1997 American League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Cleveland Indians (4) Mike Hargrove 86–75, .534, GA: 6 Baltimore Orioles (2) Davey Johnson 98–64, .605, GA: 2
Dates	October 8–15
MVP	Marquis Grissom (Cleveland)
Umpires	Joe Brinkman Jim Joyce John Hirschbeck Durwood Merrill Larry McCoy Mike Reilly
Broadcast
Television	Fox
TV announcers	Joe Buck,Tim McCarver andBob Brenly
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	John Rooney andJeff Torborg
ALDS	Baltimore Orioles overSeattle Mariners (3–1) Cleveland Indians overNew York Yankees (3–2)
← 1996 ALCS 1998 →

The1997American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a semifinal series inMajor League Baseball's1997 postseason that pitted theCleveland Indians, who won coming back against the defendingWorld Series championNew York Yankees in theAL Division Series, and theBaltimore Orioles, who went wire-to-wire and beat theSeattle Mariners in the Division Series. In a role reversal from their1996 ALDS encounter, the Indians stunned the Orioles, winning on bizarre plays or remarkable comebacks, and won the Series four games to two, but went on to lose to theFlorida Marlins in the well-fought, seesaw, seven-game battle of the1997 World Series. The Orioles had home field advantage, which was predetermined and assigned to either the East Division champions or their opponents in the Division Series.

Cleveland won the series, 4–2.

Wednesday, October 8, 1997, atOriole Park at Camden Yards inBaltimore, Maryland

The Orioles grabbed an early 1–0 series lead on the strong performance by starting pitcherScott Erickson who gave up four hits, all singles, over eight innings of work. The Indians only got one runner to second base offensively. On the other hand, Orioles center-fielderBrady Anderson took Indians starterChad Ogea's first offering in the bottom of the first out of the park, giving the Orioles a 1–0. In the bottom of the third Anderson's double was followed by aRoberto Alomar home run, giving Erickson a 3–0 cushion.Randy Myers pitched a clean ninth inning for the save.

Thursday, October 9, 1997, atOriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland

In Game 2,Charles Nagy andJimmy Key matched up for a win. Key allowed a two-run homer toManny Ramírez in the top of the first. Nagy would also allow a two-run homer in the bottom of the second toCal Ripken Jr. ThenMike Bordick hit the go-ahead two-run single off Nagy in the sixth that knocked Nagy out of the game. With the Tribe trailing 4–2 in the top of the eighth inning, two walks put two men on with two out.Armando Benítez facedMarquis Grissom and Grissom would deliver with a series-altering three-run homer that gave the Indians a 5–4 lead. That lead would stand as the Cleveland bullpen kept the Orioles scoreless to even the series at a game apiece.

Saturday, October 11, 1997, atJacobs Field inCleveland, Ohio

With the Series even at 1–1,Orel Hershiser dueled with Orioles pitcherMike Mussina atJacobs Field. In this game, Mussina would set an LCS record with 15 strikeouts (which would be matched byLiván Hernández in theNLCS the very next day). The Indians held a 1–0 lead into the ninth, butJosé Mesa blew the save after Marquis Grissom lost a fly ball fromBrady Anderson in the lights and the game went to extra innings. WithRandy Myers on the mound for Baltimore in the bottom of the 12th,Marquis Grissom walked, then a single byTony Fernández moved him to third. With one out,Omar Vizquel motioned to bunt. When the pitch came, it passed through the strike zone, with Vizquel apparently missing the ball. The ball got away from Orioles catcherLenny Webster, allowing Grissom to score the winning run. Webster and Myers thought the ball was fouled off and did nothing to stop Grissom, but the ball was not ruled foul. Although Orioles managerDavey Johnson argued the call, the umpire's call stood.

Sunday, October 12, 1997, atJacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Scott Erickson returned to the mound against Indians starterJaret Wright. After being given an early 1–0 lead, Erickson allowed a two-run homer toSandy Alomar Jr. However, the Orioles scored four more runs off Wright to build a 5–2 lead. The Indians closed to within two in the fourth, but in the fifth, an even more bizarre play than Vizquel's missed bunt occurred. After giving up two more runs, Erickson was relieved byArthur Rhodes with two Indians on base and two outs. Rhodes threw a wild pitch with Grissom at bat, allowingDavid Justice to score from third. However, he collided with Rhodes at home, and home plate umpireDurwood Merrill obscured Lenny Webster's view of the ball. Merrill motioned for someone to get the ball as Sandy Alomar also scored. Now down 2 runs, Baltimore would score a run in the 7th. The Orioles would tie the game in the ninth inning again off José Mesa. Sandy Alomar singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Indians an 8–7 win as well as a three games to one lead in the Series.

Monday, October 13, 1997, atJacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

With the Orioles facing elimination they took a 2–0 lead in the third inning when right-fielderGerónimo Berroa singled with the bases loaded off Cleveland starterChad Ogea. From there Orioles starterScott Kamieniecki held the Indians scoreless through five innings.Jimmy Key then turned in three scoreless innings in relief of Kamieniecki, who left the game due to elbow stiffness. Indians relieverPaul Assenmacher allowed four hits and two runs, including a home run byEric Davis, in the ninth inning to stretch the Baltimore lead to 4–0. Orioles closerRandy Myers allowed RBI doubles toMatt Williams andTony Fernández in the bottom of the ninth, but the Orioles held on for a 4–2 win, sending the series back to Baltimore. To date, this is the last game the Orioles have won in the ALCS.

Wednesday, October 15, 1997, atOriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland

Charles Nagy and Mike Mussina kept the game scoreless and the game proceeded to the 11th inning. In the 11th,Tony Fernández, who hit a batting practice ball that bruisedBip Roberts' thumb (and, as a result, replaced Roberts at second base), hit a home run that gave the Indians a 1–0 lead. With two outs in the bottom half of the 11th,Brady Anderson singled to right off José Mesa. With Anderson on as the tying run,Roberto Alomar came up to bat. Alomar struck out looking on a pitch that appeared inside at first but came back across the plate. This gave Cleveland the out and the trip to the World Series.

1997 ALCS(4–2):Cleveland Indians overBaltimore Orioles

This series was often overshadowed, as it was the only ALCS to not feature thedynasty Yankees from 1996-2001. The series featured a back-and-forth action throughout, with the tying run coming up to the plate in the ninth or later inning in each game besides Game 1. In 2011,Fangraphs, via a mathematical formula, named the 1997 ALCS the 10th best postseason series of all-time.^[7]

AsDavey Johnson had a poor relationship with Reds ownerMarge Schott, which led to his ousting as manager despite success, the same situation would occur in Baltimore. The relationship between Johnson and ownerPeter Angelos had always seemed poor, but it hit a boiling point in April 1997 when Johnson finedRoberto Alomar for missing a team banquet and required that Alomar's fine go to Johnson's wife's charity. Angelos found this inappropriate and let it be known that he was considering firing Johnson for it. Following two seasons in which Baltimore reached the postseason back-to-back for the first time since1973–1974, Johnson offered his resignation by fax (after failing to reach owner Angelos by phone), which Angelos accepted on November 5, the same day that Johnson was named the 1997American League Manager of the Year.^[8] The Orioles hiredRay Miller as manager for the 1998 season, but the team would not have another winning season, let alone reach the postseason, until2012. Two years later after leaving Baltimore, Johnson returned to the majors to manage theLos Angeles Dodgers in 1999.^[9] Johnson would later return to theBeltway area to manage theWashington Nationals from 2011 to 2013.

Roberto Alomar joined his brotherSandy in Cleveland a year later, via free agency. In his three seasons in Baltimore, Alomar was a key figure in the Orioles' mid 1990s resurgence. On August 3, 2013, Alomar was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame, two years after being inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1997 ALCS was the last postseason series to have two siblings facing off against each other until the2022 NLCS, which featured starting pitcherAaron Nola's Phillies beating catcherAustin Nola's Padres.^[10]

• 1997 ALCS at Baseball-Reference.com

• 1997 Major League Baseball season
• Cleveland Guardians postseason
• Baltimore Orioles postseason
• American League Championship Series
• 1997 in sports in Ohio
• 1997 in sports in Maryland
• 1990s in Baltimore
• 1990s in Cleveland
• October 1997 sports events in the United States

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