David Justice and My Love Affair With Sports

What sport moments define my life?  There's a handful, for sure.  But there's one moment that will forever remain in my own narrative.  I remember the event vividly, and I believe this is what began my obsession with sports. 

I began following the Braves in the early 90's when my family was stationed in Merced, California as a part of my father's military duty.  At the time there were two real options for watching baseball regularly: the local channel for the San Francisco Giants or TBS for the Atlanta Braves.  I chose the Braves and became quickly enamored an outfielder, perhaps best known now for divorcing Halle Berry and his association with the Mitchell Report these days, David Justice.

I'm not sure what drew me to Justice, but as a child it was probably his cool name coupled with his powerful bat.  Justice hit 40 homeruns in 1993, enough to impress any child.  Although he failed to repeat such numbers in Atlanta and was no longer with the club just three years later, in my mind he is forever a Brave, and a legendary one at that.

As a Braves fan in the early 90's you became quickly acquainted with the reputation which preceded legendary manager Bobby Cox.  Though thought of as great, the term choke artist followed him around.  In 1990, then acting as General Manager, Cox fired manager Russ Nixon and appointed himself the new headman. 

In 1991, the Braves became the first team to go from last place to first place in a single season (the Minnesota Twins did so that season as well).  Fittingly, both teams met in the World Series, but the Twins edged the Braves.  In 1992 the Braves repeated their success, this time losing to the Blue Jays in the World Series.  In 1993 the Braves finished the season with the best record in baseball, only to lose to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series.  In 1994, the strike shortened year pulled the plug on the Braves, who were among the hottest teams in baseball at the time.

Four years of success without reaching the pinnacle.  The Braves had plenty of talent: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, David Justice, Ron Gant and a young Chipper Jones.  But why hadn't they sealed the deal?

Well, 1995 was the year.  No more baseball strike.  No more failure; this is the season the Braves were primed to make a run.  And they did.  The Braves finished with the best record in the National League, guided by their dominant pitching staff of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

They cruised through the playoffs, dropping only one game to the Rockies in the opening round.  But the World Series faced them off with the Cleveland Indians, a slugging team from the American League that finished with the best record in baseball.  The Indians were ignited by speedster Kenny Lofton at the top of their lineup.  The rest of their lineup would serve up longballs regularly featuring power hitters Albert Belle, Paul Sorrento, Jim Thome and a young Manny Ramirez.  Not to mention a wily veteran like Eddie Murray at the back of their order, who was just one more tough out.

The Braves jumped out to a quick series lead, taking both opening home games, and it seemed as if they may steamroll through the series as they had the rest of the playoffs.  The Indians won game three, but the Braves took game four in Cleveland, and it seemed the Indians were on the verge of elimination.  In Game five legendary pitcher Orel Hershiser outdueled Greg Maddux to keep the Indians alive and send the series back to Atlanta.

With a 3-2 lead in the series, Tom Glavine took the mound in Atlanta, hoping to bring home the title.  But the real story was David Justice, who publicly maligned Braves' fans for being less supportive than in years past.  Justice was having a porous postseason, hitting just 3 for 14 in the first five games.  Needless to say, his words weren't well received.

The game was a pitcher's duel. The tension was utterly palpable.  Who would break first?  Glavine, in the prime of his career, worked a no hitter into the 6th.  Dennis Martinez, a sage veteran by this point, found ways to make outs, keeping the game scoreless through five.  Manager Mike Hargrove pulled the plug on Martinez after the fifth and called on ace middle reliever Jim Poole.

Poole's first batter was Justice.  The left-hand hitting right fielder received a lukewarm reception.  He doubled earlier in the game, but it amounted to nothing.  Justice passed on Poole's first pitch, a called strike.  He passed again on pitch two, a ball.  But the third pitch Poole hung... right in Justice's wheelhouse.  He turned on it and roped into into the right field bleachers.

Justice celebrates after hitting the home run, which would eventual be the Series winning run.

The moment the ball hit the bat I, and every other Brave fan, knew we had won the World Series.  Sure, there were three more innings to be played, but Glavine was pitching a masterpiece.  The Indians couldn't figure him out all series, and he continued to bamboozle them that night.

In that moment, the pure bliss of the cracking of a wooden bat and the roar of the crowd were immaculate.  It was, fittingly, poetic justice, for the man who shared the namesake. 

I may not have realized it then, but I now know that that moment would be a moment I'd want to relive time and again.  It would be a moment I always looked upon fondly in my life.  It would be a moment I shared with my kids when I discussed my love of sports.  It would never be forgotten, never minimalized, but always cherished as the night.