World Series Records & the Braves
By Fred Owens
Watching that crazy, magnificent, tumultuous game last night was an emotional ride for myself and my sons – one a die hard Rangers guy and the other like me an NL Braves guy. While the errors early on were Bad News Bears reborn, the late inning heroics on both sides was baseball’s highest drama. NOTHING compares to a ballgame like that, no Superbowl, no final four underdog, nothing. The folks over at Baseball Reference agree and put together a couple of interesting lists with a lot of Braves in them.
All of that late inning scoring set a couple of records. It was the first time a team had come from two runs down twice in or after the ninth inning in a World Series game. I wondered how many times the Braves have entered the ninth inning trailing and delivered an RBI that tied the game or put them ahead. Turns out the answer is 16 times though none of them down by two runs.
| Date | Series | Gm# | Batter | Opp | Pitcher | Score | WPA | RE24 | LI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914-10-10 | WS | 2 | Les Mann | @PHA | Eddie Plank | tied 0-0 | 0.36 | 0.88 | 4.29 |
| 1991-10-16 | NLCS | 6 | Greg Olson | @PIT | Doug Drabek | tied 0-0 | 0.37 | 1.00 | 3.62 |
| 1991-10-23 | WS | 4 | Jerry Willard | MIN | Steve Bedrosian | tied 2-2 | 0.18 | 0.05 | 5.30 |
| 1992-10-14 | NLCS | 7 | Francisco Cabrera | PIT | Stan Belinda | down 2-1 | 0.74 | 1.67 | 10.75 |
| 1992-10-24 | WS | 6 | Otis Nixon | TOR | Tom Henke | down 2-1 | 0.47 | 1.16 | 6.51 |
| 1993-10-06 | NLCS | 1 | Otis Nixon | @PHI | Mitch Williams | down 3-2 | 0.02 | -0.08 | 4.84 |
| 1993-10-11 | NLCS | 5 | Francisco Cabrera | PHI | Mitch Williams | down 3-2 | 0.49 | 1.27 | 7.15 |
| 1995-10-03 | NLDS | 1 | Chipper Jones | @COL | Curt Leskanic | tied 4-4 | 0.38 | 1.00 | 1.57 |
| 1995-10-04 | NLDS | 2 | Fred McGriff | @COL | Mike Munoz | down 4-3 | 0.20 | 0.77 | 3.56 |
| 1995-10-04 | NLDS | 2 | Mike Mordecai | @COL | Darren Holmes | tied 4-4 | 0.34 | 1.19 | 4.65 |
| 1995-10-06 | NLDS | 3 | Luis Polonia | COL | Darren Holmes | down 5-4 | 0.41 | 0.94 | 7.32 |
| 1995-10-10 | NLCS | 1 | David Justice | @CIN | Pete Schourek | down 1-0 | -0.05 | -0.33 | 4.35 |
| 1998-10-01 | NLDS | 2 | Javy Lopez | CHC | Kevin Tapani | down 1-0 | 0.47 | 1.00 | 2.66 |
| 1998-10-07 | NLCS | 1 | Andruw Jones | SDP | Trevor Hoffman | down 2-1 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 7.24 |
| 2004-10-10 | NLDS | 4 | J.D. Drew | @HOU | Russ Springer | tied 5-5 | 0.35 | 0.91 | 3.68 |
Steve Lombardi posted his list of greatest World Series game 6 performances that included two Braves games. On the same page is a list of game 7 performances that includes one Braves game as well. While Andy posted a list of individual performances that includes several Braves you may remember. I decided to look at just the Braves individual postseason performances. Here are the top 15 based on WPA
| Rk | Player | Date | Series | Gm# | Opp | Rslt | WPA ▾ | RE24 | aLI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Jordan | 1999-10-08 | NLDS | 3 | HOU | W 5-3 | 0.806 | 4.271 | 2.742 |
| 2 | Francisco Cabrera | 1992-10-14 | NLCS | 7 | PIT | W 3-2 | 0.737 | 1.674 | 10.750 |
| 3 | Eric Hinske | 2010-10-10 | NLDS | 3 | SFG | L 2-3 | 0.557 | 1.747 | 3.330 |
| 4 | Rafael Furcal | 2004-10-07 | NLDS | 2 | HOU | W 4-2 | 0.487 | 2.301 | 2.285 |
| 5 | Francisco Cabrera | 1993-10-11 | NLCS | 5 | PHI | L 3-4 | 0.486 | 1.377 | 6.060 |
| 6 | Luis Polonia | 1995-10-06 | NLDS | 3 | COL | L 5-7 | 0.408 | 0.935 | 7.320 |
| 7 | Mike Devereaux | 1995-10-10 | NLCS | 1 | CIN | W 2-1 | 0.359 | 1.000 | 3.670 |
| 8 | Mike Mordecai | 1995-10-04 | NLDS | 2 | COL | W 7-4 | 0.343 | 1.189 | 4.650 |
| 9 | Bill Bruton | 1958-10-01 | WS | 1 | NYY | W 4-3 | 0.339 | 0.786 | 3.250 |
| 10 | Andruw Jones | 1999-10-19 | NLCS | 6 | NYM | W 10-9 | 0.291 | 1.996 | 2.322 |
| 11 | Javy Lopez | 1995-10-06 | NLDS | 3 | COL | L 5-7 | 0.278 | 0.991 | 2.316 |
| 12 | Mark Lemke | 1995-10-11 | NLCS | 2 | CIN | W 6-2 | 0.254 | 1.008 | 2.302 |
| 13 | Keith Lockhart | 1999-10-17 | NLCS | 5 | NYM | L 3-4 | 0.237 | 0.459 | 2.735 |
| 14 | Dwight Smith | 1995-10-03 | NLDS | 1 | COL | W 5-4 | 0.231 | 1.074 | 3.480 |
| 15 | Otis Nixon | 1999-10-08 | NLDS | 3 | HOU | W 5-3 | 0.227 | 0.688 | 2.500 |
And here are the top 15 based on highest leverage situation aLI
| Rk | Player | Date | Series | Gm# | Opp | Rslt | WPA | RE24 | aLI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francisco Cabrera | 1992-10-14 | NLCS | 7 | PIT | W 3-2 | 0.737 | 1.674 | 10.750 |
| 2 | Luis Polonia | 1995-10-06 | NLDS | 3 | COL | L 5-7 | 0.408 | 0.935 | 7.320 |
| 3 | Ozzie Guillen | 1999-10-19 | NLCS | 6 | NYM | W 10-9 | 0.218 | 0.283 | 7.160 |
| 4 | Francisco Cabrera | 1993-10-11 | NLCS | 5 | PHI | L 3-4 | 0.486 | 1.377 | 6.060 |
| 5 | Mike Mordecai | 1995-10-04 | NLDS | 2 | COL | W 7-4 | 0.343 | 1.189 | 4.650 |
| 6 | Mike Devereaux | 1995-10-10 | NLCS | 1 | CIN | W 2-1 | 0.359 | 1.000 | 3.670 |
| 7 | Dwight Smith | 1995-10-03 | NLDS | 1 | COL | W 5-4 | 0.231 | 1.074 | 3.480 |
| 8 | Eric Hinske | 2010-10-10 | NLDS | 3 | SFG | L 2-3 | 0.557 | 1.747 | 3.330 |
| 9 | Bill Bruton | 1958-10-01 | WS | 1 | NYY | W 4-3 | 0.339 | 0.786 | 3.250 |
| 10 | Brian Jordan | 1999-10-08 | NLDS | 3 | HOU | W 5-3 | 0.806 | 4.271 | 2.742 |
| 11 | Keith Lockhart | 1999-10-17 | NLCS | 5 | NYM | L 3-4 | 0.237 | 0.459 | 2.735 |
| 12 | Otis Nixon | 1999-10-08 | NLDS | 3 | HOU | W 5-3 | 0.227 | 0.688 | 2.500 |
| 13 | Andruw Jones | 1999-10-19 | NLCS | 6 | NYM | W 10-9 | 0.291 | 1.996 | 2.322 |
| 14 | Javy Lopez | 1995-10-06 | NLDS | 3 | COL | L 5-7 | 0.278 | 0.991 | 2.316 |
| 15 | Mark Lemke | 1995-10-11 | NLCS | 2 | CIN | W 6-2 | 0.254 | 1.008 | 2.302 |
Have peek at Andy’s too David Freese: now THAT was the best World Series performance in history.
That’s the Braves postseason stats as they relate to what’s gone on this year. Enjoy tonight’s World Series game and let’s get the Braves in there next year!