Battle of Ohio (MLB)

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Distinguish from the Battle for Ohio (Revolutionary War), a war that took place during the American Revolution.

The Battle of Ohio refers to the geographical rivalry and interleague matchup between Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, an American League team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Cincinnati Reds, a National League team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The series provided an opportunity to determine bragging rights for the State, the two teams having never met in the World Series. This can also be referred to as a Buckeye Series, since Ohio's state nickname is the "Buckeye State."

The Cleveland Indians lead the all-time series 29-25 as of 18 May 2008.^[1]

The best performance by any player in one game in the rivalry was Ken Griffey, Jr. in 2000 with 8 RBI and 2 HR.

In the National Football League, the Battle of Ohio refers to games played between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals.

[edit] Baseball: Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds

[edit] The Ohio Cup

Main article: Ohio cup

In the eight years directly preceding interleague play, the rivals contested the annual Ohio cup, a game played just a few days before the start of each new season.

It was staged annually at Cooper Stadium, home of the Columbus Clippers between 1989 and 1996.

[edit] First Interleague Game

When interleague play was established in 1997, the Indians and Reds met for the first time at Jacobs Field.

The game was played in the afternoon in front of a crowd of 42,961.

Cleveland starting pitcher Orel Hershiser struck out lead off hitter Deion Sanders.

Indians' designated hitter Kevin Seitzer recorded the first ever hit in a Battle for Ohio game when he doubled in the bottom of the first inning.

Pokey Reese recorded the series first ever run, scoring in the bottom of the second inning for the Reds.

Manny Ramírez hit the first Buckeye Series home run in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough to prevent the Reds winning the inaugural game 4-1.

[edit] Modern Interleague Series

[edit] Other Meetings

The Indians and Reds have, on occasion, met in other non-competitive games.

During Spring Training in March 2007 the rivals faced each other twice. The Indians won the first game on March 9 by a score of 7-3. The Reds won a game on March 10 by a score of 5-2.

They teams even cleared their benches during an exhibition in 1993, when Jose Mesa threw a pitch behind Cincinnati's Hal Morris.

The teams however, as mentioned above, have yet to meet in the World Series. There have been several near misses though, including 1995, when both teams advanced to their respective League Championship Series, but only the Indians made it out - the Reds were swept in four games by the eventual champions Atlanta Braves.

[edit] Football: Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Main article: Battle of Ohio (NFL)

Geography and a shared heritage add to this rivalry. Cleveland (Northeast) and Cincinnati (Southwest) are on opposite corners of Ohio, and essentially split Ohio. Paul Brown also started each franchise. The colors of each team are similar, since Paul Brown chose the exact shade of orange used by the Browns for the Bengals.

The Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals first played in 1970. Previously, the Bengals were a part of the American Football League. After the AFL-NFL merger the Browns and Bengals were placed in the AFC Central Division. They have played twice a year since 1970, except in 1982 (Player's strike-shortened season) and the years 1996-1998 (the Browns had moved to Baltimore). The Browns and Bengals have never met in the playoffs. The Bengals lead the all-time series 35-34.

[edit] References

• The Battle for Ohio at mlb.com
• Retrosheet
• Recap, 2004 Bengals 58 Browns 48
• Bengals All-Time Results vs. Browns