Battle of Ohio (MLB)

:"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 30-27 as of 29 June 2008. [cite web |url= http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080515&content_id=2707733&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle|title= Indians, Reds look to erase early woes|accessdate=2008-05-16 |author= Castrovince, Anthony |date= 2008-05-15|work= www.indians.com|publisher= Major League Baseball]

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.

Baseball: Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds

The 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.

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.

With the exception of 2002, the Indians and Reds have played each other every year since interleague play has been established. They have played each other 6 times every year since 1999 except 2002 and 2003. Each team hosted a three-game series. In 2002 and 2003, other games, such as the Indians vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates, were played instead of the Buckeye Series. In 2004, the Indians-Reds rivalry resumed to six games per year. Beginning with the 2008 season, the team that wins the Battle of Ohio is awarded the Ohio Cup, a traveling trophy. If the series is tied 3-3, the team scoring more runs in the six games will be given this award fact|date=June 2008.

Modern Interleague Series

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.

Football: Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals

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 and Bengals have never met in the playoffs. The Bengals lead the all-time series 35-34.

References

* [http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/interleague/index_04.jsp The Battle for Ohio at mlb.com]
* [http://www.retrosheet.org Retrosheet]
* [http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20041128_CLE@CIN Recap, 2004 Bengals 58 Browns 48]
* [http://www.bengals.com/team/browns_alltime.asp Bengals All-Time Results vs. Browns]