Was ’95 really the golden year of Indians Baseball?

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I was just surfing around the interwebs today and came across something that hit me right in the nostalgia, and it was this article.  “13 Reasons the ’95 Indians Were the Greatest Team Ever.”

You can find it here.

Pretty bold right? RIGHT?  I mean, they were some of the coolest players to ever play the game, and we all new something was going to happen whenever Thome stood at the plate, but to call them the GREATEST?  Well, I actually agree, call me biased but still.

Okay I get it, we didn’t win the world Series in ’95….or in ’97…but that’s not always the thing that matters most to me.  To me, the most important thing is to have a team that inspires, and a team that is just plain fun to watch, which we all now the ’95 team was.  We had Lofton stealing every base he could get a foot on and arguably one of the greatest pitching cores in the modern era.  So why WOULDN’T you call them the greatest?  I know I know, we “blew it” and “couldn’t finish it off,” but neither could a lot of other amazing teams.  Juxtaposing to the NFL, Payton Manning, one of the greatest QB’s to ever play the game has one ring…ONE.  So don’t count that against them.

I’ll admit that I was pretty young when this team was around, though I will keep that hidden to save my age.  However, even though they left us on the doorstep in the end, they were probably THE MOST fun team to watch that entire decade.  From the year we were #1 in all offensive stats to the record book claiming 12 run comeback against Seattle, this team was just plain awesome.  They were the guys the inspired me to play and the ones that I will forever think of as my baseball idols.  Their popularity can be proven just by the fact that they had a sold out line in the recent tribe fest and attracted a MAJOR crowd when giving their panel before their autograph session, so even though they didn’t come through, they are still the greatest.

BuzzFeed

This led to me think about our team now.  Honestly, that last playoff loss hurt, and it hurt A LOT, and while I don’t agree with everything they did that day like putting in Salazar, it still was amazing just to have playoff  ball back here.  Long story short, we didn’t win (spoiler alert), but we did bring some of that magic back and I began to get those amazing feelings that the ’95 team brought us.

So in closing I want  you to think about one thing:  First off I want  you to know that the ’95 Indians WERE the greatest team to play that decade, and I honestly don’t think many people even outside the city will deny that.  Second, I want you to think about that magic, and if it has returned with the youngsters (and Giambi) of today’s team.  To me, it has, and I think that some day, maybe years down the road, we will be having this same conversation with the ’13 team of old, even if that pennant is ever illusive.