BEEN HERE BEFORE
While each of these teams has made its mark on October baseball — from 1995-2001, only the Yankees or Indians represented the AL in the World Series — they’ll meet beginning Thursday night for only the fourth time in postseason history. The Indians have won two of the three playoff series, most recently in 2007. Here’s a look at how each series played out:
1997 ALDS: Indians win, 3-2
The Indians squeezed by to kick off their run to the World Series, where they would fall to the Marlins in seven games.
The Yankees took Game 1, a matchup featuring Orel Hershiser vs. David Cone, coming back from a 6-1 deficit with a boost from back-to-back-to-back home runs from Tim Raines, Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill. The Indians won Game 2 before the Yankees bounced back with a 6-1 win in Game 3 behind a five-RBI night from O’Neill and a completegame gem from David Wells.
The champagne was ready to pop late in Game 4, but Mariano Rivera blew a save in the eighth inning when Sandy Alomar hit a solo shot and Ramiro Mendoza lost it in the ninth as Omar Vizquel’s single walked it off for the Indians. That sent the Tribe surging into Game 5, where Manny Ramirez drove in a pair of runs and Jaret Wright out-dueled Andy Pettitte for a 4-3 Indians win.
1998 ALCS: Yankees win, 4-2
The Yankees found redemption a year later, eliminating the Indians on the way to their World Series title over the Padres.
The 114-win Yankees won the series opener as Wells nearly went the distance and Jeter, O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius each had two hits. The Indians took the next two games — needing 12 innings to break a 1-1 stalemate in Game 2 before Bartolo Colon tossed a complete game and Jim Thome homered twice in Game 3.
But the Yankees responded by winning three straight to advance to the World Series. Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez spun seven shutout innings in Game 4, Wells struck out 11 and Chili Davis drove in three runs in Game 5, and Cone survived a five-run fifth inning to outlast the Indians 9-5 in the decisive Game 6.
2007 ALDS: Indians win, 3-1
The Tribe set the tone in Game 1 by smacking Chien-Ming Wang and the Bombers 12-3, while CC Sabathia, then an Indian, picked up the win.
Game 2 was much more of a nail-biter as the Indians scored a run in the bottom of the eighth off midge-infested Joba Chamberlain to send the game to extras. Travis Hafner eventually won it for the Indians in the 11th with a walk-off single against Luis Vizcaino, scoring Kenny Lofton for the 2-1 win.
In the final appearance of his career, Roger Clemens started Game 3 for the Yankees and didn’t make it out of the third inning, but his offense picked him up to keep the series alive. But the Indians shut the door in Game 4, drilling Wang again to win the series.