Reviewing The Cleveland Indians Official Top 10 Progressive Field Moments

The Cleveland Indians released their Top 10 Official Progressive Field Moments. Tribe scribe Joe Russo analyzes….

The undisputed king of baseball Twitter is the Cleveland Indians official Twitter handle. From flaming Jose Ramirez emoji’s to picking a fight with the Sacramento Kings, it’s the absolute best. So when the Indians asks all of their followers to review their top ten moments in Progressive Field history, well, we couldn’t pass that up:

What They Got Right

Tony Pena is in the top spot for his walk off 13th inning home run in the ALDS. That is the first truly significant moment in the stadium’s history and to this day is one of the  more beloved moments in all of Indians history.

Rajai Davis also deserves a top spot. Maybe not at number three overall, but for the “new” generation of Tribe fans, Davis’s game tying home run was one of the most exhilarating moments in the memory of those fans. For me personally, that spike in my blood pressure caused the fourth or fifth mini-stroke of Game 7. It brought the Tribe as close to a World Series championship as they have been since 1948.

Sandy Alomar‘s home run in 1997 off of none other than Mariano Rivera in Game 4 of the ALDS capped another magical run of the 90’s Tribe powerhouse teams.

At that time, the Yankees were the best team money could buy and native Clevelander George Steinbrenner ran the show. It always felt good to beat the Yankees, especially like that.

What They Got Wrong

Where the heck is the Jim Thome home run that one hopped the parking garage? There’s a plaque in the road where the ball landed. The video of that home run is still incredible to watch. There’s a freaking statue of the guy at the gates coming in. Really?

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Sticking with what seems like a home run theme, what about Mark McGwire hitting the scoreboard on the fly? While we all marveled at how close Mike Napoli came to hitting it this year, McGwire actually hit the thing. Ask most folks who saw it happen and they will saw the ball was still climbing when it hit the left side of the board.

The “Bug Game” or “The Midges Game” deserves to be in the top ten, not just the honorable mention. It was so weird being there in person watching the Yankee trainers come out to the mound and spray insect repellent all over Joba Chamberlain. From the upper deck, it was difficult to see for myself until it hit the giant video board. But it wasn’t just the weirdness of the game. It was also a well played playoff game complete with Grady Sizemore scoring on the second wild pitch of an inning and a Travis Hafner walk off hit to win it.  How is this not included in the actual list?

Next: Expectations For Michael Brantley Must Be Tempered

Maybe not a top 10, but at least a contender is the 2007 home opener. With Paul Byrd exactly one strike away from making it an official game, Seattle Mariner’s skipper Mike Hargrove complained that his hitters could not see in the snow. No one will dispute that there was heavy snowfall, but there’s no coincidence about his timing. Byrd was tossing a no-hitter up to that point and Hargrove didn’t want to start the season being no-hit by Paul freaking Byrd.