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Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 93 and 92, fall heroics

By Benjamin Chase

TORONTO - OCTOBER 20: Deion Sanders #24 of the Atlanta Braves receives congratulations from teammates after scoring during Game three of the 1992 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Skydome on October 20, 1992 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays defeated the Braves 3-2. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
TORONTO - OCTOBER 20: Deion Sanders #24 of the Atlanta Braves receives congratulations from teammates after scoring during Game three of the 1992 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Skydome on October 20, 1992 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays defeated the Braves 3-2. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 29: Atlanta Braves alumni Francisco Cabrera and Sid Bream attend Alumni Weekend festivities before the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on July 29, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

The 1992 NLCS

It can be hard to remember just the amount of talent that the Pittsburgh Pirates had accumulated in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was one of the elite teams in all of baseball, with arguably the game’s best all-around player as well as excellent pieces around him in the lineup, along with a pitching staff that was among the best in the league and very deep.

The Pirates that season won 96 games. They were led by 27-year-old Barry Bonds, heading into a contract year by hitting .311/.456/.624 with 36 doubles, 5 triples, 34 home runs, and 39 stolen bases, with a 127/69 BB/K ratio. His primary support in the lineup was fellow outfielder Andy Van Slyke, who hit .324/.381/.505 with 45 doubles, 12 triples, 14 home runs, and 12 stolen bases.

The jewel of that team was its pitching, so good that future 20 game winner Denny Neagle was the team’s swingman, essentially the 7th starter. The Pirates rode the elite pitching of their ace, Doug Drabek, who won 15 games and completed 10 games, hurling 256 2/3 innings, with a 2.77 ERA and 177 strikeouts.

Only Randy Tomlin tossed 200+ innings in the Pirates rotation that season alongside Drabek, but the performance of young Tim Wakefield and veteran Danny Jackson gave the Pirates a formidable playoff rotation, and they could pick among a number of pitchers who had excellent seasons for the bullpen.

The Braves in 1992 were led again by 1991 NL MVP Terry Pendleton, who led the team with a .311/.345/.473 line, posting the top numbers on the team in runs, doubles, home runs, RBI, and batting average. The Braves got excellent work from their outfield, but the real sparkplug was young dual-sport star Deion Sanders, who played in 97 games in 1992, hitting .304/.346/.495, leading the team in OPS, with 14 triples, 8 home runs, and 26 stolen bases.

Tom Glavine broke through in 1991 with a big year, but the team truly was led by a three-headed pitching monster in 1992 as John Smoltz, Steve Avery, and Tom Glavine tallied over 700 innings among them and won a combined 46 games, completing 18 among the trio.

The Series

A very good 1992 and his dominant performance in the 1991 postseason earned John Smoltz the game 1 start, and he outdueled Pirates ace Doug Drabek 5-1, as the Braves took a 1-0 series lead. That lead would jump out to 2-0 as the Braves pounded Pittsburgh starter Danny Jackson for 13 runs in a Game 2 victory in support of Steve Avery.

The floating knuckler of Tim Wakefield left the Braves dumbfounded throughout the series, and the Pirates used a complete game from Wakefield to defeat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 in game 3. The Braves followed their playoff ace to a 3-1 series lead in game 4 with a 6-4 victory as Smoltz struck out 9 over 6 1/3 innings and even got a 2-3 performance at the plate from their hurler, including a stolen base.

At that point, the Atlanta Braves began to make plans for the World Series. They were up 3-1 with Avery and Glavine to come in the rotation, and the series would return back to Atlanta for the final two games after game 5, so even if they dropped that game, they would be in good shape.

Instead, the Pirates so thoroughly dominated the Braves in game 5 and game 6 that the general consensus among most on a national scale is that the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates were even headed into game 7.

The Final Inning

For 8 innings, the Atlanta Braves looked like they would be going home for the offseason after game 7. Going into the bottom of the 9th, the score was 2-0 Pirates, and Drabek was cruising.

The 3-4-5 of the Braves lineup was coming up, and Terry Pendleton led off the bottom of the 9th with a double down the right field line that landed him on 2nd base. A routine ground ball to typically sure-handed Jose Lind ended up turning into an error, putting David Justice at first base and Pendleton at third.

Sid Bream ended Drabek’s night by drawing a walk, loading the bases with no outs. Jim Leyland went to his closer, Stan Belinda. Belinda drew a deep fly out from Ron Gant that scored Pendleton, bringing the score to 2-1 Pirates. Damon Berryhill drew a walk from Belinda, loading the bases.

Brian Hunter came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, and he was hacking, popping up a ball behind the second base bag on an 0-1 pitch. That brought Francisco Cabrera to the plate.

Cabrera lined a 2-1 pitch to short left field, scoring Justice easily. Bream, running on bad knees, rounded third, forcing the issue on left fielder Bonds, who at that time was known to have a strong arm. His throw, however, was up the first base line, giving just enough room for Bream to slide in safely, and the Atlanta Braves to return to the World Series on one of the most memorable plays in franchise history!

Now, going backwards in the countdown but forward in the timeline, we look at the 1993 pennant race:

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