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World Series Game 1 Diary

© Greg Spira

Before The Game: The big story is that Tom Glavine will miss his game start as a result of the flu, and that Greg Maddux will start instead. After being peppered the last few days with questions about why he was starting Glavine, Braves manager Bobby Cox now has to answer questions about the significance of not starting Glavine. During the NBC pre-game show, Cox talks about what winning the series would mean to his team's status as Team of the Decade, while Joe Torre talks about the extra difficulty of managing by National League rules and how that forces him to keep awake. I find it hard to believe Torre is really serious about this.

I check out the MSNBC site, which is filled with World Series stories partly because NBC is broadcasting the World Series. For some reason, one of MSNBC's major features is Phillies pitcher Paul Byrd explaining the best way to pitch to a number of the Braves and Yankees. When I click on what he has to say about Darryl Strawberry, I'm nonplussed by Byrd's comments that it's better to pitch Strawberry, a notorious low ball hitter his entire career, low than high.

Just before 8:00, the players for each team are introduced. Most Yankees get a small dose of boos, though Joe Torre, a former Braves manager, does garner a significant amount of cheers. The crowd is enthusiastic but never reaches the high decibel levels that we'll hear when the Series moves to New York.

The Game: Thru 3 innings, this game has been a pitching duel. Greg Maddux had a bit of trouble establishing himself early on, but the Yankees weren't able to do any damage. Orlando Hernandez has completely dazzled the Braves hitters, striking out 7 hitters in the first 3 innings. Only Andruw Jones, who reached base on a walk after a tough 10 pitch plate appearance in the 2nd inning, was able to escape being a Hernandez victim. It's Hernandez' curve ball that has done the most damage, dropping into the strike zone in a way that has frozen Braves hitters.

Top of the 4th Inning: Chipper Jones, who had not hit a home run in a month, just pounded a towering home run just inside the right field foul poll. It appeared that the catcher called for a fastball outside but instead Hernandez' pitch sailed onto the inside portion of the plate and Jones got all of it.

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