What If: Sid Bream Out in 1992 NLCS Game 7

They say alternate universes exist-that there are infinite timelines,-and differing events happen. Do we believe that? Well, that doesn’t matter, because we ’re looking back on the biggest events that could have gone differently. In this edition of What If? We look back at the 1992 NLCS and more specifically the bottom of the 9th in Game 7.

“Justice is scoring the tying run, Bream coming to the plate. And he is safe, safe at the plate. The Braves are going to the World Series!”

That call is one that will last forever in baseball history, Sid Bream beating the throw from Barry Bonds to score the winning run and sending the Braves to the World Series, and sending the Pirates home losers for (seemingly) eternity. However, what if this was changed?

The place to start would be the hit not occurring in the first place. The single dropped in the outfield, so what if the outfield grabs it? Actually, there is a relatively high chance that this would have happened, considering (5 Time Gold Glove Center Fielder) Andy Van Slyke told Bonds, himself considered one of the best left fielders to play the game, to play shallower after a foul liner from pinch hitter Francisco Cabrera. Bonds reportedly flipped Van Slyke the middle finger and stayed in
position.

The ball from Cabrera landed, you guessed it, right where Van Slyke said it would. If Bonds had shifted shallower, he could have caught the ball. If he caught the liner, the game would be over and the Pirates would go to the World Series. Far more likely is the ball dropping in though. With 2 outs and the ball dropping in, it is highly likely that the Braves would tie the game either way, with a young David Justice on third scoring the tying run.

So far we have the ball dropping in either way, with Bonds in correct position for a throw to the plate. Even if he was not (which is reality), Bonds rockets a throw to home to get the lumbering Sid Bream. So in our alternate universe, what if Bonds gets Bream at the plate?

Van Slyke and Bream, not during Game 7

The game is tied and heading into extras, where anything could have happened. If the Braves end up winning, then history returns to normal. What if the Pirates win instead?

It would be a Pirates vs. Blue Jays World Series, which we will not try to predict. Either way the Pirates are a World Series team, not “having the window slammed on [their] fingers” in the words of Van Slyke. The Pirates would continue their historic winning, from Bill Mazeroski walking off the Yankees in 1960 to the “We are Family” Pirates and Willie Stargell in 1979, and...1992. Bonds might not leave after all, seeing Pittsburgh is a contending team with Bonds and 1990 Cy Young winner Doug Drabek leading the way. The ownership may be more likely to spend money and the team is more likely to stick together, and increased fan support will follow.

The Braves, on the other hand, are sent back to Atlanta without another pennant. They would most likely still pursue Greg Maddux, but who knows if Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine would exist? They maybe even sign Bonds away from the Pirates rather than the slugger going to the Giants.

To get really ambitious, the Braves and Pirates would be the challengers to the Phillies, who were the 1993 National League Champions. The Phillies would most likely not make the Series, robbing us of Curt Schilling postseason heroics, Mitch Williams doing his (wild) thing, and Joe Carter touching them all. The Phillies would still be in their hole, and the NL East would be altered permanently.

May your pennants fly forever.

-Prentiss