Series Wrapup

Story

The National League featured two exciting pennant races that went right down to the wire in 1993.  In the N.L. East, the Philadelphia Phillies ended Pittsburgh’s three-year reign as division champions by holding off a furious charge by the Montreal Expos to clinch their first Eastern Division title in a decade.  The Phillies finished the regular season with a record of 97-65, three games ahead of the second-place Expos.  The St. Louis Cardinals came in third, 10 games back, while the Pirates, who lost Barry Bonds to free-agency during the offseason, slipped to fifth in the division, 22 games off the pace.  

Philadelphia finished first in the East despite placing just sixth in the league rankings with a team ERA of 3.95.  No Phillies pitcher won more than 16 games.  However, all five members of the starting rotation compiled double-digit win totals.  Curt Schilling and Tommy Greene were the club’s two most effective starters.  Schilling finished 16-7 with a team-leading 186 strikeouts.  Greene posted an outstanding 16-4 record and a solid 3.42 ERA.  Meanwhile, Mitch Williams anchored the bullpen, placing among the league leaders with 43 saves.

The Phillies’ greatest strength lay in their powerful offense, which topped the senior circuit with 877 runs scored and a .351 team on-base percentage, while also placing second with a .274 team batting average and a .426 team slugging average.  Catcher Darren Daulton hit 24 homers, drove in 105 runs, walked 117 times, and compiled a .392 on-base percentage.  Third baseman Dave Hollins hit 18 home runs, knocked in 93 runs, and scored 104 others.  First baseman John Kruk drove in 85 runs, batted .316, drew 111 bases on balls, posted a .430 on-base percentage, and crossed the plate 100 times.  Centerfielder Lenny Dykstra earned a second-place finish in the N.L. MVP voting by hitting 19 home runs, batting .305, compiling a .420 on-base percentage, and topping the circuit with 143 runs scored, 194 hits, and 129 walks.     

While Philadelphia replaced Pittsburgh as Eastern Division champions, the San Francisco Giants came extremely close to dethroning the Atlanta Braves in the West.  After finishing the previous campaign with a record of only 72-90, the Giants held onto first place in the division for much of the summer before finally being passed by the Braves in early September.  However, led by the booming bat of Barry Bonds, San Francisco surged again in the season’s final weeks to move into a first-place tie with Atlanta heading into play on the final day of the year.  

Unfortunately for the Giants, their Cinderella story ended unhappily.  The Braves defeated the Colorado Rockies by a score of 5-3 in their season finale, while the Dodgers routed the Giants 12-1.  The Braves concluded the campaign with a record of 104-58 that left them one game ahead of the Giants in the final standings.  San Francisco’s mark of 103-59 surpassed that of every other major league team, and it represented one of the best records ever posted by a team that failed to advance to the postseason.

Although he received a considerable amount of help from his teammates, Barry Bonds served as the driving force behind San Francisco’s huge turnaround.  Bonds captured league MVP honors for the third time in four seasons by batting .336, scoring 129 runs, stealing 29 bases, drawing 126 bases on balls, and topping the circuit with 46 home runs, 123 runs batted in, 365 total bases, a .458 on-base percentage, and a .677 slugging average.  Matt Williams, Billy Swift, John Burkett, and Rod Beck also contributed significantly to the success of the team over the course of the season.  Williams hit 38 homers, drove in 110 runs, scored 105 others, and batted .294.  Swift and Burkett combined to win 43 games.  Beck compiled a 2.16 ERA and finished second in the league with 48 saves.

However, Atlanta’s exceptional pitching proved to be too much for the Giants to overcome in the end.  The Braves led the National League with a team ERA of 3.14, and their starting rotation featured an outstanding quartet of hurlers.  Greg Maddux, who Atlanta acquired via free-agency during the offseason, earned N.L. Cy Young honors by going 20-10, with a league-leading 2.36 ERA, eight complete games, and 267 innings pitched.  Tom Glavine finished 22-6 with a 3.20 ERA.  Steve Avery went 18-6 with an ERA of 2.94.  John Smoltz won 15 games and led the staff with 208 strikeouts.

Atlanta also featured one of the league’s more potent offenses, placing third in the rankings with 767 runs scored and topping the circuit with 169 home runs.  David Justice finished second in the league with 40 home runs and 120 runs batted in.  Speedy centerfielder Otis Nixon stole 47 bases.  Shortstop Jeff Blauser batted .305 and scored 110 runs.  Terry Pendleton drove in 84 runs and scored 81 others.  Ron Gant placed among the league leaders with 36 home runs, 117 runs batted in, and 113 runs scored.

Although the Braves and Giants clearly established themselves as the class of the N.L. West over the course of the season, two of the division’s top performers played for other teams.  Dodger catcher Mike Piazza hit 35 home runs, knocked in 112 runs, and batted .318, en route to earning N.L. Rookie of the Year honors.  Colorado’s Andres Galarraga also had a big year, hitting 22 home runs, driving in 98 runs, and leading the league with a .370 batting average.  

The Braves entered their NLCS matchup with the Phillies as prohibitive favorites to repeat as National League champions.  Philadelphia had other ideas, though, coming back from an early 2-1 deficit to polish off Atlanta in six games.  Curt Schilling earned NLCS MVP honors even though he failed to gain a decision in either of his two starts.  Schilling struck out 19 batters in 16 innings of work, allowed just 11 hits, and compiled an exceptional 1.69 ERA.

Philadelphia subsequently lost the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games, falling victim to a Series-clinching three-run homer by Joe Carter in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Six.  Phillies closer Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams surrendered the blast, after similarly being victimized by the Blue Jays during their 15-14 come-from-behind win in Game Four.  Lenny Dykstra starred in defeat for the Phillies, batting .348, hitting four homers, driving in eight runs, and scoring nine others.

Other outstanding performers, notable events, and points of interest from around the league follow:

• May 27 – Dale Murphy announced his retirement, just two home runs shy of 400 for his career.

• September 27 - Randy Myers of the Chicago Cubs became the first National League pitcher to record 50 saves in a season by securing a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Myers concluded the campaign with 53 saves.

• Montreal’s Marquis Grissom hit 19 home runs, knocked in 95 runs, scored 104 others, batted .298, and stole 53 bases.

• Cardinal Gregg Jeffries drove in 83 runs, scored 89 others, stole 46 bases, and finished third in the league with a .342 batting average.

• On September 7, Mark Whiten of the Cardinals hit four home runs and knocked in 12 runs, tying Jim Bottomley's all-time single-game RBI record.

• Chicago’s Sammy Sosa joined the 30/30 club by hitting 33 homers and stealing 36 bases.

• Lee Smith became the first hurler to collect 400 career saves when he finished the season with 401.

Seasons of the National League

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