While it has existed for a much shorter period (1995 through the present), the Indians had a lot more qualifying entries when looking at the previous top 10 of players in the ALDS. The American League Championship Series has existed since expansion in 1969, but the Indians missed out on the first quarter century, going just four times in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2007. Despite this, they have still had many memorable performances and below are the best ten in the pennant clinching play-off series.
10. Jhonny Peralta – 2007 vs Boston
The power in the Indians line-up during the generation of players that culminated in the 2007 ALCS came from Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore, but in the most important games of the season it was Peralta and Casey Blake that drove the team’s offense. Peralta played in all seven games and hit two home runs and two doubles, knocking in eight runs and scoring four. Most of this came in the Indians early series wins as they scored 24 runs while winning games two, three and four, but he did knock in one of the Indians only two runs in their game six loss.
9. Brian Anderson – 1997 vs Baltimore
All three of the Indians other appearances in the ALCS were six game affairs, so a pitcher throwing in three games has been rare, particularly throwing multiple innings in relief in multiple games. As a starter during the regular season, Anderson was stretched out for the 1997 series and he was pivotal in all three games he pitched in. His first appearance came in the game one loss to the Orioles, pitching two scoreless innings following Chad Ogea‘s six. He came to the rescue in game four, allowing one run (which actually came in off Jeff Juden after Anderson was pulled) in 3.1 innings after Jaret Wright had started and allowed five during the first three. The Indians ended up winning this game by one despite a blown save by Jose Mesa. Anderson’s final appearance in the series was in the clinching game six where he earned the win for pitching a scoreless tenth. Overall, he pitched 6.1 innings, allowed one earned run, struck out seven, walked three and allowed one hit.
8. Omar Vizquel – 1998 vs New York
The late 1990’s were peak Vizquel, both defensively and offensively and the second part of his game showed up big time in this six game loss to the Yankees. He batted .440/.481/.520 with a triple, although he scored just twice. While the Indians lost the final three games of the series, it’s impossible to blame the table setters as Vizquel was not only constantly on base, but stole four bases including one leading to a run in the Indians 9-5 game six loss.
7. Manny Ramirez – 1997 vs Baltimore
Despite being known for their offense, the 1997 team found success in the ALCS thanks to their pitching as in four of six games they scored two or fewer runs and each of their four wins were by just a single run. Ramirez was responsible for two of those leads as in game two, his two run first inning home run provided the difference in the 5-4 victory and in game four, his solo home run as part of a four run fifth inning ultimately helped push the game to extras. Overall, he batted .286/.444/.619 with a double, three RBI, three runs scored and five walks.
6. Ken Hill – 1995 vs Seattle
Hill has to be the most surprising name on this or any of the three play-off top tens, but when you nearly single handedly win a game by yourself, you deserve credit. Down 2 to 1 in the series, rather than going with game one starter, Dennis Martinez, Mike Hargrove decided to run out Hill, who had made 29 starts during the regular season, but held a 4.62 ERA and had only pitched once in the ALDS, 1.1 innings in relief. In his one ALCS appearance, however, he was truly fantastic leading the Indians to a 7-0 win over Andy Benes with seven shut out innings, striking out six and allowing just five hits.
5. Charles Nagy – 1995 vs Seattle
Nagy lost his start against the Mariners, but it’s going to surpass Hill as he stayed in the game longer and it wasn’t his fault. The only earned run allowed by Nagy came off a solo home run from Jay Buhner in the second (Buhner also was the only Mariner with multiple hits against Hill) while a second run scored off an Alvaro Espinoza error in the third (why he was even playing with Thome on the bench is a question for a decade ago). Nagy continued to pitch through the eighth, allowing just five total hits and striking out six without walking a batter. After the Indians scored the tying run in the bottom of the eighth, Nagy was pulled, but the game wouldn’t end until the 11th when Eric Plunk gave up a three run home run to none other than Jay Buhner.
4. Orel Hershiser – 1997 vs Baltimore
Hershiser made just one start in the 1997 ALCS, but it certainly was a good one. In game three he struck out seven and allowed just four hits while shutting out the prodigious Orioles offense. While the Indians offense was generally a fair match for Baltimore, but they were only able to score once with Hershiser in the game thanks to a Matt Williams RBI single. While this should have been enough as the veteran left the game with the lead in the seventh, Mesa blew another save in his first of two innings. The game ultimately lasted 12 innings, but the Tribe prevailed thanks to Marquis Grissom‘s infamous steal of home on Vizquel’s bunt attempt.
3. Kenny Lofton – 1995 vs Seattle
Of all the things Lofton did during his Indians career, his performance in the 1995 ALCS against Seattle may be one of the least remembered, but most important. Playing in all six games, he batted .458 with two triples and a team record five steals in a single post-season series that would only be surpassed by his six steals in the World Series later that year. His eleven hits and two triples were also club records for one series and he was directly involved in eight of the Indians 23 runs. In all, this was probably the fourth best single series by an Indians hitter in any round of the play-offs behind two Thome’s and a Sandy Alomar, Jr.
2. Orel Hershiser – 1995 vs Seattle
We’ve already seen two starting pitchers from the 1995 ALCS and Martinez is definitely in the top 15 with two starts including a shut out in game six and a 2.03 ERA, but only one pitcher has ever won two games in the ALCS for the Tribe and that pitcher is Hershiser in 1995. He started games two and five and pitched eight innings in his first appearance, striking out seven and allowing just one run on four hits (it was a solo home run by first ballot Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. in the sixth). In his second game, he only went six innings, but again allowed just earned one run while striking out eight. It was Griffey again this time, with an RBI double and knocking in another unearned run later thanks to an error by Albert Belle in left. Hershiser’s 1995 performances are included in each the top ten ALDS, ALCS and World Series lists and in this round, he finished with a 1.29 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 14 innings. He won the 1995 ALCS MVP for this performance and would finish that post-season with a 4-1 record and a 1.54 ERA.
1. Jim Thome 1998 vs New York
Thome was number one on the ALDS list and he’s back again as he matched his four home runs hit in the 1999 ALDS with four more in the 1998 ALCS. Two of these came in the Indians 6-1 game three win including one as part of a truly impressive rally as Ramirez homered off Andy Pettitte, then after a Travis Fryman walk, Thome and Mark Whiten homered to knock the once respected pitcher out of the game. Thome also went deep in the game five and six losses leading to eight RBI and a .304/.360/.826 line.
Borderline: Bartolo Colon (1998), Carlos Baerga (1995), Mike Jackson (1997), Dennis Martinez (1995), Casey Blake (2007)
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