Every season I get excited about Cleveland Indians baseball. The crack of bats and the smack the ball makes when it sails into a leather glove from across the field. There are plenty of better love letters written about baseball than I’d be able to muster here, but I thought I’d break out a little timeline for any other tribe fans to reminisce.
1990s - I know this was the era of great baseball in Cleveland, but I’ll be honest, I was pretty young for most of the glory days. Plus, living so close to Cincinnati left me with just as much daily information about the Reds than the Tribe. I went to a few more Tribe games than Reds games (my family being from Cleveland) but overall this was kind of a blur for me.
2003 - This was the first time I’ve ever sat down to watch almost all of the games on TV. My dad and I spent the summer watching baseball, talking baseball and breathing Cleveland baseball. We knew the team wasn’t going to amount to much, but I remember being intrigued by their professed plan to evaluate before win. They knew they couldn’t really compete, so they left pitchers in when they should have taken them out to “see what they do in that situation.” Infuriating for the casual fan who wants to win, but fascinating to see the young players evolve over time.
2004 - Much like 2003, this was still a very young team that started to show a lot of promise. CC, Westbrook, the acrobatic Ronnie Belliard and Victor Martinez were more fun to watch than their 80-82 record let on. Kazuhito Tadano threw his 50 mph curveball. I watched almost every game on TV again this season and had a blast watching young talent materialize into something before my eyes
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| How does someone so overweight make moves like this? One of the many mysteries of Indians baseball |
2005 - This fun team became more fun when they won 93 games but, heartbreakingly, didn’t make the playoffs. Grady Sizemore appeared and everything clicked in a lot of ways. Eric Wedge still drove my Dad crazy (Wedge coaches by the stats, not by the feel of the game. And he constantly changed his lineup, something my Dad just abhors about modern baseball).
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| Two Milkduds short of 300 pounds. |
2006 - An off year that felt like a mirage. This team took huge steps forward in ‘03, ‘04 and seemed to come into their own in ‘05 only to take some steps backwards this season. They ended up 78-84 and left everyone a little nervous. This year started my trend of seeing an occasional game on TV, but mostly following them on XM radio and the internet.
2007 - This was the year. Everything clicked, we won 96 games and were one win away from the world series. One. win. away. Damn Redsox.
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| It really angers me that people say he shortened his career by "playing all out, everyday." What the hell else is someone supposed to do when getting paid millions of dollars to play a game? |
2008 - I remember having misgivings at the start of the season. People were going nuts, convinced our 96 wins in 2007 would continue, but they made no moves in the offseason. None. And I really think a team’s responsibility is to make themselves better each off season, not just to keep the status quo. 81-81. A big step backwards, plus we lost CC. The end of this latest rebuilding era was coming.
2009 - Lee is traded, and the wheels fall off. 65-97. Eric Wedge is fired and the rebuilding is officially labeled a failure in my mind. Sure it brought some great players and teams to the North Coast, but they underperformed and only occasionally clicked.
2010 - 69-93, and suddenly the last 20ish years of good baseball in Cleveland gives way to feelings that we’re destined to having another 30 slump.
2011 - I’ll be honest, I, like a lot of people, had no idea what to make of this team. They exploded last year at the beginning of the season and over performed, followed quickly by a looooong stretch of underperforming. 80-82.
2012 - I’m excited to see what they do this year, but my pessimistic gut says the underperforming is more accurate than the early season over performing. I don’t trust the offense and even though Chris Perez was a machine last year, he looks pretty out of shape in his limited Spring Training.
But I’m still excited, I can’t help it. The grass, the smacking of leather gloves, the crack of the bats, the arcs of the balls. I love them all. I love my Tribe, even if they just break my heart.
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