Indians in the World Series - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

Blog about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s.

Indians in the World Series

(This blog is dedicated to my brother-in-law Fred)

One of my earliest recollections about major league baseball was as a six year old in 1954 when the Indians made it to the World Series. Dad wasn’t really an Indians fan, but since his favorite team, the Reds, were habitual cellar dwellers during the ’50’s, it was easy to root for a winner. In fact, Dad would always say that sports team allegiances in our area of mid-western Ohio seemed to flow with the water. In other words, if the land drained to the Ohio River, like our farm, you rooted for the Reds. But if it flowed north to Lake Erie, you were an Indians fan. Since the watershed was just three farms north of our place, Dad (and I) tended to root for whichever team was winning. The Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948, the year I was born, so here’s hoping they can finally do it again. About half as long as the Cubs drought, but whose counting!

Quoting from Wikipedia, "1954 was the winningest season in franchise history, when the Indians finished the season with a record of 111–43 (.721). That mark set an American League record for wins which stood for 44 years until the Yankees won 114 games in 1998 (a 162-game regular season). The Indians 1954 winning percentage of .721 is still an American League record. The Indians were a powerhouse team composed of Bob Feller, Larry Doby, Minnie Miñoso, Luke Easter, Bobby Ávila, Al Rosen, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, Vic Wertz and Mike Garcia, many of whom are now Hall of Famers. I had many of their baseball cards at the time, but this previous blog post referenced the demise of those priceless gems by my younger brother after I left for college!

More from Wikipedia: The ’54 Indians made it to the World Series to face the New York Giants. The team could not bring home the title, however, ultimately being upset by the Giants in a sweep. The series was notable for Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in Game 1”.

A little know fact about the Indians is that the team originated in Michigan as a minor league team in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, moving to Cleveland in 1900.

Get inspired for a big Indians World Series win with this Wild Thing video.

Go Tribe!