1999 ALCS
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Overview
The 1999 ALCS featured the first postseason matchup between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Boston mounted a remarkable comeback down 0-2 in the 1999 ALDS to defeat the Cleveland Indians in five games. The heavily favored Yankees swept the Texas Rangers yet again.
The Red Sox faced an uphill battle trying to knock off the defending champions with ace Pedro Martinez unavailable until Game 3 after his remarkable performance of Game 5 against Cleveland. The Yankees were able to set up their rotation for the series against Boston when the series opened in New York. The Yankees would prove to be the better team as they won in 5 games. They would register their only postseason loss of the 1999 season in this series.
- Managers: Joe Torre (New York) & Jimy Williams (Boston)
- Venues: Yankee Stadium (New York) & Fenway Park (Boston)
- Series MVP: Orlando Hernández (New York)
Boxscores
Game 1: October 13, 1999 at Yankee Stadium
Game 1 featured Kent Mercker against Orlando Hernandez. Despite the mismatch on the mound, Boston had a surprising 3-2 lead going into the seventh. After Rich Garces shut down the Yankees in relief, Derek Lowe was brought in and promptly surrendered the lead on a Scott Brosius single followed by a Captain Intangibles double. Lowe, who had been shaky in the Cleveland series, settled down and kept the game tied at 3 going into extra innings. The Red Sox failed to score in the top of the 10th, and in the bottom half, Rod Beck surrendered a home run to Bernie Williams and the Red Sox lost a golden chance to steal a game in New York.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
| New York Yankees | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Mariano Rivera (1-0) L: Rod Beck (0-1) S: None | |||||||||||||
| HR: BOS: None NYY: Scott Brosius (1), Bernie Williams (1) | |||||||||||||
Game 2: October 14, 1999 at Yankee Stadium
The Red Sox continued to play the Yankees tough in Game 2. Ramon Martinez matched up against David Cone. Once again the Red Sox took a one-run lead into the 7th. Jason Varitek and Troy O'Leary both had what looked like sure home runs hit off the top of the wall earlier in the game, and both were stranded. Luck was on the Yankees side again in the 7th when Paul O'Neill blooped a hit into left field, scoring the go-ahead run that decided the game. Although they were down 0-2, Boston was confident going back to Fenway having played the Yankees tough, and with their ace on the mound for Game 3.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| New York Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: David Cone (1-0) L: Ramon Martinez (0-1) S: Mariano Rivera (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BOS: Nomar Garciaparra (1) NYY: Tino Martinez (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3: October 16, 1999 at Fenway Park
Game 3 will forever be known for the pitching match-up of Boston ace Pedro Martinez versus former Boston ace Roger Clemens. The knock on Clemens when he was in Boston was that he could never win the big game in the postseason. The trend continued in Game 3. Clemens surrendered a triple to Jose Offerman followed by a home run by John Valentin to open the bottom of the 1st, and things snowballed from there. Pedro changed speed to throw the Yankees off balance, and turned in a brilliant performance, striking out 12 and surrendering just two hits in seven innings. By the time the Yankees scored their only run of the game in the 8th, Boston was already up 13-0.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Boston Red Sox | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | X | 13 | 21 | 1 |
| W: Pedro Martinez (1-0) L: Roger Clemens (0-1) S: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY: Scott Brosius (2) BOS: John Valentin (1), Nomar Garciaparra (2), Brian Daubach (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4: October 17, 1999 at Fenway Park
In a critical Game 4, things got ugly in Boston after a Tim Tschida blown call on a phantom tag of Offerman by Chuck Knoblauch. Manager Jimy Williams was ejected fiercely arguing the call, and the fans responded by littering the field with debris. The Yankees scored 6 times in the ninth in what was a tight 3-2 game going into the inning. Starter Bret Saberhagen took the loss, and Boston's chances of advancing were slim. Only the Red Sox in the 1986 ALCS had ever come back from a 3-1 hole.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 0 |
| Boston Red Sox | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
| W: Andy Pettitte (0-1) L: Bret Saberhagen (0-1) S: Mariano Rivera (2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY: Darryl Strawberry (1), Ricky Ledee (1) BOS: None | ||||||||||||
Game 5: October 18, 1999 at Fenway Park
The Yankees didn't leave much room for optimism in Game 5. Series MVP Orlando Hernandez shut down the Boston attack, while the Yankees scored twice in the first off starter Kent Mercker, and added two more in the 7th and 9th to put an end to Boston's season. The Yankees would go on to win the World Series, sweeping the Atlanta Braves.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| Boston Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| W: Orlando Hernandez (1-0) L: Kent Mercker (0-1) S: Ramiro Mendoza (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY: Derek Jeter (1), Jorge Posada (1) BOS: Jason Varitek (1) | ||||||||||||
Trivia
- The umpires for the series were Tim McClelland, Dan Morrison, Rick Reed, Al Clark, Dale Scott, Tim Tschida.
- The series was televised on FOX, with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver as the announcers.
