Everyone knows about the Cleveland Indians dominant pitching staff but how does the Cleveland offense stack up against some of the great lineups in Indians history?
The Cleveland Indians have had a long and storied past that dates back to 1901 with the Cleveland Blues. In that time, the team has won 9,293 games but only two World Series championships and none since 1948. The team has had some opportunities though with two World Series appearances in the 90’s and one in 2016, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Many people thought that the 2017 Indians were going to be the team to do it, but then they were abruptly bounced from the playoffs in the first round by the New York Yankees. Most of last year’s team returns for 2018 in what could be their last best chance at that elusive championship.
Most of the attention on this team goes to the pitching staff and rightfully so. It was only one of the most exceptional pitching staffs in the history of baseball. However, the offense is partly what let them down last year in the playoffs. I wanted to take a look at this year’s lineup and see how it compares to other great Indians teams.
I went all the way back to the last time that the Indians won the World Series in 1948 and looked at all of the Indians teams that made the playoffs or won at least 90 games. This yielded four “runs” of successful Indians teams: 1948-1955, 1995-2001, 2005-2007, and 2013 to the current squad.