The Combatants
Atlanta was in second place at the time, but the Giants were rolling that season: 58-30 at that point.
The Giants were led by Dusty Baker and he indeed had a stout roster that included a still-young Barry Bonds (46 homers, .336 avg, 1.136 OPS), Will Clark, Robby Thompson, Matt Williams and Willie McGee on offense.
The pitching staff included Bud Black – now managing the Rockies, John Burkett (22-7), Bill Swift (21-8), and closer Rod Beck (48 saves). They were not to be trifled with.
But the Braves countered with a significant, battle-testing roster. Their lineup was nothing to sneeze at either.
The household names to Braves fans included Sid Bream, Mark Lemke, Jeff Blauser, Terry Pendleton, Ron Gant, David Justice, Deion Sanders, Ryan Klesko, Javy Lopez .. and more.
The pitching staff: Hall of Famers Greg Maddux (20-10), Tom Glavine (22-6), and John Smoltz (15-10), along with Steve Avery (18-6). Mike Stanton and Greg McMichael both closed games that year (46 combined saves) and others like Steve Bedrosian, Kent Mercker and Mark Wohlers were also there.
But there was that 9 game gap… until something changed.