Ticket Stub #14 – Marlins vs. Reds – 04/04/1997
Pro Player Stadium – Miami, FL
Reds 9 – Marlins 7
This was game 4 for the Marlins’ 1997 season, and is the closest I have ever gotten to see a game on Opening Day. Who would have thought that just a few months later the Marlins would be celebrating a World Series championship???
What stood out most in this game was the amazingly talented offensive line-ups each of these teams had. The Reds were stacked with players like Deion Sanders, Ruben Sierra, Reggie Sanders, Barry Larkin, and Hal Morris. The Marlins didn’t have a soft line-up either. The roster contained Gary Sheffield, Moises Alou, Bobby Bonilla, Devon White, and Jeff Conine. This was also the first game I ever saw Edgar Renteria play in live and he quickly became and still is one of my favorite Florida Marlins of all-time.
The biggest impression left on me after seeing this game was the obviuos talent of Reggie Sanders. Sanders had a hell of a night going 3-for-4 with 1 home run and 6 RBI. This is easily one of the best offensive performances I have witnessed during a live baseball game.
| Cincinnati Reds | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | NOTES |
| Sanders | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.529 | |
| Greene | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.286 | |
| Larkin | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.100 | |
| Sanders | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0.471 | HR |
| Morris | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.333 | |
| Sierra | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.313 | |
| Shaw | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Boone | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.111 | |
| Tabuensee | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.400 | |
| Bones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Branson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Jarvis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Timmons | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | |
| Mercker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Harris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Service | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Owens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Florida Marlins | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | NOTES |
| Castillo | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.421 | |
| Renteria | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.235 | SB |
| Sheffield | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.167 | |
| Bonilla | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | |
| Eisenreich | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Hutton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Helling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| Cangelosi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | |
| White | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.357 | |
| Conine | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.600 | |
| Johnson | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.286 | |
| Rapp | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | |
| Heredia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | |
| Alou | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.462 |
Hall of Famers in this game – Barry Larkin(???) & Gary Sheffield(???)
I’m not entirely convinced that Sheffield will be in the Hall, he’s got the numbers, but he seemed to fly under the radar for a lot of years. I never paid too much attention to him until 97, and I of course watched him in Atlanta.
Barry Larkin though is a Hall of Famer. It wouldn’t surprise me if he went on his first ballot, but I doubt it’ll happen. Larkin’s career happened in the middle of the transition of middle infielders into power hitters. I hope the mold of today’s middle infielders doesn’t hurt hic chances for the Hall.