Cleveland Indians 1995...

[johneh]

Usually I take over an Indians team from the 1970s or 1980s and try to turn them into a winner (a 1980 dynasty I did). Which if you know anything about Indians history you know the 70s and 80s had a lot of horrible teams. But for a change I am going to take over the Tribe in 1995 and see if I can get them that World Series title (or 2 or 3 or...) that they should have got in the late 90s.

In 1995 the Tribe was an offensive power house winning over 100 games (despite being a strike shortened 144 game season). They were a fun team to watch because even if they were down 6 runs in the 8th inning you knew they could come back to win. Sadly they lost to the Braves in 1995 and to the Marlins in the 97 WS.

Let's see if I improve upon the best seasons the Indians have had during my lifetime....

[Andy]

Good luck! Reds fan here, but always root for the tribe in the AL.

[elfsutton]

Should be fun to watch and being a huge fan of the Tribe from the early 90s, it was a great time to be a Tribe fan. Baerga, Belle, Alomar, Nagy, and all the rest will be good to relive it hete. Good luck, will be following along for sure.

[johneh]

Here's a look at the team to start 1995..

C - Sandy Alomar - An above average catcher behind the plate and at the plate. Back up will be veteran Tony Pena who at 37 year old could still start for most teams.

1st - Veteran Eddie Murray and power hitting Paul Sorrento will split the position and see some time at DH. Murrary needs 70 hits to reach 3,000 for his career.

2nd - Carlos Baerga who you can count on for a 300+ average, 20 hrs, 100 RBI

SS - Omar Vizquel will miss a couple weeks to start the season due to injury. He's a 280+ hitter with speed and outstanding defense at short.

3rd - Jim Thome - a fan favorite who will hit 40+ HRs a year and hit for a good average.

RF - Albert Belle - Easily one of the most feared hitters in the league. He can hit for a high average and smash the ball out of the park with ease.

CF - Kenny Lofton - A gold Glove CF with incredible speed and bat control.

LF - Manny Ramirez - Another incredible offensive beast who is just 22 years old

Bench - Alvaro Espinoza will back up the IF (and fill in for Vizquel at SS to start the season). Wayne Kirby will the back up the OF. Old timer Dave Winfield will see time at DH and maybe OF too.

Starting Rotation: A couple of old vets could make or break us...
Charles Nagy - Young thrower takes the #1 spot
Dennis Martinez - Cagey old veteran turns 40 soon
Orel Hershiser - 36 year old Dodger legend moves to the Tribe
Mark Clark - Solid #4
Chad Ogea - Youngster's chance to establish himself.

Bullpen:
Not sure what to expect from this group: Gregg Olsen, Dennis Cook, Jim Poole & Paul Shuey. But the back end of the bullpen is strong..Erik Plunk
Paul Assenmacher & closer Jose Mesa


Owner's Expectations - He expects us to win it all.
My Expectations - As long as the age of my rotation doesn't hurt me I think we have a great chance to win it all.


A look at the minors..
Outfielders Brian Giles & Jeremy Burnitz are ready in AAA to help in the outfield (not that I need it). Albie Lopez and Julian Tavarez are ready to help the pitching staff.

Trade - A minor opening day trade as I send 38 year old Bud Black to the Mets for Bill Pulsipher. I move Black since I can only have so many starting pitchers collecting social security at once.


Here we go.......

[johneh]

One month into the season the Tribe is 15-9 and 2 games behind KC


Through the first month our glaring weakness has been the bullpen.


Who's Hot:
Manny Ramirez is hitting 318 and leads the team with 7 HR and 22 RBI
Eddie Murray is hitting 306 and has 6 HR.
Mark Clark 3-2 with a 2.06 ERA
Chad Ogea 3-1, 3.10 ERA
Chales Nagy 3-2 3.15 ERA
Dennis Cook 1.8 ERA in 9 appearances (10 innings)

Who's Not:
Kenny Lofton had a rough start of the season hitting just 222.
Orel Hershiser 2-1 but a 5.53 ERA
Jose Mesa, Jim Poole, Paul Shuey and Erick Plunk - Of this bullpen group Mesa has the best ERA at 8.00! Not looking good in the pen so far.

Alvaro Espinzo is injured and will miss 4 months. This left me for a week with no real SS until Vizquel returned from his injury. Billy Ripken did a good job covering during this time.

[johneh]

May 1995
We go 16-11 for May.


We lose Thome for 9 games due to a fight and Alvin Espinoza goes down for 8 weeks with an injury. David Bell is brought up to provide some depth while he's out.

Offense:
Lofton is turning around after a slow start and is hitting 254 with 18 SB.
Sandy Alomar is hitting 228 and has struggled in May.
The rest of the starts on offense are hitting 273 or better and I have a feeling I will have some monster stats to report i the upcoming months.

Pitching Staff:
Nagy, Clark & Ogea are all off to a good start after 2 months but the old timers Martinez and Hershiser have ERA's above 5 and could become problems is they don't improve.

The bullpen has been better but is still far from perfect. Mesa has a 5.59 ERA but 14 saves and has looked better in May compared to April. Assenmacher, Dennis Cook and Dennis Cook have held up their end of the bargain but Plunk, Poole and Shuey are having poor seasons.

Team Leaders:

[js1519]

One of my fav teams growing up was the 90s Tribe of this era. Get them that title, I like Chipper and all, but I'm still especially mad about that World Series!

[progen]

Good luck. Saw the "Tribe" play two years ago at Progressive Park. Nice place to see a game. Had a couple "pops" at Great Lakes Brewery. Will be following!

[elfsutton]

Started mine in 1994, not as good as I had hoped, so far, no titles and only one playoff (95). Injury bugs has been our downfall and some extremely high eras in 96 and 97. I dont want to take away from your journey, I love it and continue to follow.

[johneh]

Indians go 20-8 for June and sit 2.5 games ahead of KC in the central. At 51-28 we have the best record in the AL.



Wow....


Info....
All my everyday hitters are batting over 280 except Sandy Alomar (.249).
Lofton is leading MLB with 40 SB
Six players are in double figures for HRs - Thome (21), Manny (20), Sorrento (17), Belle (15), Murray (14) & Baerga (10)
Mesa is 2nd in MLB with 22 saves (ERA still high at 5.22)
Mark Clark & Chad Ogea are tied for 2 in the AL with 11 wins... yes my #4 & #5 starters! Clark also leads the AL with a 2.39 ERA.

Manny Ramirez won a player of the week award during the month hitting 400 with 5 HR.
The Tribe spent most of the month #1 in the Power Rankings.

Some off the field news during the month

[BaronA]

Former New York Mets star Lenny Dykstra was sentenced to an additional 61/2 months on Monday for federal bankruptcy fraud, officials revealed he assaulted two workers at the L.A. County Jail.

Dykstra, who helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series, had pleaded guilty to looting his mansion of valuables before creditors could liquidate them. The defendant, who reportedly scuffled with Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in April, has racked up numerous criminal charges since his financial empire began to crumble in 2009.

[BaronA]

Royals having a solid start. How's the "rat" Gary Gaetti performing? And Bob "the hammer" Hamelin? It's time to put the hammer back in the toolbox?

[johneh]

Originally Posted by BaronA

Royals having a solid start. How's the "rat" Gary Gaetti performing? And Bob "the hammer" Hamelin? It's time to put the hammer back in the toolbox?

At the All Star Break...
Gaetti is hitting 252, 15 HR, 38 RBI, he has struck out 73 times in 326 AB.
Hamelin is batting 231, 15 hr, 44 RBI.

[johneh]

Indian All Stars - Nagy, Mark Clark, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez


At the all star break I take time to review the season and plan for finishing out the year...

Mid Year Review

C - Alomar is hitting .250 and throwing out 39% of base stealers. Backup Tony Pena is struggling hitting .192 and a 20% success rate in throwing out those stealing bases. Both players are in the final years of there contracts. I won't make an attempt to retain Pena after the season. I reach out to Almoar and he is looking for a 3 year contract at $1.1 million per year. I will try to resign Alomar.

1B - Eddie Murray/Paul Sorrento - Both play pretty much every day as they share DH/1B duties. Both are having good years - Murray hitting 300 with 17 HR, Sorrento 315 with 19 HR. Both are slow footed and poor defensive players. This is the final contract year for both players and they both want to resign with Cleveland. Murray is looking for a 4 year contract - which there in no way I am going to agree to. I might offer him a 1 or 2 year contract (he's 39 years old) for well under what he wants. My guess is that I won't be able to come to an agreement with Murray. Sorrento is asking for an 8 year contract at $4.2 million per year - lol no way. I will try to resign him but not for this ridiculous amount.

2B - Carlos Bearga is hitting 317, 11 HR, 60 RBI. No problems here. Carlos is arbitration eligible and will be back next year.

SS - Omar Vizquel hitting 283 with 14 SB and a gold glover at SS. I just signed him to a 4 year extension.

3B - Jim Thome is having a great year hitting 321, 23 HR, 70 RBI, 436 OBP, 657 SLG. His defense is suspect at 3rd but I can't remove his bat from the lineup.

RF - Manny Ramierz hitting 292, 22 HR, 65 RBI. I might try to sign him to a long term contract this off season.

CF - Kenny Lofton - Has a slow start to the season but has gotten much better. Right now is hitting 286 with 45 SB (leads the majors) and a probably gold glove CF winner.

LF - Albert Belle 297, 18 HR, 61 Rbi. He is signed through 1998.

Bench - Alvaro Espinzo has missed most of the season with injuries. While he is out Billy Ripken and David Bell have performed beyond my expectations both hitting 280+. Wayne Kirby has struggled in limited OF time hitting 200.

Starting Pitchers -
Charles Nagy - 12 -5, 3.29 ERA. No complaints. Arbitration eligible after the season.
Dennis Martinez - 9-7, 5.25 ERA, 39 years old. He's been shaky all year and our offensive output makes his Win/Loss record look better than it would elsewhere. He is signed next year for $3.6 million
Orel Hershiser - 8-5, 4.73 ERA, almost 37 years old. Has another year on his contract for at $3.4 million.
Mark Clark - 11-5, 2.57 ERA. Pitched better than expected this year and made the All-Star team. Eligible for arbitration after the season.
Chad Ogea - 11-3, 4.11 ERA. Like Clark he is pitching better then expected.

Bullpen -

Mixed results here. Cook, Assenmacher and Olson have been better than expected, especially Cook who is the bullpen MVP so far.
Mesa has improved as the season went along and has slowly lowered his ERA and has 23 saves.
Poole, Plunk and Shuey - These guys have underperformed.
Mesa, Shuey & Poole are all free agents after the season. I will try to resign Mesa and maybe Shuey, Most like Poole will be free to leave.


Plans for the upcoming Trading Deadline - Not much. If someone wants Dennis Martinez they can have him. I might try to pick up some bullpen help but I have no major plans. Probably Burnitz or Giles will be called up to be my 4th OF.

[elfsutton]

Will be interesting to compare what has been happening in your league with how mine went. Key guy I want to see is Manny.

In mine, of which I am getting ready to start 2001, Manny has been anything but normal. One triple crown, nearly a second had not a short 2 week injury stopped him the last 2 weeks of the 1999 season. He has lead the league except for 1996 in BA and has been the most consistant player the Tribe have. Had only he been that way in rl.


Good luck, enjoying this very much

[johneh]

Originally Posted by elfsutton

Will be interesting to compare what has been happening in your league with how mine went. Key guy I want to see is Manny.

In mine, of which I am getting ready to start 2001, Manny has been anything but normal. One triple crown, nearly a second had not a short 2 week injury stopped him the last 2 weeks of the 1999 season. He has lead the league except for 1996 in BA and has been the most consistant player the Tribe have. Had only he been that way in rl.


Good luck, enjoying this very much

Thanks for the kind words. Sounds like Manny's a real monster in your league.

Here are his stats thru July..

[johneh]

The Tribe cooled off a bit in July...


But still hold on to 1st Place...


Cleveland News....
The trade line comes and goes with no trades made by Cleveland.
Belle wins a player of the week award - hitting 458 with 3 HR
Eddie Murray hits the 3,000 hit mark on 7/17

Around MLB in July...
Derek Bell of the Astros ends up with a 30 game hitting streak.
The Yankees trade Danny Tartabull to Montreal for RP Mike Scott - not sure what NY was thinking?

[elfsutton]

He was, but alas, I have since moved on to other leagues but yes, he was a real monster. Probably, imo, one of the best hitters of the modern day if I had kept the league around.

Got tired of getting to the playoffs, after 1996's 121-41 record, of losing in a sweep in the wildcard round. Even when I tried to play them out, couldnt get the team to win. And the eras were very out of proportion. So moved on to other things.

One other guy that I have a big disappointment in was Kenny Lofton, after 1995 season, I think it was, he suffered a torn labrum and retired. Destroyed our cf position and even with an aquistion of Griffey Jr, was never able to keep it together in the outfield except for Manny.

Also had a very over kill season of injuries to almost the entire starting outfield and middle infield. Was leading the league in early june when this happened and we ended up third.

Overall, was very disappointed with the way things were going.

I will definitely follow along, the fun is just beginning, lol.

[johneh]

Cleveland goes 16-13 for the month and leads the division by 2.5 games



The offense still dominating the AL..


News for August:



I send Wayne Kirby down to AAA and call up Jeremy Burnitz. So far it's been a good call as he is hitting .405 in 42 AB.
Julian Tavarez is called up as Dennis cook is injured for a couple months.

Signings: I sign several players to extensions...
Thome signs for 4 years at just under $4 million per year. He's having a great year so far.
Jose Mesa 3 years at $1.138 per year. He's been good after a shaky start.
Greg Olson - 2 years at $400k per year. A pleasant surprise and he wasn't asking for a ton of money.
Sandy Alomar $850k for 3 years. A solid catcher.
Paul Assenmacher - 3 years (last year player option) for a total of $4.9 million. I overpaid on this one but he has been reliable all year.

September Call Ups:
Herbert Perry - Interested to see how he does as he might end up my starting @ 1st next year. C Jessie Levis and MR Alan Embree are also called up. Wayne Kirby was going to be called back up too but is injured.

YTD Player Stats:

[Hendu Style]

If you're serious about winning a title, have you thought about packaging Giles and maybe Denny (and his horrible contract) for Pedro Martinez? Don't know if they would bite, but you could use an ace in the playoffs.