MLB Network Baseball Seasons 1995

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to baseball's seasons 1995 baseball returns it stood against everything else the sports world and baseball in particular had been feeding the country the simplest of ethics a man goes to work every day and works as hard as he can and how well this man did it how long he did it and how he went about it just may have saved the game [Music] people that are going out there and working everyday can relate to count those that are wondering if baseball is out there you just give us baseball we all respected calorie I'll respect what he was as a player where he brought to the ballpark every day the respect that he had for the game and that people had for him and how he handled himself I mean he couldn't help but root for this guy when you treat it as gently as Cal Ripken has treated it for his entire career to appreciate the game he embodied what a lot of people felt when they came to the baseball field work ethic desire stick-to-itiveness and he certainly is what baseball can thank for the repair job of really what was a devastation on the field of dreams a giant anticlimactic oh there is no joy in Mudville tonight or anywhere else baseball the first time since 1904 a baseball season concludes we it is over no postseason games no World Series forced into the situation and we're gonna stick with our decisions thought we left the door open I thought we're making some progress and talking about some real issues I don't know what I think you know it's very easy for fans to be frustrated we're frustrated the low point for the strike obviously was one of the World Series got cancelled for all of us in baseball the players included we just we didn't know what was gonna happen beyond that all I can say to all of you in the end is I'm really sorry I wish this day obviously had never happened it's a sad day for certainly all the players for all baseball fans and we just have to try and find a way to get this put back together as soon as we can early on people would pick sides it's the owners fault it's the players fault but when the World Series was canceled people were really angry I think basically that the fans have been shortchanged I think they're just being selfish between the two of them the World Series was just one casualty of baseball's 1994 strike the stoppage also cut short a year of potentially record-breaking performances [Music] [Applause] [Music] so they grizzly hitting up into the 390 it dragged on through the fall the winter and early spring but after 232 days just as replacement players prepared for opening day there was a breakthrough good evening the clubs are delighted to announce we have accepted the union's unconditional offer to return to work I was proud that we were back but I knew that we needed to restore confidence amongst our fans and make sure that people understood this was permanent the players are back the game is back and we are very happy about that a 144 games season was hastily scheduled baseball in 1995 would begin at the end of April following an abbreviated and delayed spring training gone into spring training we only had a very limited amount of time I think it was ten days to two weeks to actually get started for the 95 season as players work their way into shape there was a flurry of foot office activity the new faces in new places included Slugger Larry Walker in Colorado and closer John wetland joining the Yankees in New York everything that you work for last year and all the time and dedication things are going our way kind of gets erased and you got to start all the way over it's kind of like being ahead of the race for 2/3 of it and say oh I'll get a false start just as eager to restart with the Cleveland Indians a team with an explosive young offense that had begun to come of age in 94 don't get scared now the party is just beginning it's nice to be out of the negotiating rooms and to be on the field and hopefully we'll be here for a long time after three straight division titles but no World Series championship to show for it the pitching rich Atlanta Braves had ended 1984 in second this team had come so close that you know everybody's goal here was you know to go the World Series and win [Music] their strike three as long as baseball's play as long as we don't mess with the integrity of it and changed too many rules the game itself always wins out we the players were happy to be back on the field and playing there was some sense of normalcy for us but there wasn't a sense of normalcy for the fans [Music] on April 25th 1995 Major League Baseball made its belated return to stadiums across the country the delayed start kept some fans away but the ones who came were rewarded with a simple but familiar sense of opening day nowhere more so than Colorado where the two-year-old Rockies were opening brand-new course after the pageantry was complete the Rockies and Mets engaged in something already familiar to fans in Colorado a mile-high seesaw shootout featuring 33 combined hits and extending into extra innings to the fourteenth forty three players have been used woman would have the final word Dante Bichette for five you know I was just trying to lock in and just trying to zero in on getting a good pitch to hit he seems like he's trying to the ballpark that's why I went to play before I went to the plate for one thing and that was to hit home run and win that game [Applause] and it was such a relief and just such a pump when I hit that thing I just had to clench my fist I was really excited about the hit this shat was one of a host of big bats in the Rockies lineup as was newcomer Larry Walker eager to test the limits of the Rockies new ballpark look like a fool now Euler add in Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga and the Rockies at an altitude friendly lineup that would keep them in contention all year long [Applause] [Music] [Applause] but there was no team in baseball with a more dangerous collection of hitters than the Indians in fact top to bottom Cleveland's lineup was one of the best of its generation you look at the Cleveland Indians lineup it and it was an all-star lineup you have to look with a microscope for the flaws in this Indians team and that lab beats its what most is when you say you can run but you can't hide because those guys with that goo the 7th 8th and 9th hitters in this lineup have numbers comparable to the heart of the order for lesser teams my attribute so much of the success we had to the great players that we had with all of those great players there is a story behind all of them that story started at the top of the order with Kenny Lofton a versatile table setter who had led the league in stolen bases its first three years in Cleveland and who kept the mood light with a unique brand of humor why Ploen wipe off following lost and in that lineup was a modern-day murderers row 95 Indians could have been compared to the 27 Yankees the offensive ability of that Club anchored by Albert Bell how hot is he wishes up and down that lineup that you saw these players bail was one of several homegrown Cleveland products in the lineup and he was supported by emerging stars Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez [Applause] the explosion of office that had begun in 1994 was one thing the strike could not halt and with the most powerful attack in baseball the Indians raced off to a 33 and 11 start and a big lead in their division only one other team that soon became apparent might be able to challenge Cleveland for the title of best team in baseball this squad however was winning in completely the opposite way [Music] early on in the 1995 baseball season there was no question the game's offensive explosion was here to stay [Applause] never was this more evident than on Saturday May 6th when more total runs were scored in the nationally than any previous day in history [Applause] it seemed like on any given night something new could happen at the plate and more Grand Slams would be it in 95 and any season before [Music] still though in one place the rallying calls were coming a great kitchen well I think what made us so dominant in 1995 was a combination of pitching hitting and defense but the pitching was fantastic we all pitched everybody strikes outside we had the ability to to throw four and five guys out there every single night that gave us a chance to win the Braves starters are all interchangeable and that they could all be number one starters on any given day when you go to Atlanta you knew that that staff was probably one of the most efficient the Braves rotation was tremendous there was the craftiness of Tom Glavine the power of John Smoltz and Stevie agree and the otherworldly list of greg maddux thing about Greg Maddux in 1995 he never made a bad pitch not one that's why he's the best pitcher in the game there's no way to describe it you get in the groove you get on a roll and you just keep going the challenge of hitting a guy like that it's uh I mean he could put the ball exactly where he wanted to put it he wants it outside let's see where Maddux pitches [Applause] as the rest of the lead put up startling hitting numbers the Braves were a team from another era hungry to earn one missing item on their resume they've won four division championships there's only one other thing to do get to the World Series in women while those four big names resided in Atlanta there were a handful of other pitchers making an impact in 95 including two formidable brothers from the Dominican Republic [Music] [Applause] back east Ramon's younger brother Pedro was a bright spot for the expose never more so than on June 3rd when he took a perfect game into extra innings Pedro was pitching against the San Diego Padres and it was quite obvious from the beginning in the game he was gonna be difficult to deal with [Applause] Pedro got to the ten thing with the no-hitter intact and give up a hit the prophets leading off the inning robbers [Applause] you could see he was becoming more and more valuable with each start but the pitcher receiving the most attention in 1995 wasn't just striking out hitters he was assuring in a new era in the game what you to learn how to say this say I bleed B Dodger blew through the Deo Nomo may have been a quick learner but his unique style was giving hitters fits around the lead he had just a very much different rhythm than other pitchers he comes up like this he puts his hands and stopped straight right here so he shows us hold back the hitter that's the toughest thing about him I think [Music] [Applause] at the all-star break leading the league in strikeouts with a 1.99 ara no mo as the team's most talked-about Claire and the NL starter in the Midsummer Classic less than four months removed from the bigoted lines the games players were front and center in its recovery the cool stars like Frank Thomas the White Sox slugger and two-time defending Most Valuable Player and Mo Vaughn the Red Sox first baseman who was putting together his own case for MVP in Boston services oh and then there was the shortstop in Baltimore taking minimal swings and batting practice we've been serving my energy who simply by taking the field was bringing fans back to baseball one game at a time [Music] as the summer of 1995 continued to unfold the focus tightened on the standings as we got into the season and talked became less and less about what happened and and what led up to this and and how would a shortened season be viewed by the fans and by history and it became more and more about what was going on in baseball what were dependent race is shaping up to be they were shaping up well for Glavine his Braves who had taken over the NL East lead in early July then we're showing no signs of looking back meanwhile the talk of the American League was still Cleveland as the Indians continued to pile up runs and wins [Applause] there were others enjoying their summers as well like movin and the Sox who used the 12 game win streak in August to pull away in the East in 95 it was good chemistry before you know we were know from last the first by Labor Day the Reds had established control of their division led by MVP candidate Barry Larkin one of the best all-around players in the game he wasn't flashy Larkins gonna try to gun you didn't have any gimmicks there goes Larkin [Applause] you just came out and he played baseball hard another notable development of 95 was that players and teams outside of first place were also playing hard thanks to a controversial change in the playoff format we kept expanding and we just couldn't have a format in which only the division winners won and so we needed to create a situation where we had additional teams in the playoffs in 94 baseball's realignment had created three divisions in each league the winner of each division would advance to the playoffs of the remaining teams the one with the best record in each league would win the wildcard and make the postseason it was a format that would inevitably offend baseball purists when I first heard that Major League Baseball was going to the wild-card system I saw think myself ok I guess Satan is alive I was offended because the great thing about baseball oh he just blows him away the element that separates us from all other sports we have to play a hundred and sixty-two games and if that doesn't determine who's the best team and who ought to go to the World Series nothing ought to that's how I felt at first but as I began to see the impact that it had on the number of community [Applause] and fanbase in a number of all the clubs where they were just sort of battling to get into playoffs they kept their enthusiasm in their communities the players continue to play hard and it began to show its value that value was apparent all over baseball in late May the Seattle Mariners had lost Ken Griffey junior to a broken wrist but with the wild card in play they were able to tread water behind the angels in August we were quite a ways back from the Angels that year but we still had a chance because of the wild card and it was really the first time in Mariner history where as a front office had a chance to make a few moves to help the club as opposed to try to offload players one of the key acquisitions was speedster Vince Coleman acquired from the Kansas City Royals was like being a rebirth for me again because once I got there with Edgar Martinez and Patino Martinez and finger for junior and we started winning ball game after ball game [Applause] you really gave it incentive to all these other teams that were on prior years had no shot of making it into the postseason but now they have really something to play for in New York there was plenty to play for the Yankees were desperate to get the ailing an aging captain Don Mattingly to the playoffs for the first time in his career and in late July of game below 500 the team got 94 siyoung winner David Cone from Toronto to bolster their rotation [Applause] excitement the enthusiasm how ready and hungry that Yankee fans were for postseason baseball again from there it just only grew as the summer came to a close a dozen teams had shots at the wild-card and teams like the Rockies making a bid for the postseason and just their third year in existence had a cushion as they tried to hold off LA in the NL West [Music] but as labor day back in the spotlight of the game shifted away from the standings to the record book and the enduring star about to make history in Baltimore it was a journey that had begun on May 30th 1982 13 years later it was coming to a climax in baseball timing is integral and as the summer of 95 continued it was clear Cal Ripken had perfect timing I wanted to get used to playing every day used to playing in front of 52,000 people the the big stadium he had been Rookie of the Year in 82 and then MVP and a World Series champion in 83 [Applause] and over the next decade plus Ripken wasn't just gonna baseball the best players he became its modern-day Ironman never ever missing a game he's a regular guy and he believed in this good old-fashioned work ethic that I'm supposed to do something so that's what I'm gonna do now it's a landmark for Cal Ripken jr. he reaches number 1500 in his consecutive game streak it's just the 94 strike had pushed back when Ripken would break Lou Gehrig's all-time record just when fans were searching for a reconnection to the game the love of the game was kind of broken between players and fans and I felt that from early on the fans were looking or searching for something to tie them to baseball that kind of goes back when it was just pure in when it was a game and I think the streak started to represent that [Music] [Music] more Cal Ripken's here oh oh that's exactly right it's great what he's doing it's never gonna be broken ever again it's just great for me as a kid Cal Ripken was everything he could do it all I loved watching him play and watching him play every single day every single inning almost every day was pretty incredible on September 5th Ripken pulled even with Garrett with a dramatic burst of power [Applause] after 2130 I November going bed that night it was very late and I was thinking okay tomorrow will come and there was a sense of relief that it would the record that everyone thought would forever stand will be broken 56 years after lou gehrig senate tendon yards filled up early everyone had seen wanted to pay tribute to Rifkin he's a guy who just showed up and gave a hundred percent every single day for years and years and years he was baseball's everyman he knew what was at stake but you had no idea of how that was all gonna play out I think that's one of the greatest things about sports the magic began in the fourth when Ripken again punctuated the festivities [Applause] it was a blast into the Baltimore night and by now the amazing was almost expected [Applause] once it got to that point they drop the banner and I remember coming out acknowledging the fans and they just kept climbing and I do remember Rafael Palmeiro's saying you have to take a lap around this field or we won't be able to get our game started again so I started to run down and shake hands really fast and then I realized that there was a real beauty in this interaction [Music] that 20-minute victory level which by the way I think helped Milt because there's no reason to stay out there 20 minutes I was tired standing up for 20 minutes Junior you got your play it was all good but the idea of that special interaction between Cal and fans and that outpouring of emotion it was awesome [Applause] years like this again I know that if Lou Gehrig is looking down on tonight's activities he isn't concerned about someone playing one more consecutive game than he did instead he's viewing tonight as just another example of what is good and right about the great American game [Applause] had gone to work for 2131 consecutive days but more games were ahead for the excitement of 1995 was just beginning by the time the cheers finally died down for Cal Ripken baseball's first-ever playoff race and the wild card era had taken center stage some teams were coasting into the playoffs like the Braves led by Greg Maddux enroute to his fourth straight SCI Young Award [Music] he is the best by season's end Maddox would have 19 wins and a miniscule 1.63 tra you look back and see what his numbers were and you see that he was able to win 19 games and a shortened season he knows how many games he would have won [Applause] meanwhile the Reds captured the NL Central with Barry Larkin finishing up his virtuoso campaign and earning MVP honors I had a great offensive year a great defensive year stolen bases was on face in line I score 117 runs it brings everything to the table it was a great season for the team who did make it to the playoffs and that's what you play the game for Larkins AL MVP counterpart was Mo Vaughn who led Boston to the AL East crown [Applause] it's one MVP a year was tremendous I always remember on 1995 but the unquestionable class of the American League was Cleveland [Applause] and as that magical season continued they were individual milestones in Cleveland as well [Applause] Albert fell 50 homers 50 doubles no player has ever done that with 100 wins in the shortened season the incredible intense became the fastest team ever to clinch [Applause] not every team that got to the postseason coasted in and the racist were all the more complex with the wild card now in play in the NL West the Rockies Homer happy lineup couldn't stave off had a Oh Nomo and the surging Dodgers [Applause] [Music] but thanks to baseball's new playoff format the Rockies would make the postseason [Applause] even more drama though was transpiring in the AL thanks to a team that baseball had seemingly forgotten about we had just lost a vote to get a new stadium and to keep the Mariners in town and so we're on the brink of maybe moving to Tampa Bay so I knew the fans were behind us but we had to figure out a way to help save them for a team that had only finished above 500 twice in their history Ken griffeys returned spearheaded their simple mission win August 24th 1995 began the turnaround junior put this swing on a pitch from John wetland [Applause] now I'm telling you the Kingdome just erupted as did the mariners who began winning ball games and creeping up on the first-place angels [Music] but with the wild card anybody the race had added intrigue as back east Cohn Mattingly and the Yankees had caught fire as well we just caught a great streak up at the last you know the last month of the season we have some tough games that we want a lot of confidence of our group after 144 games on the last day of the season the Aggies became the first American League wildcard earning their captain his first playoff appearance finally going to the postseason it would take one more game though to determine how the West would be one with the Mariners and Angels deadlock a one-game playoff would be held Randy Johnson took bail on three days rest but arm fatigue clearly wasn't a concern [Applause] those ballgame one-nothing lead going to the bottom of the seventh inning base ceremony and here comes Louis Soho here comes Tino here comes joy [Music] here comes Soho Soho is still running the Mariners built a 9 to 1 lead and with two outs in the ninth Randy Johnson was one pitch away from capturing the AL West title [Applause] postseason play first time for the division series as the first baseball postseason in two years began the creation of the wild card meant three rounds of play with the opening series of best of five best of five is one of the toughest series to win because you know any team can match up with you know best of five I was a big opponent of the wild card whether you agree with the wild card or not you can always find beneficiaries that's nice to see Don Mattingly get his chance he's been a great player it's been a tremendous relief for me you know personally to get in to get rid of that asterisk that seems like it's always he put my name is Don Mattingly's first postseason experience as a Yankee after all those great years I remember him running out getting a thunderous standing ovation about 23 [Applause] Mattingly's first post-season was also the Yankees first in 14 years and for their opponent their first ever in franchise history Mariners did everything they could to get to the playoffs they had to use Randy Johnson in that one game playoff so the Big Unit was out without the Big Unit the Mariners relied on their biggest bag the elite players got an unbelievable way of when a game gets going even in pressure pack situations they can bring the game to them and junior did it it seemed like every game despite juniors two home runs the Yankees took Game one you always like to obsession if I came scenario they'll get the first on your belt but you know long ago the next night after waiting is an entire career for a chance to play in the postseason Mattingly took matters into his own hands [Applause] regular-season game game-2 was a classic back-and-forth battle setting the tone for one of the most memorable Series in playoff history 12th inning junior hits a home run of the 12th inning Ruben Ceri hits a double Bernie Williams tries to stay 21 and we go to the 15th anymore went up step Yankee catcher Jim Leyritz establishing his clutch playoff credentials with one swing of the bat [Applause] [Applause] spoken you fight so hard through an entire season and all the great things that happen and all sudden you're not gonna win a playoff game that is a long flight home and there forget getting on the plane Lou Pinella - you know what Rick we're gonna win this thing please we gotta win tonight and not worry about tomorrow we gotta win tonight to go to the big guy Randy Johnson to keep him alive and in Game three the Big Unit took the mountain to save Seattle season once again it seems like Randy Johnson has always been able to rise to the occasion [Applause] Johnson struck out 10 Yankees in seven innings before the Mariners bullpen finished the jobs now it's 2-1 and then I'll send you like hey you never know what can happen and in game for the Mariners pull even I could still see the plight of the ball [Applause] and that white ball to swim into that blue tarp [Applause] which sent a ripple of emotion throughout the kingdom that went just absolutely nuts [Music] [Applause] and then game 5-5 the Northwest has never ever seen anything like this as dramatic a game has it ever been played game 5 is burned into every Mariners fans memory in the finale the biggest names once again turned in the greatest performances who hid for 17 in the series deliberative go ahead double late but then Griffith ignited a game-tying rally with his fifth homer of the series then came Johnson out of the bullpen on a days rest to snuff out the Yankees but the Big Unit wasn't invincible and the Yanks got to one an Extra Innings the 1995 landers though were never a team to go quietly as long as they had outs they had life [Applause] and the bladed Junior [Applause] origin [Applause] [Music] crazy Kingdom this has been a series that Mariner fans are going to be talking about for the ages that's when baseball was born here people write me letters and let me know where they were at that particular moment it's like your first love something you will never forget I remember watching June around second base he wouldn't stop him for nothing he's just running like deer he's just bouncing he's not really touching the ground and then to watch him and get absolutely smothered on the bottom of the pile and see this head pop out with this smile from ear to ear was the greatest feeling I ever had that was the hit the run the game and the season that saved baseball in Seattle without that dramatic run without the emotion behind it his team would have moved to Tampa nobody wanted to leave everybody was kissing and hug and nobody wanted to leave the ballpark the pure joy the pure emotion of the Mariners and the fans it was just unbelievable as the 95 playoffs continued drama gave way to dominance as the Indians did away with the exhausted Mariners in the ALCS [Applause] the Braves also allowing the Reds only five runs in a four-game sweep at the LCS but that bitching had brought no titles to Atlanta and not for lack of opportunity the Atlanta Braves Latino that's in the World Series for the third time in the last five seasons they had been knocking on the door there for a few years and really needed to win to show that they weren't the team that could get there but not win when it came to be choke teams the Atlanta Braves wore the Brooklyn Dodgers they couldn't win the big one in their way the Indians offensive juggernaut standing in stark contrast at the Braves pitching machine he started to break down the series it was gonna become could we handle their offense would that old adage of good pitching beats good hitting come true the Braves a saw furred his own answer to the question in Game one and it's grounded to short soft grounded to short it's chopped toward the middle the Indians have yet to hit a ball out of the infield to have a guy almost like Albert Einstein in terms of his brilliance in terms of his pitching strategies it was remarkable nobody in baseball can carve up a lineup like Greg Maddux inside corner corner Pizza Clinic Maddox went the distance holding the Indians to just two heads [Music] [Applause] in game 2 Tom Glavine matched Maddux quieting the Cleveland offense for a second straight game the Indians were now hitting just 125 in the World Series putting themselves in a very difficult position that adage about good pitching stopping good hitting has never been truer than in this postseason you know obviously it's the best position we could possibly be in and now it's just up to us to take advantage of it but as the series went to Cleveland the slumbering bats were quickly aroused that Jacobs field [Applause] the Indians took 203 in Cleveland but still the Braves were headed home with the three games to tune a win away from a championship they are mindful that this thing is far from over and the Cleveland at Jacobs Field tonight Atlanta Braves trying to finally win the championship that has barely eluded their grasp our club had come so close to becoming world champions in 91 and 92 that these veterans on this club and especially Tommy in that game we're not going to be beaten are cheering Tom Glavine imploring him to deliver this team's first World Series title [Music] he was a master at zoning in and that's what he did he locked in on the strike zone [Applause] Game six it's the best game that I've ever pitched that's the kind of game that you look back on as a pitcher and you'd feel good about it had I pitched it in July let alone in the sixth game of the World Series Glavine is working on a masterpiece for the Braves one of the great performances that we'll see in the World Series game [Applause] I knew that I wasn't gonna give up many runs and kind of urged my teammates to get me a run fortunately Dave adjusted listen just a little bit of breathing room sometimes that's all you need tommy glavine said i'm going to show you the kind of bulldog competitor that i am and he absolutely shut down but in the end [Applause] this organization was built on pitching and a one-day nothing victory got us our World Series win [Applause] so many things flashed through your mind the missed opportunities we had in previous World Series to strike the bitterness to now here we were in World Series champions it was just an overwhelming feeling for a single moment for a single day for a single year we felt like we're on top of the world [Applause] [Music] for the Atlanta Braves 1995 was their fourth consecutive trip to the postseason the streak would eventually reach 14 before ending in 2006 however 1995 would remain their only World Championship the Cleveland Indians also saw continued success reaching the world series again in 97 but they fell to the Florida Marlins and seven games as of 2009 Cleveland has now gone 60 years without a world title meanwhile after their dramatic series both the Yankees and Mariners would enjoy more success Joe Torre took over as Yankee manager in 1996 and the next Yankee dynasty was born New York would win four of the next five World Series the Seattle Mariners miracle run in 95 paved the way for construction of a new state-of-the-art ballpark in at the Mariners on-field success continued culminating in a record-setting 116 win season in the 2001 then there was Cal Ripken juniors Street which would continue until September 20th 1998 but at 2632 games he decided it was time for a day off if the Yankees were the first ones to kind of realize that I wasn't in the field they all gave me a standing ovation which started this trickle effect around the whole state still gives me goosebumps when I think about it three years earlier Ripken had erased the bitterness of the strike by simply coming to work by the time Ken griffeys littleman said that bitterness was all but gone in 1995 baseball came back from the break and that was the biggest triumph of all

Channel: BashBrothersVideos

Views: 21,364

Rating: 4.834197 out of 5

Keywords: MLB, network, baseball, seasons, 1995

Id: rOCkpQoVzWY

Length: 47min 58sec (2878 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 01 2019