Editor's note: This story has been updated since its original publication in 2015.
By the time the Braves got to the 1995 World Series, the pressure to win the big one was palpable.
After losing World Series in 1991 and 1992, both winnable series that came down to missed opportunities, and after being bounced from the 1993 NLCS by the Phillies, fans were growing impatient after three Tomahawk Flops.
MORE: 10 greatest Braves of all time
Of course, the Braves put those ghosts to bed (temporarily) when they beat the Indians and finally won the World Series in 1995. It’s a series best known for Tom Glavine’s masterpiece in Game 6 and David Justice’s go-ahead homer that gave Glavine all the support he’d need.
But there were other big moments throughout the series that, in hindsight, proved critical to the outcome.
As we mark 25 years since that series, here are five crucial but unsung plays that helped finally bring a championship to Atlanta.
1. Game 1: Fred McGriff’s homer ties the game
The situation: The Indians, baseball’s most feared offense in 1995, led 1-0 heading to the bottom of the second, having pushed an unearned run across in the first inning against Greg Maddux on the strength of speedster Kenny Lofton’s two stolen bases. The Braves went down in order in their half of the first at the hands of postseason veteran Orel Hershiser, whose postseason ERA in 1995 was 1.29 entering the World Series. Braves slugger Fred McGriff led off the second and …
Why it mattered: The Indians led baseball in every significant offensive category in 1995, boasting a run differential of +233. In other words, they were used to having the lead — and adding on, to the tune of 100 regular season wins. When they scored a run in the first inning against the game’s best pitcher without even getting a hit, it zapped some energy from the previously boisterous Fulton County Stadium crowd. McGriff’s homer on Hershiser’s first pitch of the second inning brought the crowd roaring back, tied the game and acted as a sort of reset button for the Braves. And in this game, as it would turn out, every run mattered.
2. Game 1: Rafael Belliard squeezes in a run after blown call
The situation: In the bottom of the seventh with the score still tied 1-1, Luis Polonia of the Braves, batting with the bases loaded and nobody out, appeared to wrap into a double play, but Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel bobbled the ball on his way to tag second and was only able to get a force out. But replays show Vizquel never had control of the ball when he touched the base. Though a run scored on the play to give the Braves a 2-1 lead, manager Bobby Cox was livid at the missed call and came out to chew umpire Bruce Froemming a new one. Instead of being up 2-1 with the bases still loaded and nobody out, it was first and third with one out and light-hitting Rafael Belliard coming up. Cox had a penchant for calling squeeze plays after a commotion on the field, and it seemed everyone in the stadium knew to expect one. ABC broadcaster Tim McCarver predicted it on TV, as did Braves broadcaster Don Sutton on radio. Everyone was waiting for it — except the Indians.
Why it mattered: The successful squeeze gave the Braves an insurance run to put them up 3-1. The extra run proved valuable in the top of the ninth, when the pesky Lofton again made things happen with his legs. After singling off Maddux with one out, Lofton advanced to second on a Vizquel groundout and never stopped running — riskily, but safely, making it to third when McGriff’s throw got past third baseman Chipper Jones, allowing Lofton to score to make it a 3-2 game. Maddux then got Carlos Baerga to foul out to Jones to end the game, making the run scored on Belliard’s squeeze play the difference in the score.
3. Game 2: Javy Lopez picks off Manny Ramirez in the eighth inning
The situation: With the Braves holding a 4-3 lead with one out in the top of the eighth inning, young Indians slugger Manny Ramirez singled off reliever Alejandro Pena to put the potential tying run at first with another Indians slugger (they had a bunch of them), Jim Thome, coming to bat. Before the 2-2 pitch to Thome, Lopez would later say, he gave first baseman McGriff the signal for a pickoff and called for a fastball up and in. Pena delivered it and Lopez, with the lefty-hitting Thome shielding him from Ramirez’s view, popped up and threw a laser to McGriff, who tagged Ramirez out as he tried to slide back to the bag.
Why it mattered: Ramirez represented the tying run at first base, and with power threat Thome at the plate — along with the Indians’ general run-scoring habits — it had the look of a rally in the making. And when Thome walked one pitch after the pickoff, the play loomed even larger. Braves closer Mark Wohlers then came on to retire Paul Sorrento, yet another Indians power threat, to end the inning. Without the pickoff, it’s anyone’s guess how the inning would’ve played out for the Indians. But the way the team hit in 1995, it’s certainly possible that a big inning would’ve unfolded. A late-inning comeback could’ve been series-changing (see the Blue Jays’ ninth-inning comeback in Game 2 of the 1992 World Series) and would’ve given the Braves yet another example of a postseason missed opportunity. But fortunately for the Braves and their fans, Lopez kept that from happening. Wohlers later pitched around a single and a stolen base in the ninth to preserve the 4-3 win and give the Braves a 2-0 lead in the series.
4. Game 4: Pedro Borbon Jr. bails out Mark Wohlers, gets the save
The situation: After a wild, 11-inning 7-6 walkoff win for the Indians in Game 3, the Braves took a 5-1 into the ninth inning of Game 4 and sent closer Mark Wohlers to the mound in a nonsave situation. It didn’t go well. Manny Ramirez hit a mammoth homer to lead off the inning to make the score 5-2, then Paul Sorrento doubled. Though still down by three runs, there was a feeling that a rally was building. An Indians win would tie the series at two games apiece. So Bobby Cox pulled Wohlers in favor of left-handed rookie Pedro Borbon Jr. to face the next three batters: pinch hitter Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Kenny Lofton. Borbon wasn’t fazed by the pressure, striking out Thome and Alomar, and getting Lofton to line out to right to squelch the rally and end the game.
Why it mattered: The Indians had 12 walkoff wins in 1995, the second-most in baseball behind the Braves’ 13, including two instances in which they entered their last at-bat trailing by three or more runs. Their powerful lineup could produce big innings in a hurry, so a three-run cushion was hardly comfortable for the Braves. In that sense, even though Borbon inherited only one runner, he inherited a jam. Even one more base runner would’ve put the Braves in a troubling spot as the Indians’ lineup would’ve crept closer to the run-producers and again made the reliably raucous Jacobs Field crowd a factor. As it played out, though, Borbon prevented an uprising and earned the save to put the Braves up 3-1 in the series.
5. Game 6: Rafael Belliard makes a running catch on Kenny Lofton's foul pop
The situation: The Braves had a 1-0 in the ninth inning of Game 6 thanks to Tom Glavine’s one-hit gem and were three outs from the championship. Closer Mark Wohlers came on to face the top of Cleveland’s lineup — starting with that trouble-making speedster, Kenny Lofton. Though Lofton hit just .208 to that point in the series, he had six stolen bases — by far the most in the series. Keeping him off base was critical for the Braves. Lofton worked the count to 2-1, then hit a pop up that seemed destined for no-man’s land in the swath of foul territory along the left field line. Enter Braves shortstop Rafael Belliard.
Why it mattered: Lofton had shown repeatedly throughout the series what kind of disruption he could be on the base paths. In a 1-0 game, facing elimination, it’s a certainty that he would’ve been running. And Wohlers’ delivery, with his high leg kick, likely would’ve made things easy for Lofton and could very well have had him in scoring position for the big boppers. Belliard’s running grab took Lofton out of the equation and let the Braves — and their fans — breathe a little easier. Glavine later said that when Belliard caught the ball, keeping Lofton off base, he knew the Braves had the game won. Wohlers then got pinch hitter Paul Sorrento to fly out to center, then got Carlos Baerga to fly out to left center to clinch the series for the Braves.
In a series that featured a slew of Hall of Famers and likely future Hall of Famers, those five plays proved critical. Without them, the Braves and their fans might still be waiting for a World Series championship.
