I am posting this article a little early in honor of Freddie Freeman’s stunning grand slam against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday. What a blast, and the parallels to Kirk Gibson’s walk off in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series are all there: down 1 run, hobbled veteran at the plate, 2 outs and game on the line. What a moment, congratulations to Freddie and the Dodgers!

Today’s list features several Grand Slams, including a few honorable mentions which did not quite make the list.

Honorable Mention: 1996 ALDS, Game 3: Albert Belle, Grand Slam in the 7th Inning

One disappointment in my life is I never saw Albert Belle hit, I think I would have loved him. Belle meticulously worked on his hitting, and hit some titanic blasts in his career. One of the biggest was a grand salami in Game 3 of the ‘96 ALDS. Down 0-2 Cleveland found a way to beat the Orioles and Belle’s home run off Armando Benítez broke the tie in superb fashion.

Cleveland wound up losing the series, a disappointing finish to a team with much higher expectations. The 1996 Indians were probably the best of the ‘90s teams, and they fell apart against Baltimore in the first round of the playoffs. It reminds me a little bit of the 2017 Indians collapsing against New York: they were clearly better than the 2016 Indians, but Kluber was not Kluber and the bats fell silent after Game 2.

A word on Armando Benítez: he surrendered three game tying or game leading home runs to the Indians in his postseason career: the most in history. However, Armando was much better against Cleveland in the regular season where he posted a 2.83 ERA against Cleveland, with 5 saves in 24 games. The only other home run he surrendered to Cleveland was a doozy:

September 10, 1995: Sandy Alomar made Armando pay with a three run homer to save the Indians, and blowing a 3-2 lead. Jose Mesa closed it out.

Honorable Mention: 1998 ALCS, Game 6: Jim Thome, Grand Slam in 5th Inning

Only the third grand slam in Cleveland postseason history. Jim Thome’s wild swingwhich rocketed into the upper deck in Yankee stadium left Cleveland within 1 of the Yankees in the deciding game of the ALCS. Sadly, this is as close as the Indians got: they wound up losing Game 6 and the ALCS, leaving the Yankees with their date with destiny, and their first of three consecutive World Series wins.

#7 2017 ALDS, Game 2: Francisco Lindor, Grand Slam in the 6th Inning

Cleveland has faced the New York Yankees more often in the postseason than any other opponent. After beating the Yankees in 2007, New York got a rematch in 2017 after beating the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card Game. For two games: Cleveland dominated, although Game 2 started inauspiciously for the Indians. After pitching five superb games in the 2016 postseason from the ALDS to the World Series: Kluber struggled in every postseason start for the remainder of his career. Game 7 was the canary in the coal mine: after effectively starting every game on short rest since the start of October, Kluber finally wobbled in Game 7 surrendering 4 runs in 4 innings of work. It only got worse.

In Game 2 of the ALDS (Terry Francona held him back a game to ensure he was fully rested), Kluber got creamed. Gary Sanchez cranked a 2 run home run in the 1st and Kluber still had to labor to avoid more damage in the 1st. In the 3rd Kluber continued to struggle before surrendering another 3 run home run: this time to Aaron Hicks, and leaving Cleveland in a 6-3 bind. Mike Clevinger managed to pitch better than Cleveland, but we still wound up down 5 innings in the sixth.

The 6th started well: Carlos Santana walked against C.C. Sabathia. After a lineout by Jay Bruce, Aaron Boone wisely pulled Sabathia for Chad Green. A fly out by Austin Jackson was followed by a double by Yan Games. Francona pinch hit for Gio Urshela, sending Lonnie Chisenhall to the plate. Three pitches later: Green hit Lonnie, bringing up Francisco Lindor. Green still struggled to find the strike zone: first pitch ball, second pitch ball, but the third pitch found the zone, too much.

Francisco cranked the next pitch over the right field wall, off the foul pole, for a grand slam. The crowd went bananas (me included). Both the national broadcast and Tom Hamilton’s local broadcast were superb. The score still technically gave the Yankees the lead, but the whole crowd knew the game was over. Cleveland tied it, and then walked the Yankees off on a Yan Gomes single in the 13th. While the series itself soon went against Cleveland: taking back Game 2 was one of the most thrilling experiences of my baseball fandom.

As for Lindor? Stunning. "The Indians’ ceiling is wherever Francisco Lindor decides," Bud Shaw wrote the next morning. "Few teams can lose a 38 home run cleanup hitter and replace him with a (this year) All-Star outfielder. Few teams have an 18 game winner going in Game 3 after two body blows. None have Frankie Lindor." Lindor provided the biggest moment so far that year, and at the end of that game: "fans cheered so loudly it seemed all of downtown Cleveland was truly rocking" as Terry Pluto wrote.

What a moment.

Honorable Mention 2017 ALDS Game 2: Jay Bruce, Solo Shot in the 8th Inning

There’s an interesting thing about sports: frequently the cathartic and most emotional play is not the decisive one. In Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS Francisco Lindor hit the grand slam, the one which put Cleveland behind by one run. I will never forget that homer: I knew we would win that game after it, I just did not know how. That was the Jay Bruce homerun, learning how we got there. It was a great moment, a wonderful home run it’s true, but clearly less cathartic than Lindor’s.

The whole crowd in my view could sense it: Cleveland had Game 2 in its grasp, it was simply a matter of getting there. The series ended in disaster and heartbreak, but that was among the most fun games I have ever attended in my life. This home run, Jay Bruce pummeling the ball the other way all the way over the Little Green Monster, is a classic even if it falls short of the top 10.

#6 2024 ALDS Game 5: Lane Thomas, Grand Slam in the 5th Inning

Before and during the 2024 ALDS all the commentators agreed on one thing: the Cleveland Guardians did not want to go to a Game 5. You see, if the series went 5 games that would mean the upstart Detroit Tigers would start Tarik Skubal, the consensus future American League Cy Young Award winner and easily the best starting pitcher in the AL. Here are a few examples:

"I think this will be a low scoring series…and in the end the Tigers will come out on top because Tarik Skubal will start Game 5 on normal rest" - Mike Axisa, CBS Sports

"Thanks to two off-days built into the ALDS schedules, the Tigers can get two full-rest starts from ace and AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal. He’s the best player in the series." -Dayn Perry, CBS Sports

"Skubal is the best pitcher in the series and the Tigers have some serious momentum." Mark Feinsand, MLB.com

"You cannot go [into a Game 5] against [Tarik Skubal] he’s that good now, he’s Pedro"

&

"Yes, you’re [Cleveland is] scared to death of a Game 5. You gotta take two in Detroit, and that’s gonna be tough" Joe Posnanski, The Poscast "It’s October!"

I bring this up not to smear the writers, because in many ways they were right!

Entering the series: Cleveland’s goal was to win the three non-Skubal games: the three games Detroit did not even bother using a starting pitcher. When Cleveland lost Game 3, and went down 2-1, most wrote us off, and with good reason: Tarik Skubal manhandled the Guardians in Game 2, after slaughtering the Houston Astros (the mighty Astros who played in seven straight ALCS, won four pennants and have been the best team in the AL since 2018). Cleveland countered with Matt Boyd, Skubal’s mentor and a scrap heap pick up who did not even sign in the offseason.

So, with the Guards down 1-0 in the 5h: Cleveland went to work. Somehow, some way, they loaded the bases, and in stepped Jose Ramirez. This felt like the moment of the game, the most crucial at bat, and (for Guardians fans) the moment Jose Ramirez would finally claim his spot in the limelight. So of course Tarik Skubal hit Jose, and for a brief moment: Cleveland fans held their breath. Thankfully Ramirez took his base, seemingly unharmed.

Enter Lane Thomas, and before some fans could even gather themselves, on the first pitch: boom.

Pandemonium. That’s the only way I can describe it. Complete and utter shock. Tarik Skubal, the Tigers’ best player (and arguably the best pitcher this year) fell on his sword. What a moment, what a swing. Like I said above about Lindor’s home run: the crowd knew and felt that the game was over (or at least it should have been over, the bullpen gave some runs back before the game ended).

A lot of what makes this home run rank so high for me rests in one word: vindication. Cleveland entered 2024 ranked below the Minnesota Twins (rightly) and the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. But basically from day 1 of the 2024 season the Guardians led the AL Central, and they never relinquished that lead: only the Kansas City Royals, briefly, managed to tie us late into the year. Lane Thomas, a midseason acquisition, hitting Tarik Skubal proved Cleveland was no fluke: they belonged in the postseason, and were worthy of the AL Central title.

Honorable Mention: 1995 ALDS Game 1: Albert Belle, Solo Shot in the 11th Inning

I struggled whether to put Albert Belle’s game tying home run in the 11th at #5 or Tony Pena’s walk off. Several fans told me Belle’s home run felt bigger at the time, and I can see why: in my first article I chose Jhonkensey Noel’s game tying home run in the 9th over David Fry’s walk off, and just now I also listed Francisco Lindor’s Grand Slam (which did not even tie the game) over Jay Bruce’s tying homer (and I would choose both off Yan Gomes’ walk off single).

But reading about it the next day: the Plain Dealer focused more on Tony Pena, so I went with his walk off over Belle’s tying home run. But Belle’s tying home run is magical in its own right, coming in the 11th inning against Rick Aguilera, the Red Sox closer: an All-Star and fearsome pitcher. I am sure the game felt over, down 1 in the 11th, while Pena’s came off Zane Smith: an aging pitcher near the end of his career.

Both deserve mention, here’s Belle’s moonshot.

#5 1995 ALDS Game 1: Tony Pena, Solo Shot in the 13th Inning

In 1954 the Cleveland Indians set a record: 111 wins. This was the best record in American League history, and still holds the record for the highest win percentage for an American League team (the Seattle Mariners broke the win record, but not the percentage record, with 116 wins in 2001). The team featured five Hall of Famers, including two starting pitchers in the prime of their careers. In the World Series against the Giants they got swept dismally in four games which, if not for the famous catch by Willie Mays, would likely stand forgotten. The '54 season was not a fluke either: every year since 1947 the Indians posted winning records, three times finishing right behind the New York Yankees for tops in the American League. The future looked bright, and was bright too: the Indians finished 2nd in the American league in 1955 and 1956 too.

In 1955 Herb Score and Rocky Colavito debuted. Score proved one of the most exciting young pitchers in baseball, and Colavito soon flashed prodigious power. Again: the future for Cleveland looked bright from the vantage point of fans in the 1950s. It didn’t last. After 1954 Cleveland failed to make the postseason for four decades. They generally posted losing records, they sabotaged themselves countless times. Want to be depressed? Here are some Hall of Famers, or near Hall of Famers, who started in Cleveland:

-Rocky Colavito

-Tommy John

-Roger Maris

-Minnie Minoso

-Dennis Eckersley

-Hoyt Wilhelm

-Gaylord Perry

The team simply proved incapable of consistently developing talent and keeping that talent around even when they found it. Four long, grueling, decades of misery. Then, in 1994, the team sparks. Powered by Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome: the Indians’ offense does not just look good, it looks powerful. Arguably the best in baseball. Then, the strike happens: 1994 postseason is canceled.

The year turns: it’s 1995, and the Cleveland Indians win 100 games, for the first time in over four decades. They made the postseason, for the first time in four decades. It was a glorious return with the Indians playing in a new ballpark, right downtown, playing meaningful baseball with one of the most exciting franchises of all time. Game 1 started on October 3, 1995 and…

It rained. Because of course it did: this is Cleveland in October, what did you expect? Sunshine and rainbows? Not that this killed enthusiasm: fans eagerly piled into Jacob’s Field to watch Dennis Martinez face off against Roger Clemens. "This is Cleveland weather" a fan said with a laugh "if you expected good weather you’d be nuts." Scalpers were charging $200 for tickets, which left many fans outside the stadium with a pair of fans taking in the game from outside the park. "This is good enough" one fan said "I’ve had worse seats."

The game started at 8:45 and went a full five hours, late into the early morning. So late the Plain Dealer barely included reporting on the game the next day, a shame because Game 1 was a thrilling masterpiece (it did not help that the OJ Simpson trial also finished on October 3rd). But Cleveland’s first return to October magic featured a 13 inning thriller with lots of twists and turns, and in the bottom of the 13th entered Tony Pena.

Pena, to put it politely, couldn’t hit. As a young catcher in the ‘80s he hit OK and played terrific defense for strong Pirates teams, all based around Barry Bonds. But by 1995 his bat speed slowed and the magic faded, he backed up the oft-injured Sandy Alomar. In the 13th inning, after several rain delays on a chilly Cleveland night, magic struck for Pena. Crack! The ball sailed over the left field wall. Gone!

The 1948 Indians won their final game on October 11th and Cleveland went winless in the postseason for nearly 47 more years before finally returning to the win column, courtesy of Tony Pena. As Tom Hamilton said: perhaps the most unlikely hero on the team.

The 1995 run would go on, starting with a sweep of the Boston Red Sox, then a tough victory over the Seattle Mariners, which featured its own huge moment for Cleveland. But decades of emptiness ended on the bat of one of Cleveland’s most unlikely heroes.

The List So Far:

#10: 2022 Wild Card Series Game 1: José Ramírez, 2 Run Home Run in the 6th
#9: 1995 ALCS Game 5: Jim Thome, 2 Run Home Run in the 6th
#8: 2024 ALCS Game 3: Jhonkensy Noel, 2 Run Home Run in the 9th
#7: 2017 ALDS Game 2: Francisco Linder, Grand Slam in the 6th
#6: 2024 ALDS Game 5: Lane Thomas, Grand Slam in the 5th
#5: 1995 ALDS Game 1: Tony Pena, Solo Shot in the 13th

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