This proves my point exactly. These were two (Carter & Franco) good and maybe even very good players that meant a lot to the city of Cleveland and its fans. But great? Hardly.We (Cleveland fans/Clevelanders) knew all along they were great.
You may not have liked his actions, but Albert/Joey Belle was a GREAT player. Compare his stats to that of Kirby Puckett. Both had their careers cut short due to injury but the statistics are very similar. Both played twelve seasons. Puckett beats Belle in Runs (1071-974), hits (2304-1726), 2B (414-389) and SBs (134-88). But Belle beats Puckett in HRs (381-207), RBIs (1239-1085), OBP (.369-.360) and Slugging (.564-.477). Kirby was a first ballot HOFer. Belle was great.Dayons_Den wrote:Albert Belle was not only a prolific power hitter but a feared batter with men on base and could hit doubles too- became the first guy in AL history to hit 50 HR and 50 doubles. He was the most feared batter in the league. Sure it was short but football fans will remind you Gayle Sayers career was short.
Ever hear of the disease microsympaticoskeletaltsophlemitis? That's because Joe Charbanno discovered the cure before it infected its first victim.Flipper wrote:Joe Charbonics had unprotected sex with a stripper...his syphillis killed her chlamydia and cured her of her chronic halitosis.BGorDeath wrote:Joe Charbaneuax once flossed the teeth of a great white shark while wearing a Speedo.Flipper wrote:Joe Charbonnaueuauaue once killed a bear simply by spitting on it....BGorDeath wrote:Joe Charbeneau (or however you spell it). He removed a tattoo with a razor blade and could open a beer bottle with his eye socket. That makes him great in my book.
*shrug* I dunno. But the feel just wasn't there anymore. The team wasn't made up of the guys I watched growing up, the stadium was different, it just didn't matter much to me.jacojdm wrote:why?TG1996 wrote:(When they moved into Jacobs Field, I think that was it for me completely.)
That was it, too. The move to Jacobs Field was my sophomore/junior year at BG. Prior to that, very few people seemed to care about the Indians. A year later, they've got a new stadium and a World Series team, and EVERYONE was a "Tribe fan" all of a sudden. Yet maybe a quarter of them could name more than four or five players from teams just five or six years before.Jacobs field is 12 years old and still in the top 5 of most beautiful ballparks in baseball!! not to mention when jacobs field opened the indians actually started to get good!
i especially took a shining to the tribe in the late 80s and early 90s, a little before the gateway project was done. in large part, that's probably because it's about the time that i would've first noticed pro sports at age 5 or 6 or 7, and my first baseball cards were of andy allanson, andre thornton, joel skinner, niekro, cory snyder, et all. that really got me interested in the indians. but, in large part, it's beacuse of the aa team. before i ever attended a major league game, i went to dozens of canton akron indians games, and saw many of these guys as indians' farmhands. the top two players in the c-a indians' first year were joey belle and beau allred, along with an infielder named julius mcdougal, and a pitching staff that included charles nagy. the names go on...thome, baega, any number of guys named ramirez (including, of course manny, but also sure fire prospect carlos), etc etc etc. the players were so accessible, and it was great to see these guys play up close, and then a few years later, see them as all stars.TG1996 wrote:*shrug* I dunno. But the feel just wasn't there anymore. The team wasn't made up of the guys I watched growing up, the stadium was different, it just didn't matter much to me.jacojdm wrote:why?TG1996 wrote:(When they moved into Jacobs Field, I think that was it for me completely.)
As for:That was it, too. The move to Jacobs Field was my sophomore/junior year at BG. Prior to that, very few people seemed to care about the Indians. A year later, they've got a new stadium and a World Series team, and EVERYONE was a "Tribe fan" all of a sudden. Yet maybe a quarter of them could name more than four or five players from teams just five or six years before.Jacobs field is 12 years old and still in the top 5 of most beautiful ballparks in baseball!! not to mention when jacobs field opened the indians actually started to get good!
