Braves to honor Bream's moment

A bobblehead commemorating the Atlanta Braves' rise and Pirates' fall symbolizes the defining moment in Sid Bream's major league career.

Bream, a former Pirate who grew up in Carlisle, came chugging around third base and beat the lunging tag of catcher Mike LaValliere to score the winning run in Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series.

Bream scored from second base on Francisco Cabrera's single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The play enhanced Bream's reputation as much as it damaged the Pirates' fortunes over the next two decades.

The Pirates have amassed 19 consecutive losing seasons since.

“The last few years, I started hearing around Pittsburgh, ‘What's going on with the Pirates?'” said Bream, who played for the Pirates from 1985-90. “They call it the ‘Bream Curse.'”

Bream and members of that Braves team will be recognized next month as part of a tribute to one of baseball's most memorable plays.

The bobblehead depicting Bream, LaValliere and umpire Randy Marsh signaling Bream safe will be given away to the first 20,000 fans attending the June 9 game between the Braves and Toronto Blue Jays at Atlanta's Turner Field.

The ceremony will be part of a Braves alumni weekend commemorating the team's 1992 NL pennant.

“Every time I go out in public, I still get somebody telling me I was out,” said Bream, who lives in Zelienople. “It's amazing knowing how long it has stuck in peoples' minds.”

The play still resonates, as evidenced by fan reaction during the Pirates' 3-1 loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday at PNC Park.

“That game is symbolic of what happened to the Pirates,” said Ed McVay, a longtime Pirates fan from DuBois who was a graduate student at Pitt in 1992.

“That situation allowed me to be put in the forefront,” said Bream, a .264 career hitter. “If it wasn't for that play, I would have gone into obscurity.”

John Harris is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at jharris@tribweb.com