When former Cleveland Indian Roberto Alomar was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, he did so with a Toronto Blue Jays cap on his plaque.
Disappointing though it may have been for Clevelanders, it wasn’t a surprise that Alomar entered the Hall without a ‘C’ or Chief Wahoo on his head; Robbie spent at least three years with three other teams over his 17-year career.
Painful though it is to admit, the Blue Jays were the natural fit for him. The five years he had with Toronto were the most he spent with any team, and he won two World Series with Boo Birds: 1992, when he was named ALCS MVP, and 1993, when he hit .480 with a 1.159 OPS in the Fall Classic.
But while he will be immortalized in baseball’s most sacred place as a Blue Jay, make no mistake: we Tribe fans will always remember what he did in Cleveland—both his contributions on the field and what he symbolized to the fans.
“My time in Toronto was the best of my career,” Alomar said. That may be true, but his performance in Cleveland was better than anywhere else.
The best two seasons of Robbie’s career were with the Indians: 1999, when he hit .323/.422/.533 with 24 homers, 120 RBI, 138 runs, 37 steals, and 7.4 WAR; and 2001, when he hit .336/.415/.541 with 20 homers, 100 RBI, 113 runs, 30 steals, and 6.7 WAR. With apologies to the Blue Jays, he was better then than in 1992-3.
He won three Gold Gloves and made three All-Star appearances in as many years with the Indians, and twice finished in the Top 4 in AL MVP voting. In his Cleveland career he hit .323/.405/.515, averaging 21 homers, 103 RBI, 121 runs, 35 steals and 6.4 WAR—compare that to the .307/.382/.451 triple-slash with 11 homers, 68 RBI, 90 runs, 41 steals, and 4.4 WAR he averaged each season with Toronto.
But, at the risk of sounding like someone who cast an All-Star ballot for Derek Jeter, the numbers alone don’t do justice to how much Alomar meant—and still means—to the city of Cleveland.
Alomar wasn’t there at the start of the Indians’ 1990′s dynasty. He wasn’t there for the 1995 World Series, and more than a year had gone by since Jose Mesa’s blown save when he made his debut with Cleveland (in fact, actually he played against the Indians in the 1997 ALCS). But Robbie definitely didn’t lose any points for being late to the party.
Robbie became one of the faces of the franchise pretty much upon impact in Cleveland. He was a perfect segue between table-setting speedsters Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel and hulking sluggers Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome in the Indians’ lineup, and it wasn’t long after the 1999 season began that he and Vizquel became known as one of the greatest double-play combinations of all time.
In retrospect, the trade that sent Alomar to the New York Mets in December 2001 was the beginning of the end of the Tribe’s glory days ride. But now that Robbie is in the Hall, the Indians dynasty of yesteryear can find a new beginning in the collective memory of Cooperstown.
Alomar is the first former member of those phenomenal Tribe clubs to enter the Hall of Fame, but he won’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) be the last. Already-retired Lofton and Ramirez should be locks for Cooperstown (yes, even with the steroids), and Vizquel and Thome should join them if they ever hang up their cleats.
I grew up on the great Tribe teams of the ’90s. Throughout my early school years I was transfixed by Alomar’s sweet swing and the effortless-looking infield ballet he and Vizquel performed every time a grounder hit the infield dirt. It gives me great pride to see one of my childhood heroes given baseball’s highest honor.
Alomar may be immortalized in a Blue Jays cap, but we Cleveland fans know that he will always be an Indians—if only in our hearts.
Congratulations, Robbie!
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Original Story:
http://www.wahooblues.com/2011/07/25/...
