Cleveland Indians: Jim Thome’s top 5 most memorable moments ranked
3. The putout to end our misery
It was a routine pop out to third. Little Leaguers make them every day. But, boy, did this one carry some major significance.
The Indians entered the 1995 season having not made the postseason for 41 years!
Then, came that night in early September. Everyone knew the Tribe was going to end their postseason drought, but the magic of it actually happening? Tom Hamilton’s words still give me chills.
It’s fitting Thome made this putout, because this was the start of the Indians run as one of dominant teams of the mid-to-late 1990s and Thome was at the heart of it.
He was a 13th-round pick in 1989, but he joined Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez and Charles Nagy to form one of the most envied cores in the game.