That 1998 team was solid.. I remember HARD HITTEN Mark Witten hitting that HOMERUN and flipping the bat in game 3 of the ALCS..
Then the Yankees crushed them like a paper cup the rest of the way, and went on to play the Padres in the world series, which was awesome since I was living in THE 619...
Mark Whiten could flip a bat like nobody's business. I always had/have visions of Mark when I see Franklin Gutierrez.
That was also the year of the 2B disaster: David Bell's triumphant return and pointless departure, the Joey Cora Fiasco, and the bombing of Shawon Dunston. The delusions of grandeur dancing through fans heads, we pondered Jaret Wright becoming an ace w/ Bartolo Colon and Chad Ogea. The arrival of Dave Burba, in exchange for some guy I can't even remember. Other milestones from that year:
- the first appearance of Russell 'The Muscle' Branyan
- the year the Tribe drafted CC!
- A small cameo by a massively corpulent Cecil Fielder
- Kenny's triumphant return
- Hart turning Marquis Grissom into exactly nothing as he ended up just dumping his salary
- Dwight Gooden's one good season with the Tribe
- Everyone realizing that Jaret Wright got really freakin' lucky and SOB why didn't they trade him for Pedro
- Paul Shuey taking the 'next step' into becoming one of the better relievers in baseball
- Mike Jackson being m-fing awesome as a closer.... too bad it was a season too late
And lastly..... how no one realized that the year before was going to be that team's last shot at winning a WS. Made all the more painful by losing in the ALCS to a team of drug/steroid abusers, drunks, and assholes. That lard-ass David Wells (whose mother is a whore), the Cuban Satchel Paige, Fat Toad, and the Whiney Bitch Oneill. Man, I hated that Yankees team. Probably the best team the Yanks actually developed, the last one they didn't buy and the only Yankees squad I ever respected.