Memories Of Manny On Going Into The Cleveland Hall Of Fame

We happened to be in Minnesota on September 2, 1993 when a 21-year-old outfielder drafted just two years earlier made his major league debut.

Manny Ramirez, the Indians’ first round pick that year, arrived in the big leagues after hitting .333 with 31 HR and 115 RBIs at Canton-Akron (AA) and Charlotte (AAA). Ramirez, batting sixth, ahead of another young player, Jim Thome, went 0 for 4.

Thome, of course is in the Hall of Fame, something Ramirez will never do because of his ties to PEDs, but tonight, the Cleveland baseball team put Ramirez into their Hall of Fame, and the memories we have of him are plentiful.

Ramirez opened the season and then Jacobs Field in Cleveland in ’94 and had a game tying hit in late in the season opener. He hit 17 home runs and knocked in 60 in the strike shortened season in 91 games.

In 1995, he emerged as one of the game’s top sluggers, hitting .308 with 31 dingers and 107 ribbies, starting a stretch where he drove in 100 or more runs 12 times in 14 years.

He was an RBI guy. Granted, he spent a good period of time hitting behind Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, and Roberto Alomar in the batting order, but he seemed to understand that hitting a groundball to second with a man on 3rd in the first inning got a run home. He didn’t try to hit one 400 feet.

He also would take the single to right-center to score runners. Playing with good hitters and having that mindset is how you have five seasons where you drive in 125 or more runs.

We were in attendance in 1999 when Ramirez homered to knock in his 163rd run of the season, breaking Hal Trosky’s club record of 162 which had stood since 1936. He finished the season with 165.

The last time anyone in baseball history had knocked in more than that was 1938, when Jimmie Foxx drove in 175 runners. Sammy Sosa came closest to that figure in 2001, collecting 160 RBI.

We were also there on a July day in 1995 (July 16th to be exact) when Ramirez hit a game winning homer against Oakland, off of Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley (also a former Indian). Eckersley was videoed saying “wow” when the ball reached the seats. He couldn’t believe someone had hit that pitch out of the park.

We watched a game in Yankee Stadium when Ramirez hit a line drive that we think the second baseman had a bead on but sailed over the fence in right-center. It was like he took out a driver and hit a golf ball.

We were also there on October 1, 2000, when pending free agent Ramirez, in what turned out to be his last at-bat as an Indian, homered off Blue Jay reliever John Frascatore. He received a curtain, and with new owner Larry Dolan in attendance, fans were yelling to his suite to keep the slugger in Cleveland.

To be fair, Dolan put together a great offer, and we went to bed on a Sunday night (we think it was Sunday) during the Winter Meetings hearing the great Peter Gammons report that it looked like Ramirez was going to stay in Cleveland.

Of course, the Red Sox swooped in at the last minute was signed him.

It was always reported that when Boston visited here during the regular season, Ramirez would remark that it was good to be home.

That’s the player the Indians/Guardians are honoring tonight. To our eyes, he’s the best right-handed hitter we’ve ever seen. Combining power and average.

In his eight seasons in Cleveland, he batted .313 with 236 home runs and a 998 OPS. That latter figure is a club record. He’s third all-time in home runs (Thome and Albert Belle) and eighth in runs batted in.

We know what happened later in his career, starting with the whole “Manny being Manny” stuff. But what a hitter. It was great to witness some great moments in his career.

First Move For Guardians? Anyone Have New Hitting Coach?

In what figures to be a winter with a lot of changes, including the team’s name, the first move for the Cleveland Guardians was the announcement that hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo will not return for the 2022 season.

You can insert your no-hitter jokes here, and certainly getting held without a hit three times (four times if you count the seven inning effort in Tampa), a Major League record, doesn’t speak well for the person in charge of swinging the bats.

On the other hand, there is the old saying of you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken poop, and it is not like Van Burkleo was working with a bunch of Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thomes.

The front office gave the hitting coach a bunch of hitters with high strikeout and low walk rates, and generally, that doesn’t lead to have a productive offense. Not knowing the strike zone seems to be poison to the theory many hitting coaches espouse, that of getting your pitch, and do something with it.

Occasionally, it works. For us, Tim Anderson of the White Sox is the poster boy of this. Anderson has never had even a decent strikeout/walk ratio. This season, he hit .309 (806 OPS) despite drawing just 22 walks and fanning 119 times.

By the way, those 22 free passes are the second highest total of his career.

Cleveland has a hitter in their system that shows similar numbers, with more power than Anderson, and we wish we would have seen him in September. That man is Oscar Gonzalez.

Playing at both AA and AAA this season, Gonzalez hit .293 with an 869 OPS despite striking out 112 times (in 504 plate appearances) and drawing just 22 walks. Oh, and he belted 31 home runs too.

Sometimes, hitters have that type hand-eye coordination which allows them to put the bat on the ball, it just has to be near home plate. We’ve heard about guys being “bad ball” hitters, so they do exist.

On the other hand, if you are going have a batting average of say, .230 or less, it’s probably smart to be able to draw some walks, and get on base (read that as avoid making outs).

Now, back to Van Burkleo. As we said, it’s not like he was working with this year’s Astros lineup, and since we aren’t privy to his sessions with the players, we have no idea what he is telling them to do.

What we do know, is for whatever reason, the hitters weren’t buying in. The pupils had tuned out the teacher, and sometimes, that happens.

And we have always maintained we would like to see some different voices on Terry Francona’s coaching staff as well. There have been very few changes to the staff since Francona took over in 2013. At times, the message can get stale.

That said, we love Tito’s basic philosophy of the squad going out there everyday and trying to win the game played that day. It’s really all the team can do.

So, a philosophy change with a new hitting instructor is welcome. However, if the front office isn’t going to get some better hitters, we doubt we will see a huge improvement in terms of the hitting next year.

The two things go hand in hand.

Today’s Baseball From An “Old Guy” Perspective

We were discussing the Indians’ recent winning streak with a group of friends the other night, and the talk turned to the state of baseball in general and how different the game is now than when we were growing up.

Now, before you go further, without giving away our ages, we remember when the Tribe wore the vested uniforms with the red shirts underneath, and the strength of the team was the starting rotation of Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, and Luis Tiant.

True confession, we aren’t “get off my lawn” guys either. In fact, several of us knew about OPS and sabermetrics for over 30 years, and respect that view of the game.

The chat started with RBIs, which has been reduced in value as a statistic in today’s game along with batting average, and the lack of “RBI men” in today’s game.

We didn’t know who even led the league in ribbies right now, because no one talks about it. It’s all about OPS and slugging percentage, etc.

(The current leader is Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell with 98, followed by Freddie Freeman and Eduardo Escobar with 96. Rafael Devers, who tortured the Tribe this week, leads the AL with 94).

We know people think now that runs batted in is a product of getting more opportunities to do so, but we watched Manny Ramirez drive in 165, the most by anyone in the big leagues since 1938.

Yes, yes, Ramirez batted behind Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, and Roberto Alomar, who got on base a ton.

But Ramirez put the ball in play a lot of times to knock in runs with ground balls, fly balls, and base hits. He did hit for a .333 average that season.

We recently read that five worst home run to RBI ratios all time are held by active players. That comes from the notion now that strikeouts are fine, and putting the ball in play with a runner on third with less than two out is passe.

We still consider guys who hit for a high batting average very good hitters. Heck, we had one with the Indians for the past few years, and Michael Brantley ranks 5th in MLB in that stat at .328. But, those guys get overlooked because they don’t walk enough.

A similar case can be made for the Mets’ Jeff McNeil, who didn’t get to the bigs until he was 26 despite a .311 batting average in the minors, because he didn’t walk or drive the ball.

We commented that the Red Sox lineup is relentless because they have put together a lineup where everyone, save for CF Jackie Bradley Jr., hits .280 or better.

By contrast, the Tribe’s lineup has improved, but Terry Francona can only put three such players in his batting order: Frankie Lindor, Carlos Santana, and Tyler Naquin.

The Indians have put a premium on contact in the past few drafts, looking for players who are hitters first, and figuring they can teach driving the ball, much like Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

The problem in our eyes is the number of hitters who swing for the fences that probably shouldn’t be. A player like Rougned Odor with Texas comes to mind.

Odor has belted 69 homers since the beginning of the 2017 season, but has hit .204 in ’17 and currently this season. Wouldn’t he be a better player for the Rangers hitting less home runs and getting on base more often? He has a lifetime .292 on base percentage.

The game has changed for sure, but we aren’t sure it’s for the better. Striking out used to be embarrassing. Maybe it should be again.

Tribe Can And Should Sign Lindor

The recent signings of Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado, and Bryce Harper have brought the fate of Francisco Lindor into the minds of many Cleveland Indians fans.

What are the chances the Tribe ownership will sign the shortstop to a long term deal before he becomes a free agent in 2021?

Most believe there is no chance because the Indians are a small to mid market, and they “couldn’t possibly” dedicate that large of a percentage of the big league payroll to one player.

We consider those people to be supporters of the “Dolan Cap”.

First of all, there is no salary cap in baseball, meaning the Indians’ ownership could spend whatever they want. And remember, there will be a financial windfall from the new network television deal with Fox starting in 2022, the year after Lindor’s free agency.

Second, notice the first two signings at the beginning of this piece.

Currently, Forbes Magazine ranks the Padres, who signed Machado, as the 17th most valuable franchise in the sport. The Rockies, who kept their superstar in Arenado long term (a 7 year deal) is 23rd, one spot ahead of…the Cleveland Indians.

So, if these two mid to small market teams can sign great players, the Indians can too.

Arenado is particularly comparable to Lindor, in that both are better than Machado and Harper, who signed with the Phillies.

The Rockies third baseman ranked 3rd in MLB Network’s listing of the 100 best players in the game right now, while Lindor was 4th. For the record, Machado was 14th and Harper 15th.

Arenado is 27 years old, meaning Colorado signed him through his 34th birthday. Lindor is 25 years, so a similar length deal (7 or 8 years) would keep him in a Cleveland uniform through age 33, at which time he should still be a productive player if he stays healthy.

Which brings us to another argument we hear. This is NOT the same situation as Albert Pujols or Miguel Cabrera. Pujols was 32 when he signed his 10 year contract with the Angels. The team knew they would be paying big money for declining years.

Likewise, the Tigers inked Cabrera to an eight year deal when he was 32 years old. They’ve seen one very good year thus far, and two injury plagued campaigns.

If the Tribe would sign their shortstop after this season to a seven or eight year deal, they’d be getting his prime years (27-29) and he would be 33 or 34 years old at the end. While he most likely won’t be the Lindor we’ve seen to date at those ages, we would go out on a limb and say he would still be a very productive player.

We have advocated this for a long time, not only can the Indians keep Lindor long term, they should keep him long term. He is arguably the greatest position player in the history of the franchise, which of course, goes back to 1901.

The last time the Indians has a player this good at that age was Manny Ramirez, who departed after his age 28 season. The Dolans did make a big time offer to the right-handed slugger, only to be aced out by the Red Sox in the end.

Here are the seasons Ramirez put up in his first five years in Boston:

2001: 1014 OPS, 41 HR, 125 RBI, .306 batting average
2002: 1097 OPS, 33 HR, 107 RBI, .349 (batting title)
2003: 1014 OPS, 37 HR, 104 RBI, .325
2004: 1009 OPS, 39 HR, 130 RBI, .308
2005: 982 OPS, 45 HR, 144 RBI, .292

At the time of his departure, Ramirez had two top 10 MVP finishes. Lindor already has three.

The point is, Lindor is better than anyone who has worn a Cleveland uniform in the free agent era.

And the Indians have some very good prospects in the low minors too. While there is more risk in projecting those players, if they progress, they should hit Progressive Field around 2021-22, providing low cost talent just in time to pay big money to a superstar player.

Don’t forget Lindor’s appeal to the fan base either. It has been reported that after the home opener and the Yankees’ series at Progressive Field, the next two highest advance ticket sales are Lindor giveaway days.

Of course, Lindor and his agent still make the decision, but we say the Tribe front office should make an offer he cannot refuse.

Frankie Lindor presents the Dolan family with a huge dilemma. Not signing him will seal their fate as an ownership that didn’t take the extra step needed to bringing a World Series title to this area.

Time for Tribe to Honor Albert Belle

Over the last few years, the Cleveland Indians have honored several of the players from their playoff teams of the late 90’s by putting them into the club’s Hall of Fame.

Sandy Alomar Jr. was the first to go in, fitting because he was the first piece of the puzzle when the Tribe traded for him after the 1990 season.

Kenny Lofton and Charles Nagy quickly followed him and last year, Carlos Baerga received the honor.

And there is no doubt that Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez will be inducted some day very soon, but their playing days ended too recently to be considered.

However, there is one name that is missing. The central figure for the first few years of the winning seasons including the strike shortened 1994 season and the American League Championship team of 1995.

It is time for the Indians to put Albert Belle in the franchise’s Hall of Fame.

We realize Belle’s departure from Cleveland as a free agent after the 1996 season was not exactly friendly and he antagonized the fan base when he came back to the lakefront as a member of the White Sox in subsequent visits. But you can’t ignore the fact that he’s one of the best players ever to wear an Indian uniform.

The slugger hit 242 home runs with the Tribe, leaving town as the franchise leader (he was passed by Jim Thome), and hit .295 with a 949 OPS in 913 games as a member of the team.

He led the American League in runs batted in three times with Cleveland, as well as leading the AL once in home runs, doubles, and runs scored once in his tenure here.

And in his last three seasons on the north coast, he finished second twice and third once in the MVP voting.

Of course, baseball historians will wonder years from now why Belle didn’t win the award in 1995 when he batted .317 (8^th in the league) with 50 HR (led league) and 126 RBI (tied for AL lead) on the best team by far in the junior circuit.

He hit at least 34 home runs the last five seasons in Cleveland, and knocked in at least 100 runs in those seasons as well. The significance of that is the 1994 season, the strike season, lasted only 113 games.

Yes, Belle was a controversial figure to be sure. He was suspended early in his career for different issues, and was once sat down because of a corked bat.

However, we also may have been the most studious players in the game when it came to his craft. He studied opposing pitchers and made adjustments.

In game five of the ’95 World Series, Belle went to school on new Hall of Famer Greg Maddux’ pitching him away and homered to right field in the first inning.

There is no question when you went to an Indians’ game in those days; you waited in your seat for Albert Belle to come to the plate. If you were at home, you made sure you were watching when Belle was hitting.

He was a “must see” player.

The Indians haven’t announced their honoree for the 2014 season yet, and the lately the antagonism between the Tribe and Belle has softened, so maybe he will get the nod.

But if they aren’t considering Albert Belle, they should. And we have a feeling when Belle is inducted, the fans will respond with a thunderous ovation.

Cleveland is a forgiving city, and they want to open their arms for the most exciting player to wear a Tribe uniform over the last 50 years.