1995 World Series — Indians and Braves

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The Atlanta Braves 90-54 after defeating the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in the NL Championship Series, managed by Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz, faced the Cleveland Indians 100-44 managed by Mike Hargrove and general manager John Hart.

The Braves were led by Javy Lopez .315 batting average, Fred McGriff 27 home runs, 93 run batted in, 95 runs scored, 23 year old Chipper Jones 23 HR, 86 RBI, 87 RS, and Ryan Klesko 23 HR, .310 BA.

Their pitching staff was anchored by three future Hall of Famers in Greg Maddux 19-2, 1.63 ERA, Tom Glavine 16-7, 3.08 ERA, John Smoltz 12-7, 3.18 ERA and in the bullpen Mark Wohlers 7-3, 2.09 ERA, 25 saves and Greg McMichael 7-2, 2.79 ERA.

The Indians were led by Albert Belle 50 HR, 126 RBI, .317 BA, 124 RS, Jim Thome 25 HR, 73 RBI, .314 BA, Paul Sorrento 25 HR, 79 RBI, 23 year old Manny Ramirez 31 HR, 107 RBI, .308 BA, 85 RS, 39 year old Eddie Murray 21 HR, 82 RBI, .323 BA, Kenny Lofton 52 stolen bases, .310 BA and catcher Sandy Alomar .300 BA.

The pitching staff featured 41 year old Dennis Martinez 12-5, 3.08 ERA, Charles Nagy 16-6, Orel Hershiser 16-6, Marl Clark 9-7, Chad Ogea 8-3, Ken Hill 4-1, and in the bullpen Jose Mesa 3-0 with 46 saves and a 1.13 ERA, Julian Tavarez 10-2, 2.44 ERA. Eric Plunk 6-2, 2.67 ERA and Paul Assenmacher 6-2, 2.82 ERA.

Game one took place in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with Greg Maddux starting against Orel Hershiser. In a game in which there was only five hits total, Maddux went all the way for the Braves, pitching a two hitter and with the help of two runs in the seventh inning pulled out a 3-2 win. Fred McGriff helped the Braves’ cause with home run in the second inning.

Game two was another close game with Tom Glavine for Atlanta and Dennis Martinez for Cleveland as the starters. A two run home run in the seventh inning by Javy Lopez game the Braves all the runs they needed for a 4-3 win as Mark Wohlers was on the for the save and the Braves take a two games to none lead in the series.

Game three switched to Jacobs Field in Cleveland and in contrast to the first two games the starters John Smoltz and Charles Nagy were not effective and the game was tied 6-6 after nine innings.

In the bottom of the eleventh Eddie Murray singled in Charles Baerga who had doubled for the winning run and the Indians get their first win of the series with the Braves still ahead 2 games to 1.

Fred McGriff had his second home run of the series and Ryan Klesko also had one for Atlanta.

In game four Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez both had solo home runs but that was all the runs the Indians could get and with the help of a three run seventh inning the Braves win 5-2 to take a three games to one lead over Cleveland.

Ryan Klesko had his second home run of the series and lefthander Steve Avery got the win and Pedro Borbon, Jr. got the save.

Still in Cleveland game five featured the opening game starters Maddux and Hershiser but this time Cleveland had more success against Maddux. Albert Belle had a two run home run in the first inning and Luis Polonia added a solo home run and the Indians led 5-2 going into the ninth inning.

Ryan Klesko had a two run homer in the top of the ninth to make it 5-4 but Indian closer Jose Mesa retired the side for the save with Hershiser getting the win and the Indians pull to within one game as the series is 3 games to 2.

Jim Thome’s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning proved to be the winning run.

For game six, the teams moved back to Atlanta with starters Dennis Martinez and Tom Glavine both pitching well. The only run of the game was a solo home run by David Justice in the sixth inning as Glavine allowed only one hit in eight innings for the win with Wohlers on for the save as the Braves win the game 1-0 and the World Series.

It was the Braves’ first World Series title since they won when in Milwaukee in 1957. Tom Glavine got the series MVP award and the Braves would be back the next year in the fall classic while Cleveland was back in 1996.

Baseball-reference.com was used for the statistics in this article.

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By Ron Griffitts

Contributing Columnist

Ron Griffitts a contributing columnist for the Daily Advocate.

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