Was Sandy Alomar Jr. overrated or underrated? Depends on who you ask.

Every fan base has a special few players who are held in higher regard than their overall career statistical output might indicate. The shift to harsh quantitative analysis has led to many of these players being “outed” to disprove the former qualitative thoughts of value. Of course, what often is dismissed in these debates is that the qualitative components do have actual merit and must be discussed. Such is the case with Sandy Alomar Jr. among Cleveland Indians’ fans, who is perhaps the most underrated or overrated player in franchise history. It just depends on who you ask.

Alomar’s playing history is one of constantly being overshadowed. Growing up in Puerto Rico, Roberto “Robbie” Alomar was the prized baseball player despite the fact that Sandy would grow into a much larger frame (Sandy played at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, while Robbie played at 6-foot and 180 pounds). Sandy actually quit baseball during the supposedly prime development years of ages 12 to 14 so that he could race dirt bikes. Of course, he managed to find his way back into baseball in time to demonstrate his extraordinary blend of speed, power, and ability to play behind home plate.

The San Diego Padres signed Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1983. Two years later, they signed his brother Robbie. Sandy continued to be the lesser Alomar on his teams in the minor leagues, but there was another issue for him if he ever wanted to get promoted to MLB: the Padres happened to have one of the best young catchers in baseball in fellow Puerto Rican Benito Santiago. Santiago was signed just a year before, enough to put him ahead of Sandy in the system.

In 1987, Santiago received his first full-time chance with the Padres, and he rewarded them by winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award along with one of his four NL Silver Slugger Awards as a catcher. When Santiago followed up his rookie season by winning a Gold Glove and another Silver Slugger¹ , the die was cast. The San Diego Padres had their catcher and Sandy Alomar Jr. would need a different team to give him an opportunity.

The opportunity arose when the Padres dealt two superfluous top prospects in Sandy Alomar Jr. and Carlos Baerga² (along with left fielder Chris James) to the Cleveland Indians so that they could pair Joe Carter with Tony Gwynn in their outfield. In Cleveland, the Indians were moving on from the immensely disappointing Andy Allanson despite Topps Trading Cards referring to him as an All-Star rookie just four years prior.

Joe Carter had been a popular player in Cleveland and one of the few positive aspects of some terrible teams in the late 1980s. The teams of the early 1990s were still terrible, but there was still pressure on Sandy Alomar Jr. to live up to the legend of Carter. Rather than live up to it, he scaled the mountain and skied down the other side. Alomar won the AL Rookie of the Year Award and the only Gold Glove Award³ of his career, along with making the All-Star team. There were no doubts of his worthiness of any of the praise either as he did so with as slash line of .290/.326/.418, 37 extra base hits, and four steals, while providing energetic and excellent defense behind the plate⁴ .

Sadly, Sandy would not be able to repeat his rookie performance over the next several seasons. There is a reason that not many 6-foot-5 men play catcher. The position puts a great deal of physical stress on the body as it is, let alone on a person whose stature will provide its own undo stress. From 1991 through 1993, Alomar averaged only 68 games played, a .248/.293/.331 slash line (with 73 OPS+), and 13 extra base hits as he began a series of surgeries that would define his career almost as much as his play. In all, he would wind up with ten knee surgeries and a 1993 back surgery to repair a ruptured disc.

During this time, Municipal Stadium was in its final days of use for baseball as the Gateway Complex was being built to house a state-of-the-art ballpark that promised to change the long dire fortunes of the Indians. Fans were too excited about the prospect of meaningful baseball to worry too much about a prospect who was battling through some injuries.

Besides, Sandy and Carlos Baerga ignored super-agent Scott Boras to sign pre-arbitration contracts that locked both in with the Indians through their prime years. These types of deals would become commonplace with the Indians over the years and have continued to this day with Carlos Carrasco, Carlos Santana, and others. However, it took Alomar and Baerga signing off on them back then to convince some players that it was a good idea for both the team and the player. Showing enthusiasm for staying with the team has always been a path of acceptance with fans among young star players.

When Jacobs Field opened for public consumption in the spring of 1994, Alomar was healthy again. He would play 80 of the strike-shortened 113 game season, and he would do so with his offensive numbers having returned to him as he batted .288/.347/.490 with 30 extra base hits and eight stolen bases. It was in 1994 that the Cleveland Indians were competitive for the first time in 36 years, and it was Sandy Alomar Jr. that was shining.

Unfortunately, the injuries continued to haunt him as he only played 66 games during the regular season in 1995. Fans would hardly notice, however, as the team was buoyed by other stars such as Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, and Eddie Murray. Plus, general manager John Hart was intelligent enough to have an adequate defensive backup catcher in Tony Peña. Not to mention that Alomar batted a clean .300/.332/.478 (107 OPS+) when he did make his way into the lineup, and he was healthy enough to play in the postseason.

Despite the big names and the injuries keeping him out of the lineup, Sandy was the leader of those teams. Terry Pluto described him thusly: “Sandy Alomar could be said to have been ‘born at 40.’ He is what people refer to as an “old soul.'”

In the book Glory Days in Tribetown that Terry Pluto wrote with Tom Hamilton, there are many depictions of Sandy Alomar being a leader⁵ . Everyone in that locker room deferred to Alomar whether it be Omar Vizquel during a contract dispute or Albert Belle actually listening to him.

Additionally, Sandy always had a way of connecting with the fans. He was gracious with the fans that wanted autographs no matter where he was recognized in town. WFNY’s Will Gibson once pleaded for an autograph when Alomar was sitting in the dugout with his brother. Not only did Sandy and Robbie sign the ball, but they encouraged other players nearby to sign it as well and that ball is still a prized possession for Mr. Gibson.

However, there was perhaps no moment that better connected Sandy Alomar Jr. with fans more than on September 8, 1995 when he helped lift the Indians division championship banner, as depicted here in an excerpt from Glory Days in Tribetown:

The players returned to the field wearing caps and shirts proclaiming A.L. CENTRAL CHAMPS. They assembled in center field to help raise a championship banner. Remember, this team had not won anything since 1954—41 years before. As the banner went up, the sound system played “The Dance” by Garth Brooks. It was the favorite song of Steve Olin, the Tribe reliever who died in a boating accident in the spring of 1993. Sandy Alomar helped raise the banner with tears dripping down his face.

The hidden portion of 1995 at the time was that Sandy Alomar Jr. had rushed back from microfracture surgery⁶ in order to help the team compete for the World Series, which they lost to the Atlanta Braves in six games. Alomar would average 123 games per season from 1996 to 1998, a significant amount of games for a catcher. However, he was playing through untold amounts of pain and his play suffered as his offensive numbers dropped significantly in both 1996 and 1998.

The 1996 season was also the year that started the since-dissipated rivalry with the Baltimore Orioles. In addition to the city of Baltimore hijacking Cleveland’s beloved Browns just a year prior, the 1996 regular season closed with Roberto Alomar getting into an argument and spitting into the face of umpire John Hirschbeck. MLB suspended Robbie for five games, but not until the next season. The ALDS between the Cleveland Indians and the Baltimore Orioles needed some last minute negotiations just to continue without a replacement umpiring crew.

With the villain established, the home teams dominated the first three games of the best-of-five series. Cleveland needed to win the fourth game to force a series clinching game five and looked like they would sneak out with a 3-2 win until Roberto Alomar came through with a RBI single in the top of the ninth inning. No other score would cross the plate until Robbie hit what would prove to be the series clinching home run in the twelfth inning. Indians fans would probably not have been happy to hear that Sandy made his way to the visiting locker room to congratulate and celebrate his brother’s heroics⁷ .

By 1997, Sandy Alomar remained mostly an afterthought in his native Puerto Rico. Roberto had continued to outshine him in the family, while Benito Santiago was replaced by Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez as the Puerto Rican catcher seemingly winning Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards every season⁸ .

Really, the only season in the mid-to-late 1990s in which a catcher posed a legitimate challenge to the supremacy of Pudge was the incredible season that Sandy put up in 1997. That season saw Sandy play 125 games and put up his finest offensive season of his career, posting career highs in doubles (37), home runs (21), RBIs (83), runs (63), and every single aspect of his slash line (.324/.354/.545 with 128 OPS+). Heck, he even hit the game deciding home run in the 1997 All-Star game that was held at Jacobs Field, earning All-Star MVP honors in the process. In the end, Sandy finished higher than Pudge in the MVP vote (14th to 16th), but the Silver Slugger and Golden Glove awards still went into Rodriguez’s trophy case.

Navigating the 1997 postseason would not be easy. The defending World Series champion New York Yankees, with their young star shortstop Derek Jeter, were the Tribe’s first opponent in the ALDS. It was a close series and there were many big moments, but it would be folly to spend much time on any other moment than the biggest moment of the series, and perhaps the biggest moment of Sandy Alomar Jr.’s career.

One of the biggest reasons the New York Yankees won the 1996 World Series was that they had a peerless weapon in their bullpen. Mariano Rivera was a reliever unlike any other that had preceded him in that he was willing and able to step onto the mound for multiple innings and shut down the opponent. It is common practice for managers to have two relievers to lock down those last two innings, but in ’97, the Yankees had one reliever doing that job by himself. Entering the 1997 ALDS, Rivera had pitched 19.2 postseason innings, given up one run (in a game the Yankees led by four), struck out 18, and had never given up a home run.

The ALDS might as well have been called due to Rivera when the Yankees led both the series and the game 2-1 entering the eighth inning of Game 4. There were two outs and the bases were empty when Sandy Alomar came to the plate. The first pitch was called a ball. The second pitch was another ball. The third pitch will live in the memories of every Cleveland Indians fan in attendance, watching, and the younger fans that venture onto YouTube to find out what the fuss is all about.

The home run only tied the game, and the Indians still needed Omar Vizquel to knock in Marquis Grissom in the bottom of the ninth to win the game — but the outcome was not in doubt after Sandy’s homer. The Indians had humbled the mightiest weapon on the mighty Yankees. It would not be until the fifth inning of the next game that the Yankees would pull themselves off the mat, but by then, the Indians already had built a 4-0 lead and would hang on through the desperate flurry of hits to win the game 4-3 and move onto the ALCS.

The Baltimore Orioles and Roberto Alomar awaited again. Early in the series, it appeared that Marquis Grissom would be the hero. It was Grissom who sealed a victory in Game 2 with a three-run home run (knocking in Sandy Alomar), and it was Grissom who stole home in the bottom of the twelfth inning for a walk-off win⁹ .

However, once again, Game 4 was all about Sandy. Alomar finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs, and his day included another home run. No hit was bigger then his bottom of the ninth, two out single to left off of Armando Benitez to knock in Manny Ramirez and seal another walk-off victory for the Indians. After all of the heroics, the eleventh inning Tony Fernandez game-winning home run that clinched the ALCS was almost anti-climactic because it was done in Baltimore (and thus, not a proper walk-off)¹⁰ .

Of course, the 1997 season would not end on such a high note as the Florida Marlins defeated the Indians in a dramatic seven game World Series. It would be difficult to blame Sandy Alomar for the outcome though, as he went 11-for-30 with five runs, 10 RBI, and three extra-base hits (.367/.406/.600). Game 4 was another of Sandy’s games as he went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI in a 10-3 Indians win.

As went Sandy, so went the Indians.There is something to be said for the fact that the only two seasons in which the Cleveland Indians made the World Series among the dominant offensive forces of the 1990s were the two seasons in which Sandy Alomar Jr. was at his most productive. Perhaps the alignment of these events was merely a coincidence. Perhaps the production from the catching position was the juice that the team needed to push them over the top. Or perhaps there was something more qualitative at work given the leadership position that Sandy Alomar Jr. held in the locker room. Whatever the case, it is how it happened to be.

Unfortunately, after 1997, the most significant contributions that Sandy Alomar Jr. would provide the Cleveland Indians would be off the field. Alomar would play three more seasons with the Indians but be limited to .262/.299/.400 (76 OPS+) as he continued to battle injury, averaging just 84 games played per season.

However, the presence of Sandy brought his brother Roberto into the fold after the 1998 season. The “other” Alomar would be arguably the biggest name athlete to ever sign with a Cleveland team through free agency to that point. Robbie and Omar would combine to become one of the most dynamic defensive middle infields ever seen. Ground balls went to the Cleveland infield when they wanted to die a quick death.

Roberto Alomar would only play for the Indians for three seasons. He made the All-Star team and won a Gold Glove in each of them. He twice won the Silver Slugger Award and twice finished in the top five of the AL MVP voting. In fact, Robbie accumulated a significantly higher WAR in three seasons (20.3) than Sandy had in his eleven seasons with the Indians (13.7). Roberto was still with the Indians in 2001, which was the first season since 1989 that Sandy put on a uniform other than the Cleveland Indians, as he signed with the Chicago White Sox¹¹ .

It would not be until the 2010 season that Sandy Alomar Jr. would be able to put the Cleveland uniform on again. Manny Acta had been hired as manager and Sandy was coming aboard to be his first base coach. Since that time, the Red Sox considered Alomar for their managerial vacancy in 2011, he acted as Indians interim manager when Manny Acta was fired in 2012, lost the managerial race for the Indians to Terry Francona along with a race to skipper the Toronto Blue Jays, and was a candidate again for the Minnesota Twins manager position in 2014. It seems that it will only be a matter of time before Alomar is managing a MLB team.

Nowadays, the mere mention of Sandy Alomar Jr. leads to debates as to what his worth was to those teams of the 1990s. There are some who see his statistics and WAR and claim he is less valuable than Casey Blake (15.9 WAR in six seasons), Jhonny Peralta (15.4 WAR in eight seasons), or Carlos Santana (17 WAR in his first five seasons) historically to the franchise. Others see his OPS+ of 92 and make ready a comparison to Matt LaPorta (also a 92 OPS+). There is great value in the statistical analysis of baseball. It is an incredibly useful tool both as a way to predict the future and compare the past.

However, there are also players that have more value than their statistics with their contributions and leadership both inside and outside of the ballpark. Whether you believe in a player being clutch or believe clutchness to be a random occurrence, there are players whose positive contributions happen to line up directly when a team needed them the most. Sandy Alomar Jr. was such a player. Then again, Sandy Alomar Jr. spent a career being overshadowed by those around him despite his obvious skill. Perhaps, it is only fitting for the debate to rage on to continually bring his name out from the shadows.

(Last, a Dr. Z approved national anthem rendition from Sandy’s daughter Brianna.)

1. Despite pedestrian offensive numbers including a slash line of .248/.282/.362. [↩]
2. Baerga was not needed due to the Padres having Roberto Alomar. [↩]
3. The clip below demonstrates his defense, though it appears that any evidence that he played in Municipal Stadium has been destroyed. Or, at least it is not shared on YouTube. [↩]
4. All statistics in this article are from baseball-reference.com unless otherwise noted. [↩]
5. Seriously, it is a great book detailing 1994-1997 with the Cleveland Indians. If you are an Indians or baseball fan, then you should go buy it now. [↩]
6. Microfracture knee surgery was a bit of an unknown in itself at the time. [↩]
7. Though now given the perspective that time affords, it is extremely easy to see how Sandy was so happy for his brother overcoming the national backlash from the Hirschbeck incident. [↩]
8. Rodriguez would capture 13 Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slugger Awards in his incredible career including a stretch from 1994 through 1999 that saw him win both awards each season. [↩]
9. Seriously, one of the most underrated endgames of all time. I mean, the guy stole home in extra innings. Why don’t we talk about this game more? [↩]
10. Guys, I’m kidding. That was amazing. It was incredible. I cannot even believe how many absolutely clutch moments happened in the 1997 postseason. [↩]
11. He was one of the many former Indians that the Chicago White Sox would eventually sign, including Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, and more [↩]