Several days later I also received a letter from my then girlfriend describing her experience while watching game 6. She even gave me a play-by-play of sorts in the letter and on the back of the envelope, which I am posting here.
I must admit I have a certain amount of nostalgia for that mode of communication and the effort Amy put into bringing the game closer to me. Nonetheless, I wasn't there, so it is hard for me to view it as one of the defining moments of my Braves fandom. Almost twenty years later, I can now watch the entire game on youtube thanks to MLBClassics. This truly is amazing, and I encourage you to watch it, either for the first time or again because it is so sweet!
Even though I wasn't in the country for 1995, and I also missed the worst to first run in 1991 due to another exchange in Germany, I was around for every pitch in 1993 as the Braves made one of the greatest runs ever to pass the Giants on the last day of the season. It didn't end well as the Braves lost to the Phillies in the playoffs in six games, but baseball for me has always been about the long haul. I watch most every day, and when I joke with friends about every game counting, even game 65 in the middle of June, I actually mean it.
Twenty years ago today on July 31, 1993, the Braves were 7.5 games out of first and according to coolstandings.com had a 10.1% chance of making the playoffs (POFF). Looking at the graph below, it was a position the Braves stayed in for much of 1993 until all of a sudden they jumped up to above 90% in September. In comparison, as of today (July 31, 2013), the Braves have a 10 game lead over the Nationals, who have a 7.1% POFF. The difference is that the Braves on July 31, 1993 were 20 games above .500, whereas the Nationals are 3 games under .500 going into today's action (and are currently losing 10-1 in the 7th inning in Detroit). The 1993 Braves and Giants were amazingly good teams and there divisional pennant race down the stretch was epic.
In the summer of 1993, I had just graduated from Wofford College, was living in the guest house behind my parents' house (not my Mother's basement), worked for my Dad cleaning cages and washing dogs at his animal hospital, was still living the college life being that I was living in the same town where I went to college and watched a bunch of Braves, often with Amy, the super nice girlfriend mentioned above.
The Braves were a good team, but it didn't look like they would have a chance of catching the surging Giants that season. But on July 19, the Braves made a trade deadline deal that brought Fred McGriff to town. Here is the NY Times write-up of the trade. I was excited about the trade and thought to myself at the time that the Braves would have to win every series for the rest of the season to have a chance. Looking at the 1993 Braves schedule at baseball-reference.com, they came close in winning 19/22 series from July 19 to the end of the season on October 3.
McGriff's arrival on July 20 coincided with a huge fire in the Fulton County Stadium broadcast booths and press box that broke out during batting practice. The game against the Cardinals took place that evening, and McGriff homered in his debut. This youtube clip narrated by Bob Costas details the homer and the fire:
One game that encompasses the drama of the 1993 stretch run took place on September 15 against the Reds. The Braves were down 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning and scored 5 runs including a Ron Gant walkoff home run to win the game. The follwing video clip made by somebody filming their television set is glorious for many reasons: Chipper Jones makes his second ever plate appearance, Ryan Klesko hits a home run and gives a bat flip for the ages, Rob Dibble throws one pitch to Gant before the game ends and current Nationals manager Davey Johnson was the Reds manager at the time. Unfortunately, I cannot embed the video here but it is worth clicking on this link to watch the 14-minute replaying of the ninth inning.
The Braves won the division on the last day of the season by finishing with a three-game win streak. Having played before the Giants, fans and players alike stayed behind in Fulton County stadium to cheer on the Los Angeles Dodgers as they defeated the Giants 12-1 on that final day. The Braves finished with a 104-58 record, one game better than the Giants who would have no postseason in the last season before the advent of the Wild Card game. It was also the last season the Braves would play in the NL West. Realignment moved the team into the NL East, and no longer would Braves fans have to stay up near as many nights during the summer to watch West Coast baseball. The following video clips "Re-live the moments" of 1993, the season that boasts the last great pennant race, and is arguably my favorite season as a Braves fan.
