by The most exciting time in the history of Cleveland baseball occurred between the 1994 and 1999 seasons when the Cleveland Indians won five straight division titles. They won the American League Pennant twice and even came within a few outs of winning the World Series. It all started years earlier when Richard Jacobs bought the team and envisioned what would happen if they only played in a stadium that drew a good crowd. Jacobs proved his gamble correct by building a new stadium where a 455 straight game sellout streak happened.
Richard Jacobs bought the team in 1986 with his brother, David. At the time, the Indians were one of the worst teams in baseball. Among the plans for new players and coaches, the new owner believed that a new stadium devoted exclusively to baseball would be needed. The Indians had been sharing Municipal Stadium with the Cleveland Browns.
In May 1990, the Cuyahoga County voters approved a 15 year “sin tax” on alcohol and cigarette sales to finance the new Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. Construction started eighteen months later and the new era in Cleveland baseball began on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario in downtown Cleveland. The construction was completed in October 1993, just in time for the next spring’s baseball season. The stadium cost nearly $175 million with Jacobs funding over half of that. As baseball was set to begin in the spring of 1994, Indians fans were wildly excited about the prospects of finally having a winning team in Cleveland. They had the perfect mixture of free agent veterans with young players in their prime. It was a plan set in motion by high profile general manager, John Hart, several years earlier.
Hart tells about his good relationship with Indians owner, Dick Jacobs, and manager, Mike Hargrove “When you look at any sporting venue and especially baseball it comes down to the owner, general manager and manager being connected. Mike Hargrove as the manager was very much included in everything we did all the way up to the ownership level. The thing I wanted to do as a general manager was to make sure that was a locked in group. I had Mike sit in on financial meetings so he could see what the club was facing economically. We would also bring Dick in and Mike to talk about the state of the team so there was a blending of the people who knew. The worst thing that can happen in an organization is a lack of communication. We had a good connection because Mike was a field guy who was pretty secure in his own skin. He was the perfect manager for this young club and good player’s guy. There was never any real issues as we all knew our roles, I could walk into Mike’s office and talk about what was going on the field and he could sit in an owners meeting.”
Hart had several special roles in the Cleveland Indians organization, including team manager after Doc Edwards was fired. At one point, he ascended to Director of Baseball Operations. In 1991, Hart replaced Hank Peters as general manager as well as being named executive vice president of the team. John Hart relates the transition from the field to the front office for the Cleveland Indians, “I saw generations of fans that were so hungry for a winner because they hadn’t had one. They had been through so many bad years and they were fans that were loyal and connected with their players. I felt the excitement to be a part of a turnaround.
I also understood the baggage that the Indians had been carrying with them. I thought it was a tremendous opportunity and also realized that this was an original American League franchise. There was a rich history of baseball in Cleveland and it gave me the “why not us” approach. We had been struggling through some low win seasons and when I came in we had the chance to strip it bare and make as many good trades as we could. We wanted to have a development and scouting system in place to strip it and rebuild it. The last piece of this was getting Jacobs Field. I think it gave us the ability to add the pieces to the puzzle.”
Mike Hargrove was a former professional ball player who had spent time as a Cleveland Indian. He had a good career that spanned several seasons with Texas, San Diego and Cleveland. He was named American League Rookie of the Year in 1974 after he hit an incredible .323. He was the first Texas Ranger to ever receive that honor. In 1985, Hargrove ended his playing career as a Cleveland Indian. Years later, his career path would bring him back to Cleveland, but this time would be in the dugout. Midway through the 1991 season, he replaced John McNamara as the head coach of the Indians.
Mike Hargrove discloses why he chose Cleveland as the best place to begin his career as a big league manager, “I knew Dan O’brien and Joe Kline well from my days playing back in Texas. I felt as though my best chance to get back to the big leagues, either as a coach or manager, was with the Indians because they had all suggested that I should continue in a managerial position when I got done playing baseball. It was a comfort thing as much as anything.”
Heading into the 1994 season, everyone around baseball realized that Cleveland was on the upswing, and it would be up to Hargrove to guide the team that Hart had masterfully put together. The amazing offseason trades and dealings between 1993 and 1994 cemented Hart’s reputation as a genius. John Hart discloses some of the selling points that he used to bring free agents to Cleveland, “For the first time we had a core of players that were really good that people around baseball were aware of how good they were. There was an opportunity in Cleveland that we should be considered among the elite because we had a very talented team.
Those guys we brought in still had gas in the tank and understood how to win. I think between the new stadium and the energy and excitement around Cleveland helped. People around the league were starting to talk about the energy that we were starting to build. That was the first year we ever made any of those phone calls to try and bring in veteran talent to go with are core group of young talent. We didn’t even attempt to do it in prior years. We were met with a very positive reception from a lot of those guys where just a year or two before it was a don’t bother sort of a deal.”
Following the 1993 season, Hart pulled the trigger on a deal that would single handily change the course of Indians baseball for years to come when he traded Reggie Jefferson and Felix Fermin to Seattle for Omar Vizquel. Vizquel became one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game. Vizquel had won his first Golden Glove award playing shortstop with Seattle; he would win 11 more before his playing career ended in 2012. He was also the perfect one, two punch with Kenny Lofton in the lineup. A great bunter, Omar had no problem getting Lofton over to third base after he had reached base and stole second. His excellent play in the field also brought out the best in second baseman, Carlos Baerga. The Indians had unknowingly struck gold.
Carlos Baerga shared what he liked most about playing with Omar Vizquel in the middle infield, “It was awesome! He was the best shortstop I have ever played with in my life. He was a guy who taught me how to play defense and prepare myself for a game. He made me work to become a good player. His first day on the team I agreed to teach him how to hit and he agreed to help me become a better fielder. He was a very complete player who could bunt and hit and play great defense. He concentrated so hard on defense that every day we went to the field he made me take at least thirty ground balls at live speed and turn the double play like with a real hitter. He taught me so many good habits on how to prepare for a game.”
When Hart wasn’t trading for Gold Glove infielders, he was signing future Hall of Famers such as Eddie Murray. The signing of a living legend like Murray meant that the Indians were on the verge of bigger and better things. Adding Murray gave Cleveland the credibility it needed as well as a team leader both on and off the field. It was Murray who found a comfortable spot behind Albert Belle in the lineup that provided the protection Belle needed. He would be the team’s designated hitter but also serve as first baseman when regular first basemen Paul Sorrento needed a day’s rest.
The Murray pickup was big, but Hart was not done dealing as he managed to bring in veteran ace pitcher, Dennis Martinez. El Presidente is considered one of the top Latin pitchers of all time. He was the first Nicaraguan to ever reach the major leagues. He was also on the 1983 World Series Championship Baltimore Orioles team with Murray. He played for the Orioles from 1976 – 1986 and was a perennial ace in their rotation, leading the league in wins in 1981.
In 1991 while pitching for the Montreal Expos, he managed to throw only the thirteenth perfect game in major league history. He went on to lead the league in both ERA and shutouts that same season. Martinez was well respected by his peers and the nickname “El Presidente” stuck with him wherever he played. He won 100 games in Montreal before leaving the Expos after the 1993 season.
The addition of Dennis Martinez on December 2, 1993 was just the spark the Indians needed to collaborate with proven starter, Charles Nagy. A couple months later, Hart added free agent Jack Morris. The once questionable rotation was now very formidable with the likes of Nagy, Martinez, Morris and Mark Clark. The changes to the starting rotation allowed Nagy to drop back in the rotation and take off considerable pressure. Nagy went on to excel in his new role as a middle of the rotation starter.
Charles Nagy discusses his enthusiasm about playing in the new ball park with so many great additions, “It was great! The Browns were struggling and about to leave town, so we were the best ticket in town. It was kind of a resurgence for us. I was excited to move into a new facility, even the groundbreaking ceremony was a lot of fun. A bunch of us had just signed long term contracts and we were excited for what was about to lie ahead. We had great pieces added to the puzzle in the offseason. No one really knew what was going happen in the future, but we knew we had a good team and good crop of guys.”
Jim Thome also expresses his excitement about playing in the new venue, “The vibe and the energy was electric. When we moved into Jacobs Field, you could tell people were just so excited and we fed off of that energy.”
The key free agent pick-ups helped better shape a team of young potential all stars who were ready to hit their stride. The clubhouse leader and fan favorite was catcher, Sandy Alomar, Jr. He was born into a family of baseball stars, his brother Roberto, who was a Gold Glove second baseman with the Toronto Blue Jays. Their father, Sandy, Sr., grew proud as both of his sons had reached the major leagues following in his footsteps.
Sandy Alomar came to Cleveland after the 1989 season in a trade where San Diego traded him, Carlos Baerga and Chris James in return for All Star outfielder Joe Carter. At the time, it was a controversial trade because in Cleveland Carter was a fan favorite. Clevelanders accepted the move since Alomar was a highly touted two time minor league player of the year. Alomar didn’t disappoint and he quickly rewarded the Cleveland management faith in him by winning the 1990 American League Rookie of the Year Award.
The Indians and John Hart pulled off another steal when they traded for Lofton prior to the 1992 season. They sent back-up catcher, Eddie Taubensee, and pitcher, Willie Blair, to the Astros. Lofton was yet another young prospect that Cleveland obtained with the hopes of becoming a decent player. What they got instead was a perennial All Star. Lofton wasted little time in 1992 showing the Indians brass that their confidence in him was warranted because he hit for a .285 average while swiping 66 bases. The 66 stolen bases broke the American League Rookie record; it was also enough to break the franchise record previously set by Miguel Dilone.
In 1993, Lofton continued to excel as he stole 70 more bases, not only leading the team but also the league. He was hitting for average as well as stealing the opposition blind every time he reached base. He became a “five tool player” regularly taking extra base hits and even home runs away while patrolling the Cleveland Municipal Stadium outfield. His leaping ability combined with his speed helped him become a Golden Glove winner in 1993. The award would be the first of four by the time his playing career ended many years later. With Golden Glove winners, Alomar, behind the plate, Lofton in center field, and Vizquel at shortstop, the Indians were rock solid defensively up the middle.
Kenny Lofton discusses what it was like coming to Cleveland and being a key part of the rebuilding project John Hart had in place. “I had played on a last place team in Houston so it wasn’t much different at first coming to Cleveland into another team with a poor record at the time. It was more of an opportunity for me to play and show people what I can do. We had a lot of core guys and you can tell that we were trying to rebuild into a winner. You can tell we were starting to get a lot of the pieces together. It was kind of tough playing in the old ballpark because we never had a lot of fans come to the games. You could tell the team and fans were both looking for a winner, the fans were passionate and loyal despite the constant losing. It was just a time you knew the team needed to start putting a winner on the field. In 92 it was very tough, but you could tell that we were getting better and trying to do everything we could to win.”
Carlos Baerga was another key addition to the team acquired in the Joe Carter, trade with San Diego. In 1985, the Padres had drafted Baerga out of high school when he was only sixteen years old. In his initial season with the Cleveland Indians, Baerga played regularly at third base and did well when he had the chance. He hit for a .260 batting average and showed some power at the plate. Baerga continued to improve and he solidified his position in the starting lineup as the full time starting second baseman in 1991. His average rose to .288 and he knocked in 20 homeruns. The next year was a banner one for Baerga: he amassed 200 hits and finished the season with a .312 batting average. The fans fell in love with him because of his trademark smile and hustle. They remained behind him through some rough times for the team.
In 1993, Baerga again managed to reach the 200 hit mark in the final week of the season. He had to beg John Hart to check him out of the hospital from an infection to get his 200th hit, and then promptly checked back into the hospital when the game ended. That showed the passion Baerga had for his craft and also his dedication to teammates and fans. The back to back 200 hit seasons was a rare feat. He was the first second baseman to do it since Roger Hornsby in 1922. He made the All Star team in both the 1992 and 1993 seasons. They were starting to amass plenty of young talent with Baerga, Alomar and Lofton all of whom reached their peak at the same time.
Carlos remembers his early years in Cleveland fondly and had these comments to share, “I was traded here as a nineteen year old from the San Diego Padres and never thought I would have the career with the Indians that I did. Thanks to God that my first manager, John McNamara, made me feel so good and taught me how to prepare myself and be a professional inside and outside of the field. It really helped me out to have someone who had confidence in me. The Indians gave me the opportunity to be here in the big leagues and that doesn’t happen too often. I got to the big leagues young and had the chance to be a utility guy. I had the opportunity to come from the bench and prepared myself for that.
Then they gave me the chance to play second base and it was something special. We still had fans coming to the ballpark in the beginning when we were really bad. I loved hitting in the old ballpark even though the team was bad, because I felt I hit better in the old one then I did in the new one. Then we came to Jacobs’s field and the fans loved it first, then the players loved it next. I remember the first game against Randy Johnson and having the ball park packed. It truly was something special.”
Carlos had these thoughts about the addition of key free agents which led to higher expectations for the Indians for the 1994 season, “John Hart made the young players feel happy by giving them a multi-year contract. It gave us the chance to play and improve without worrying about the numbers which took the pressure off of us. I was the first one to sign then Kenny Lofton and Albert Belle. It was a commitment to the players which allowed us to step up. It allowed us to have fun and put everything together to win games and do well. Then he brought in all the good free agents to further help us win. It was a winning recipe because we were so close when the strike set in. We were only one game back so I knew we were going to the playoffs and had the confidence we were building from spring training on and we didn’t want to lose it.”
While Lofton and Baerga had been setting the table, it was power hitting left fielder, Albert Belle, who was reaping the benefits of knocking them all in. Belle had struggled with some serious personal problems early in his career, playing under his middle name, Joey Belle. He needed to get his life and career in order because he was to play a key role in the Indians rebuilding project. Pitchers feared his intimidating presence and physical stature. When Belle overcame his personal problems he became unstoppable. He had an intense glare that would strike fear into even the most seasoned of veterans who dared to face him. His power numbers increased yearly as he became one of the most feared hitters in baseball. He hit 28 homeruns in 1991, 34 in 1992 and a career high 38 in 1993 with 129 RBI. Belle was just another weapon in the Indians growing offensive arsenal.
John Hart had done an amazing job assembling talent for Mike Hargrove to manage. The 1994 roster was a work of beauty because it had come together with a little luck and plenty of skill. With the key factors in place, it left a small crack in the door open just wide enough for two young hungry lions to come charging through it.
Mark Lewis had been the established third baseman, but few fans believed he would hold onto the job for much longer as the powerful, young Jim Thome nipped at his heels. Thome was a throwback player; he ran laps before the game on the outfield grass and wore his socks up high on his pants. Thome pointed his bat to centerfield before every pitch just like Roy Hobbes did in the movie “The Natural”. His work ethic was unmatched and it was only a matter of time before he overtook Mark Lewis for the full time starting spot at third base.
The final piece of the rebuilding puzzle was rookie right fielder, Manny Ramirez. The 22 year old superstar was bursting with talent the second the Indians saw him playing at George Washington High School in New York City. He was selected as the thirteenth overall pick in the 1991 MLB draft. He tore through the minor leagues in little time emerging as one of the top prospects in baseball. In 1993, he was named the Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. His Minor League numbers were astronomical at the time of being called up as he was hitting .333 with 31 Home Runs and 115 RBIs between Double A and Triple A. Those statistics were almost identical to the eventual American League MVP, Frank Thomas.
Kenny Lofton discusses some of his first impressions of playing at Jacobs Field and the drastic improvement of the team, “It started off with some great free agents like Eddie Murray, Dennis Martinez and the trade for Omar Vizuel. We had Felix Fermin but they wanted a younger shortstop so we got Omar. Veterans like Dennis Martinez and Eddie Murray helped complete a great mixed core of older guys and younger guys. It was one of those things were you wanted to see how it would work out combined with the excitement of a new ballpark to play in.
Everything was starting to come into place because everyone was looking for a winner in Cleveland. We had a strong second half in 1993 were our record improved and showed how strong our main core of players were. We did so well that people were very excited to see what we had going forward, that was the big thing heading into the 1994 season. We had a young core group of talented players who were driven to win and were able to pick up a few free agent pieces to the puzzle which kept everyone excited.”
Everything was in place to open the new ballpark, Jacob’s Field, with a championship contending team. They had the Golden Gloves with Lofton, Vizquel, and Alomar, combined with the veteran leadership of Murray, Martinez, Morris, and Nagy. The young guns, Ramirez and Thome, blended together with the core of Belle and Baerga. This plentiful cornucopia of talent was under the direction of a sharp baseball mind in Mike Hargrove. It would take each player working with his teammate to reach the highest level.
Hargrove describes what it was like to have so much talent assembled on the team combined with the excitement of moving into a beautiful new ballpark, “It is hard to put into words the depth of the excitement because anytime someone has a passion for what they do and the stars start aligning towards the thing we had been building for a while to really take and be what we thought it would be. It made us real nervous but also very excited too. The unknown was a little daunting but it was a great time. The thing of it is that we started this thing out with the core players such as Baerga, Belle, Alomar, Lofton, Whitten, Clark, Nagy, Plunk and guys like that.
We had a mixture of veteran players in 1992 and 1993 that really taught our young kids how to win. Then we heard from a number of people around the league that they really liked are ball club and we had a good thing going. It was a perfect storm with the new ballpark. I really feel that if a person has talent and you feel good about who you’re working with and where you’re working for that the talent really has a chance to take off. Our players enjoyed playing for John Hart and myself and we had a good coaching staff. The brand new ballpark was the ace of baseball at the time. It just amped everything up even more.”
The Cleveland Indians opened up the Jacobs Field era with the first regular season game on April 4, 1994. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by President Bill Clinton in front of a sold out crowd of 41,459 excited fans. The excitement in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. The pitching matchup that day was Dennis Martinez versus the lanky left hander, Randy Johnson, for the Seattle Mariners. They were managed by Lou Piniella, widely considered one of the best in the game. They had the league’s most intimidating pitcher in Johnson, combined with its best young hitter, Ken Griffey Jr. The Mariners were a very formidable foe to open the new ballpark against.
After getting leadoff hitter Rich Amaral to ground out to Baerga to start the game, Martinez hit Edgar Martinez with a pitch. From there, Martinez issued back-to-back walks to Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner, which loaded the bases without allowing a single hit. Eric Anthony hit a sacrifice fly deep enough for Edgar Martinez to tag and score giving Seattle the early lead. Tino Martinez flew out to Manny Ramirez in right field to end the inning.
Randy Johnson suffered from some of the same first game nerves as he walked two of the first three batters he faced. He worked his way out of the first inning jam by not giving up any runs or hits. Despite his early wildness, the tall lefty seemed to have his best stuff and it looked like it could be a long afternoon for the home team.
After a scoreless second inning, Seattle got back on the scoreboard with an Eric Allen solo homerun. It was the game’s and stadium’s first official hit. It was a costly one for Martinez, who already had walked several batters; but he managed to pitch his way out of trouble until the home run. To make matters worse, it seemed the two run lead was almost insurmountable as Johnson was keeping the Indians scoreless and hitless.
When Johnson took the mound to start the bottom of the eighth inning, the Indians had yet to earn a single hit. The fans and players were wondering if the worst would actually happen. When Alomar singled through the hole between short and third, everyone shared in a collective sigh of relief. Candy Maldonado had walked before Alomar and suddenly the Indians had two on with no out and their first legitimate scoring threat of the game. A few moments later, Johnson threw a wild pitch that allowed both men to advance.
Ramirez hammered the next pitch into deep left field for a two run double to tie the game. In a matter of a few moments, the Indians went from being hitless to tying the game. It wasn’t long after that when Ramirez exposed one of the few flaws in his game by getting picked off of second base. It ended the momentum, but not before the Indians evened the score and showed the magic that Jacobs Field would become known for.
The ninth inning proved to be uneventful when both teams failed to score. It was evident that this new ballpark was destined to provide exciting finishes as game one went into extra innings, only increasing the drama.
Jose Mesa took the hill to start the tenth inning and quickly gave up a hit to Griffey. Jay Buhner laid down a beautiful bunt to move him into scoring position with only one out. Mike Hargrove decided to pull Mesa in favor of Derek Lilliquist. The move looked like it was the right decision when he forced Eric Anthony to pop out to first base. Tino Martinez drew a walk that forced Lilliquist to face Kevin Mitchell with two on and two out. Mitchell singled which allowed Griffey to score and give Seattle the lead 3-2. Hargrove went back to his bullpen and Eric Plunk managed to get the final out.
Bobby Ayala pitched the bottom half of the frame by striking out Alomar. Ramirez drew the one out walk and Piniella decided to replace Ayala with Kevin King. Jim Thome replaced Mark Lewis and doubled to right field advancing Wayne Kirby, who pitch ran for Ramirez, to third base. The Indians now had two men in scoring position with just one out, giving them an excellent chance to win it. Piniella took advantage of the open base and walked Lofton to load them and create a force out at any base. Vizquel ruined Piniella’s plans when he sacrificed a ground ball out to score Kirby from third and once again tie the game. Carlos Baerga followed with a fly out to centerfield to end the inning, but not before the Indians had managed to tie the game 3-3.
Eric Plunk had no problem mowing down the bottom half of the Seattle order and keeping the game tied into the bottom of the eleventh inning.
In the bottom of the eleventh, King forced Belle to ground out to first before Eddie Murray came up and crushed a double. One batter later, Paul Sorrento sacrificed Murray over to the third base and put the winning run a mere ninety feet away. It was high drama after the intentional walk to Alomar brought Kirby to the plate with a chance to win. Kirby had been the Indians starting right fielder for several years before Hargrove and Hart chose to give his position to the rookie sensation, Ramirez. The Jacobs Field crowd roared as Kirby singled a soft line drive into shallow left field to score Murray from third base and earned the Indians their first win in their beautiful new home.
The Indians used the memorable opening day victory as momentum to propel them to a hot start, winning six out of their first seven games. They finished April with a 13-9 record and appeared to be getting better each week. They got red hot in June by winning ten games in a row. They had an impressive 51-33 record by the All Star game break, a record good enough to put them in a first place tie in the newly formed American League Central Division.
On August 10, the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 in front of 50,000 plus fans at the Toronto Skydome. The win gave them an impressive 66 – 47 record, only one game out of first place. Then, the worst fears of Cleveland fans occurred the next day when Major League Baseball players went on strike. The work stoppage was not resolved during the regular season and it ended up causing the rest of the season to be canceled. The baseball strike was a nightmare to all of Cleveland because for the first time in years they had a great baseball team.
But, it came to a premature end because of no fault of their own. Mike Hargrove explains what the baseball strike meant for the team, “It was tough and we knew it was coming. In reality, the last time we had an in season strike was in the 1981 season and when that happened and it was over they declared first and second half winners, so we were hoping that may happen again if it was a short strike. I wanted us to finish ahead of the White Sox, so we really played and managed for that two week period leading up to August 12 like it was the last game of the season. We were trying to make a big push to catch the White Sox and we almost did it.”
The Indians had been on a roll since that dramatic opening day victory and never looked back. Four of their five starting pitchers had at least ten wins. Dennis Martinez was 11-6 while Jack Morris held a record of 10-6. Charles Nagy was 10-8 and Mark Clark was rolling with a 10-3 record and three of the starters had an era under 4.00.
The pitching wasn’t the only thing going well since the hitting was the best it had been in franchise history. Eight of the players had double digit home runs including Albert Belle who led the team with 36 home runs. Belle was also batting .357 with 101 RBI, strong numbers that would have contended, if not won, the batting title and MVP award if a full season would have been played. Lofton was batting a career high .349 with 60 stolen bases at the time of the work stoppage. Both young power hitters, Thome and Ramirez, were living up to their hype as well with 20 and 17 home runs respectively. Eddie Murray, who was one of the veteran hitters brought in to guide the lineup and clubhouse, didn’t have the best batting average at .254, but his 17 home runs and 76 RBI were exactly what the Indians needed from him.
Kenny Lofton discusses the pain of the great season ending prematurely, “We were on such a role that it was disappointing to see the strike. A lot of guys like myself and Albert put up a lot of great numbers for the season. It was a time were the team and city realized that we were an upcoming young team ready to win and the strike cut it short, but we knew 1995 was going to be a big year for us.”
Charlie Nagy shares his pain of the strike occurring, “We all came together in 1994 and had a great start. We were playing great baseball when the strike happened. The most disappointing thing for everyone was how the whole thing carried on out because we thought it would only last a week. The playoffs were looming as we were right in the thick of the race and all of a sudden everything just came to a grinding halt. We had to set our sights on 1995.”
Jim Thome shares his disappointment with the strike, “We felt like we were just getting going at that time. It was frustrating because we worked so hard to have the strike cut us short. We were very disappointed.”
The Indians had everything a great team needed. The only thing that could stop them was what they couldn’t control. It was a terrible way to end a great season. It wasn’t just the fans that were upset with the 1994 season ending prematurely because of the strike. John Hart also shares his disappointment, “We felt we had a team that was World Series bound when we traded for Dave Winfield during the strike and then Bud Selig announced we weren’t going to play anymore baseball, it was a very painful time.” Fans could only hope that if and when play resumed, the Indians could somehow reflect the team they saw that season. Little did anyone know that the following spring, summer and fall would go down as one of the most memorable and best in baseball history.
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