The Rebirth of the Franchise

The Indians were set to host an open house at newly minted Jacobs Field on April 3, 1994, a Sunday afternoon. It snowed. The event was canceled.

It was not the most promising omen for the grand opening of a new ballpark set to happen the next day.

The Friday before Opening Day, the Indians dedicated a statue to Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller outside of Gate C, out beyond center field. A day later, the Indians and Pirates squared off in an exhibition game intended to serve as a test for ballpark operations. Fans poured into the stadium until it was packed to near capacity.

The open house was supposed to give fans who didn't have tickets to Saturday's affair a chance to explore the new building. Mother Nature, however, refused to cooperate. Fortunately for the team, Opening Day brought sunny skies, albeit with chilly temperatures. It was 48 degrees at first pitch.

"People were so excited and they were wide-eyed, their jaws dropped, smiling and thanking us," said Bob DiBiasio, Indians senior vice president of public affairs. "They were in awe that this was theirs. It was a real badge of honor for people in our town to say, 'This is mine. This is ours. I'm so proud to call this my ballpark.'"

Just how much better was Cleveland's new venue compared to old Municipal Stadium? Mark Shapiro, then the club's director of minor league operations, was overseeing the end of minor league spring training in Winter Haven, Florida, so he could not attend the opener at Jacobs Field. Instead, he and player development advisor Johnny Goryl ventured to a local Beef 'O' Brady's and requested that management find the game on TV.

"It was a major cultural shift, not just for the fans, but for us," Shapiro said. "We went from a weight room that was basically a crowbar and three sets of dumbbells in the corner of the training room to a state of the art weight room. We went from a kitchen that was one refrigerator with a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly and a loaf of bread on top of the fridge to an incredible kitchen.

"When you look at the training, the fueling, the development of our athletes, we went from prehistoric to state of the art, cutting edge. It wasn't a subtle jump. It was a dramatic jump."

And its debut received a dramatic amount of attention.

DiBiasio escorted President Bill Clinton around the ballpark that day. Clinton tossed out the ceremonial first pitch. Draped in a blue Indians windbreaker and blue Tribe hat with a red brim, he wore a light brown mitt on his right hand as he heaved a baseball down the middle to catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. Ohio Governor George Voinovich and Feller followed with ceremonial first pitches of their own.

The Indians had planned for this day. They rebuilt their roster, devoting long, trying years to developing young players. When that green talent started to blossom, they cashed in on the free-agent market and pieced together a group that they felt could contend, all right as the organization opened the doors on a brand new ballpark. The endeavor culminated in that Monday afternoon. All the hard work and pain suffered through decades of losing, the long, miserable nights at a massive, mostly empty stadium — it was all set to dissipate in favor of a new era, one Cleveland hoped would be rife with triumph and glory.

And then Seattle Mariners pitcher Randy Johnson held the Tribe hitless through the first seven innings of the first game.

Alomar finally ended Johnson's bid at an Opening Day no-hitter with a single to right field with no outs in the eighth. The base knock came after Feller, the only pitcher in major league history to toss a no-no on Opening Day, broke into the ESPN TV booth and attempted to jinx Johnson on air. Alomar's hit moved Candy Maldonado, who had walked, to second. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch and Manny Ramirez brought them home with a double off the wall in left field to tie the game.

The matinee extended to extra innings and both teams plated a run in the 10th. In the 11th, the Indians christened their new home with a fitting finale to its first affair. Reserve outfielder Wayne Kirby slapped a two-out single to left field off of Seattle reliever Kevin King. Eddie Murray scored from third and the Indians celebrated.

The Indians would take an immediate liking to their new residence. They won a franchise-record 18 consecutive home games from May 13–June 19 in their inaugural year at...