Written by Jeff Rich

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I’m honestly not an old enough Cleveland sports fan to remember the actual best of times, so, like many of you, I can only bask in the joy of what I’ve seen.  I can’t offer you any type of recall about the Miracle at Richfield or the Kardiac Kids, let alone World Series Championships in 1920 and 1948, or any of the NFL Championships that the Browns brought home from 1950 to 1964.  Sure, I could read about them, but to attempt to tell those stories of glory, not having experienced them first-hand, would obviously leave something to be desired.  What has really left something to be desired, something like a Championship, is Cleveland and its teams. 

I was born in 1978, but the vivid memories really only begin in the mid-80’s for me, not that I think I missed much in first seven years of my life, or even the decade prior to my birth.  So, I’ve had my glimpses of good times, but for the most part, Cleveland sports have played out like a depressing chick song.  Now, my father has more or less instructed me not to listen to depressing chick songs, and that’s a thing that actually happened, but there is a parallel to be found.  Like the Twilight movies, soccer, and reality television, there is a segment of the population that is intrigued by somber female tunes, even if the masses want no part of it.  Consider me among the masses on all counts there, but I’m not going to let it stop me from exploiting the discouraging melodies of Adele to tell my story of what it was like to have loved and lost the 1995 Cleveland Indians.

I do have to tell you that I am far from connected to the music scene, and that’s still giving myself too much credit.  I’m not just lost when it comes to the obscure hipster stuff, radio friendly and Top-40 plays are usually also foreign to my ears.  In fact, the very song that drew the stern lecture from my Pops, the “you’re gonna catch a cold from the hole in your soul” song, was overheard while enjoying lunch a roast beef at Rax in Joliet, IL.  When I first heard the song I’m about to break down here, “Someone Like You”, it was the focal point of a Saturday Night Live joke about forcing yourself to cry, and what fan of the current Cleveland Indians couldn’t use a good cry?

I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.

Manny Ramirez

I have my serious doubts that the Indians will get as much production form the 7-hole as Manny Ramirez gave them in 1995.  I’m not sure any team has, or any team ever will.  For the Indians, you look at Jody Gerut in 2003, who doesn’t come close in the Triple Crown categories.  Of course, what we remember now more than anything (other than the positive drug tests) is how he departed for Boston as a Free Agent in 2000.  He won two rings with the Red Sox, including the one that didn’t mean the world to him in 2007, the one that could have been ours.  What ever you want to think of Manny, how 1995 was only the tip of the iceberg with his career Triple Crown numbers per 162 were off the page (39 HR, 129 RBI, .312 BA), and however is legacy may be tarnished by what was exposed, there’s one truth.  The Indians will never find someone like that at $150k for a season like that.

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	RF	Manny Ramirez	23	137	571	484	85	149	26	1	31	107	6	6	75	112	.308	.402	.558	.960	147	270	13	5	2	5	6
2003	RF	Jody Gerut	25	127	525	480	66	134	33	2	22	75	4	5	35	70	.279	.336	.494	.830	120	237	13	7	1	2	4
2010	RF	Shin-Soo Choo	27	144	646	550	81	165	31	2	22	90	22	7	83	118	.300	.401	.484	.885	147	266	11	11	0	2	11

*- All tables appear courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.

 

John Hart & Mike Hargrove 

John Hart served as the General Manager of the team from 1991-2001, but most would argue that the fruits of his labor were on full display with the 1995 team.  Hart made savvy trades for Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel, and drew up long term deals for young promising players like Jim Thome, Charles Nagy, and Ramirez before all the cool kids were doing it.  He believed in camaraderie and long days at the office, and made a middle market with a losing culture the guinea pig for his Blueprint for Success.  After the 1995 season, he proved not to be a one-year wonder, his team returned to the World Series despite the departures of Albert Belle, Lofton, and Carlos Baerga.  There is someone like John Hart, it’s his right hand man, Mark Shapiro.  Shapiro is currently employed as the Team President of the Indians, having named his successor from in-house as the General Manager, the only position (including ownership) in the Tribe organization not experience extreme turnover since that magical run in 1995.  Aside from the obvious results on the field, Hart was honored by the Sporting News as Executive of the Year in ’95, the second straight year he won the award.  Shapiro was also a two-time winner (’05 & ’07), but never had a team reach the World Series, but can only hang his hat on a brilliant Bartolo Colon trade and a 2007 playoff run.  Hart is currently an analyst for MLB Network.

Mike Hargrove served as Hart’s field general, notching a 721-591 (451-366 from ’94-’99) record as the Tribe’s skipper.  The turn-around for Hargrove’s teams began in the strike-shortened 1994 season, 66 wins and 47 losses had them within spitting distance of the White Sox when the season came to an abrupt end.  That was the last season Hargrove would lead a team to anything less than an American League Central Division Championship.  You might look at the one they called the Human Rain Delay as a player, and say he was a product of his environment when you consider he never won more than 78 games in any of his seven seasons after leading the Tribe, but if you listen to him on the Sportstime Ohio broadcasts of Indians games, there is no doubt that he has a substantial understanding of this game.  Charlie Manuel had winning record in 2+ seasons after taking over, but was spared some losses being dismissed 86 games into an 88 loss season.  Lou Boudreau, Frank Robinson, Eric Wedge lost more games than they won in Cleveland as well.  Current skipper Manny Acta might be the man that bests Hargrove, and even Al Lopez (570-354 with Cleveland), but he’s still yet to achieve a winning season anywhere.  Hargrove is back with the organization as a Special Consultant, and puts on the headset in the broadcast booth from time to time.

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over.

 

Jim Thome

Back then, Jim Thome was just a guy who batted sixth, a prospect by any other name.  They were only paying him $825,000 at the time, a year before he’d crack the million dollar barrier for the first time.  Back then, he didn’t have to be the “Whammer” character he emulates in his pre-pitch ritual.  It was good enough that he had 57 extra base hits and drove in 73 runs.  He wasn’t the fan favorite that he evolved into, and his legend hadn’t begun.  He was just a valuable piece of a great team.  It’s almost laughable to talk about replacing Thome’s ’95 production because Thome himself was better in ’96. Then when he moved across the diamond when Matt Williams arrived, Williams put up comparable power numbers.  The same could be said for Travis Fryman in 2000, who came over in trade that sent Williams toPhoenix after the ’97 season.

We remember Thome as the masher, the guy that was still here when the dust settled and the core of the playoff teams were gone.  Is it fair to refer to those late 90’s teams as Championship teams, even if everyone knows those Championship are of a divisional variety?  What I’m looking at is strictly the 1995 Jim Thome, who put a respectable year towards the bottom of the lineup, but the best thing about him was that he was only 24 then.  That almost sounds like a snooty/snotty comment to make as a fan of the 2012 installment, where I’d just be happy to have a guy with a pulse at either corner of the infield.  We, as fans, had hoped that the 40 year old Designated Hitter would put that same charge into the lineup as the guy who hit 52 home runs in 2002.  He had his moments this September, but just because he was the same guy didn’t mean he was exactly the same slugger that we remembered from the first time around.

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	3B	Jim Thome	24	137	557	452	92	142	29	3	25	73	4	3	97	113	.314	.438	.558	.996	157	252	8	5	0	3	3
1996	DH	Jim Thome	25	151	636	505	122	157	28	5	38	116	2	2	123	141	.311	.450	.612	1.062	167	309	13	6	0	2	8
1997	3B	Matt Williams	31	151	636	596	86	157	32	3	32	105	12	4	34	108	.263	.307	.488	.795	101	291	14	4	0	2	4
2000	3B	Travis Fryman	31	155	658	574	93	184	38	4	22	106	1	1	73	111	.321	.392	.516	.908	127	296	15	1	0	10	2
2011	DH	Jim Thome	40	22	82	71	11	21	4	0	3	10	0	0	11	23	.296	.390	.479	.869	142	34	1	0	0	0	1

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead, "
Yeah

 

The Pitching Staff

I honestly forgot how good this pitching staff was, not a lot of people offer up credit for just how good they were, myself included.  In fact when my little brother, who was 9 during that season, told me a few weeks ago that this staff led the league in ERA, I told him he was dead wrong.  While there aren’t many documented cases of it, I have been wrong from time to time, and this was the case.  Led by 16 win seasons from Charles Nagy and Orel Hershiser, and anchored by Jose Mesa’s 46 Saves, the Indians led the league in ERA at 3.83.  And, it wasn’t even close; the Baltimore Orioles were the next lowest at 4.31 almost a ½ run higher.  The Braves (3.44) and Dodgers (3.66) were the only staffs in all of baseball that were lower, and you have to consider the bell curve when comparing pitching stats between the two leagues.  We all know that the Braves got the upper hand on the Indians in one other key category in 1995, World Series victories, the stat that stings the most.  To only credit the headliners would be doing a grave injustice to the supporting cast; Chad Ogea, Ken Hill, Julian Tavarez, Eric Plunk, and Jim Poole all threw critical innings in a dominating season.  You don’t win 69% of your games by accident.

Now, the staff was also outstanding in 1996.  They led the American League in ERA and WHIP as the ’95 squad did, but it was the 2005 staff that did it with an entirely different cast.  Most of us chose not to remember Cliff Lee prior to 2008 because he was a year to late to the 2007 party, one of many things working against us in the year that got away.  Sometimes it lasts, but sometimes it hurts instead; she’s right about that.  However, Cliff Lee led that staff in wins at 18-5.  Despite a mediocre 11-9 record, Kevin Millwood turned in a 2.86 ERA, while CC Sabathia and Jake Westbrook added 15 wins.  Beyond Bob Wickman’s 45 Saves, the ’05 bullpen had several arms that offered up some productive innings, which included a career year from Bob Howry, a lot of innings from David Riske and a young Rafael Betancourt, and a few left handed arms (Scott Sauerbeck & Arthur Rhodes) that best what the ’95 staff had with Jim Poole and Paul Assenmacher.

 

Year	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
1995	100	44	.694	3.83	144	144	134	10	4	50	1301.0	1261	607	554	135	445	16	926	45	5	48	5512	123	1.311	8.7	0.9	3.1	6.4	2.08

 

 

You know how the time flies
Only yesterday was the time of our lives
We were born and raised
In a summer haze
Bound by the surprise of our glory days

 

 

Carlos Baerga & Albert Belle

The average non-Indians fan might not remember Carlos Baerga, and probably remember Albert Belle, but more for his behavior than his on-field contributions.  When I bring them up in conversation, and I do because I’m selfish and believe that I can turn any topic into a forum about Cleveland sports, I’m always left to wonder if I might overrate these guys a bit inside my head.  The numbers tell me that I don’t overrate or underrate either one, but “appropriately rated” or “justifiably evaluated” aren’t terms that are always overused in subjective conversations of any sort.  Baerga was replacing Mark Lewis, one of the Indians bigger busts to date, when he took over at Second Base, and replaced by the then inept Tony Fernandez to start the ’97 season after Baerga was traded to the Mets in ’96.  While 1995 was the beginning of the end for Baerga’s star, this was fine production out of the type of lineup the Indians had, where had Albert Belle and Eddie Murray hitting behind him.  Carlos peaked statistically in 1993 with 21 bombs, 114 RBI, and a .321 Average, but it was his production on a winning team that meant the most.  It’s a shame he was the last out of the 1995 season when his fly ball fell harmlessly from the night sky in Atlanta to clinch the Braves only World Series title since moving to Georgia in 1966.

Most Cleveland fans can remember the story of how and why Joey became Albert Belle, but that doesn’t show up in the box score.  Now, maybe 50 Doubles and 50 Home Runs in a season doesn’t jump off the page, but I don’t believe there’s anyone else that has ever done that.  He certainly benefitted from having Eddie Murray protecting him in the order that year, but you have to understand that Belle’s talent stood alone.  He had a monster season at the old Stadium in ’93 when he had guys like Paul Sorrento and Reggie Jefferson protecting him, or not protecting him.  Because of who Belle was as a person, we didn’t necessarily weep over is departure, hindsight allows us to say “Good Riddance” knowing he never won anything in Chicago or Baltimore.  Hindsight also tells us his Hall of Fame career was derailed on the way to Cooperstown due to untimely injury, but his production never really fell off the table until he hung up the spikes for good.

As far as finding “someone like them” was concerned, there was a Hall of Famer named Alomar that showed up in 1998 to play Second Base, easing the grieving process over Carlos Baerga rather easily.  Mike Hargrove already knew of a budding masher in his outfield that was capable of replacing Belle’s offensive production when he bolted for the riches of Chicago’s South Side.

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	2B	Carlos Baerga	26	135	600	557	87	175	28	2	15	90	11	2	35	31	.314	.355	.452	.807	108	252	15	3	0	5	6

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	LF	Albert Belle	28	143	629	546	121	173	52	1	50	126	5	2	73	80	.317	.401	.690	1.091	177	377	24	6	0	4	5

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I'd hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over.

 

Kenny Lofton

Kenny Lofton turned up out of the blue so much after being traded to the Braves before the 1997 season that it has always felt as though he never left.  I am a fan of Lofton’s, so I can usually ignore the facts that stand against him.  His On-Base Percentage is lower than any great lead-off hitter’s should be, and he struck out more than he walked in most seasons, and his batting average was respectable in spite of those things.  You take the bad with the good, and Gold Glove play in Center Field is good.  Leading the league in Stolen Bases five years in a row is also good.  In 1995, he also led the league in Triples while batting .310, but this was a disappointing season for Lofton in reality.  He couldn’t compete with his own past, so if you don’t know his batting average was almost 40 points higher and his on-base percentage was 50 points better in ’94, maybe you wouldn’t care.  It didn’t mean he wasn’t a great asset to the team, his alert base running in the game that clinched the American League Pennant is something I’ll remember forever.  Shame on Randy Johnson for this, but Lofton scored from second on a Wild Pitch because he saw Johnson wasn’t paying attention while covering the plate.  After spending the ’97 season with the Braves, Lofton returned to the Indians for four years before bouncing around the league, only to land back with the Tribe for a stretch-run 52 game cameo in 2007.

 If I have to talk about finding someone like Lofton, I suppose Grady Sizemore’s 2006 effort is as good as any.  Sizemore is a different kind of player, defensively similar to Lofton, especially the post surgical Lofton who had problems throwing the pill.  Grady didn’t need surgery to throw the ball poorly, his arm reduced his five tool potential down to four on its own.  However, Sizemore is a different animal at the plate, given some of the intangibles to be a lead-off hitter, he always belonged lower in the lineup, but Eric Wedge never rolled the dice with that.  I don’t want to knock his .375 OBP because he hit the ball so well, 53 Doubles, 11 Triples and 28 Home Runs to be exact, but I want my lead off hitter walking more than he strikes out (78 Walks, 153 Strikeouts).  Sizemore stole bases well before being plagued by injury, but I never really classified him as a base stealer.  Grady played in all 162, that means something.

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	CF	Kenny Lofton	28	118	529	481	93	149	22	13	7	53	54	15	40	49	.310	.362	.453	.815	110	218	6	1	4	3	6
2006	CF	Grady Sizemore	23	162	751	655	134	190	53	11	28	76	22	6	78	153	.290	.375	.533	.907	133	349	2	13	1	4	8

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."
Yeah

 

The Bench

To be fair, Tony Pena started more games behind the plate than Sandy Alomar Jr., but my revised history makes Sandy the starting catcher here.  As far as the rest of the list of reserves is concerned, you could hand me any list from any year, and I’d probably be okay with it.  Even if that list includes Shelley Duncan and Austin Kearns, it’s not going to have a hard time edging out this murderer’s row from 1995.  Sure, I once thought Wayne Kirby could be a solid every day player in the right situation, but I was either wrong, or that situation never presented itself to Kirby.  Perhaps Pena played a leadership role in the clubhouse, but how much is that worth.  Is it fair to say Manny Acta doesn’t eat up a roster spot (cough, Orlando Cabrera, cough) to accomplish this?

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	IF	Alvaro Espinoza	33	66	150	143	15	36	4	0	2	17	0	2	2	16	.252	.264	.322	.585	51	46	3	1	2	2	0
1995	OF	Ruben Amaro#	30	28	68	60	5	12	3	0	1	7	1	3	4	6	.200	.273	.300	.573	49	18	1	2	2	0	0
1995	OF	Wayne Kirby*	31	101	205	188	29	39	10	2	1	14	10	3	13	32	.207	.260	.298	.558	45	56	4	1	1	2	0
1995	IF	Herbert Perry	25	52	184	162	23	51	13	1	3	23	1	3	13	28	.315	.376	.463	.839	117	75	5	4	3	2	0
1995	C	Tony Pena	38	91	279	263	25	69	15	0	5	28	1	0	14	44	.262	.302	.376	.679	75	99	9	1	1	0	1

 

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

 

Omar Vizquel

Omar Vizquel will likely get a standing ovation in Cleveland until the end of time, and deservedly so.  In 1995, he fulfilled his role as the #2 hitter with flying colors.  The existing fielding metric, the UZR rating, which I will never begin to understand, wasn’t around then, but based on how highly ranked he is currently, I imagine it was high.  That can’t be replaced, not by Jhonny Peralta, not by Asdrubal Cabrera, although Jhonny’s UZR seems to have gone up since he got to Detroit.  Offensively, it’s no contest that Cabrera has a better stick at 25 than Omar ever had.

To hell with what a complicated system tells us, Asdrubal gives good leather at Shortstop.  He isn’t Omar, and no one is, but if Omar had come after Asdrubal, we’d likely be more focused one how one doesn’t hold a candle to the other at the plate.  I’m sure the 45 year old Vizquel would probably tell you that much right now.

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	SS	Omar Vizquel#	28	136	622	542	87	144	28	0	6	56	29	11	59	59	.266	.333	.351	.684	78	190	4	1	10	10	0
2011	SS	Asdrubal Cabrera#	25	151	667	604	87	165	32	3	25	92	17	5	44	119	.273	.332	.460	.792	119	278	10	11	4	4	5

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."

 

Sandy Alomar Jr.

Sandy Alomar Jr. won the Rookie of the Year in 1991, and was a three-time All Star by 1995, but injuries sideline for a great deal of time at the beginning of his career, before bouncing back in 1996.  His career year was in 1997, but to keep the focus on 1995, he batted .219 in those playoffs, and had just a .214 postseason batting average that was really only that high because of a tremendous .367 clip in the 1997 World Series.  Still, .300 out of the nine hole in your batting order in the regular season was an expected contribution to the 100-44 Indians.

It’s insulting to say that Victor Martinez was “like” the 1995 Sandy Alomar Jr. in any way, but the Catcher position, be it Alomar, Pena, or Jesse Levis from the 1995 season, is not difficult to replace emotionally.  Sandy always struck me as a leader, his coaching career confirms that, but as an offensive player, he will soon be forgotten.

 

Year	POS	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1995	C	Sandy Alomar	29	66	218	203	32	61	6	0	10	35	3	1	7	26	.300	.332	.478	.810	107	97	8	3	4	1	0
2007	C	Victor Martinez#	28	147	645	562	78	169	40	0	25	114	0	0	62	76	.301	.374	.505	.879	129	284	19	10	0	11	12

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."
Yeah

 

The Fans

What I miss is the fans, and I know that people like me are part of the problem.  I can’t go to games in Cleveland because I don’t live in or near Cleveland, and I’m not the only one.  I lived in Cleveland in 1995, and it was hard to get tickets in 1995, but I still managed to go to a handful of games.  In 72 games, Jacobs Field drew 2.8 million fans that year.  In 2011, the same venue drew 1.8 million for 81 home games.  Yes, I’m aware of the novelty of a new stadium and how easy it is to root for a winner, so I shouldn’t even mention that the 1994 season saw more fans in 52 games than the 2011 season saw in 81, but it looks like I just did.

The good news is the bona fide winner to take the field put 2,275,912 butts in the seats in 2007.  The bad news is the hot start in 2011 didn’t provide a huge jump in the numbers, not even 100,000 more than a miserable 2010 campaign.  As much as people want to call out the owners for not spending, the struggling economy in Cleveland is an issue that justifies their lack of action, whether we like it or not.  You don’t need me to tell you any of that.  We all want a winner, some more than others, sure, but at the end of the day, we all want the same thing.  We want it to be 1995 all over again, and that just isn’t happening.

Maybe one us could write a bunch of sad songs about it, and clean up at the Grammys.  Then again, maybe I should just take the old man’s advice and ignore depressing chick music at all costs.