Indians Win Tony Award

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Oct. 16, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

BALTIMORE —

One Indian Summer ended abruptly Wednesday, as temperatures nose-dived about 20 degrees on the East Coast, but another Indian Summer raged on, with no apparent end in sight.

The Cleveland Indians completed a stunning run to the World Series with another we-can’t-make-this-stuff-up story line, beating the Baltimore Orioles, 1-0, in an 11-inning thriller to clinch the American League championship series, four games to two.

A Camden Yards crowd of 49,075, on their feet and roaring throughout a drama-drenched, overcast, 57-degree afternoon, fell silent when Tony Fernandez, a last-minute addition to the lineup, homered over the right-field wall with two outs in the 11th off Oriole reliever Armando Benitez.

The homer was Fernandez’s second big hit of the day. His first was a batting-practice liner that drilled teammate Bip Roberts on the left thumb and knocked the Indian second baseman out of the game--and Fernandez into it.

“I’m not even going to try to explain it anymore,” Roberts said, noting the irony of his injury and a series in which just about every fluke play and weird bounce went the Indians’ way. “I know the Lord works in mysterious ways, but today He was at an all-time high.”

In typical Indian fashion, their winning pitcher Wednesday was Brian Anderson, a reliever who was not on the team’s division series roster and was activated as an 11th pitcher for the league championship series.

Anderson, a former Angel who grew up a huge Indian fan in Geneva, Ohio, struck out two of four batters in the 10th, and closer Jose Mesa caught Roberto Alomar looking at a third strike with a runner on first in the bottom of the 11th to end the game.

“Does this even surprise you anymore?” Anderson said amid a somewhat controlled postgame celebration. “Bip takes a liner off the hand from Fernandez, Tony replaces him and hits the game-winning home run. I’m wondering, ‘What in the world am I doing in a 0-0 game in the 10th inning?’ Nothing surprises me with this team.”

So it should come as no surprise that Cleveland won Game 6 despite being thoroughly dominated for the second time this series by Oriole ace Mike Mussina, who gave up one hit and struck out 10 in eight innings.

Or that they won despite being outhit, 10-3. Or that they won a World Series berth opposite the Florida Marlins despite hitting .193 with 62 strikeouts in six games against the Orioles.

Call it fate, call it destiny, call it what you want, but the bottom line is the Indians came through in clutch situations time after time, winning all four league championship series games--and two of three in the division series over the New York Yankees--by one run.

“Man, my hair is falling off,” Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel said. “This has been an unbelievable series. I’m getting tired of suffering. Every game has come down to one pitch, one play, one hit.”

Added designated hitter David Justice: “I swear, I’ve got to be about 47 years old right now.”

Cleveland starter Charles Nagy fought off early control problems to throw 7 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up nine hits, but he said it was “easier pitching in that game than sitting on the bench for the last three innings.”

While some teammates prayed in the dugout during the tense 11th inning, Roberts resorted to an unprecedented stress-reducer.

“I have never in my life smoked a cigarette, but I smoked one in the 11th inning--all of it,” Roberts said. “It was the nerves, man. I’ll probably never do that again.”

Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove also had a smoke, but his was a big fat victory cigar, one that was well-deserved. It was Hargrove who called a rare defensive play in the seventh inning that helped thwart a Baltimore rally.

The Orioles, who went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the seventh when Mike Bordick and Brady Anderson singled. Alomar dropped a bunt to third, but the Indians put on the “wheel” play, where third baseman Matt Williams charges and Vizquel covers third.

Williams fielded the bunt and threw to third in time to force Bordick, and Nagy got Geronimo Berroa to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

“That’s only the second time this year we’ve even used that play,” Vizquel said. “Whoever called that did a great job.”

The Indians had only five baserunners when Fernandez went up against Benitez in the 11th. Benitez, who gave up a game-winning homer to series most valuable player Marquis Grissom in Game 2 and a game-winning RBI single to Sandy Alomar in Game 4, threw a 2-0 split-finger fastball that Fernandez hit over the wall.

“As a little kid you see yourself winning a big game with a home run,” Fernandez said. “Gosh, what a feeling!

“I don’t believe in destiny, but I believe the Lord wanted me to be in the game for some reason.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Baltimore vs. Cleveland

(Indians win series, 4-2)

Game 1: Baltimore 3, Cleveland 0

Game 2: Cleveland 5, Baltimore 4

Game 3: Cleveland 2, Baltimore 1 (12)

Game 4: Cleveland 8, Baltimore 7

Game 5: Blatimore 4, Cleveland 2

Game 6: Cleveland 1, Baltimore 0 (11)