WORLD SERIES: ATLANTA BRAVES vs. CLEVELAND INDIANS : BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Great Chance Awaits ‘Great Adjuster’

ATLANTA —  Tom Glavine would be the ace of almost any pitching staff that did not feature Greg Maddux. He has won more games than any other major league pitcher, including Maddux, in the last five years.

Leo Mazzone, the Atlanta Braves’ pitching coach, compares the left-hander’s style to that of Whitey Ford, the former New York Yankee lefty known as “the chairman of the board,” and refers to Glavine as “the great adjuster.” And that’s exactly what he may have to be in Game 6 of the World Series tonight.

It was the Cleveland Indians who adjusted in their second look at Maddux on Thursday night, and it was Orel Hershiser, the winning pitcher in that game, who said:

“The real story is what the Cleveland hitters did tonight. They watched game films. They talked among themselves. They did not want to be the same team they were the last time they faced Maddux [and lost on a two-hitter in Game 1]. I look forward to seeing what they do the second time against Glavine and John Smoltz.”

The rhetoric is heating up. Emboldened by the victory over Maddux, the Indians suspect they have the Braves on the run and insist that the pressure is on the favored Braves, who lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2, but are burdened with the expectations of a team that has failed to win the Series in two previous tries in the ‘90s.

“If they think they’re over the hump and everything is rosy because they’ve beaten Greg Maddux, that just works to my advantage,” Glavine said.

“It’s nothing new and nothing that makes me mad. Beating Greg Maddux is a big deal, but beating Greg Maddux doesn’t mean the Series is over.

“They still have two guys standing in their way, and hopefully I can do my job well enough that we don’t have to ask Smoltz to do it in a Game 7.”

With only his changeup working effectively, Glavine beat the Indians in Game 2, giving up three hits and two runs in six innings. He isn’t sure whether the Indians made pivotal adjustments against Maddux or if Maddux simply lacked his customary command.

He said he would talk to Maddux about that, but either way he would be foolish to make his adjustments before he sees how the Indians make theirs.

After all, he had three consecutive seasons of 20 or more victories starting in 1991, when he was the last National League pitcher to win the Cy Young Award before Maddux began his current run of three in a row.

Glavine has more victories than any other major league left-hander over the last eight years and was 16-7 in the 144 games of the 1995 regular season, when he went seven innings or more in 19 of 29 starts.

“I don’t think there was any other year when I went into the seventh or eighth innings as consistently,” he said. “Obviously, everyone compares what I do to ‘91, but I don’t remember being as good or as consistent in ’91.

“I certainly think I’m a smarter and more well-rounded pitcher than I was then.”

Like Maddux, Glavine doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, but changes speeds in an extensive repertoire.

“I call him the great adjuster because he knows how to win without his best stuff, he knows how to adjust to game situations, and he has the courage and ability to win, 1-0, 5-3, or 7-5,” Mazzone said, adding that in pressure situations, Glavine reminds him of former NBA star George Gervin, “the Ice Man.”

Ice man? Glavine was once exactly that--a high school hockey star who was drafted by the Kings but chose baseball. He is one of nine Braves to have been with the club through all the successes and failures of the ‘90s.

Do they need to win the World Series for validation?

“As players and organization, it would bring us full circle from the team that lost 100 games almost every year, but we want to win because that’s what players want to do, not because it will solidify our place in history,” he said.

“Regardless of whether we win the World Series or what we’ve done in other World Series, I can remember playing before 2,500 people in September here and we can take pride in turning the franchise around and winning three National League pennants. There are a lot of clubs that would like to have accomplished what we have.”

In pursuing the ultimate accomplishment, Glavine said it’s an opportunity every pitcher covets, but he will try to treat it as another game and ignore what it means to the city and franchise. The city turned on Glavine early in the season because of his role in the labor negotiations. The boos hurt and affected his pitching.

“I finally realized that I had crossed the line and was trying to please the fans instead of pitching to help the team,” he said.

“I finally was able to forget the booing, and go back to what I had done the last four or five years.”

The great adjuster turned the boos to cheers, and they will be louder than ever if he is able to do again tonight what he has been doing the last four or five years.

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Tom Glavine in the Postseason

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IP H R ER BB SO W-L ERA Playoffs 42 1/3 43 22 20 12 26 1-4 4.25 World Series 36 1/3 21 11 9 14 19 3-2 2.23

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WORLD SERIES STARTS

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Year, Opponent IP H R ER BB SO Result 1991, Game 2 vs. Minnesota 8 4 3 1 3 6 Braves lose, 3-2 1991, Game 5 vs. Minnesota 5 1/3 4 3 3 4 2 Braves win, 14-5 1992, Game 1 vs. Toronto 9 4 1 1 0 6 Braves win, 3-1 1992, Game 4 vs. Toronto 8 6 2 2 4 2 Braves lose, 2-1 1995, Game 2 vs. Cleveland 6 3 2 2 3 3 Braves win, 4-3

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