Of Many "What If"s

Last years' Cleveland Indians “What If?” advertising campaign was well received by many of us, to say the least. The short commercial managed to capture the scope and depth of so much of what we celebrate and enjoy about baseball and its history in Cleveland.

And, as someone who always thinks that if you can't be at a game, baseball is best watched on the radio, I thought the radio versions were even better than the video. The simple and unanswered question “What if it never happened?” reminded us of a long history at League Park, Municipal Stadium, and Jacobs' Field. It connected us with Tris Speaker, Lou Boudreau, Rocky Colivato, and the great and recently passed Bob Feller. It reminded us that our history included the pioneering activities of the first Larry Doby as African-American player in the AL and Frank Robinson as the first African-American manager. Most of all, it connected all these together into a single thread.

Perhaps, then, we should reconsider one of the questions it posed last year: “What if the 90's were just the 90's?”

I first came to Cleveland and became a fan of the Indians in the 90's, yet the connection to that longer history is more important than just recalling a brief period of sellouts and division titles. In fact, knowing I may be approaching blasphemy with his statement, in many ways the 90's were not the end-all-be-all of baseball. We were winning, true. There was excitement, also true. 455 sellouts. But I also saw a team eventually move from building a championship group of players to maintaining the status quo. Instead of developing a generation of players, we now had to pay the same outrageous payrolls and trade for star power. The ill-fated trade to bring John Rocker to Cleveland really made me reconsider if this was a team worth cheering for, or just another baseball business meeting financial success.

Thus I'm a bit disturbed by this year's continuation of the “What If” spots. Unlike last year's evocative and emotional ad connecting us with a longer past, this year seems more concerned with the idea of bringing back the 90's.

Thome was great – Thome came back. Alomar was great – Alomar came back. Lofton! Back in some capacity. 455 sellouts … please come back?

 The 90's were a good time for baseball in Cleveland. But for me, they were great not because of our victories. The real greatness came from sharing seasons in a good town for baseball. Many others hav written about the unique set of conditions we had at the time: the Cavs didn't matter, the Browns were gone, the Jake was novel, etc.

 What no one can account for is the difference between then and now in terms of the fans I met and how fluently and insightfully everyone was talking about baseball. I remember talking to older fans on the train who told me about the starting rotations they grew up with. I remember listening to Herb Score call games, sometimes forgetting who was playing, and my coworkers forgiving him and telling me why they loved listening to him. (I'm almost certain one game in 1997 he called a play where Feller was pitching to Mickey Mantle.) What I miss most about the 90's isn't the players whose memories I still cherish, nor the sellout streak that meant I almost never got to go to a game. What I miss is that this was a great town for baseball, with fans who knew and loved the game.

 So what if the 90's were just the 90's? What if it we lost the world series in 1995? What if 1997 was a heartbreaking year? It's part of our history, and what if it's just one more part of a long tradition?