Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510300044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
The title became a reality Saturday night when Tom Glavine pitched one-hit ball for eight innings, and David Justice, who had chastised the Atlanta fans Friday for their lack of support, hit a home run in the sixth inning in the Braves' 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Skip Caray, longtime voice of the Braves, described the feeling on radio after center fielder Marquis Grissom caught the final out off the bat of Carlos Baerga to give Atlanta a 4-2 series victory.
``Yes! Yes! Yes!'' he screamed. ``The Atlanta Braves have given you a championship!''
It was the first championship for Atlanta in any of the three major team sports - baseball, basketball and football.
The Braves had come close twice before, losing the Series in seven games to the Minnesota Twins in 1991 and in six games to Toronto in 1992. The NBA's Hawks, the NFL's Falcons and the Braves had been shut out for a combined 84 seasons before Saturday night.
The Braves will be honored today with a parade down Peachtree Street. The festivities will feature the players, coaches and manager Bobby Cox riding atop fire trucks.
The procession will meander through downtown Atlanta and past city hall before ending at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
It won't be the first parade for the Braves. After Atlanta's march from worst to first in 1991 and its dramatic loss to the Twins in seven games, more than 750,000 fans welcomed home the Braves with a ticker-tape parade after their 1-0 loss in Game 7.
Fans broke through police lines to touch the players, who rode in convertible cars. To prevent that this time, city officials will use the fire trucks.
Saturday night's victory was a headline writer's dream.
The headline on the front page of Sunday's edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said it boldly, but kept it simple: ``WORLD CHAMPS!''
On the newspaper's front page of the sports section, the headline was: ``AT LAST!''
Above the headline, the victory edition read: ``World Champion Atlanta Braves 1995 World Series.''
The Savannah Morning News front page had a headline that said: ``Finally.'' Its sports headline read: ``On Chop of the World.''
The Birmingham (Ala.) News headline was: ``Braves On Top Of the World.''
The Albany Herald's front-page headline: ``Justice Prevails, Braves 1-0.''
It was fitting that Justice, who had criticized the Atlanta fans for being too quiet, would get the big hit. After the game, the Braves' outfielder blew kisses to the screaming capacity crowd of 51,875.
``The fans were the biggest factor,'' he said. ``They proved me wrong. I just wanted to get them fired up. I like them. All I wanted to do was get them to rally behind us.''
And they did, standing and cheering from Glavine's first strike in the opening inning. They rose from their seats and roared each time the Atlanta left-hander got two strikes on a Cleveland hitter, and stood and screamed during the entire ninth inning as Mark Wohlers retired the Indians in order.
``This finally puts us out of Loserville status,'' said Keith Peck of Atlanta, waving his tomahawk as he watched Steve Avery run the bases and slide into home during the Braves' celebration after the game.
Fans in the Buckhead section of Atlanta spilled from bars and restaurants and partied in the streets for three hours after the game.
``It wasn't quite a Presbyterian revival,'' said Atlanta police major Kenneth Green , ``but it was closer to that than a riot.''
At Underground Atlanta downtown, fans were jammed in wall-to-wall during the celebration while one man played the Braves' war chant on a bamboo flute.
``Braves fans have been vindicated,'' said Steve Carlisle of Atlanta. ``We wanted it more than the players. It's what we deserve.''
by CNB