October 3, 1993, 30 years ago: Despite winning 103 games, the San Francisco Giants are eliminated from the National League Western Division race when their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, derail their Division dreams, 12-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (Not that this counts as the Dodgers' revenge for October 3, 1951, or even October 3, 1962.) Catcher Mike Piazza, who will be named the NL's Rookie of the Year, hits 2 home runs in the game. Barry Bonds, the season's big free-agent signing, went 0-for-4.
The Atlanta Braves, who will be moved over to the NL East the next season, beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tom Glavine went 6 2/3rds innings, to finish 22-6 on the season. David Justice hit his 40th home run. It is their 104th win, to complete an amazing comeback, having been 10 games back on July 22 and 7 1/2 games back on August 22, before winning 22 of their last 27. (The Rockies did decently for an expansion team, going 67-95.)
The Giants won 103 games, and still didn't make the postseason. (The record is 104, for the 1942 Dodgers, as the Cardinals won 106.) Since the Wild Card began the next season (well, the one after, due to the Strike of '94), the most games any team has won without officially making the Playoffs is 96, the 1999 Cincinnati Reds. (They lost a play-in game with the Mets, but that is officially counted as a regular season game.) Since the expansion to 5 Playoff teams per League in 2012, the most is 93, by the 2019 Cleveland Indians.
With the expansion to 6 Playoff teams per League in 2022, the most that season was a mere 86, by the Milwaukee Brewers; in 2023, 88, by the Seattle Mariners.
October 3, 1993 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees only got 4 hits, a single and a double by Pat Kelly, and RBI singles from Bernie Williams and Mike Stanley. David Wells started -- for the Tigers. Bobby Muñoz was the winning pitcher for the Yankees, in relief of Domingo Jean.
* The Cleveland Indians played their last game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, with Mel Harder, who won the 1st game there in 1932, throwing out a ceremonial last pitch. No such luck for the Tribe this time, as they lost 4-0 to the Chicago White Sox. Jason Bere (7 innings) and 2 relievers completed a 6-hit shutout.
* And the last game was played at Arlington Stadium, in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, with Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers and George Brett of the Kansas City Royals, both retiring, exchanging the lineup cards. Neither got into the game. Again, the visiting team spoiled the fun, the Royals winning 4-1.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3 at Fenway Park. Robin Yount of the Brewers played the last game in his Hall of Fame career. He appeared as a pinch-hitter in the 12th inning, and struck out against Gary Bailey. Dave Nilsson singled home the winning run in the top of the 14th inning.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 11-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Joe Carter hit 2 home runs, Rickey Henderson went 0-for-1 with a walk before leaving the game, Roberto Alomar went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and 5 RBIs, and Paul Molitor went 1-for-4. The defending World Champions, again Champions of the American League Eastern Division, were clearly ready for another postseason. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.
* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 9-2 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Marlins went 64-98, not too bad for an expansion team. In contrast, the Mets played like an expansion team most of the season, briefly behind even their 1962 expansion pace of 120 losses, but won their last 5 to finish 59-103. Ryan Thompson and Chico Walker hit home runs for them. Dwight Gooden appeared as a pinch-hitter, and hit an RBI triple.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 7-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. It took 5 Card pitchers to finish a 7-hit shutout. But the Phillies had won the NL Eastern Division title, and would upset the Braves in the NL Championship Series, giving the team nicknamed "Macho Row" -- or, as broadcaster Harry Kalas called them, "this wacky, wonderful bunch of throwbacks" -- the Pennant. The Blue Jays beat the Phils in the World Series, in 6 games.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn did not play.
* And the California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.
I remember how people in the sports media made "what if" questions regarding the 1993 San Fran Giants. Truth to be told, if Bonds kept performing in the postseason like he always had until he starts juicing later on, I don't think they would fare any better against the Phillies that postseason than the Braves had.
ReplyDelete*I had to correct the year on my post.