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1997 Cleveland Indians Season
The 1997 Cleveland Indians season was the 97th season for the franchise and the 4th season at Jacobs Field. It involved the Indians making their second World Series appearance in three years. The Indians finished in first place in the American League Central Division and hosted the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Offseason *November 13, 1996: Matt Williams was traded by the San Francisco Giants with a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later, Jeff Kent, Julián Tavárez, and José Vizcaíno. The Cleveland Indians sent Joe Roa (December 16, 1996) to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade. *December 10, 1996: Eric Plunk was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians. * December 13, 1996: Kevin Mitchell signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.Kevin Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American League East
The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). This division was created before the start of the along with the American League West. Before that time, each league consisted of 10 teams without any divisions. Four of the division's five teams are located in the Eastern United States, with the other team, the Toronto Blue Jays, in Eastern Canada. It is currently the only division that contains a non-American team. At the end of the Major League Baseball season, the team with the best record in the division earns one of the AL's six Major League Baseball postseason, playoff spots. History Baseball writers have long posited that the American League East is the toughest division in MLB; during its 50-year existence, an AL East team has gone on to play in the World Series 28 times, and 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progressive Field
Progressive Field is a baseball stadium in the downtown area of Cleveland, Ohio. It is the ballpark of the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball and, together with Rocket Arena, is part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. It was ranked as MLB's best ballpark in a 2008 ''Sports Illustrated'' fan opinion poll. The ballpark opened as Jacobs Field in 1994 to replace Cleveland Stadium, which the Guardians, then known as the Indians, had shared with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. Since 2008, the facility has been named for Progressive Corporation, which purchased naming rights for $58 million over 16 years. The previous name came from team owners Richard E. and David H. Jacobs, who had acquired naming rights when the facility opened. The ballpark is still often referred to as ''"The Jake"'' based on its original name. The ballpark and arena are funded mainly by the passage of a sin tax in 1990 and both are owned by the Gateway Economic Dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Giles
Brian Stephen Giles (born January 20, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. During his career he played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres. The left-handed Giles was a two-time All-Star and had a career line of .291/.400/.502 with 287 home runs, 411 doubles, 1,078 runs batted in (RBI), and 1,183 walks in 1,847 games. His younger brother, Marcus Giles, is a former Major League infielder who was most notable for playing with the Atlanta Braves organization. Marcus and Brian played together on the 2007 San Diego Padres. Professional career Cleveland Indians Giles was born in El Cajon, California, and attended Granite Hills High School. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 17th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. By 1994, Giles had worked his way up to Triple-A, where he batted .313 for Charlotte making the International League All-Star team. In 1995, Giles was again in Triple-A, where he batted . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omar Vizquel
Omar Enrique Vizquel González (; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. In Venezuela he played for Leones del Caracas. Widely considered one of baseball's all-time best fielding shortstops, Vizquel won 11 Gold Glove Awards, including nine consecutive from 1993 to 2001. Among shortstops, his .9847 fielding percentage is the highest all-time, he is the all-time leader in games played, and the all-time leader in double plays turned. Vizquel tied Cal Ripken Jr.'s American League record for most consecutive games at shortstop without an error (95, between September 26, 1999, and July 21, 2000), since surpassed. Vizquel ranked as the all-time hits leader among players from Venezuela (2,877; 44th all-time) until May 12, 2021, when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Williams (third Baseman)
Matthew Derrick Williams (born November 28, 1965), nicknamed "Matt the Bat" and "the Big Marine", is an American professional baseball manager and former third baseman who is the third base coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed batter, Williams played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He managed the Washington Nationals from 2014 to 2015, and was the third base coach for the San Diego Padres from 2022 to 2023. Williams played in a World Series for each of the teams he played for ( with the Giants, with the Indians, and with the Diamondbacks in which he won over the New York Yankees). During these years, Williams became the only player to hit at least one World Series home run for three different Major League baseball teams. During his career, Williams had an overall batting average of .268, with 378 home runs and 1,218 runs batted in (RBI). He scored 997 Major League r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Fernández
Octavio Antonio Fernández Castro (June 30, 1962 – February 16, 2020), better known as Tony Fernández, was a Dominican baseball player who played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams from 1983 to 2001, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays. A five-time All-Star, Fernández was known for his defensive skills, winning four consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1986–1989). He batted over .300 four times, led the major leagues with 17 triples in 1990, collected 30 doubles six times and 20 stolen bases seven times. He also led American League shortstops in assists three times, and in putouts and fielding average twice each. After moving to the National League in a blockbuster trade following the 1990 season, he returned to the Blue Jays in a mid-season trade in 1993, and played a major role in helping the club repeat as World Series champions, batting .333 with nine runs batted in during the series. Early life Fernández was born in San Pedro de Macorís, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Thome
James Howard Thome (; ; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). A prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the eighth-most all time. He amassed a total of 2,328 hits and 1,699 runs batted in (RBIs). His career batting average was .276. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996. Thome grew up in Peoria, Illinois, as part of a large blue-collar family of athletes, who predominantly played baseball and basketball. After attending Illinois Central College, he was drafted by the Indians in the 1989 draft, and made his big league debut in 1991. Early in his career, Thome played third base, before eventually becoming a first baseman. With the Indians, he was part of a core of players that led the franchise to five consecutive playoff appearances in the 1990s, including Wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandy Alomar Jr
Santos Alomar Velázquez (, ; born June 18, 1966), known as Sandy Alomar Jr., is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher between 1988 and 2007, most notably as a member of the Cleveland Indians where he was a six-time All-Star player and won two American League pennants. Alomar was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 2009. He also played for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the New York Mets. He is the son of former major league player Sandy Alomar Sr. and the brother of Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar. Major league career Alomar was a highly regarded catcher in the San Diego organization after being named ''Baseball America'' Minor League Player of the Year in both 1988 and 1989, but he was blocked behind Benito Santiago at the Major League level. After two short call-ups with the Padres, he finally got ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ohio Cup
The Ohio Cup, also known as the Battle of Ohio and the Buckeye Series, is an annual Interleague play, interleague rivalry series between the two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from the U.S. state of Ohio: the Cincinnati Reds of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the Cleveland Guardians (formerly Indians) of the American League (AL). The series name comes from the trophy the teams play for, which was first introduced in 1989 for an annual pre-season exhibition game between the two teams, and later reintroduced in 2008. The cup is awarded to the team that wins the most games against the other in a particular season. In the event of a tie, the team holding the trophy from the previous season retains it. Prior to the introduction of interleague play, the current Cincinnati and Cleveland franchises had only met in spring training or other exhibition games. Because the two teams play in opposite leagues, the only chance to meet at that time was in the World Ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interleague Play
Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Before that, matchups between AL teams and NL teams occurred only during spring training, the All-Star Game, other exhibition games (such as the now defunct Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, New York), and the World Series. Unlike modern interleague play, none of these contests, except for the World Series, counted toward official team or league records. From 1997 to 2001, regular season interleague play occurred only on a geographical basis, with divisions in each league (the West, Central, and East) assigned to play their counterpart in the opposite league. In 2002, MLB introduced a system of rotating matchups, allowing interleague, cross-country games to occur in the regular season for the first time. In 2023, MLB began scheduling al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Atlanta Braves Season
The 1997 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 32nd season in Atlanta and 127th overall. The Braves entered the season as defending National League champions, having lost the 1996 World Series to the Yankees in 6 games. They won their seventh consecutive division title, taking the National League East by 9 games over the second place Florida Marlins. However, the Marlins would later defeat the Braves in the NLCS. 1997 was the first year that the Braves played their home games in Turner Field, a reconstruction of the former Centennial Olympic Stadium, which originally served as the main venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Off season * November 20, 1996: John Smoltz was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. * November 25, 1996: Paul Byrd was traded by the New York Mets with a player to be named later to the Atlanta Braves for Greg McMichael. The New York Mets sent Andy Zwirchitz (minors) (May 25, 1997) to the Atlanta Braves to complete the trade. * December 19, 1996 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Embree
Alan Duane Embree (born January 23, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Embree played for the Cleveland Indians (1992–1996), Atlanta Braves (1997–1998), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998), San Francisco Giants (1999–2001), Chicago White Sox (2001), San Diego Padres (2002 & 2006), Boston Red Sox (2002–2005), New York Yankees (2005), Oakland Athletics (2007–2008), and the Colorado Rockies (2009). He batted and threw left-handed, and was used as a left-handed specialist. He won the 2004 World Series with the Red Sox. High school Embree won a state championship in baseball at Prairie High School. Due to a shoulder injury, he did not pitch during his senior season. Over the final three seasons of his high school career, he hit .400. Professional career From 1992 through 2004, Embree had posted a 28–28 record with a 4.38 ERA and seven saves in 568 games. In 2004, Embree recorded the final out against the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the 2004 AL ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
