Home > Furman Bisher > Archives > 2008 > June > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBraves vs. Jays evokes ‘92 Series
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Where were you? Has it slipped your mind? Have you been snoring away, Mr. Van Winkle?
It was only 16 years ago. “Only,” you say. Let’s see, Jair Jurrjens was 6 years old, Dustin McGowan was 10 at the time, just a pair of kids. Friday night they were the starters in the Skydome. Oops, even the name has been changed. Rogers Centre. A broadcasting powerhouse bought the rights and changed it, as if you could improve on Skydome. It’s a hotel with a built-in stadium, darnedest playroom you ever saw.
But, I was taking you back to 1992. That was an historical year in major league baseball, two teams crossing an international border to play a World Series for the first time. Major League Baseball made quite a production of it and regaled it with a publication titled “A Series for the World.” A bit of a stretch, perhaps, since crossing that border for years has been little more than crossing from Georgia into Florida. So the stage was set, the Braves would invade Canada to play the Blue Jays, the USA vs. Canada for the World Championship, as we ordain it.
Now the invasion takes place again, another coincidence brought to you by interleague scheduling. Here’s the weird part: The managers who managed the two teams in 1992 are managing the two teams today. Bobby Cox, of course, has never been away. Cito Gaston, well, that’s a different story. After he was fired, the Blue Jays invoked the “revolving door policy,” a half-dozen managers came and went. When John Gibbons was fired a few days ago, somebody said, “Hey, what about Cito Gaston? He was pretty good, wasn’t he?”
Good enough to win two World Series. So they brought him back, a good-natured, common-sense fellow who knew how to run a baseball club. What he has been doing since he was fired, I can’t say. He had no official listing in the baseball operation. In fact, about the only familiar name you find there is the team physician, Dr. Ron Taylor. He pitched 10 seasons in the major leagues, working on his medical degree in between and found a steady job in a familiar scene.
Cox does have some past history in Toronto, in between his tours with the Braves. (Strange, how these managers get fired and re-hired, isn’t it?) He managed the Blue Jays when they played in old Exhibition Park and made the playoffs one year before Ted Turner summoned him home.
It’s custom now, major league teams crossing international borders. We’ve even opened a season in Japan, nothing steady, just a hot date. The World Series of ‘92 opened peculiarly. The Braves faced the same starting pitcher they’d faced in the first game against Minnesota the year before, Jack Morris. This time, with Tom Glavine pitching, they beat him in old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, 3-1. All three runs came on one swing, a home run by Damon Berryhill, the catcher filling for the wounded Greg Olson. Perhaps giddiness took hold. For once, the Braves led in a World Series. It didn’t last long, The Blue Jays took a 3-1 lead and closed it out in six games against Charlie Leibrandt. Believe it or not, leading batsman in the Series was Deion Sanders.
Oh, how time flies. Seems only 16 years ago. Most of today’s players were kids. Chipper Jones hadn’t even reached town yet. Glavine and Smoltz are still around, but the curtain’s about to drop. Over in the corner of the two dugouts, though, there they stand, Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston. Back at it again.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB
Services »
Comments
By Jim
June 28, 2008 6:19 PM | Link to this
Furman, Great memories.
By Bryan G.
June 28, 2008 8:07 PM | Link to this
“For once, the Braves lead in a World Series.”
You mean kind of like how they lead 3 games to 2 in the 1991 series? Come on, Furman, you’re better than that.
By WIN ONE FOR BOBBY
June 28, 2008 8:22 PM | Link to this
the most vivid memory i have of the series was otis bunting to close it out, even though it was a good thought, i remember being upset at him. I miss those days.
By Coach (Put up, shut up, do or die)
June 28, 2008 8:45 PM | Link to this
Cito Gaston was originally hired in 1982 by Bobby Cox to be the Blue Jays pitching coach. Cox left Toronto after the 1985 season to become the MG in Atlanta while Gaston stayed on in Toronto and eventually became the manager in 1989.
Gaston of course, beat Bobby Cox and the Braves in the 1992 World Series. The Blue Jays then repeated the feat in 1993 winning back to back Championships.
It’s hard to comprehend how Gaston could have two World Championships when Bobby Cox only has one.
By Proud dawg
June 28, 2008 11:04 PM | Link to this
I must again reiterate my previous point… Florida 2, NY Yankees 4, Toronto 2… and Atlanta 1… yet we still have the same manager!
By Will
June 29, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
Two Words: Ed Sprague! That was sickening
By Larry
June 29, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this
Truly sad, isn’ it? We’ve had to endure all these years with the worst post season manager in big league history who despite all that talent given to him all those years sports a horrifiv 1-14 record in the last game of the post season (including his final loss with Toronto).
Had Mr. Glavine not pitched that 1-0 shut our against the Indians old Boobie Kooks would be a perfect 0-15!
By Robert
June 29, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
Its amazing that the old man doesn’t care for interleague play - yet it supplies him with two columns for one series.
One column he blasts the AL vs. NL - the second he waxes poetic about a series 16 years ago. Without this series - would he have remembered such a tale?
Just because things happened 50 years ago - doesn’t make them better. Without ‘progress’, we wouldn’t even have this newfangled dubya dubya dubya thing. Without progress - Tiger Woods wouldn’t be able to play the game on the same course as ‘whitey’. Without progress - expansion would have never found its way in baseball - the Mets in 62 - the Jays in ‘77 - heck last years World Series participants the Rockies in 93.
By Ronald Millsaps
June 29, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this
I’m sick and tired of watching this team lose to the American League. Announcers were talking recently about a great series the Braves played against the Mariners in 2003…but the Mariners won. Sure seems to be a trend.
There seems to be a certain passivity about this team, as it seems to wait for other teams to dictate tempo.
To clarify something from my first paragraph, I refuse to recognize the Twins as being the world champions in 1991, as their cheating in that series has been exposed. (If you don’t play on a level playing field, a “win” warrants quotation marks, one of baseball’s MANY asterisks recently.)
Bobby’s a great manager, but he needs to junk this American League style of play, as he seems to wait for the three-run homer all the time. Today, for example, Brian McCann is up with two on and no outs, and he hits into a double play. Double plays are a huge factor in this team’s less-than-MEDIOCRE performance so far. (We hear a lot about how “terrible” interceptions are in the NFL. Not really. If you get picked off downfield, with the other team starting 45 yards away from the previous line of scrimmage, that’s equal to a good punt.) Double plays, on the other hand, are lethal, and why, why, why, does Bobby NEVER attempt a double steal? To anyone who thinks, “You don’t want to make the first out at third base.”, that scenario doesn’t apply here. This team needs to play better A-B-C baseball instead of trying to play H-R baseball.
I’m tired of the lack of aggression, and I’m tired of seeing Francoeur up there with an egotistical approach to his at-bats. I’m tired of Bobby’s approach offensively, which seems to ask the offense provide three runs and for the pitching and defense to do the rest.
I’m tired of Manny Acosta’s seeming to be flippant. I’m tired of Jeff Bennett’s poor pitching lately. While I commend Bobby for being patient, I’m tired of his doing so when he shouldn’t be (Kelly Johnson leading off for 25% of the season when he proved a year ago that he’s better lower in the order—-and why, when Johnson’s average is around .377 in the seventh or eighth spot is he simply not used there?). I’m tired of Tim Hudson being erratic just enough to be less than a true ace. (I don’t know how much water he drinks, but if he meets the RDA, he should be fine in the heat, by the way.)
McCann should have bunted Johnson and Teixeira over, or the two should’ve tried a double steal. In either event, no pressure was put on the defense, as it seldom is. This team USED to play National League-style baseball, by guys who knew how to play it (Mark Lemke, Jeff Blauser, Rafael Belliard…not guys who went up there trying to be a hero and wanting to re-live their days at Parkview with each swing.)
That statement, by the way, doesn’t just apply to Francoeur, and Greg Norton might want to accelerate when attempting a questionable double.
Even Pete Van Wieren has made a few errors lately. He’s an amazing announcer, but he has made a few slight mistakes (he gave the Phillies score Friday night at one point but didn’t say who was leading, for example), and he, for some reason, keeps saying Reyes was “outpitched” in Milwaukee; no, he wasn’t. The Milwaukee pitcher faced an easier offense to get out.
Thankfully, things are nowhere nearly as bad as they were in 2006, and there’s no question that there’s plenty of time to right the ship, but this team needs better chemistry. It needs a better approach. This individualized offense more than has to go.
As for the 1992 World Series, Deion hit what might’ve been a triple or even more, but a fan interfered with the ball to make it a ground-rule double. Lonnie Smith followed with a grand slam. In Game Six, down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Otis Nixon was behind, 0-2, with two outs (one strike away from losing the World Series), and he singled in Jeff Blauser on the next pitch. Pandemonium.
By indybravefan
June 29, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this
Cox does have some past history in Toronto,
Anyone else find this comment to be redundant? Past history? Isn’t history always in the past?
Almost as good as my personal opinion…redundant as well…an opinion is just that…personal. No need to tell me twice about your opinion on the history of the Braves series in Toronto. We can daydream of the past…
By Furhman Bisher
June 29, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this
In ‘92 I was only eighty-seven! I could still turn myself over in the bed! Somebody help me sop up all of this urine!
By Navigator
June 29, 2008 10:16 PM | Link to this
Yeah Furman, this reminded me of the World series. We lost both series, and the wheel goes around.
By Gene
June 29, 2008 10:37 PM | Link to this
The ‘91 series remain pure magic to me along with the ‘96 Olympics. I still think the Braves should have won in ‘91, and would have had the Twins not reversed the air conditioner blowers for Pucket’s cheap HR. I thought that Toronto was better in ‘92 and deserved to win. I also think that those fans who are critical of Bobby Cox were not present in the 60’s, 70’s, or 80’s. He does pretty well with what he has.
By Gene
June 29, 2008 10:41 PM | Link to this
Whoops, I left the s off of remain in my comment above. Things like that happen when you get old. My apologies to the grammarian, who, by the way, is correct.
By Ralph
June 29, 2008 11:46 PM | Link to this
There nothing complicated about the Braves season, they are just losing way to many 1 run games, putting them on the record book, being the only team in history, with the most 1 run loses, in the history of baseball. At present there is no Atlanta Braves team, only a group of men, playing like losers. They lack the inspiration to be winners. If I was a Braves player, I would go on the disable list for most of the season, I would be shame to play for a team, that setting all the wrong records. Spring training was to practice all the elementary steps of baseball, the 1,2,3, principals’ for a team to be a winner. First, Francoeur, has 322 at bat, striking out 59 times, - B. Jones in 54 at bat has struck out 16 times, - C. Miller, 40 at bats struck out 10 times, Francoeur’s head is so screw up, right now that the only thing that would help him, is to go to their minor league camp and, work with someone who really knows hitting, Pendleton has mess up enough young hitters. What is sad about the Braves, is that they keep making the same mistakes, games after games, one wonders if the manager is asleep, or if the Braves really have a manager, who keeping up with the games, they haven’t learn from their mistakes. It’s ridicules, that half way through the season the Braves, haven’t improve, and are still stagnated, without, caring about where they are at or how they play. Cox’s explanation, after the season is over and they end up in fifth place, “we gave it everything we had, it just wasn’t meant to be this year.”
By UGA'91
June 30, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this
The old coot is slipping isn’t he?
By Jacob
July 1, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
Wow, Thanks for depressing me. I remember Game 2 when Damon Berryhill put us ahead and Jeff Reardon blew it as I was driving home from the bar. I have said it before: I’ll buy the bus ticket if we can get Cox out of here. The only thing he is good at is leading the league in “nose-picking caught on camera”.