re: Most underrated lineup: 1997 Cleveland Indians

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Holy frick, haven't thought of this name in a good 13 years or so.

Dude was very skilled at hitting batters.

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I know! It's awesome to go all late 80's -90's baseball. THat's when I enjoyed it the most.

I love watching the MLB channel on tv and seeing some of these older games or discussions.

That's where I got this from. The 1997 Marlins-Indians game 7 was discussed and highlights shown last night.
I guess that's why I thought the Indians were a little underrated in their lineup. If I was to make a thread listing the best lineups in the 90s', I guarantee the 97 Indians wouldn't have been mentioned in the top 5.

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That's where I got this from. The 1997 Marlins-Indians game 7 was discussed and highlights shown last night.

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One of the saddest nights of my life. It still makes me sick. A couple of years ago we should have won the series too. Took care of the Yankees and had a nice lead on the Sox. Rockies were nothing in the series. We would have taken that.

I was there for the Lebron/Yankees hat game. The Jake was rocking and the Tribe beat the Yanks. James was booed out of the Stadium. That was the night I started hating him.

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Benitez.

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You think you're pissed about the '97 Series? Check out Mike mussina's stats from the ALCS vs. the Indians...

15 IP, 25 K, 4 BB, 4 H, 1 R.

The O's lost both games he pitched. In Game 6, the O's stranded FOURTEEN baserunners, going 0-12 with RISP. And they lost the game in the 11th when Tony friggin' Fernandez hit a 2-out homer off Benitez.

That was our World Series. I can't even talk rationally about 1997.

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Is that the last time the O's made the playoffs? Or did they have a good year in 98? They used to be such a respectable team.

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here was their lineup in game 7 of the WS
1. Omar Vizquel----ss
2. Tony Fernandez--2b
3. Manny Ramirez---rf
4. David Justice---lf
5. Matt Williams---3b
6. Sandy Alomar----c
7. Jim Thome-------1b
8. Marquis Grissom-cf

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'95 team was far deadlier and won 100 games in a shortened season. Absolutely DESTROYED and RAN AWAY with the AL that season. The '97 team didn't even win close to that and struggled to stay 10 games above .500 at times. They got very hot in October by barely skating by NYY (Almomar's homer). In game 6 of the Bal series, somehow, Charles Nagy was able to match Mussina for 9 innings. Fernandez won it in the 11th with a solo shot - only run of the game. The '97 team should have won the WS but for Jose Mesa. They would have been one of the worst teams to win it ever - this coming from a fan.

1. Omar Vizquel----ss...Lofton was traded away for the short term and Omar was better in the 2 or 9 slot.

2. Tony Fernandez--2b...Was a nice pickup but never achieved what Baerga did. Carlos was uncanny in that he hit .300 with over 200 hits and 20 homers and 100 rbi's - switch hitter.

3. Manny Ramirez---rf...Was just then becoming the great player that he would be. No longer was ALbert Belle the big shot in Cleveland.

4. David Justice---lf...Had better years in '98-'99 and was good, but hardly filling in for a 50/130 guy like Belle.

5. Matt Williams---3b...GREAT glove in the one year he spent with Cleveland and was essentially the best offseason move, which pushed a young Thome to 1st base and pushed the expendable Paul Sorrento out of the lineup and out of Cleveland.

6. Sandy Alomar----c...This was one of only two years that sandy played without any injuries - this and his rookie season. He spent too much time playing winter ball in Latin countries and once, drove in one sitting from FL to Ohio, which killed his back. '97 was a magical year for him, though. All-star game GW HR in Cleveland and the big post season. He was the guy in 1997.

7. Jim Thome-------1b...playing in his 6th season as an Indian. This was the year he started to get unreal good. Still was better from '98-'01. Was better than he was in '95.

8. Marquis Grissom-cf...sort of like dating Natalie Portman and then cheating on her with Ellen Paige - that's how the one year loss of Lofton in exchange for Grissom was. Grissom did the job, but he was hardly Lofton as Grissom had his prime by the time Lofton was just entering his. Grissom was in the league about 3 years before Lofton was.

9. Don't forget Bip Roberts. He was a big part of the reason for the WS. He did a good job of playing anywhere and when the dh was needed, he often was the 2b or of and Fernandez or Thome dh'd.

Jaret Wright - Sort of an out of nowhere explosion...just became unhittable in post season for that year and that was his carreer, esentially. 21 years old...threw 97...very tough.

Hershiser - Was better in '95 and I do not know what stats were. BUT, he could not outdual the other aces in the postseason from Wells and Cone to Key and Mussina to Livan Hernandez and Kevin Brown. Bulldog may have not even earned a postseason win in Cleveland. Past his prime.

Ogea - Similar to Wright. He was just hot in postseason and pitched well in '97 and '98. He forced the game 7 of the WS.

Nagy - Meh. He was good. In '96, he was an elite pitcher. He was sinker or no sinker.

Colon - Not yet primetime. He didn't become a dominant pitcher until '98.

Mike jackson and Mesa were good close along with help from paul Shuey and Paul Assanmacher. However, Mesa was untouchable in '95 and not in '97.

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How did this team not win 90 games?

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Lucky they were in the awful AL Central (which the ChiSox were supposed to kill that year). Otherwise, they would not have won 80 games.

I loved that team, but they were a consolation prize from '95. That team didn't even feel like an Indians team until they beat the NYY and Orioles in playoffs.

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Eric Plunk

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Goofy bastard He was great at pitching up and in and then giving up a 3 run jack.

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I loved that team, but they were a consolation prize from '95. That team didn't even feel like an Indians team until they beat the NYY and Orioles in playoffs.

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I agree, I just felt like we deserved that one because I thought we should have won 2 World Championships already by then.

blake street bombers

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95 indians

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Agreed, great team. Amazing that the one team the braves beat for the title was the 95 indians. Arguably the best team they faced in the series during their run.

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c-pena

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sandy alomar jr