Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 3, 1993 TAG: 9310030140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Goodbye to Nolan Ryan and George Brett. Farewell to Cleveland Stadium and Arlington Stadium. And so long, too, to baseball as we've known it for a quarter-century.
From now on, teams will not need to finish first to make the playoffs. As if to give fans a final reminder of what pennant races were all about, Atlanta and San Francisco are staging one of the great chases of all time.
From now on, fans will not be able to follow the races so closely on television. ESPN will cut back its schedule in half, and NBC and ABC will show regional coverage of a playoff format that includes six division champions and two wild-card teams.
At least there's no interleague play, at least not yet. There's no commissioner, either, and league presidents Bill White and Bobby Brown are leaving.
In 1993, baseball seemed to be at a crossroads, and stuck in a crossfire. Should it go forward, go back to the future or stay in the middle?
Traditionalists applauded the old-is-new concept in stadiums, started by Camden Yards and continuing in Cleveland and Texas, and the move toward old-time uniforms, which will continue next year when many teams add Sunday-only designs. In turn, they criticized the idea of splitting the leagues into three divisions and expanding the playoffs.
Modernists approved the changes, which will make the majors more like the NFL, NBA and NHL, and expansion into Florida and Colorado. They complained, however, that the game still moved too slowly, despite speedup efforts.
This year, though, all fans found something to like.
There was one more chance to hear Ryan grunt at age 46 as he fired a fastball, to see Brett hustle for a double, to watch Carlton Fisk strap on the catcher's gear. Their careers seemed to end too early, for different reasons - but when it comes to Hall of Famers, especially those we can remember so clearly in their primes, isn't that always the way?
Dave Winfield, who turns 43 today, was still going strong. He got the hit that won the World Series last year for Toronto, and got his 3,000th hit this year for Minnesota.
Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Ron Gant and David Justice were among the many stars who had monster seasons. So did Juan Gonzalez and Ken Griffey Jr., who reprised their home run derby at the All-Star game with a home run duel throughout the year. Plus, Mike Piazza and Tim Salmon proved to be among the best rookies to reach the majors in awhile.
There were special moments, too. Griffey tied a record by hitting home runs in eight straight games, the Detroit Tigers broke loose for a pair of 20-run games during five days in April and Darryl Kile and Chris Bosio pitched no-hitters.
The no-hitter by Jim Abbott, at Yankee Stadium in a pennant race, might've been the most special. Not even George Steinbrenner, who left the ballpark in the late innings because he had to catch a flight, could get in the way.
There were pennant races, four of them in September.
The Philadelphia Phillies won the NL East for the first time since 1983, becoming yet another team to complete the worst-to-first trick. The Chicago White Sox, buoyed by Bo Jackson's return with an artificial hip, won the AL West for the first time since 1983. The Toronto Blue Jays, bolstered by the additions of Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart, bid to become the first World Series champions to repeat since the 1977-78 Yankees.
Atlanta and San Francisco, meanwhile, went down to the final days - and maybe Monday night. The Braves, boasting the best rotation in years, and the Giants, backed by Bonds, were each above the 100-win mark but not ahead of each other. The Braves were bidding to become the NL's first three-time champions since the St. Louis Cardinals from 1942-44.
The New York Mets also broke the 100-mark. Torn up by poor play on the field and off-the-field legal trouble, the Mets lost more than 100 games in their most embarrassing season since they began as an expansion team in 1962.
Florida and Colorado did not finish first, but they did not finish last, either. The Rockies set baseball's attendance record by drawing more than 4.5 million in their first season and played well in the final weeks. The Marlins, loaded with young players, showed promise.
The Cleveland Indians, who have not finished within 11 games of first place since 1959, again were far off the pace. They were jolted by the boating accident in spring training that killed Steve Olin and Tim Crews and injured Bob Ojeda, and spent the season remembering the tragedy.
Next year, the Indians will move into a new ballpark, as will the Texas Rangers. Baseball, too, will move further into the future, all the while remembering its past.
by CNB