The Indians returning to the Divisional Round of the play-offs for the first time since 2007 gives us the perfect chance to take a look back at some of the team’s previous performances in the first series of the postseason.
The ALDS started in 1995 and the Indians made it that year, so this list will span the entire distance of the round, featuring the best single series efforts of players from 1995 through 1999, 2001 and 2007. For the sake of consistency, we’ll have a top ten list for each round come out right before each round begins, regardless of the 2016 Indians success in the play-offs. Hopefully though, we’ll be able to add a few names to each top 10 at the end of this campaign.
10. Kenny Lofton – 1998 vs Boston
After losing game one against the Red Sox in 1998, the Indians ran away by winning the last three games of the series. The Tribe scored 15 runs in those last three games and Lofton was huge, scoring five and knocking in four while batting .375/.412/.813, leading the team in average and OBP, second in slugging percent. He also stole two of the Indians three bases that series, including a steal of third in the series clinching game after hitting a single. He then scored the game tying run on David Justice‘s double with Omar Vizquel following him with the game winning run.
9. Jhonny Peralta – 2007 vs New York
There are few things in baseball more exciting than beating the Yankees and the Indians demolished New York in the 2007 ALDS three games to one. Peralta was the biggest offensive part of this, batting .467/.579/.667. While the Indians blew them out in game one, Peralta’s biggest game was the clincher as he had three hits and a walk in four plate appearances. In his first at bat, he knocked in the Tribe’s second run with a single after Grady Sizemore had lead the game off with a home run. He knocked in two in the four games and scored two more with three doubles and four walks.
8. Juan Gonzalez – 2001 vs Seattle
The 2001 series against the Mariners was an odd one, winning two of the first three by a total of 20 runs and losing the series because they scored just four in the other three games. This wasn’t the fault of Gonzalez, however, who was consistent throughout including a double, home run and both runs scored in the Indians game four 6-2 loss. Overall, he hit .348 and slugged .739 with five RBI, four runs and five extra base hits.
7. Orel Hershiser – 1995 vs Boston
The Indians first post-season appearance in 40 years was a quick three game sweep of Boston, so few players had a chance to stand out, but the post-season veteran Hershiser won a game essentially on his own with 7.1 shut out innings in game two. He allowed just three hits and struck out seven while the Indians struggled against Erik Hanson who pitched a complete game in the loss for Boston.
6. Manny Ramirez – 1998 vs Boston
Lofton wasn’t the only one with a great series in 1998 against the Red Sox and Manny’s .357/.471/.929 line was nothing to laugh at. His most impressive performance was in game 3 when he hit both of his home runs in the series including what ended up being the game winning shot off Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning. All four of the Indians runs that game came from solo home runs. Ramirez also hit two doubles in the four game series.
5. Fausto Carmona (Roberto Hernandez) – 2007 vs New York
There’s little more that a starting pitcher can do to win a post-season game than to allow one run over nine innings and Carmona did just that in game two in 2007. Despite scoring 12 runs in game one and ten across games three and four, however, the Indians were unable to get more than one run across in those first nine in game two. Carmona was pulled and Rafael Perez finished the last two innings, earning the win. Carmona struck out five and allowed just three hits and two walks while he was in the game with the only run coming on a Melky Cabrera solo home run. The combination of Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano went 1 for 17 with all five strike outs.
4. Omar Vizquel – 1997 vs New York
Twenty years before the most recent beating of the Yankees in the ALCS, the Indians came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat a New York team that won ten more games in the regular season. In this series, Vizquel set a team play-off record by batting .500 (9 for 18) and stole four bases, although he scored only three times and didn’t have an extra base hit. When it counted most he was there, however, as he was safe on a fielder’s choice in game five, stole second and scored on a Manny Ramirez double for the Tribe’s first run in a game the Indians won by one.
3. David Justice – 1998 vs Boston
The 1998 dismantling of Boston was arguably the Indians greatest initial play-off series and the Justice was perhaps the biggest part of that. He didn’t hit for as high of an average as Lofton or as many home runs as Ramirez, but he still batted .313 while slugging .750 with six doubles, a home run and six RBI. As mentioned before, his game four two run double clinched the series for Cleveland. His biggest game in the series, however, was the game two blow out where he knocked in four runs (three on a second inning home run) and scored two in a game ultimately won by four runs.
2. Bartolo Colon – 2001 vs Seattle
What’s better than Carmona’s nine innings with one run allowed? Doing it twice. In 2001, Colon started the first game against the M’s and threw eight shut out innings, striking out 10 while allowing just six hits (three off the bat of Ichiro Suzuki) in the 5-0 win. He then came back for game four on short rest and allowed just three runs in 6.2 innings. While he took the loss, equal blame belonged to the bullpen who allowed two runs after Colon was removed and the offense that was only able to score twice. He finished the series with a 1.84 ERA and 13 K’s in 14.2 innings.
1. Jim Thome – 1999 vs Boston
The Indians lost to Boston in five games in 1999, losing the final three games 44 to 18 after scoring 11 in game two. While the pitching wasn’t there, this was the Indians greatest offense ever in the regular season and Thome (along with Roberto Alomar and Harold Baines) particularly represented in the ALDS. Thome hit an Indians post season series record of four home runs (no one else has had even three), knocking in a team post-season series record 10 runs. He still had time for four walks as he hit .353/.476/1.059, the best slugging percent in any post-season in Indians history. This wasn’t just the best overall performance for the Tribe in the ALDS, but was arguably the best performance by an Indians player in any post-season round. Of course, some pitchers from the 1920 World Series would take issue if they were still alive.
Borderline: Rafael Perez (2007), Sandy Alomar (1997), Charles Nagy (1998), Mike Jackson (1997), Omar Vizquel (2001)
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