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1980 - PRESENT
1981 Barker Perfect game The shortened season sees the
Indians play only 103 games, but one is among the most
memorable ever. Large Lenny Barker retires 27 consecutive
batters on May 15, 1981, to become the first Cleveland
player to do so since Addie Joss. He beat Toronto 3-0
at Cleveland Stadium.
1994 Opener at Jacobs Field A new era in Indians History
begins on April 4, 1994 when the Tribe plays its first
regular season game at Jacobs Field - a 4-3 win in 11
innings vs. Seattle before 41,459 fans.
1995 Murray's 3000th Eddie Murray makes history on June
30, 1995 at Minnesota, when he bounces a single throught
the right side for his 3000th hit. Eddie Murray joins
Nap Lajoie and Tris Speaker as the 3rd player to enter
the 3000 hit club while with Cleveland.
1995 Clinch A drought of 41 years ends on September
8, 1995 at Jacobs Field when the Tribe's 3-2 victory
vs. Baltimore clinches the AL Central Division. A season
of memorable comebacks along with hefty poundings sees
the Indians go 100-44, winning the Division by 30 games,
the largest margin ever.
Pena home run 10/3/95 In the wee hours of the morning,
Tony Pena delivers Cleveland its first post-season victory
since 1948 with his 13th inning HR on October 3, 1995
in game one of the ALDS. Most of the Indians faithful
remains in chilly Jacobs Field to watch and celebrate.
1995 ALCS Hero Kenny Lofton scores from second base
on a passed ball in game six of the 1995 ALCS in Seattle.
The rattled pitcher, Randy Johnson, gives up a home
run to the ensuing batter, Carlos Baerga and the Indians
burst into the World Series for the first time since
1954.
1997 On To The World Series Tony Fernandez lifts a laser
over the right field wall in Camden Yards in the top
of the 12th to give the Indians the only run of the
game. In the bottom half, Jose Mesa strikes out Roberto
Alomar clinching victory over Baltimore in the sixth
game of the 1997 ALCS.
2000 Fielding Record For so many years the defense of
the Indians has dazzled the league, and 2000 was no
different. Gold Glovers R. Alomar, Vizquel, and Fryman,
lead the 2000 Indians to set AL season fielding records
in percentage(.988)& fewest errors(72).
2001 Comeback Tribe The Indians won their sixth American
League Central Division crown in seven years in 2001.
After missing the playoffs by one game in 2000, the
Indians did what they were unable to do in 2000--win
games within their division.
The Indians finished 91-71 with a 47-29 record in the
Central.
In 2001, Manager Charlie Manuel used a great mix of
veterans and rookies to earn his first postseason appearance
as manager. The good mix should bode well for the Tribe
in 2002 as they try to repeat.
Here's a look back at some of the key points from the
2001 season:
January 9, 2001...Tribe signs Juan Gonzalez After home
grown slugger Manny Ramirez signed a free-agent contract
with the Boston Red Sox, the Indians needed someone
to fill the clean up spot and play right field. The
Tribe signed two-time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez to a one-year
contract with a mutual club and player option for '02.
"We needed a guy to take Manny's spot, and Juan
(Gonzalez) did a better than expected job, both offensively
and defensively," Shapiro said.
February 28, 2001...Indians signs Omar Vizquel to contract
extension The Indians inked the best fielding shortstop
in baseball history to a two-year contract extension.
The signing likely insures that Vizquel will finish
is career as an Indian.
"Omar is a very special player -- on the field
and off it for the Indians,'' said General manager John
Hart about the eight-time gold glove winner.
March 12, 2001...Indians signs Einar Diaz to a four-year
contract. After deciding not to re-sign fan favorite
Sandy Alomar, Jr., the Indians decided to sign Diaz
to a long-term contract. The 28-year-old turned out
to be a solid force behind the plate, not to mention
offensively.
March 17, 2001... Travis Fryman out 2-4 weeks with elbow
injury In what turned out to be an injury that plagued
him the entire year, Fryman missed the rest of Spring
Training and the first two months of the season with
an elbow injury. The injury hurt the Tribe defensively
and offensive.
Fryman had high hopes for the 2001 season as he was
coming off a career year. He batted a career high .321
in 2000, drove in 106 RBI and won is first Gold Glove.
March 25, 2001... Jaret Wright and Charles Nagy start
season on DL Two links to the Tribe's success in the
past were placed on the disabled list to start the season.
Wright and Nagy will eventually rejoin the Indians in
the middle of the season, but neither could finish the
season without being placed back on the DL.
April 2, 2001...Opening Day Juan Gonzalez hits two homers
against the Chicago White Sox, but the Tribe still loses.
Marty Cordova makes the 25-man roster coming out of
Spring Training and plays a big role in the season.
April 4, 2001 Sellout streak comes to an end The sellout
streak that began on June 12, 1995 ended on April 4.
The 455 sellouts is a Major League record.
April 8, 2001...Rookie C.C. Sabathia makes Major League
debut 20-year-old left-handed pitcher, Sabathia makes
his first career start against the Baltimore Orioles.
After giving up three runs in the first inning, Sabathia
settled down and allowed just one hit the rest of the
way.
April 13, 2001...Sabathia picks up his first win The
rookie gives up five runs in five innings, but the Tribe
defeats the Tigers, 9-8. The win marks the first of
17 wins for the young southpaw.
April 21, 2001...Jim Thome homers on bobble head doll
day Struggling to start the season, Thome didn't even
start the game against the Tigers. But in the 11th inning
on his bobble head doll day, Thome homered off closer
Todd Jones to give the Tribe a 5-4 victory.
April 28, 2001...Indians start longest winning streak
of the season In a 7-3 win over the Rangers, the Tribe
embarked on season-high 10-game winning streak.
May 10, 2001...Streak ends The Tribe's 10-game winning
streak comes to an end with an 8-3 loss to the Royals.
During the streak, the Indians swept two teams and outscored
their opponents 86-33. More importantly, they crept
to within one game of the first-place Twins.
Jim Thome passed Albert Belle to become the Indians
All-Time Home Run King.
May 19, 2001...Jaret Wright makes first start Wright
makes his first start of the season against the Angels.
The right-hander goes five innings giving up two runs
on four hits, but allowed six walks in the no-decision.
He would go on to make six more starts before being
sent down to Triple-A Buffalo.
May 29, 2001...Thome passes Belle Jim Thome hit his
243rd career homer as an Indian in a 6-4 win over the
Tigers. The homer passes Albert Belle for No. 1 on the
Indians all-time home run list.
"It's grveat honor," Thome said. "There's
a lot of great names on that list: Albert (Belle), Manny
(Ramirez) and all the way down ...More importantly,
I did it with the Indians."
June 3, 2001...Charles Nagy makes first start Nagy makes
an impressive debut in his first start of the season.
The veteran picks up the win as he shut down the Yankees
at Yankee stadium. Nagy goes seven innings and allows
just one run.
June 4-7, 2001...Indians kick off four-game series with
Twins
John Rocker was traded to the Indians for Steve Karsay
and Steve Reed.
The Indians roll into Minnesota just 1⁄2 game
behind the first-place Twins. The Indians take three
of four games and leave Minnesota with a 1 1⁄2
game lead over the Twins. The Indians outscore the Twins,
26-15 in the four games.
June 14-19, 2001... Longest losing streak of the season
After taking first place from the Twins, the Indians
drop out of first place due to a losing streak. Making
the losing streak worse is the fact that four of the
five loses come against the Brewers and the Pirates,
including a sweep by the Bucs.
June 22, 2001...John Rocker gets dealt to Tribe In a
move to shore up the bullpen, the Tribe dealt Steve
Karsay and Steve Reed to the Braves for left-handed
closer John Rocker.
July 3, 2001...Jaret Wright done for season Wright experienced
a dead arm pitching in a minor league rehab start. After
future examinations, he was diagnosed with shoulder
problems--done for season. Wright was originally set
down to Triple A-Buffalo on June 22 to strengthen his
arm.
July 7, 2001...Thome homers three times against the
Cardinals Jim Thome hits three homers and has six RBI
as the Tribe routes the Cardinals, 14-2.
August 5, 2001...Tribe makes greatest comeback in 76
years
Ed Taubensee lifts Kenny Lofton over his shoulders after
Lofton scores the winning run to overcome a 12-run deficit
against Seattle.
The Indians came back from an early 14-2 deficit to
defeat the Mariners, 15-14, in 11 innings. It was the
greatest comeback in 76 years and as manager Charlie
Manuel put it,
"It was the greatest game I ever managed, because
I had no moves to make."
What Manuel meant was he had taken out almost all his
regular players, all but conceding the game. The Tribe
scored 12 runs between the seventh and ninth innings
just to send the game into extra innings.
Omar Vizquel's two-out bases clearing triple in the
ninth tied the score at 14, which then set up Jolbert
Cabrera's game-winning RBI single in the 11th.
August 8, 2001...C.C. Sabathia gets win and Tribe takes
first place from Twins Sabathia pitched one of his best
games of the season. He worked 7 1/3 innings, allowing
two runs on four hits in the win. It was his 11th win
of the season. Juan Gonzalez and Jim Thome each homered
as the Tribe retook first place from the Twins. From
this point on, the Indians stayed in first place.
August 24, 2001...Charles Nagy done for season Nagy
was placed on the disabled list, affectively ending
his '01 season. Since returning in early June, the veteran
couldn't take the pain in his elbow. It was the same
arm injury that sidelined him for much of the '00 season.
September 8, 2001...Juan Gonzalez homers twice; sends
Sox packing Gonzalez homers twice, including a grand
slam, as the Tribe pulled out an 8-7 come-from-behind
win over the White Sox. Thome also homered in the win,
but it was Kenny Lofton's two-out RBI double in the
bottom of the ninth that ended the White Sox playoffs
hopes.
September 18, 2001...Fryman hits grand slam in win In
the first game back since the terrible tragedies in
New York and Washington, the Indians coasted to an 11-2
win over the Royals. Kenny Lofton hit two homers and
Travis Fryman hit a grand slam in the win.
September 30, 2001...Indians clinch With a 9-1 win over
the Twins, the Indians clinched their sixth division
title in seven years. Fittingly, the win came against
the Twins, who for most of the season were in first
place. The Indians ended up winning every series against
the Twins posting a 14-5 record while outscoring them
115-73.
October 7, 2001...C.C. another win Move over Herb Score.
Rookie C.C. Sabathia picked up his 17th win of the season
against the Blue Jays. Sabathia past Score -- who won
16 in 1955 -- for the most wins by an Indians' rookie.
October 9, 2001...Indians take Game 1 against M's To
the amazement of everyone except Cleveland, the Indians
defeated the Mariners, 5-0, in Game 1 of the ALDS from
SAFECO Field. Bartolo Colon was outstanding, pitching
eight shutout innings and recording 10 strikeouts in
the win. Ellis Burks homered leading the offense.
October 13, 2001... Indians pounds M's take 2-1 lead
in series The Indians set a franchise record for the
playoff by scoring 17 runs and belting out 19 hits in
route to a 17-2 win over the Mariners in Game 3 of the
ALDS. C.C. Sabathia pitched six strong innings as he
picked up his first career postseason win.
October 15, 2001...M's eliminate Indians from playoffs
In a classic Game 5, Jamie Moyer pitched great over
six innings as the Mariners defeated the Indians, 3-1,
thus eliminating the Tribe from the playoffs. Moyer
was 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts against the Indians.
Overall, he was 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA against the Tribe
this season (26IP, 3R, 3ER, 21SO).
October 24, 2001...Charlie Manuel's contract extended
Indians manager Charlie Manuel, who led the Indians
to their sixth AL Central Division crown in seven years,
will be back on the bench for the 2002 season. The Indians
decided to pickup Manuel's option after finishing with
his second consecutive 90-plus winning season.
November 1, 2001...General manager steps down John Hart's
10-year reign of Indians GM comes to an end. Largely
responsible for the winningest era in Tribe baseball,
Hart brought six postseason appearances and two World
Series berths to Cleveland. Assistant general manager
Mark Shapiro will take over as general manager.
November 5, 2001...Bob Wickman signed The Tribe signed
closer Bob Wickman to a three-year deal, which includes
a club option for a fourth year. Wickman anchored the
Indians' strong bullpen in 2001 and saved 32 games in
35 chances. His save percentage of 91.4 ranked him fourth
among American League closers. He appeared in 70 games
and compiled a 5-0 record with a 2.39 ERA.
December 11, 2001...Roberto Alomar traded to New York
Mets The New York Mets acquired 12-time All-Star second
baseman Roberto Alomar from Cleveland Tuesday in an
eight-player deal that sent outfielder Matt Lawton,
top prospect Alex Escobar and right-handed reliever
Jerrod Riggan to the Indians.
The Indians also received two players from Rule 5 draft.
The Mets also get left-hander Mike Bacsik and outfielder-first
baseman Danny Peoples from the Indians.
December 17, 2001...Matt Lawton signs four-year contract
and Ricky Gutierrez signed to replace Roberto Alomar.
The Cleveland Indians short search to replace 12-time
All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar ended, as the
Indians inked Ricky Gutierrez to a three-year contract
with a club options for a fourth year.
Matt Lawton, who was part of the Roberto Alomar deal
on December 11, signed a four-year contract with the
Indians.
1960 - 1979
1963 Wynn's 300th Win On July 13, 1963, Early Wynn beat
the White Sox at Cleveland Stadium to become the only
pitcher to win his 300th game with the Tribe. Nine years
later, Wynn finds a home in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1975 Frank Robinson Player-Manager Debut April 8, 1975
marks a great stride for not only baseball, but America.
Frank Robinson becomes the first African-American manager
in MLB history, and he enters the ranks in grand style,
hitting a homer in his first at bat.
1977 Dennis Eckersley Throws a No-Hitter On May 30,
1977, Dennis Eckersley hurls a 1-0 no-hitter. Eckersley
ended up now known for his great achievements as a closer
with the Oakland A's, winning the Cy Young and MVP awards
in 1992.
1940 - 1959
1940 Feller opening day no-hitter Bob Feller's Opening
Day no-hitter on April 16, 1940 at Comiskey Park was
the first of three no-hitters he pitched for the Indians.
No one has ever opened the season with a no-no.
1948 Star In the pivotal Game 4 of the 1948 World Series,
Larry Doby's home run makes the difference in a 2-1
Tribe victory. Steve Gromek goes the distance, shutting
the Braves offense down to a single run. The Indians
take a 3-1 Series lead and take home the crown 2 games
later.
1954 Indians set AL win record in 1954 Led by the stellar
pitching of Lemon, Wynn and Garcia, the 1954 Indians
set American League records for wins (111) and winning
percentage (.721). Feller, Mossi, Narleski and Newhouser
were also notable in the dominating pitching staff.
Doby, Rosen and Avila shined with the bats.
1959 Colavito's Four Homer Game Fan favorite Rocky Colavito
ties the MLB record for home runs in a game with four
(in consecutive at bats) at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium
on June 10, 1959. He goes on to lead the league in homers
with 42.
1920 - 1939
1920 World Series First Game 5 of the 1920 World Series
sees many firsts. Elmer Smith belts the first ever Grand
Slam in the first inning. In the 4th, Jim "Sarge"
Bagby becomes the first pitcher to ever hit a home run
in the Series. And lastly, the most improbable firsts
happens in the 5th when Bill Wambsganss' turns an unassisted
triple-play, a feat that may never be duplicated.
1925 Speaker's 3000th hit (1925) Indians player-manager
Tris Speaker got his 3000th hit on May 17, 1925 at League
Park - the second player to do so for Cleveland. Speaker
was a shoe in for the Hall of Fame and was elected in
1937.
1932 Opener at Cleveland Stadium The first game at the
new Stadium in 1932 was one of Cleveland's great sporting
events with a reported total attendance of 80,184. Initially,
Municipal Stadium split time with League Park as home
to the Indians, but took over full duties in the 1947
season. 1993 is its final season.
1900 - 1919
1908 Joss Perfect Game Addie Joss pitches a 74-pitch
perfect game at League Park on October 2, 1908. Joss'
fantastic career comes to an abrupt end two and a half
years later when he contracts tubercular meningitis
and passes away. Joss is elected to the Hall of Fame
via the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee in 1978.
1910 Opener at New League Park League Park's old, wooden,
facility is replaced with concrete and steel and opens
April 21, 1910, seating about 21,000. Almost 19,000
fans pour into the new park at E. 66th and Lexington
and watch the Detroit Tigers defeat the Cleveland Naps
5-0. For the next 36 years, League Park hosts Cleveland
baseball.
1911 Joss Benefit Game In a forerunner of today's All-Star
Game, stars gathered at League Park for an exhibition
against the Naps to benefit the family of the late Addie
Joss on July 24, 1911. The All-Stars cruise to a 5-3
victory, but the goal of the event is accomplished -
$12,931.60 is raised for the Joss family.
1914 Lajoie's 3,000th hit On September 27, 1914, Nap
Lajoie becomes the first player to reach the exclusive
3,000 hit mark in a Cleveland uniform. Nap Lojoie is
the reason that Cleveland is called the Naps, showing
what honor and respect his team and city had for him.
1915 Louis Sockalexis Cleveland took on the name "Indians"
in 1915, reviving a nickname of its old NL club upon
the arrival of this Native American in 1897. Hall of
Famer John Montgomery Ward referred to Sockalexis as
"a marvel".
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