Omar Vizquel

Mo Rivera, Mo Problems for the Tribe

June 8, 2013 | Steve Eby

Thank God that’s over.

Barring a meeting in the 2013 postseason, the Cleveland Indians are finally done with facing Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. The Indians are done facing the Yankees this season and the 19 year-long battle with one of baseball’s best is over. Rivera is unquestionably the greatest closer in baseball history, topping the all-time save list and becoming one of October’s all-time outstanding performers.

The Greatest Summer Ever: Omar Vizquel

April 24, 2013 | Steve Eby

This story originally ran on July 14, 2012, but in honor of Omar Vizquel’s birthday today, we re-posted it from our vault.

Each week through the 26 weeks of the 2012 regular season, DTTWLN will profile and break down the roster of arguably the most exciting sports team that Cleveland has ever seen; the 1995 Cleveland Indians. The ’95 Tribe won 100 games in a strike-shortened 144 game schedule, won their first Central Division title and made the playoffs and World Series for the first time since 1954. Six players made the American League All-Star team, eight players batted .300 or better, and the pitching staff had the lowest ERA in the American League. The players have been ranked from the most important to the Tribe’s success to the 26^th. This week breaks down #12 Omar Vizquel.

The trade history between the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Indians has been a bit one sided in recent years. On June 30, 2006, the Indians sent old man first baseman Eduardo Perez to Seattle in exchange for shortstop and future All-Star Asdrubal Cabrera. A month later, the Tribe shipped Ben Broussard to the Mariners in exchange for Shin-Soo Choo and a player to be named later. Choo emerged as the Indians best position player for the next few years and Broussard…well…Broussard plays a mean acoustic guitar. In a “not quite as big of a steal” trade in June 2010, the Tribe sent another old man, Russell Branyan, to Seattle for Ezequiel Carrera and Juan Diaz. Carrera and Diaz may or may not be solid contributors to the Indians one day, but at the time of the trade, everyone in Cleveland was pretty stoked that the Tribe got anything for Russell Branyan.

Those trades were all great and they all helped the Indians incredibly, but they were nothing compared to heist that GM John Hart pulled off prior to the 1994 season.

When the Indians finalized the trade for shortstop Omar Vizquel on December 20, 1993, they pulled off one of the biggest lopsided trades in franchise history. The Mariners had a young shortstop with power named Alex Rodriguez on the way, so it seemed okay for the M’s to trade the all-glove/no-bat Vizquel for peanuts.

Oops.

Eighteen Crazy Nights—Looking back at the 1997 Cleveland Indians

March 25, 2013 | Mike Brandyberry

Each week during the 2012-13 offseason DTTWLN will take a look back at the 1997 Cleveland Indians season—specifically the 18 thrilling games of the postseason as the Indians made an improbable run to game seven of the World Series.

PART TWENTY-ONE: WORLD SERIES GAME 6—THE OMAR AND OGEA SHOW

By Steve Eby

Sometimes in sports unexpected things happen.

Moments occur that just couldn’t have been imagined; they make your jaw drop and hit the floor. You compose yourself long enough to mutter out the words, “I can’t believe that just happened.”

Then there are other moments that aren’t really surprising at all…just incredible.

They happen over and over so often that they become routine…but still your jaw hits the ground because of how incredible the moment was. Your jaw once again hits the floor and you compose yourself for long enough to say, “I can’t believe that Omar just did that again.”

Both of these scenarios played out perfectly for the Indians in Game Six of the 1997 World Series. Read More

Eighteen Crazy Nights—Looking back at the 1997 Cleveland Indians

January 21, 2013 | Mike Brandyberry

Each week during the 2012-13 offseason DTTWLN will take a look back at the 1997 Cleveland Indians season—specifically the 18 thrilling games of the postseason as the Indians made an improbable run to game seven of the World Series.

PART TWELVE: ALCS GAME 3—SQUEEZING OUT A VICTORY

By Steve Eby

In playoff baseball there are great games, amazing games, legendary games…and then there’s Game Three of the 1997 American League Championship Series.

Unbelievable is really the only word that sums up the game that was played at Jacobs Field on October 11, 1997. It was arguably the most bizarre game in Cleveland Indians history and it was the scene for perhaps the most unimaginable finish in baseball history.

Heading into the game, the series between the Indians and the Baltimore Orioles was tied at one game apiece. The first two contests were played in Baltimore, where the heavily favored Orioles took Game One in dominating fashion and the Tribe used an eighth inning homerun by Marquis Grissom to steal Game Two. The series now shifted back to Cleveland, where the Tribe had played inconsistently all season long. Read More

Vizquel’s Legend Created at the Jake

October 16, 2012 | Mike Brandyberry

By Vince Guerrieri

On Opening Day 1994, Omar Vizquel could be seen on the grass at new Jacobs Field talking to members of the Seattle Mariners. Six months earlier, he had been one of their teammates, but now he … Read More

If Acta Goes, Who Will Lead the Indians?

September 14, 2012 | Mike Brandyberry

By Craig Gifford

What has happened to the Cleveland Indians since the end of July – a month-and-a-half stretch that has seen the club go from contenders to worst team in the American League – can not all be blamed on Manager Manny Acta. However, someone will have to be held accountable for one of the worst stretches of futility in the history of a team that has seen its fair share of futile play.

The easiest fall guy is always the manager. In this case, the owner and general manager should take the blame for assembling a team with so many flaws. However, you can not get rid of an owner and General Manager Chris Antonetti is only in his second year on the job. He could get a pass, in that regard, for another season. Read More

Omar Vizquel Still Showing The Glove

August 16, 2011 | Mike Brandyberry

By Craig Gifford

When Omar Vizquel was essentially let go from the Cleveland Indians following the 2004 season, the thought many fans had was that the great shortstop would be back in a matter of two or three years – serving in a management role following retirement as an active ball player. No one could have imagined Vizquel, then 37 would play into his mid-40s and still be playing against the Tribe seven years later.

It was a difficult decision for then Indians general manager Mark Shapiro, but he ended up letting the popular Vizquel walk away as a free agent in the winter of 2004. The Tribe was in the middle of a rebuilding period, following great success through the late 1990s. Cleveland also had a young, up-an-coming shortstop prospect in Jhonny Peralta who was ready to break out as one of the top hitters at his position. Although Vizquel wanted to stay and the fans wanted him to play out his career in the Wahoo red, white and blue, the Tribe cut ties with Little O and went for the youth movement.