves gathering theirs exactly 40 years later in 1995.
The first 3 innings were scoreless and based on that one could surmise that this would be a nail biting pitcher's duel. That sentiment would hold true. Ryan Klesko's 1 out solo shot in the top of the fourth broke the ice, but not the spirit of the team from Brooklyn who answered back with a run of their own thanks to a Jackie Robinson RBI double in the bottom of the inning. Glavine and Labine would continue dueling until the bottom of the 6th when the deservedly maligned Blauser once again erred in the field. Blauser would turn Junior Gilliam's hot smash to short into an Indiana Jones type adventure by first booting the ball then airmailing his throw over the head of McGriff at first. Glavine tried to pick the corners vs Jackie and wound up walking the 1947 NL Rookie of the year to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Glavine, who is not the most loved ballplayer in New York City looked to crush the spirits of those fans one more time by inducing Duke Snider to hit one right back to the box for a 1-6-3 DP. Gilliam crossed over to third, but there was now 2 outs and only a hit would score him. Up stepped "Skoonj". Carl Furillo, nicknamed "Skoonj" which is short for the Italian word for
Octopus (Scungilli) is a dour man who while respected by his teammates and fans was never a club house insider. Furillo would routinedly travel to and from games by himself as opposed to joining one of the fabled "Dodger car pools" from Bay Ridge. In fact Furillo would go out of his way to live in Queens, so he could stay far away from the epicenter of the team, which was Bay Ridge Brooklyn. Furillo might have been faulted for his loner attitude, but he could never be accused of not being a total professional and one of the hardest outs in the National League. Glavine knowing what he was up against decided at first to pick the corners in the hopes of getting Skoonj to chase something bad. This would not work and so Glavine was forced to come inside which was a mistake as Furillo turned on it and lined a clean single to left to put Brooklyn up 2-1.
On a day where runs would come at a premium that 2-1 lead would loom large. Clem Labine, who usually works out of the pen, relished his time in the spotlight as a starter and cruised for 7 innings before tiring. Ben Wade would start the 8th in relief of Labine, but leave after recording just 1 out after he walked pinch hitter Pendelton. Game 5 winner Carl Erskine was called on to close the game out from an unfamiliar spot as a reliever. Oisk would easily get Chipper and McGriff to fly out to end the 8th. After fanning Klesko to start the 9th Oisk go pinch hitter David Justice to fly easily to Robinson in left. When pinch hitter Mike Mordecai walked the fans began to get that uneasy feeling that they had known since 1941 when Mickey Owen dropped a called strike 3 that would have ended a Fall Classic game with the Dodgers winning. Instead the Yankees would get new life on that day and "Ole Reliable" Tommy Henrich would single home the winning run to start a string of fall disappointments for Brooklyn. With Lemke due up next Oisk knew what he had to do. He quickly got 2 strikes on the diminutive second baseman and decided to not play around and try to make him chase a bad pitch, which is the popular convention in baseball. Instead Oisk went back to his bread and butter 12/6 curveball and dropped a beauty in their for a called strike 3 to end the game and the series. The fans in Brooklyn celebrated up and down Empire Blvd.
Dodgers win series 4-3
