Game 5 of the 1995 World Series--We Were There

The Cleveland Indians played the Atlantic Braves in the 1995 World Series, losing to them in 6 games. I got to see game 5 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, along with Linda and two of my daughters, Julia and Carolan. The youngest, Emily was at home that evening.

When you hear about the cost of seats at the 2016 World Series between Cleveland and Chicago, it might seem strange that we could afford to buy 4 tickets back in 1995. But those tickets only cost us $16 or $18 apiece. The Indians had a lottery for non-season ticket holders to buy tickets. I sent in a postcard  to get into this lottery, and won the right to buy 4 tickets to game 5. Today, people are paying $800 for standing room tickets. We had seats, in the upper deck in right field. In the 8th inning of that game, Jim Thome hit a home run that landed not far to the right of us. I jumped up trying to move toward the ball and hurt myself a bit when I landed.

Albert Belle also hit a homer for the Indians and Orel Hershiser was the winning pitcher, with José Mesa getting the save. The final score was 5-4 Cleveland. The fans were ecstatic after the game and you would have thought that we had just won the entire World Series, rather than one game. People were so excited, cars were honking horns for an hour. It was tremendously fun--it was our World Series victory.

The Atlanta Braves had one of the greatest pitching staffs in history, featuring Hall of Famers John Smolz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux. We pretty much knew that it would take a miracle to win the series. Game 6 was held in Atalanta, and Tom Glavine (with the 9th inning pitched by closer Mark Wohlers), threw a one-hit shutout--and that was it.

43,595 people saw game 5--and we were among them. Afterwards, we celebrated our World Series victory.

Letter to My Grandchildren (Poem)

Letter to the Future: For Colin, Robby, and Ava

Boys, Ava,

Nobody will ever love you
The way I, we, Nana and I
Love you.

Someday,
A long way from here,
If you are ever in trouble,
Ever lonely, ever despair,

Ever wake in fear in the middle of the night,

Remember this:

Nothing you could ever do
Would separate our love from you.

            Bob Coughlin / October 9, 2016