Dick Downing
Rookie
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2021
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I was born and bred a Cincinnati Reds fan. However, if the Reds were not in post season and the Indians were I would root for the Indians. In 1954 the Indians had a dream team. In my opinion they were better than the 1927 Yankees or the Big Red Machine in the 1970’s. In 1954 the Indians won 111games and lost 43. The dream team pitchers were Early Wynn Hall of pitcher won 23 games lost 10 games, pitcher Mike Garcia pitcher won 19 games lost 8 games, Bob Lemon Hall of Fame pitcher won 23 games lost 7 games, Bob Feller Hall of Fame pitcher won 13 games, Hal Newhouser was also a Hall of Fame pitcher. These relief pitchers were the best in baseball, Ray Narleski, and Don Mossi.
Scouts would do anything to sign these position players. Bobby Avila led the league with a .341 batting average, George Strickland a fine defensive shortstop, Jim Hegan a fine defensive catcher who was always in the all-star game, Al Rosen the 1953 Most Valuable Player, Al Smith with a .281 batting average and Larry Doby a Hall of Famer.
Now comes the hard part, just like “Casey at the Bat” there was no joy in Mudville because the mighty Indians struck out. The dream team lost the series in four straight games to the New York Giants. How could this happen? Dusty Rhodes a utility outfielder was the Giants leading hitter in the series. Most of all when the Giants needed a hit Dusty came through. During the season he was a mediocre outfielder. But for whatever reason he exploded in the series. He was a hero and the Giants could not have won without him. There was a young kid by the name of Willie Mays who probably made the greatest catch of all time. For those of you that did not see this great moment I urge you to see it on U-Tube. The only bright spot for the Indians was a first baseman named Vic Wertz. Wertz had great series but one man can’t do it all.
I don’t go to Cleveland often but when did I could tell the fans were suffering. They wanted winners like the world champions in 1948 or the Indians that won 111 games in 1954. The fans were getting restless. I think they wanted to support their tribe. But the organization had to do their part.
The Indians front office did do their part but it cost them. In 1960 the Indians traded Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. Since I was a Reds fan and I did not follow the Indians that much. To me it looked like a good trade. In 1959 Kuenn was the American League batting champion with a .353 average. Rocky led the league with 42 home runs. But it turned out to be a very stupid transaction. Rocky was extremely popular in Cleveland. I believe that more people would come to see Rocky than the pope. In protest the fans refused to attend the games. Municipal Stadium had room for 80,000 people but usually there were only 3000 fans in that cavernous stadium. You would think the front office would have some kind of feeling of what was to come. The Indians lost a lot of money and they could not pay the high salaries of premium players. And their farm system went to hell. Things did get better with the new Jacobs Field. The Indians regained their fans and became a very competitive team. But there is nothing like learning the hard way.
Scouts would do anything to sign these position players. Bobby Avila led the league with a .341 batting average, George Strickland a fine defensive shortstop, Jim Hegan a fine defensive catcher who was always in the all-star game, Al Rosen the 1953 Most Valuable Player, Al Smith with a .281 batting average and Larry Doby a Hall of Famer.
Now comes the hard part, just like “Casey at the Bat” there was no joy in Mudville because the mighty Indians struck out. The dream team lost the series in four straight games to the New York Giants. How could this happen? Dusty Rhodes a utility outfielder was the Giants leading hitter in the series. Most of all when the Giants needed a hit Dusty came through. During the season he was a mediocre outfielder. But for whatever reason he exploded in the series. He was a hero and the Giants could not have won without him. There was a young kid by the name of Willie Mays who probably made the greatest catch of all time. For those of you that did not see this great moment I urge you to see it on U-Tube. The only bright spot for the Indians was a first baseman named Vic Wertz. Wertz had great series but one man can’t do it all.
I don’t go to Cleveland often but when did I could tell the fans were suffering. They wanted winners like the world champions in 1948 or the Indians that won 111 games in 1954. The fans were getting restless. I think they wanted to support their tribe. But the organization had to do their part.
The Indians front office did do their part but it cost them. In 1960 the Indians traded Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. Since I was a Reds fan and I did not follow the Indians that much. To me it looked like a good trade. In 1959 Kuenn was the American League batting champion with a .353 average. Rocky led the league with 42 home runs. But it turned out to be a very stupid transaction. Rocky was extremely popular in Cleveland. I believe that more people would come to see Rocky than the pope. In protest the fans refused to attend the games. Municipal Stadium had room for 80,000 people but usually there were only 3000 fans in that cavernous stadium. You would think the front office would have some kind of feeling of what was to come. The Indians lost a lot of money and they could not pay the high salaries of premium players. And their farm system went to hell. Things did get better with the new Jacobs Field. The Indians regained their fans and became a very competitive team. But there is nothing like learning the hard way.
