They Rocked The Jake
1995 Cleveland IndiansHome Fields: Jacobs Field
A.L. ChampionsHit: #1 R, BA
W - 100 L - 44Pitch: #1 OR, ERA
Manager: Mike HargroveDef: #4t FA

It wasn't the movie Major League, but 1995 witnessed the return of the Cleveland Indians as a baseball powerhouse. Cleveland managed to win 100 games despite a season that was reduced to 144 games as the result of the strike. While baseball fans stayed away in other cities, they had reason to cheer in Cleveland. The Indians boasted the best hitting and pitching in the American League and ran away with the A.L. Central title. Their victory margin, 30 games, is unequaled in major league history.

The offensive leader was Albert Belle, who reached 50 homers to lead the league. He also tied for the league's lead in runs scored and RBIs. It was a lineup that featured six .300 hitters (seven if Sandy Alomar were catching). Third baseman Jim Thome and right fielder Manny Ramirez came into their own that summer. Veterans Denny Martinez and Orel Hershiser bolstered the pitching, but Jose Mesa may have been the club's most valuable pitcher. He saved 46 of his 48 opportunities and had a miniscule 1.13 ERA.

Despite winning 14 games more than anyone else in the league, Cleveland had the unenviable task of being seeded third for the A.L. Playoffs due to baseball's ridiculous alternating home field format. This meant that while Seattle (the worst division winner) played the wild card team, Seattle had to play Boston with the Red Sox having home field advantage. Cleveland overcame this and swept Boston, then beat Seattle in six games to win their first American League pennant in 41 years. They faced Atlanta in an evenly matched World Series. Five of the six games were decided by a single run with the Braves outdueling Cleveland four games to two.

A year later, Cleveland once again had the American League's best record. This time, however, they lost in the first round of the Playoffs to Baltimore. In 1997, they won their third straight American League Central title, but had the worst record among the division winners. After upsetting New York and Baltimore, Cleveland faced Florida in the World Series. They were beaten in seven games by the Marlins.

The Tribe wins the A.L. pennant

Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    AL Rank
C Tony Pena R 263 69 25 5 28 .262  
1B Paul Sorrento L 323 76 50 25 79 .235  
2B Carlos Baerga B 557 175 87 15 90 .314  
SS Omar Vizquel B 542 144 87 6 56 .266  
3B Jim Thome L 452 142 92 25 73 .314  
LF Albert Belle R 546 173 121 50 126 .317    #1 HR, SA, #1t R, RBI
CF Kenny Lofton L 481 149 93 7 53 .310  
RF Manny Ramirez R 484 149 85 31 107 .308  
DH-1B Eddie Murray B 436 141 68 21 82 .323    #5 BA
                   
C Sandy Alomar R 203 61 32 10 35 .300  
OF Wayne Kirby L 188 39 29 1 14 .207  
1B Herb Perry R 162 51 23 3 23 .315  
3B-2B-SS Alvaro Espinoza R 143 36 15 2 17 .252  
DH Dave Winfield R 115 22 11 2 4 .191  
                   
Total: Team   5028 1461 840 207 803 .291  
  League Average   69521 18791 10225 2164 9691 .270  


Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    AL Rank
  Denny Martinez R 28 187 12 5 3.08 .706    #3 ERA
  Orel Hershiser R 26 167 16 6 3.87 .727    #4t W
  Charles Nagy R 29 178 16 6 4.55 .727    #4t W
  Mark Clark R 22 125 9 7 5.27 .563  
  Chad Ogea R 20 106 8 3 3.05 .727  
  Ken Hill R 12 75 4 1 3.98 .800  
  Eric Plunk R 56 64 6 2 2.67 .750  
  Julian Tavarez R 57 85 10 2 2.44 .833  
  Jim Poole L 42 50 3 3 3.75 .500  
  Jose Mesa R 62 64 3 0 1.13 1.000    #1 SV
                   
Total: Team       100 44 3.83    
  League Average           4.71    

Back to the Mike & Maria Home Page

Back to the Greatest Teams of All Time

You are visitor number: .