Buckeyes Fall From Tourney to Wayne Chism’s Headband
March 27, 2010Charting Andy Varejao’s enthusiasm
March 27, 2010100 wins. One-hundred wins. I repeat it so I don’t forget it. I swear, for a person who was born in 1979 and started watching baseball for real in 1986, one-hundred wins never seemed like a remote possibility in Cleveland. Just three years after I started watching professional baseball as a youngster, I learned a lesson about just how horrible my favorite team had been over the years when the movie Major League came out. And yet after not getting to 0.500 in 1993, when Sandy Alomar was 27 and Jim Thome was 22, and scoring a 66-47 record in the strike shortened 1994 season, the Indians won an even one-hundred games in 1995. I know this shouldn’t be too far from our memories, but it is important to make sure it stays top of mind as we go through another rebuilding project.
The 1995 Indians took me and most of my generation from being wannabe fans into being absolute bona fide fanatics. A lot of people put all the onus of being a fanatic on the people who buy the seats and watch the games on TV. Only in places like Cleveland where we endure historic streaks of incapability do we realize that being a fanatic is more of a partnership than that.
After years and years of watching our team falter and refuse to live up to expectations, everything finally came together. The Indians won the central division by 30 games that year over the second place Kansas City Royals. Our Cleveland Indians had 14 more wins than the Boston Red Sox who were second best in the entire American League. The stats the Indians put up were hardly to be believed.
Dennis Martinez, Charles Nagy and Orel Hersheiser dominated the rotation combining for 48 wins and 17 losses. Jose Mesa appeared in seemingly every game of the year (62 in actuality) as he saved 46 games. He ended up not getting a loss for the season and had a 1.12 ERA with 58 strikeouts. A 22 year old Julian Tavarez appeared in 57 games as a reliever and due to the potent Indians’ offense scored 10 wins of his own.
And what an offense it was. Albert Belle led the team with 50 home runs. Manny Ramirez had 31, while Jim Thome and Paul Sorrento had 25 each. The Cleveland Indians had 131 home runs between just four players alone. As a team they hit over 200 bombs. And they did all this in just 144 games, mind you. The Indians had six of their regular nine players hit over 0.300 on the season. Kenny Lofton blazed for 54 stolen bases on the season. It is hard to believe that all this occurred and I watched it unfold that year.
Yes the 1995 Cleveland Indians went on to lose to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. I know that crushed everyone at the time. Still, in hindsight even though the Indians never got over the top, my generation has one thing that other generations do not. We have some glory days that we can look upon fondly. Those who started watching the Indians in the 1960’s probably can’t say that. Either that, or they had to wait until 1995 like I did. Before that season it didn’t ever seem like a possibility that my Indians could make it to the World Series. It certainly never seemed like they would be able to get to 100 wins in a single year.
11 Comments
Great article Craig!
I really was another fortunate fan being born in 1987 and first memories of the Indians are leaving old municipal but then the glory years!
Thanks for the nostalgia!
Sadly, the current edition of the Tribe is closer to the late ’60s early ’70s version that had no money and limited talent. Who knew the “good old days” of the mid- to late ’90s were going to be so short?
The most remarkable thing about that season was that it was strike shortened. They went 100-44 that season.
It was my senior year of high school and Freshman year of college, so I ended up watching the series with other transplants in Dayton.
Sadly, by the time I moved back to Cleveland, the glory days are over.
Maybe I should take one for the team and move away before June.
🙁
“Yes the 1995 Cleveland Indians went on to lose to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. I know that crushed everyone at the time. Still, in hindsight even though the Indians never got over the top, my generation has one thing that other generations do not. We have some glory days that we can look upon fondly,” all nostalgia and no titles, welcome to Cleveland sports!
If the LeBronaliers don’t end this horrible familiar nightmare this season no one will, at least not for probably another decade and maybe more.
The current team could win 100 this year, assuming MLB lengthens the regular season to about 250-300 games. I recall folks saying back in the glory days that if that team didn’t win, it would be another decade or so before Cleveland got another shot. A decade later, we have the Cavs trying to bring home a title. In other words, if the Cavs don’t do it this season….Browns in 2020!
I’ve been following the Tribe & Browns since 1966 and still waiting, but there have been some fun years. Close but no cigar!
I saw this team in Detroit early in the year and knew it was going to be insane. Thome, Ramierez, Sorrento, Pena were the bottom of the order. Best team of my lifetime (this means until I die, and I’m only 33). They busted ass at the end of the year to get those 100 wins too.
I will always remember that fall where there was some asinine TV schedule and the playoffs were on regionally. I was in college 6 hours away and had to drive back to C-Town several times during the first two series of the postseason just to see the games.
Before that, I remember being at the Jake for a big homer by DAVE WINFIELD (of all people – bet you forgot he was on that team) that sealed a huge comeback win over Chicago in May. I think that is when I started to really believe.
Too bad the team has become a simulacrum for the Gabe Paul squads of the days of my childhood. And more too bad that I have far less patience for that now than I did as a youngster. I guess having seen the Indians succeed with good ownership AND A GOOD FRONT OFFICE I just look at what they have now and despair of ever seeing it again.
@ Black 27; Winfield hit a BP homer over that walkway that goes from the parking garages to over by the Terrace Club. Not through the gates. Over the walkway. He did it in BP during the playoffs. (He was not on the playoff roster but kept taking NP in case a guy would get hurt and he’d end up on the roster).
If you guys have never seen the video titled “WAHOO! What a Finish!” be sure to check it out. It’s like a documentary on some of the most wild comeback wins of the 95 Tribe season, with commentary from nearly all the players from that year. Watching those bats smashing the game winners deep over the fence and hearing the voices of Kenny Lofton and Paul Sorrento again literally brought on some tears.
Also, be aware that with youth, positivity and energy comes wins. The 1994 season was still a rebuilding season, and they were playoff bound that year. Look what our starters have been doing this spring in Arizona. You can’t keep arguing that our offensive numbers are better due to the Arizona air when A) None of the other Cactus League teams come close to our RS/RA; B) We have the best winning% of all of MLB, and;
C) WE ARE ALSO LEAGUE LEADERS IN ERA! Fausto Carmona has a 0.45 ERA, best in spring training, while the rest of the projected roster members are all pitching great.
Just saying stop losing faith before you’ve even seen a game. 8 days until opening day!
I just miss Omar