The 1994 Cleveland Indians season was the 94th season for the franchise. For the first time since 1986, the Indians finished the season with a winning record. However, the 1994 season ended prematurely due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike that ended the season on August 12. It was the first season for the Indians playing at Jacobs Field after playing at Cleveland Stadium since 1946.

Offseason November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rubén Amaro Jr.Heathcliff Slocumb at Baseball-Reference December 2, 1993: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent by the Indians.Dennis Martínez at Baseball-Reference December 13, 1993: Randy Milligan was traded by the Indians to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Brian Barnes to the Indians on December 17.Randy Milligan at Baseball-Reference December 13, 1993: Sam Horn was released by the Indians.Sam Horn at Baseball Reference December 20, 1993: Félix Fermín was traded by the Cleveland Indians with Reggie Jefferson and cash to the Seattle Mariners for Omar Vizquel.Félix Fermín at Baseball-Reference February 10, 1994: Jack Morris was signed as a free agent by the Indians.Jack Morris at Baseball-Reference March 30, 1994: Pete Rose Jr. was released by the Indians.Pete Rose, Jr. at Baseball-Reference

Regular season Larry DobyCF, CoachRetired 1994

On July 3, 1994, Larry Doby had his number retired by the team. Doby had played for Cleveland for ten seasons (1947–1955, 1958). He was the first African American to play in the American League, playing his first game in Major League Baseball on July 5, 1947, becoming the second African American player to play in MLB. A .287 hitter, Doby was an All-Star in two combined leagues (Negro League and American League) on seven occasions while winning a World Series in both leagues. Doby would later be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1998. On July 15, 1994, Albert Belle's bat was confiscated by umpire Dave Phillips. It was the result of White Sox manager Gene Lamont believing that the bat was corked. During the game, Indians pitcher Jason Grimsley removed a ceiling tile in his manager's office and clambered on top of an cinder block. He replaced the corked bat with a conventional bat but the bat had Paul Sorrento's name on it. Belle was suspended for seven games.

By Friday August 12, 1994, the Indians had compiled a 66–47 record through 113 games, just one game back of the Chicago White Sox for the AL Central Division lead. They had scored 679 runs (6.01 per game) and allowed 562 runs (4.97 per game). They were leading the AL Wildcard Race over the Baltimore Orioles by 2.5 games. Cleveland was leading the Majors in nearly every offensive category, including hits (1,165), runs scored (679), home runs (167), runs batted in (647), batting average (.290), slugging percentage (.484) and total bases (1,946).

Cleveland pitching was also strong, as Indians pitchers had combined for an MLB-high 17 complete games pitched before the players' strike prematurely ended the season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Transactions April 3, 1994: Jeremy Hernandez was traded by the Indians to the Florida Marlins for Matt Turner.Jeremy Hernandez at Baseball-Reference June 2, 1994: 1994 Major League Baseball draft Jaret Wright was drafted by the Indians in the 1st round (10th pick). Player signed July 21, 1994.Jaret Wright at Baseball-Reference Russell Branyan was drafted by the Indians in the 7th round. Player signed June 9, 1994.Russell Branyan at Baseball-Reference Bruce Aven was drafted by the Indians in the 30th round of the 1994 amateur draft. Player signed June 4, 1994. July 26, 1994: Marco Scutaro was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians.Marco Scutaro at Baseball-Reference August 9, 1994: Jack Morris was released by the Indians. August 31, 1994: Dave Winfield was purchased by the Indians from the Minnesota Twins.Dave Winfield at Baseball-Reference

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position7 Kenny Lofton CF13 Omar Vizquel SS9 Carlos Baerga 2B8 Albert Belle LF33 Eddie Murray 1B22 Candy Maldonado DH15 Sandy Alomar Jr. C24 Manny Ramirez RF20 Mark Lewis 3B32 Dennis Martínez P 1994 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1994 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Infield) (Bullpen) (Hitting) (First base) (Third base) (Pitching)

Jacobs Field

In May 1990, Cuyahoga County voters approved a 15-year sin tax on alcohol and cigarette sales in order to finance the new sports complex. In June 1992, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown at the site of the new Jacobs Field before construction of the building began.

In 1994, the ballpark opened under the name Jacobs Field as the new home of the Cleveland Indians, which had previously shared Cleveland Municipal Stadium with the NFL's Cleveland Browns. On April 4, 1994, the Indians played their first game at the new stadium. President Bill Clinton threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and the Indians defeated the Seattle Mariners 4–3 in 11 innings.

Highlights

Statistic Person(s) Date First Ceremonial First Pitch President Clinton to Sandy Alomar Jr. April 4, 1994 First Hit Eric Anthony (Seattle Mariners), home run April 4, 1994 First Indians Hit Sandy Alomar Jr., single to right field April 4, 1994 First Double Manny Ramírez April 4, 1994 First Triple Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners) April 7, 1994 First Home Run Eric Anthony (Seattle Mariners) April 4, 1994 First Indians Home Run Eddie Murray April 7, 1994 First Indians Run Candy Maldonado, scored on Manny Ramírez 2-run double in the 8th inning April 4, 1994 First Winning Pitcher Eric Plunk April 4, 1994 First Save Hipólito Pichardo (Kansas City Royals) April 15, 1994

Game log Regular season

|- style="background:#fbb;" | 28 || || || @ Yankees || 3–4 || || || || || || 14–14 || |- style="background:#fbb;" | 29 || || || @ Yankees || 3–5 || || || || || || 14–15 || |- style="background:#fbb;" | 30 || || || @ Yankees || 3–6 || || || || || || 14–16 || |- style="background:#fbb;" | 31 || || || @ Yankees || 6–7 || || || || || || 14–17 ||

|- style="background:#fbb;" | 69 || || || Yankees || 6–11 || || || || || || 42–27 || |- style="background:#bbb;" | — || || || Yankees || colspan=8 | Postponed (Rain) |- style="background:#fbb;" | 70 || || || Yankees || 11–12 || || || || || || 42–28 ||

|- style="text-align:center; background:#bbcaff;" | ASG || || 8:00p.m. EDT || 65th All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, PA || 8 – 7 AL || — || — || — || 3:14 || 59,568 || — || ASG |- style="background:#fbb;" | 100 || || || @ Yankees || 2–5 || || || || || || 59–41 || |- style="background:#fbb;" | 101 || || || @ Yankees || 5–6 || || || || || || 59–42 || |- style="background:#fbb;" | 102 || || || @ Yankees || 1–4 || || || || || || 59–43 ||

|- style="background:#bbb;" | — || || || Yankees || colspan=8 | Canceled (Strike) |- style="background:#bbb;" | — || || || Yankees || colspan=8 | Canceled (Strike) |- style="background:#bbb;" | — || || || Yankees || colspan=8 | Canceled (Strike)

|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      = Win      = Loss      = Postponement     Bold = Indians team member

Detailed records American League Opponent Home Away Total Pct. Runs scored Runs allowed AL East New York Yankees 0–2 0–7 0–9 40 60 Division Total 0–2 0–7 0–9 40 60 AL Central Cleveland Indians — — — — — — Division Total 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 0 AL West Division Total 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 0 Season Total 0–2 0–7 0–9 40 60

Player stats = Indicates team leader

= Indicates league leader

Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB 80 292 44 84 15 1 14 43 .288 8 26 23 5 5 1 0 2 5 .217 2 103 442 81 139 32 2 19 80 .314 8 106 412 90 147 35 2 36101.357 9 90 231 27 55 13 0 1 19 .238 1 22 23 6 8 1 1 1 5 .348 2 78 191 33 56 6 0 5 23 .293 11 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 20 73 6 15 5 0 1 8 .205 1 112 459 105 160 32 9 12 57 .34960 42 92 14 18 5 1 5 12 .196 1 4 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 .100 0 108 433 57 110 21 1 17 76 .254 8 40 112 18 33 8 1 2 10 .295 0 4 9 1 1 0 0 0 1 .111 0 91 290 51 78 22 0 17 60 .269 4 95 322 43 90 14 0 14 62 .280 0 98 321 58 86 20 1 20 52 .268 3 69 286 39 78 10 1 1 33 .273 13 Team totals 113 4022 679 1165 240 20 167 647 .290 131

Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K 0 1 5.40 6 0 0 13.1 12 10 8 15 5 0 2 8.64 7 0 0 8.1 16 9 8 4 2 11 3 3.82 20 20 0 127.1 133 61 54 40 60 0 0 8.04 7 0 0 15.2 26 14 14 10 9 1 1 5.28 19 0 4 15.1 17 12 9 15 12 5 2 4.57 14 13 0 82.2 91 47 42 34 59 1 3 4.91 36 0 1 29.1 34 17 16 8 15 1 2 4.24 4 4 0 17.0 20 11 8 6 18 11 6 3.52 24 24 0 176.2 166 75 69 44 92 7 5 3.82 51 0 2 73.0 71 33 31 26 63 10 6 5.60 23 23 0 141.1 163 96 88 67 100 0 1 11.45 6 4 0 11.0 23 16 14 9 5 10 8 3.45 23 23 0 169.1 175 76 65 48 108 0 1 6.06 4 1 0 16.1 21 11 11 10 11 7 2 2.54 41 0 3 71.0 61 25 20 37 73 1 1 4.97 13 0 5 12.2 13 8 7 3 10 0 1 8.49 14 0 5 11.2 14 11 11 12 16 0 1 11.25 12 0 0 8.0 13 11 10 7 2 0 1 21.60 1 1 0 1.2 6 8 4 1 0 1 0 2.13 9 0 1 12.2 13 6 3 7 5 0 0 10.38 1 0 0 4.1 9 5 5 1 1 Team totals 66 47 4.36 113 113 21 1018.2 1097 562 494 404 666

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Minor league affiliates Level Team League Season article AAA Charlotte Knights International League 1994 Charlotte Knights season AA Canton–Akron Indians Eastern League 1994 Canton–Akron Indians season Advanced A Kinston Indians Carolina League A Columbus RedStixx South Atlantic League Short Season A Watertown Indians New York–Penn League Rookie Burlington Indians Appalachian League

References

1994 Cleveland Indians team at Baseball-Reference 1994 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac