MPR’s Mark Heistad interviews Mike Tiering, an Atlanta sportswriter, about the 1991 World Series and the intense enthusiasm for the Atlanta Braves. Tiering discusses the Atlanta losses in first two games and prediction on Game 3.
MPR’s Mark Heistad interviews Mike Tiering, an Atlanta sportswriter, about the 1991 World Series and the intense enthusiasm for the Atlanta Braves. Tiering discusses the Atlanta losses in first two games and prediction on Game 3.
SPEAKER 1: Good morning.
SPEAKER 2: Good morning. How are you?
SPEAKER 1: Doing all right. I assume spirits are high among Atlanta fans as the team is coming home for a game three.
SPEAKER 2: Yes it is. I just heard your weather report there. We're a little bit warmer here, but some folks are a lot warmer because they're struck with World Series fever. A lot of people don't seem that daunted by the two nothing deficit down here.
SPEAKER 1: Have you ever seen anything like this in Atlanta? The kind of response in the community?
SPEAKER 2: I've really not seen anything like this anywhere. Folks are saying that this is the toughest World Series ticket they've ever seen. We've talked to ticket brokers from California and Texas. I'm sure it's something like you all had back in 87. The first time is always the best, it seems.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, and it's been a while for Atlanta. Well, been forever for Atlanta, I guess, for any sort of a national championship.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah Atlanta has been starved for this. There have been a couple of similar events. Almost a year or a little more than a year ago, we were awarded the Olympics and there was great celebration over that. And we have the Heavyweight Championship lives here, Evander Holyfield, but that's kind of a nothing can compare to the World Series. I mean, folks' lives have been affected by what the Braves are doing now. You drive down the street and every block someone has a t-shirt stand set up on curbside selling things.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, it all sounds real familiar. I do want to ask you about one element here that I read a little piece in one of our papers this morning about how Kent Hrbek has become something of a boogeyman in Atlanta and really throughout the South for that controversial play in Sunday night's game. What can you tell me about that?
SPEAKER 2: Well, a lot of folks would like to know who paid off the umpire who made that call. The folks down here definitely saw that play one way. There's no doubt in many people's minds here that Gant was shoved off the base. It was not a case of his momentum carrying him off. And I'm not sure it's directed at her Beck just as much as the umpire. I mean, I'm sure he's going to be booed tonight. But hey, he's like the-- he's a wrestling fan. He knows what good guys and bad guys are in wrestling and it's good for the sport.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I was going to suggest he'd probably enjoy getting booed tonight.
SPEAKER 2: Oh, yeah, I would think so.
SPEAKER 1: A lot of people expecting quite a well-pitched game tonight with these two young pitchers, Avery and Eriksson. You think it's going to play out that way?
SPEAKER 2: Well, it's hard to say. Avery was stupendous during the playoff series. And even a lot of old time baseball player-- observers are beside themselves comparing him to Sandy Koufax and so forth. That's obviously a little bit premature, but he has been amazing. The one reason I expect him to throw a good game, I don't about the Twins guys, Avery seems utterly unaffected by all of this hoopla.
You all may have heard that before a Dodgers game near the end of the season, he fell asleep on the training table an hour before the game. He's just a big kid having fun. And some people might think, well, 21-year-old guy will be feeling tons of pressure tonight. I think quite the opposite. He's having a good time. And so I expect a good game out of him for sure.
SPEAKER 1: Of course, we finish all of these interviews by putting people on the spot. Atlanta going to come back, do you think?
SPEAKER 2: I think they're going to come back. I'm not so sure they're going to win it. I think they're a pretty big favorite tonight and tomorrow hardly guaranteed. But I think they have a very good chance of making it to two, in which case, the key would be the fifth game. I think the Braves probably have to sweep down here to have a real good shot, because I can't envision the Twins losing, losing game 6 and 7 at their park. So I think the Braves do have a shot. I don't think it's over, but I think clearly the Twins are the favorite.
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