After squeaking by with a 1-0 win in Game 1, the 1998 Atlanta Braves wasted no time in building a big lead in Game 2 against the 1990 Oakland Athletics. After Scott Sanderson hit Walt Weiss, Keith Lockhart hit his 1st home run of the Tournament. A Carney Lansford misplay put Chipper Jones on, and Andrés Galarraga hit another 2-run homer, putting the Braves up 4-0 before Sanderson could record his first out. Galarraga drove in another run with a single in the 2nd. In the 4th, he launched his 2nd homer of the game, a 2-run shot that gave Atlanta a 7-0 lead. After an overthrow on a steal attempt, Andruw Jones grounded out to score another run in the 5th off reliever Todd Burns. While the Braves were quiet the rest of the game, that was all they would need. Once again, Oakland’s offense couldn’t find their groove. Tom Glavine took a 4-hit shutout into the 9th. Finally, with a runner on, Dave Henderson took Glavine deep to break the 17-inning scoreless streak and give the Athletics their first runs of the Series. Glavine finished the game, as the Braves won Game 2 8-2. Galarraga finished 3 for 4 with 2 homers and 5 RBI. Atlanta heads to Oakland with a 2-0 series lead, while the Athletics face a big test on whether they can still turn this series around.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Braves – 10/16/24

Greg Maddux continued his amazing run in the Best of the 1990s Tournament, holding the 1990 Oakland Athletics to 4 hits on his way to his 3rd shutout in 5 starts. It nearly wasn’t enough. Oakland’s Bob Welch had the best start of his tournament, matching Maddux inning for inning into the 8th. With two outs, Michael Tucker singled to center and took 2nd when Willie McGee couldn’t make a clean stop. Walt Weiss followed with a double to drive in the game’s only run, as the 1998 Atlanta Braves won it 1-0. Oakland had their chance earlier in the 6th when Keith Lockhart misplayed McGee’s grounder. José Canseco singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. But Maddux struck out Mark McGwire and got Dave Henderson to pop up. Oakland’s Walt Weiss grounded out to end the inning. Maddux improved to 4-1 in the tournament, striking out 10 and lowering his ERA to 0.89. Oakland hopes to bounce back in Game 2 tomorrow.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Braves – 10/15/24

The Oakland Athletics topped the New York Yankees for the 4th straight time, winning 3-2 and advancing to the World Series to face the 1998 Atlanta Braves in the Baseball Maelstrom Best of the 1990s Tournament. Game 6 followed the same formula that was a common theme in the series: Oakland scored first and forced New York to play from behind. The Athletics scored 1st in every game of the series, scoring in the 1st inning in the last 5 games. This time it was Rickey Henderson again. Henderson hit a leadoff homer off David Wells – a mammoth 466′ shot. Dave Stewart retired the 1st 11 hitters he faced, but the Yankees scored 2 in the 6th on back-to-back doubles from Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez. Dave Henderson tied things back up with a solo shot in the 7th. In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees had their best chance when they loaded the bases with one out after Stewart hit Scott Brosius and walked Chuck Knoblauch. But Derek Jeter grounded right to Walt Weiss for the inning-ending double play. In the 8th, it was Rickey again with his 2nd homer of the game, giving Oakland a 3-2 lead. Wells lost his 3rd game, giving up 3 homers, which was a common problem for him in the Tournament. Dennis Eckersley pitched a perfect 9th for his 5th save. Rickey finished 2 for 3, and is hitting .393 in the leadoff spot. As the top-seeded 1998 Yankees head home, the 1990 Athletics get a day off before facing the Braves to see who will win it all.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/13/24

Once up 2 games to none, the 1998 New York Yankees have watched their World Series hopes slip away. José Canseco hit a 2-run home run in the 1st inning off Andy Pettitte, and Mike Moore scattered 7 hits, allowing just 1 run in 7 innings to pick up his 1st win of the Tournament. Once again, the Yankees outhit the Oakland Athletics, this time 9-7. But those hits didn’t come when it mattered most. Jorge Posada provided the only New York run on a solo homer in the 7th inning. In the 8th, the Yankees put runners on the corners with just one out, but pinch-hitter Tim Raines struck out, and Chad Curtis grounded out to end the inning. Dennis Eckersley struck out all 3 batters he faced in the 9th for his 4th save. With the 3-1 win, Oakland hopes to carry the momentum into New York as the teams prepare for Game 6.

’98 Yankees @ ’90 Athletics – 10/11/24

It’s a series again. Rickey Henderson’s hitting and speed helped the Oakland Athletics top the New York Yankees 5-2 to even the series with one more game left to play in Oakland. Henderson walked and scored on Willie McGee’s double in the 1st, as the Athletics jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Henderson scored again in the 5th on a José Canseco groundout. The Yankees had many opportunities, but always seemed to come up short. After taking advantage of a Carney Lansford error to cut the Oakland lead, Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams had back-to-back singles to lead off the 7th. But Joe Klink retired the next 3 batters to keep Oakland’s 3-2 lead. Jorge Posada flew out to start the 8th. Scott Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch followed with singles off Reggie Harris. Harris then walked Derek Jeter to load the bases. That’s when Dennis Eckersley came in and struck out O’Neill and Williams to end the inning. Henderson provided some insurance runs with a 2-run double in the bottom of the inning, and Eckersley struck out two more in a scoreless 9th to earn his 3rd save. Orlando Hernández allowed 3 runs on just 5 hits while striking out 7 in 7 innings. Bob Welch scattered 10 hits but allowed just one earned run in 6 innings. Game 5 will be important as the teams battle for the American League championship.

’98 Yankees @ ’90 Athletics – 10/10/24

Down 2-0 in the series against the New York Yankees, the Oakland Athletics needed to win. Dave Stewart and a great bullpen run gave them that chance. Stewart allowed solo home runs to Tino Martinez and Chuck Knoblauch, but was otherwise great. He gave up just 5 hits and struck out 6 in 8 innings. Meanwhile, the Oakland offense struggled against David Cone. Rickey Henderson walked and stole a base, later scoring on a groundout for a run in the 1st. Mark McGwire drove in another in the 6th with a single after a pair of two-out walks. New York threatened to pull ahead in the 9th when Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams led off with back-to-back singles, but Joe Klink struck out two of the next three batters to get out of the inning. Oakland relievers have struggled, but Klink and Gene Nelson combined to allow just 1 hit over 3 innings. Willie McGee, in his 1st game back from injury, led off the 11th with a double. Jeff Nelson struck out José Canseco and got McGwire to ground out to 1st. Jamie Quirk, starting in place of the injured Dave Henderson, laced a single up the middle to walk it off, giving Oakland a 3-2 win and closing the gap in the series.

’98 Yankees @ ’90 Athletics – 10/9/24

The Oakland Athletics wasted no time against Yankees starter David Wells, scoring two runs in the 1st thanks to José Canseco’s 5th home run of the Tournament. In the bottom of the 1st, Carney Lansford’s misplay put Chuck Knoblauch on. That was followed by three straight hits against Scott Sanderson, capped by a 2-run homer by Bernie Williams. The New York Yankees carried a 4-2 lead into the 4th. After Canseco led off with a triple, Mark McGwire walked. Wells fielded one grounder, but couldn’t get a hold of a 2nd one, scoring Canseco. Later, Wells walked in a run to tie the game. Tino Martinez’s two-out solo shot put New York back on top. In what has become common in the Tournament, Mariano Rivera quickly retired two batters in the 9th before Lance Blankenship tripled and Rickey Henderson drove him in with a double. It was Rivera’s 4th blown save. Gene Nelson entered to pitch the bottom of the 9th, but loaded the bases with walks to Chad Curtis and Knoblauch, and a single by Scott Brosius. Derek Jeter flew out to shallow center for the 2nd out, but Paul O’Neill followed with a walk-off single. It was New York’s 2nd straight walk-off win. O’Neill finished 4 for 5 in the 6-5 win. Canseco homered, tripled, and doubled in the game. He struck out in his only other at-bat.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/7/24

Yet again, the 1998 New York Yankees found themselves playing from behind. Thanks to some key base hits, the 1990 Oakland Athletics took a 4-2 lead into the 7th. Paul O’Neill’s RBI single cut the lead, but Andy Pettitte tired in the 8th, allowing back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. Both runners would score to push the Oakland lead to 6-3. Jorge Posada hit a solo home run to get one run closer in the bottom of the inning. Dennis Eckersley came in to close things out in the 9th, but gave up a leadoff homer to Derek Jeter. He quickly retired O’Neill on a groundout and struck out Bernie Williams. Down to their last out, Tino Martinez singled. Shane Spencer came in to pinch-hit for a struggling Darryl Strawberry. Spencer drilled the next pitch into the gap to tie the game. The Yankees got two perfect innings of relief from Hideki Irabu. Jeter opened the bottom of the 11th with a double off Rick Honeycutt. O’Neill grounded out, and Bernie Williams was intentionally walked to set up a double-play. Martinez came through again with a liner for the walk-off hit, giving the Yankees a 7-6 win to start off the Best-of-7 series. Martinez finished 4 for 5 with 3 RBI. Terry Steinbach was 3 for 4 and drove in 4 of Oakland’s 6 runs. Irabu is now 2-1 with a 0.96 ERA in relief during the Tournament.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/6/24

Facing a must-win game to keep their tournament hopes alive, the Yankees did what they had to do. Orlando Hernández scattered 8 hits, allowing 2 runs while striking out 9 to give New York the chance they needed. Oakland scored 1st with a sacrifice fly by Carney Lansford in the 3rd. After Scott Brosius singled, and Chuck Knoblauch walked to start the Yankee 3rd against Bob Welch, Derek Jeter struck out. Paul O’Neill followed with a liner into the gap that Lance Blankenship misread, leading to a bases-clearing triple to give New York the lead. A two-out single by José Canseco tied the game back up in the 5th. But Derek Jeter led off the bottom of the inning with a triple, scoring on O’Neill’s flyout. El Duque allowed a Mark McGwire single and a Walt Weiss double in between strikeouts, and walked Willie Randolph to load the bases. Mariano Rivera came in and struck out Terry Steinbach to end the inning. With 2 outs in the 9th, Rivera hit Lansford and walked Canseco to put the tying run in scoring position. McGwire bounced one back to the mound to end the game, giving the Yankees a 3-2 win. The teams will now face off in a Best-of-7 series to determine who will advance to face the 1998 Atlanta Braves in the 1990s World Series. Oakland will continue to be without Dave Henderson until late in the series. Blankenship’s defense in CF likely cost them a few runs today.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/5/24

The 1998 Atlanta Braves and the 1994 Montreal Expos scored 11 runs in the 1st 3 innings, but it wasn’t until the 9th that all of the excitement happened. Tom Glavine allowed 3 runs in back-to-back innings, including a 2-run home run to Moisés Alou. But Pedro Martínez wasn’t sharp either. Javy López hit a 2-run double in the 3rd to cut the Montreal lead to 6-5, and then hit a 2-run homer to give Atlanta a lead in the 5th. Kevin Millwood pitched 4 strong 2-hit innings of relief. Tim Scott and Mel Rojas combined for 3 scoreless relief innings for the Expos. Kerry Ligtenberg came in to close out the 9th, but Lou Frazier walked and stole 2nd. Marquis Grissom dribbled one back to the mound for the 2nd out. Juan Bell, who was hitting below .200 in the Tournament, hit a single up the middle to tie the game. In the bottom of the 9th, Rojas got two quick outs before Chipper Jones hit a homer to walk it off. With the 8-7 win, the Braves took the last 3 games of the series after losing the 1st two. They now advance to the Best of the 1990s World Series. Montreal heads home after the heart-breaking loss. Alou finished the Tournament with a .440 average.

’94 Expos @ ’98 Braves – 10/5/24