Okay, so recently I was researching something on YouTube and came across an upload that was a documentary about the 1990s Cleveland Indians. This documentary, titled “The Dynasty that Almost Was,” was produced and originally shown on MLB Network.
I have to say, that documentary was a nice look-back at those Indians teams, but a couple of things made me think the writers/producers were full of it.
In the early part of the documentary, the narrator said that Joe Carter was the only major-league star on those Indians teams in the late 1980s. Okay, I understand the context. They were trying to say that the Carter trade brought them Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Carlos Baerga. I get that.
But to say that Joe Carter was the only major-league star on that team? C’mon. What about Brett Butler, Doug Jones, Greg Swindell, and Tom Candiotti? What about Julio Franco?
Yes, I get that they’re trying to emphasize the trade that brought the team Alomar and Baerga. But to say Carter was the “only major-league star”? Ridiculous.
Yes, yes, when the others departed, the Indians got nothing, or got the likes of Jack Armstrong or Glenallen Hill or Mark Whiten, none of whom were part of those powerful Tribe teams. But c’mon.
The other thing that was questionable was how they didn’t even mention the Steve Olin/Tim Crews/Bobby Ojeda boating incident. That was a huge story. How could they not even mention it?
I will say, though, overall it was great to see those former players reminisce about those days. It was awesome to hear Kenny Lofton’s thoughts about the dismantling of the club that began the year after they got to the World Series the first time.
A Life of Knuckleballs 