by The Indians continued to dominate the division and held a 50 – 35 record heading into the all star break. They once again sent several players to the midsummer classic including first baseman Jim Thome, centerfielder Kenny Lofton, shortstop Omar Vizquel, right fielder Manny Ramirez, pitcher Bartolo Colon, and catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. They had six players total and that was another proud moment for Cleveland fans to witness during introductions.
They won the division with a final record of 89 – 73 after holding a double digit lead almost the entire second half of the season. Jaret Wright who had high hopes cast upon him after his incredible rookie campaign only produced mediocre results finishing with a 12- 10 record and 4.72 era. Bartolo Colon finished with 14 wins, meanwhile Nagy and Burba tied for the team lead with 15 wins each. Mike Jackson who took over the closing duties from Mesa finished with an incredible 1.55 era and 40 saves.
Their first round opponent that season was a familiar foe in the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were making their return to the playoffs for the first time since Cleveland knocked them out in the 1995 season. They had a few years of frustration built up that they hoped to take out on the Cleveland ballclub.
Boston sent their ace Pedro Martinez to the mound to face Jaret Wright in front of a sold out crowd at Jacobs Field. Wright was coming off of a subpar season after lofty expectations were cast on him from the great postseason of 1997. Hargrove remained confident in Wright because of the post season brilliance from the prior year.
It was quickly apparent that Wright would not have the magic of the prior season as he gave up three runs in the first inning and fell behind early. Mo Vaugh hit a three run home run for Boston in the first and put them ahead to stay. In the fifth inning it was Nomar Garciappara hitting his own three run home run expanding the lead to 6-0. Mo Vaugh wasn’t done as he hit a two run home run in the top half of the sixth as the lead reached 8-0 Boston. Lofton smashed a two run home run of his own in the bottom half of the sixth, however the Indians never got any closer and lost 11 – 3. The win ended a 13 game long losing streak for the Red Sox. It was their first playoff win since the epic Bill Buckner ground ball error of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets.
Dwight Gooden was called upon in game two for the Indians and was set to face knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Nomar Garciaparra put the Red Sox up 2–0 after doubling in Lewis and Valentin. Shortly afterwards, Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove and Dwight Gooden were both ejected from the game for arguing with the umpires about a play at the plate. Gooden was replaced by Dave Burba, who went on to pitch a solid game. David Justice cut the lead in half by hitting a sacrifice fly that scored Lofton in the bottom of the first. Then the Indians tied it when Sandy Alomar Jr. doubled in Brian Giles in the bottom of the second. After Joey Cora walked, Lofton doubled in Alomar to give the Indians the lead. Wakefield left the game and, with two out, David Justice hit a three-run home run to put the Indians ahead 6 – 2. Garciaparra drove in a run for Boston in the third, but an Alomar double scored Travis Fryman to make it 7–3 Indians. The Red Sox did their best to narrow the gap but the Indians hung on to win 9 -5 and even up the series.
Game three saw the series move to Fenway Park in Boston. On the mound for the Indians would be veteran right hander and fan favorite Charles Nagy. Opposing him for the Boston Red Sox was Bret Saberhagen. It was a close game throughout that saw Boston grab the early lead in the bottom half of the fourth on a sacrifice groundout. The Indians responded by hitting four solo home runs in the next four out of five innings. Two of the solo bombs came off the bat of Manny Ramirez. Jim Thome and Kenny Lofton also had one each and the Indians took game three by a score of 4-3.
Bartolo Colón was given the ball to start game four and went against Pete Schourek. The game started off as a pitcher’s duel with neither team scoring through the first three innings. In the fourth, Nomar Garciaparra homered to put the Red Sox up 1–0. They held the lead until the eighth, when Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel both singled with one out. Justice then doubled to center which scored both Lofton and Vizquel to put the Indians ahead 2-1. Mike Jackson held onto the lead in the bottom of the ninth and the Indians won the game and series. It was a strong start to the playoff run for the Indians as they managed to come from behind during three straight games to win the series.
In 1998 no team in baseball could come close to the production the Yankee’s were putting up. They won an amazing 114 games and took their division by 22 games. Their record and lineup had people around baseball making comparisons to them of the 1927 Yankee’s. They would be waiting to face Cleveland fresh off of a three game sweep in the prior round of the Texas Rangers.
Jaret Wright was called upon again to start game one of a series for the Indians. This game was much like his prior start against Boston as the young Wright was lit up by Yankee batters. He couldn’t even get out of the first inning. By the time Wright was pulled for veteran Chad Ogea, the Yankee’s were up 5 -0. Despite a late inning home run by Manny Ramirez, this game was all Yankee’s and they took the game one win by a score of 7-2. The Yankee’s starting pitcher David Wells had another masterful night against the Indians.
Game two saw twenty-game winner David Cone start for the Yankees against Charles Nagy for Cleveland. David Justice smacked a solo home run in the fourth, giving the Indians the early 1-0 lead. It was the first time the Yankees trailed in a game that postseason. A Scott Brosius double tied the game in the seventh, but the Yankees were unable to score him. They would also waste many chances in the game to score. The game remained close and moved to extra innings. Jim Thome led off the top of the twelfth with a single.
Enrique Wilson was brought in to pinch run for Thome. Travis Fryman was up next and laid down a sacrifice bunt, as Yankee pitcher Jeff Nelson went to throw it to first, he hit Fryman and the ball rolled past Chuck Knoblauch who was the second baseman but covering first on this play. Knoblauch tried to argue the call as the ball continued to roll. Wilson and Fryman continued to run and Wilson would score as the ball was still not dead. It was a huge mental mistake for Knoblauch to start arguing during the play which allowed the run to score. An error by Tino Martinez put Fryman at third. The Indians now had the lead back and would score two more times to increase the lead and hang on to win game two, evening up the series at a game apiece.
Game three was a gem by Cleveland starter Bartolo Colon. After allowing an RBI single to Bernie Williams in the first he bounced back to throw a complete game four hit masterpiece. As Colon was mowing down batters at the plate, the Indians offense continued to stay hot by hitting multiple home runs. Jim Thome had two more home runs, combined with homers by Manny Ramirez and Mark Whitten ,the Indians cruised to a 6-1 victory and took a 2-1 lead in the series.
There was a lot of drama and mystery surrounding the game four starter for the New York Yankee’s. Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez was the older brother of the previous year’s World Series nemesis Livan Hernandez. Hernandez had come to the Yankees covered in mystery, having defected from Cuba just ten months earlier. Both pitching staffs kept it a low hitting affair as the game only saw eight total combined hits. It was Hernandez shutting down the Indians all night long however, and the Yankee’s took game four by a score of 4-0 to even up the series.
The Indians turned to their veteran Chad Ogea to get things back on track headed into the pivotal game five of the series. They skipped Jaret Wrights start but quickly went back to him after Ogea got shelled early. Ogea gave up three in the first and the Indians were never able to dig out of the hole. The Yankee’s used the early lead along with another strong start out of David Wells to cruise to a 5-3 win and take a commanding series lead back to New York.
The pitching match-up for game six was David Cone against Charles Nagy. The Yankees built a 6–0 lead behind David Cone, but the Indians refused to go quietly. A bases-loaded walk and a grand slam by Jim Thome made it 6–5 in the fifth. The Yankees responded by scoring three more runs on a Derek Jeter triple and a Bernie Williams single to make it 9–5. Mariano Rivera had no issues closing things out in the top of the ninth, and the Indians quest to return to the World Series came up short.
It was a fine season with many highs and a few lows, but it lacked the magic of the 1997 post season. The Indians knew that another strong off season would be needed if they wanted to contend with the highly powered teams such as the Yankees, who eventually went on to win the World Series in a four game sweep of the San Diego Padres.
The major move of the off season came when the Indians signed free agent all star second baseman and future hall of famer, Roberto Alomar. He was the best second baseman with his glove and bat for years prior. He had played both with San Diego, Toronto and Baltimore. Before his playing days were done he went on to receive 10 Gold Glove awards, more than any second baseman in Major League Baseball history. He had a sensational bat to go with his excellent glove as he won 4 Silver Slugger awards as well. Along with his immense talent he brought two World Series Championship rings he won in Toronto. He was the best in the game and many thought would be the missing link to finally get Cleveland over the hump. The Indians had a revolving door at second base since the Baerga trade and this was seen as the stop gap move that would become permanent for many years to come.
They jumped out to an 8-1 start and never looked back. By the time the season was over they had won an impressive 97 games and scored 1009 runs. They spent a whopping 158 days in first place and won the division by 21.5 games. The Indians were a force that few teams could contend with. Hargrove had led his team to the playoffs for the fifth straight year as they captured their fifth straight American League Central Division championship. Jacobs Field again led all of baseball in attendance as they sold out the entire season for the fifth straight season.
Bartolo Colon took the next step in becoming the team’s outright ace as he won 18 games. Colon had plenty of support in the rotation as Charles Nagy won 17 games and Dave Burba chipped in with 15 wins himself. Closer Mike Jackson again looked strong saving 39 games.
The Indians were a force to be reckoned with as they entered the playoffs. Standing in their way were their old rivals the Boston Red Sox. They had plenty of recent playoff experience against Boston and looked to continue their winning ways against them. Boston was no slouch as they had won 94 games and only finished second because they played in the American League Eastern Division that was led by the powerful 98 win New York Yankee’s.
The ace of Boston was Pedro Martinez. He was a perennial CY Young candidate and was coming off his best seasons as a pro. He won 23 games and had a minuscule ERA of 2.07. The matchup of him versus Bartolo Colon in game one was the making of a classic. Both pitchers were highly regarded as the best in the game and this was their chance to showcase it in front of a packed house at Jacobs Field, and a nationwide audience watching at home.
Boston obtained an early 1–0 lead with a lead-off home run by Nomar Garciaparra in the second inning. Garciaparra also helped score the second run for the Red Sox when he led off the fourth inning with a double and then scored on an RBI single by Mike Stanley. Pedro Martinez had been lights out when he had to leave the game due to injury in the bottom of the fifth inning and was replaced by Derek Lowe.
This was a huge break for the Indians because Martinez looked untouchable until that point. The Indians would tie the game in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run by Jim Thome. Colon managed to settle down and dominate the Red Sox hitters the rest of the way, striking out eleven in eight innings pitched. In the bottom of the ninth, the Indians called upon their Jacobs field magic one more time when Travis Fryman hit a game wining bases loaded single off of Boston reliever Rich Garces. The Indians had scratched and clawed their way to an impressive game one victory.
Game two would provide little to no drama as the Indians blew out the Red Sox by a score of 11-1. They used sharp pitching by Charles Nagy and powerful hitting from top to bottom in their lineup. Harold Baines had a three run home run in the third to make it 6-1 and then Jim Thome smashed a grand slam in the fourth to put the game completely out of reach. The Indians were rolling as they headed to Fenway Park to try and put the series away.
Game three of the series is when Mike Hargrove began to make a series of moves that led to his eventual dismissal as manager. Dave Burba had been shutting out the Red Sox for four innings when he left with a strained forearm. Mike Hargrove chose to insert presumed Game four starter Jaret Wright instead of rookie middle reliever Sean DePaula. The Red Sox captured a 2-1 lead off Wright in the fifth on a single and sac fly. Cleveland would tie it in the top of the sixth before Boston scored again to go back up 3-2. Cleveland again showed their willingness to fight as they scored to tie it 3-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
John Valentin hit a bases loaded double off of Ricardo Rincon that put the Red Sox up 5-3. Brian Daubach followed with a three run home run and the game was quickly out of reach. The Red sox went on to win the game 9-3 and the momentum had swiftly switched sides.
With presumed starter Jaret Wright being used in relief the previous day, and no emergency starter on the playoff roster, the Indians had no other option but to start Bartolo Colón on three days’ rest for the first time in his career. Neither he nor the bullpen could stop the onslaught of Red Sox runs. Colón was tagged for seven runs in one-plus innings pitched, and the relievers didn’t fare much better. The Sox drove in 23 runs total in the game, and it was a blowout from the second inning on. The series was headed back to Cleveland with the Indians hopes on life support.
Game five of the 1999 American League Divisional series between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox took place on October 11, 1999 and became an instant classic. Sorely for Cleveland fans, it became a classic for all the wrong reasons. They called upon their veteran long time starter Charles Nagy in the hopes of avoiding the epic collapse. Facing him was Brett Saberhagen who was lit up in his game two start. Due to injury and other issues with each staff, both pitchers were only pitching on three days’ rest.
Nomar Garciaparra hit a two run home run off of Nagy in the top half of the first to let Boston jump out to a two run lead. Cleveland responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning with a Vizquel RBI double, and a two run home run by Jim Thome. It was the third home run of the series for Thome and put the Indians ahead 3-2 heading into the second inning.
Nagy looked impressive in the top half of the second as he set down the Boston lineup in order. Travis Fryman kept the Indians bats hot as he hit a two run homerun with Will Cordero on base to give the Indians a 5-2 advantage. The home run also knocked Saberhagen from the game.
Things were setting up nicely for Nagy as he took the mound up 5-2 to start the third, but it all came crashing down quickly. He showed that he wasn’t ready to be pitching on such short rest and surrendered the lead back to Boston in brutal fashion. He gave up five runs on three hits, the biggest being a grand slam by Troy O’Leary. Boston took a 7-5 lead and chased Nagy from the game.
The Indians refused to stay down for very long as a Roberto Alomar double, combined with a Manny Ramirez double, followed by another Jim Thome home run gave them the lead back at 8-7. The fans that filled Jacobs Field that evening were seeing a slugfest between two heavyweight prize fighters. Boston used a sacrifice fly by John Valentin in the top half of the fourth and tied the game once again.
As Boston took the field for the bottom half of the fourth, a very interesting thing occurred. Boston manager Jimmy Williams decided to replace Derek Lowe with the hurting Pedro Martinez, who had left Game 1 with a back injury. This decision would prove to be a smart one, as Pedro pitched spectacularly, throwing six hitless innings, striking out eight and walking three.
As Martinez was shutting down the Indians lineup, Cleveland responded with rookie reliever Sean DePaula. DePaula, whom Hargrove had chosen not to use in Game three and wrecked his rotation as a result, matched Pedro for three innings. Despite his success, Hargrove removed him and opted to use inconsistent set-up man Paul Shuey for the seventh inning.
The decision by Hargrove immediately backfired when Troy O’Leary hit a three run home run to put Boston ahead for good. The life was instantly sucked out of Jacobs Field as O’Leary rounded the bases. Pedro Martinez finished his brilliance by keeping the Indians hitless for the sixth consecutive inning in the bottom of the ninth and sent the Indians fans home stunned and saddened.
Boston would go on to lose in five games to the eventual World Series Champion New York Yankee’s in the American League Championship Series. The one victory for Boston in that series was a Pedro Martinez win over Roger Clemens. Meanwhile back in Cleveland as their offseason had already begun, the unthinkable was about to happen.
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