The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
‘Season of Sandy’ featured glory
Alomar had big moments in 1997, including MVP of MLB All-Star Game
The headline on July 9 told the story: “Alomar’s the star,” it read after the 1997 All-Star game at then-Jacobs Field.
The 1997 season was the closest the Indians have been to a World Series title until the 2016 season. But 20 years ago also could have been called “The Season of Sandy,” as in former Indians catcher and current first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr.
It was book-ended by a record-setting 30-game hitting streak (second to Nap Lajoie’s 31-game streak in 1906) he took into the All-Star break and a stirring home run off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in the Game 4 of the ALDS.
In the middle was a night Indians fans won’t forget.
Cleveland had hosted AllStar games in 1935, 1954, 1963 and the strike-shortened season of 1981.
The mid-summer classic will return to Cleveland in 2019, but before that was the 1997 edition.
What a collection of AllStars, as in — count ‘em! — 16 future Hall of Famers.
Ten were in the starting lineup.
The American League featured center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., catcher Ivan Rodriguez, third baseman Cal Ripken Jr., second baseman Robert Alomar and starter Randy Johnson.
For the National League, future Hall of Famers in the starting lineup included starter Greg Maddux, outfielder Tony Gwynn, catcher Mike Piazza, second baseman Craig Biggio and first baseman Jeff Bagwell.
Future Hall of Fame managers Bobby Cox (NL) and Joe Torre (AL) guided each side.
On the bench were Frank Thomas, Barry Larkin, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine — all future Hall of Famers.
There were also surefire Hall of Famers as reserves in Jim Thome, Chipper Jones and Mariano Rivera.
Let’s not forget about steroid-era bad boys Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, who were also All-Stars that season.
Collections of baseball talent didn’t get much better than that July 8, 1997 night at then-Jacobs Field.
So, if you had Sandy Alomar as All-Star game MVP in your office pool, congrats. You had to be on cloud nine.
That feeling probably paled in comparison to what the Indians catcher was experiencing that night in Cleveland.
Alomar was named AllStar game MVP in his home stadium, and became the first player to hit a home run in his home stadium since Hank Aaron in 1972.
The drama involving that home run made all the difference, and is the reason it still resonates for Alomar and Tribe fans to this day.
The game features just four runs and 10 hits, as the pitchers dominated most of the night.
Home runs by the AL’s Edgar Martinez and the NL’s Javy Lopez made it a 1-1 game entering the bottom of the seventh inning.
Alomar had replaced Rodriguez in the top of the sixth. He made his only plate appearance, in the bottom of the seventh with the Yankees’ Bernie Williams at second, and two outs.
Shawn Estes of the Giants was on the mound. He induced Alomar into a swing-and-miss on the first pitch. A ball by Estes made it 1-1.
“I was so excited when I was getting that at-bat, I was swinging at balls in the dirt before the ball even got to the plate,” said Alomar, recalling the moment on June 24 at Progressive Field. “Then I stepped out and said, ‘Man, you’ve got to calm down.’ ”
A swing for the ages and one of the most memorable home runs in the history of Jacobs/Progressive Field came next.
“He just happened to throw me a change-up, and I saw that ball in slow motion,” said Alomar. ‘It was unbelievable. The roar from the fans — I feel like everybody from Cleveland was here.”
Alomar drove the pitch over the wall in left field to give the AL a 3-1 victory. He earned All-Star game MVP, and told FOX after game the moment was a “gift from god.”
“Sandy was born for that moment,” former Indians second baseman Carlos Baerga said recently.
That moment parlayed into a memorable 1997 season for Alomar — the best of his career — when it was all said and done.
Alomar had career-high numbers in batting average (.325), home runs (21), RBI (83), hits (146) and doubles (37).
His home run vs. Rivera a few months later was undoubtedly a bigger moment in Indians’ lore — it helped the team oust the defending champs Yankees in the divisional round — but the big stage of the All-Star Game is arguably a close second for Indians fans.
The moment was extraspecial for Alomar, whose grandmother had passed away four days before the All-Star game.
Said Alomar: “Just to be selected at your own ballpark, and to have the chance to give your American League team the lead was like one in a million.”
On this night, there was no doubt about it, as the next day’s headline summed up perfectly:
Alomar was the star.
Contact Podolski at MPodolski@News-Herald. com; On Twitter: @mpodo.