In Alomar, the Indians had for three years that authentic "five-tool" player scouts, GMs and managers crave but rarely find. He will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
![ralomar-slide-def-horiz-01-cc.jpg]()
Chuck Crow, The Plain DealerThe acclaim for incoming Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar precedes his arrival in Cooperstown for Sunday's induction ceremonies. "Probably the most talented all-around player I've ever played with in my career," says former Indians teammate Travis Fryman.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- At the press conference announcing the signing of free agent second baseman Robbie Alomar before the 1999 season, Indians General Manager John Hart promised "a highlight film every night."
In a business prone to hyperbole, the show was even better than advertised. When Alomar was paired with graceful shortstop Omar Vizquel, baseball received a gift that even non-Indians fans had to appreciate.
"I think," Hart said in a recent phone interview, "what Robbie did for our club was he took us to another level."
Roberto Alomar spent three of his 17 major-league seasons in Cleveland, taking throws at second from his catcher/older brother, Sandy, performing baseball ballet with Vizquel and enjoying some of his most productive seasons at the plate, despite being in his 30s.
The Indians never reached the World Series with him. But in Alomar, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, the Indians got that authentic "five-tool" player scouts, GMs and managers crave but rarely find.
The 6-0, 184-pound switch-hitting Alomar, who covered second base like a fishing net, could throw, steal bases, hit for average and, later in his career, hit for power.
In '99, his first season with the Tribe, Alomar hit 24 homers and had 120 RBI, (both career highs), batted .323 and scored a league-high 138 runs. He was third in the American League MVP voting that year, and fourth in '01, when he hit a career-high .336 -- at age 33.
The 2001 season also marked his 10th Gold Glove -- in 11 seasons -- and 12th straight All-Star appearance.
Alomar family career highlights
Roberto Alomar (playing career 1988-2004)
- 12-time All-Star
- 10 Gold Gloves
- 2 World Series championships
- 2011 Hall of Fame inductee
Sandy Alomar Jr. (playing career 1988-2007)
- 1990 American League Rookie of the Year
- 1990 Gold Glove
- 6-time All-Star
- 1997 All-Star MVP
Sandy Alomar Sr. (playing career 1964-78)
- 1970 All-Star
- 1971 led American League in assists at second base (530)
- 1971 second in American League in hits (179)
- As third-base coach for San Diego, watched both sons play in 1990 All-Star Game
— Bill Lubinger
"Probably the most talented all-around player I've ever played with in my career," said Travis Fryman, who played third base when Alomar and Vizquel manned the middle, forming baseball's best defensive infield at the time. "There was no one element in the game he wasn't excellent at."
Alomar, 43, who retired after the 2004 season, is a special assistant to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he won two World Series and whose cap he will wear on his Hall of Fame plaque.
But as frustrating as his seasons in Cleveland may have ended, they remain among his most special.
"I always believed no matter where you are, as long as you're doing what you love doing, you're going to be happy," he said in a recent phone interview. "I was happy everywhere, but I was real, real happy when I played with my brother Sandy."
The Alomar brothers practically grew up in the majors. Well, during the summers anyway.
When school was out in their native Puerto Rico, Sandy and Robbie would join their father, Sandy Alomar Sr., an infielder who spent 15 seasons with five teams. He would let the boys hang around the clubhouse, shag flies in the outfield and just absorb the game -- from such Yankees as Thurman Munson and Graig Nettles, and especially Jose Cruz, who made his name with the Houston Astros and Robby idolized because he was Puerto Rican, too.
"They used to observe the game a lot," said Sandy Sr., now retired in Puerto Rico. "They asked a lot of questions."
"It was awesome," Robbie said. "As a young boy, to have the chance to be around big-league players ..."
Growing up, Robbie played short and pitched. Brother Sandy pitched and played outfield before switching to catcher at 16. When they played together, their teams rarely lost.
They were signed, roomed together and rose through the minor leagues with San Diego. Robbie was younger, but got called up to the big leagues first. He was just 20 -- singled off Nolan Ryan in his first major-league at-bat.
Sandy, who will take a few days off from the Indians to drive his wife and kids to Cooperstown, N.Y., for the celebration, remembers realizing very early what special talent his brother had, and watching him continue to improve.
"I had to work very hard to get where I have been," Sandy said in the Indians clubhouse recently, "and Robbie had that already on his platter. He was blessed with speed, power. He's such a smart kid and he had a sixth sense for the game. You're not born with that, but you develop it through awareness. He had a tremendous amount of awareness as a player."
When his career ended, Robbie had hit over .300 nine times, had stolen at least 30 bases eight times and finished with 2,724 hits. He had long established himself as a star by the time Hart signed him for more than $7 million a year.
Alomar-Vizquel double plays were as smooth as the ballpark's ice-cold $7 beers in August. Ground balls up the middle -- or in the hole to either side of the infield -- were smothered like a hot dog in spicy brown mustard.
Although impossible to measure, team ERA had to drop with them and center-fielder Kenny Lofton running down wanna-be hits to snuff rallies.
Sometimes infield combinations need time to develop. With Alomar and Vizquel, the on-field chemistry was immediate.
"It was probably one of the few times that I started playing with a guy that I didn't need to really communicate much about what we need to do around the bag," said Vizquel by phone recently. "It was the same style of baseball that we played. Everything we did was with natural instinct.
"No, man," he said, answering the obvious question, "I don't think I played with a better second baseman than him. Playing with him was one of the highlights of my career."
![ralomar-vizquel-vert-01-cc.jpg]()
Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer"I don't think I played with a better second baseman than him," Omar Vizquel (left) said of Alomar. "Playing with him was one of the highlights of my career."And what about Vizquel, who is finishing out his career with the Chicago White Sox and may be headed to the Hall of Fame as well?
"The best shortstop I ever played with," said Alomar, who also teamed with Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. in Baltimore.
As career highlights go, winning the World Series in Toronto in 1992 and 1993, and his dramatic game-tying home run off Dennis Eckersley in the 1992 American League Championship Series, rank highest, he said. But his time in Cleveland was special for personal reasons.
"It was like a dream come true," Alomar said. "It doesn't get better than that. You get to see your brother on an everyday basis and watch him play. I wish we could have won a World Series together. We came close, but it didn't happen. [But] just to have the time to be with him and spend time with him, it was an incredible moment for me in my baseball career."
The other extreme -- the low point -- occurred while with Baltimore late in the '96 season. Alomar caused a national uproar when he spit in a home plate umpire's face after being ejected for arguing a called third strike.
"I will always regret the incident that I had with John Hirschbeck," he said. "I wish it never happened. That's one thing that I will regret above anything else."
Alomar and Hirschbeck are now friends. Together, and with Sandy's help, they've raised millions of dollars to research a rare brain disease that took the life of one of the umpire's sons. When Alomar was bypassed for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, Hirschbeck lobbied for him.
Alomar was suspended for five games after the incident, but the penalty didn't begin until the following year. He was allowed to play in postseason. A week later, his home run in the top of the 12th inning of Game 4 in the first round of the playoffs eliminated the Indians from a second straight World Series.
Three seasons later, Alomar, who Tribe fans cursed as they made the familiar Cleveland sports death march from Jacobs Field, went from Indians killer to Indians thriller.
View full sizePlayers like Manny Harris may find themselves missing NBA paychecks if the current lockout drags on.
