Indians At the Break: Infield and Catcher
July 12, 2011Jim Gray is Suprised People Still Talk About “The Decision”
July 12, 2011Weren’t you glad that Derek Jeter didn’t collect his 3000th hit in Cleveland against the Tribe? I really was, until I remembered that Wade Boggs hit his 3000th against the Cleveland Indians. You might remember him making out with home plate as Jim Rome has riffed on it endlessly over the years.
When I looked up that game, I thought the Indians had won and it turns out they did. Who cares that Wade Boggs hit his 3000th hit against the Tribe as a member of the Devil Rays on a team that was 20 games under 0.500 as the Indians put up a softball number of runs – 15 – to their gaudy 10.
Looking at that box score made me sad for the old days. Dave Roberts was 3 – 5, Omar was 2 – 5, Roberto Alomar was 2 – 4, Manny Ramirez was 3 – 3 with 5 RBI and Jim Thome was 4 – 5 with 4 RBI behind him. David Justice followed in the DH spot to protect Thome and Ramirez.
This isn’t a “the Dolans are cheap!” articles. This isn’t even one of those articles that aims to say that MLB is fixed and totally unfair. Sometimes it is important to look back and realize just how different and great things were just over a decade ago. Sometimes things just come together. The Indians were very fortunate that their top prospects turned into Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome. You can call it good scouting, but there is a whole lot of luck involved too when two guys turn into players as special as they were.
The story hasn’t been written on Matt LaPorta yet, but it is hard to imagine he will ever be on the same level as a Ramirez or Thome. Is that bad scouting? LaPorta hit 0.299 with 17 homers for the Clippers in 93 games at AAA. In 2008 when he split time with Cleveland and Milwaukee’s farm systems he had 22 homers, 74 RBI and a 0.386 on-base percentage. As I said, the story isn’t written yet on LaPorta, but sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t, right?
So Derek Jeter hit his 3,000th hit in dramatic fashion on a ridiculous day of hitting at home in New York against the Rays. I am very glad he didn’t do it against the Indians, but then again, if he had done it in a loss to the Tribe, I might have been OK with it. Then again there’s no Alomar, Ramirez, Thome and Justice to put up a softball-like number.
7 Comments
The Brewers gave us the best they had for C.C. I just hope LaPorta doesn’t pull a Peralta and never emerge from his mediocrity until we release him.
i am also glad that Jeter didn’t get #3000 vs. the Tribe. I hate being on the negative end of any trivia answer.
I too was relieved Jeter didnt get his 3000th hit here. How nauseating would that have been to watch a Yankee get a standing ovation in Cleveland? Yes, Im a bitter Clevelander, I dont care!
Its good that it worked out the way it did with Jeter doing it in New York.
Wade Boggs, major-league jerk.
WS won in the 90’s: zero
WS won in the 00’s: zero
WS won in the 10’s: zero
If I’m nostalgic about anything from the old days, it’s the fan support.
@NJ – but having a consistently competitive team who we thought could win a WS is more fun than having a consistently mediocre team who we hope just catches fire.
the 1990’s were obviously a perfect storm (Browns leave, Cavs boring, new ballpark) but they were still the best decade the Cleveland Indians have ever had in their history despite not winning a WS. We went to the playoffs as many times in the 90s as we have in the other 101 years of the Indians existance combined.
WS Championships: 1920, 1948
AL Pennants from 1901 to 1989: 3
AL Pennants from 2000 to 2010: 0
Division Pennants 2000 to 2010: 2
Wild Card ‘Pennants’? from 2000 to 2010: 0
AL Pennants in the 90s: 2
Division Pennants in the 90s: 5
Wild Card ‘Pennants’? in the 90s: 0
Eh, I’m sick of hearing about the 90’s and Dick Jacobs and Jacobs Field and Manny and Thome and all those other studs who sold us down the river for more money without even winning us one Series. Sick and tired.
We had a run of good, not great teams. Fine, I get that. The constant pining for “The Glory Days”? Not so much.
Times were better back then? Sure. Whatever. But my calendar says 2011.