Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997 by Terry Pluto

Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997 Reviews

• 
  Ashley Marie

  3.5 stars
  
  And in case anyone cares, the paperback actually has 333 pages.
  
  Ideally, this would be a five-star book. Grammatical errors unfortunately litter it, which my inner English major cannot seem to ignore. It's also written rather choppily, and repeats itself from chapter to chapter, as if it assumes you only pick it up to read a specific chapter and then you're done. But if you're reading it the whole way through, it gets a little repetitive. My favorite chapters were the ones about building the new ballpark, and the hope that it brought, and the players' chapters -- Omar, Kenny, Jim Thome. It gets 3.5 stars because this was my team.
  
  I was eight years old in 1995 and ten in 1997. I grew up with a poster of Kenny Lofton on my wall alongside the NSYNC and Backstreet Boys posters. I got to go to a baseball camp one summer and field grounders from Omar Vizquel. I remember drawing up my own sign for the 1997 World Series, as if I were actually going to the game, and held onto it as we sat there watching everything unfold. (It said "Hook the Marlins", if I remember properly.) I'm sitting here listening to the Tribe duke it out with the Yankees in the 16th inning as I type this, and I've been crying since I finished the book ten minutes ago. For what could have been, I suppose, for what almost was and what really should have been, in 1997. But also because I recognize how truly incredible it was to grow up in that decade, believing we really had magic.
  
  Now to find out what hoops I have to jump through to get Tom Hamilton to sign this for me.
  
  update: Cleveland beat the Yankees. It's 12:30 and wayyyy past my bedtime.
• 
  Michael

  For most Cleveland sports fans 1994-1997 was almost like a dream and with the help of Terry Pluto and Tom Hamilton the dream can be relived in the Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997. This book is written in three different sections with chapters making up each sections. The chapters do not connect to one another so a reader could skip around reading the chapters that they find most interesting first. My favorite chapters come at the end of each section entitled "Readers Letters". Pluto collected letters from the readers of his Plain Dealer columns and separated them based on topic. It is interesting to read Clevelanders accounts of watching games with parents, meeting favorite players, attending Jacobs Field for the first time and reliving how it felt during and after Game 7 of the World Series against the Florida Marlins in 1997.
  
  The stories in the book are collected from interviews that Pluto conducted either during the seasons focused on or in interviews since. Hamilton adds his memories throughout recounting being on Jacob's private plan when the trade of Kenny Lofton to the Atlanta Braves was being discussed, finding out that Herb Score was going to retire at the end of the '97 season but wanted it to be kept a secret and what the seemingly always angry Albert Belle was like away from the clubhouse.
  
  There is a lot of insight into the club that I'm sure some die-hard Cleveland sports radio fans knew, but that I found interesting learning about such as the reason behind Jim Thome signing with the Philadelphia Phillies, some of the fires that manager Mike Hargrove had to put out in the clubhouse, how players felt the organization disrespected Hall of Fame player Eddie Murray with a low contract and what the players thought of playing in Cleveland for the fans.
  
  This book was really interesting to read as a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan. The only thing that I found disappointing was that chunks were repeated throughout the books. Like details about the trade of Lofton to Atlanta is recounted a couple of times, information about Hargrove's playing career and Mark Shapiro's father being a agent for many players in the MLB. Since I look at the book as being one that a reader could skip around and read the chapters in the order they choose I decided not to knock it for the repeats throughout the book. I think that any Cleveland sports fan would be happy to add this book to their library collection.
• 
  April Helms

  I'm not a huge sports fan, but even I remember the heady days, from 1994 to 1997, when everyone had Tribe fever. After decades of mediocrity, the Cleveland Indians had a new owner, a new stadium, new and promising players and a general feeling of optimism. This combination got the Tribe to the World Series twice- in 1995 and in 1997. Of course, Cleveland sports luck being what it is, we fell just short of winning the whole enchilada (1997 was especially painful), and a series of bad trades and bad decisions after 1997 had our all-too-brief Camelot dreams crash back into reality. This was an enjoyable read, even for a (very) casual fan like me, easy to follow. Some of the more technical numbers went over my head but the book doesn't dwell too much on numbers. Rather, it goes into the stories of the players, the front office, the managers, and there's even sections of the book dedicated to memories submitted by fans. It was interesting how many chances the front office and coaching staff took-- chances that, for the most part, paid off-- offering long-term contracts to young, promising but untried players in hopes of becoming contenders by 1994. Long-term planning, what a concept!
  Pluto, a longtime sports writer, and Hamilton, the longtime radio announcer for the Indians, put together a book that humanizes and fleshes out the players that became heroes for so many. There's also a lot of interesting tidbits. One, I didn't know Dick Jacobs, the former owner, grew up in Goodyear Heights- the neighborhood where I grew up. Also, I didn't know about the sweetheart deal former Browns owner Art Modell had at the stadium (basically he paid a dollar to rent the facility and not only got the profits from the Browns, but a percentage from the Indians, who rented from him). I can see why he was so bitter, having that gravy train yanked from him. No sympathy here, on the contrary.
  But I digress. This book was a nice walk down memory lane for even me, and bigger fans of baseball should enjoy this.
• 
  Vicki Davis

  I have read all of Terry Pluto's books on the Indians, and this is another winner. Anyone who lived through the glory days of the Cleveland Indians will love this book --Tom Hamilton, as co-author, also added many insider stories from his unique perspective as a Tribe radio announcer that I think will be new to most Tribe fans. I waited fifty years to see the great teams of the Indians of the mid and late 90's, and it is fun to relive those days again through this book. Surprisingly, I found a story about me and my nephew on p. 294 in the section called "Players: Fans Write In" that my nephew had sent in about us. There were several fan write-in sections in the book which I thought really added to the story.
• 
  Johnny Biacofsky

  The topic is worth the time, particularly for people who lived it (the mid 90s in Cleveland) or for diehard Tribe fans the world over. I had some problem with the writing, however, which seemed a bit helter skelter. The stories are worth hearing, the histories worth telling, but in the case of this book, similar statements seemed to be repeated between chapters as if the writer had forgotten he had already written it already. This came off as distracting to me. Certainly worth a read, but there very well could be a better put together history and recollection of these events, and if there isn't then there is still room for it to be made.
• 
  Julie

  Ah, I remember these days well. How going to a Cleveland Indians game was a legit reason for getting out of work or school. Every single day was like a baseball holiday. It was pretty cool to have like a behind-the-scenes look at some of the players and their lives. How some of the big names in this book...just kind of disappeared. Albert Belle, Jared Wright, Manny Ramirez....they did their thing in Cleveland, then left and pretty much disappeared in the shadows. If you were around for this explosive momement is Cleveland baseball history...this is a must read for you.
• 
  Linda

  Just like the movie "Major League" a true Tribe fan cries as they read this book. They cry for what might have been with teams of power and swagger. An interesting book that takes a mostly unvarnished look at the teams of the 1990's through the eyes of sports writer/author Terry Pluto and broadcasting legend Tom Hamilton. There's a whole new reason to applaud the genius and player handling of Mike Hargrove.I'll admit to being in tears several times. Those were great days, a perfect storm we Tribe fans will never see again.
• 
  Christopher

  Great topic. One dear to my heart. But the writing style seems disjointed and choppy. If I didn't care so much about this team I'd knock down the rating a bit lower.
• 
  JenYokiel

  Man this book took me right back to the heyday of the new stadium. Where my love for the tribe started. Even though I was in middle school/beginning of high school during the 94-97 seasons, you could tell big things were happening in this city. This book was an excellent insiders view of how a team works and how the team we all know and love came together, and even fell apart. I really enjoyed this book. A must read for anyone who followed the Indians in the 90s era, written by mr “and we underway at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario” himself.
• 
  Casey Hickman

  I really enjoyed reliving the 90s Indians in this book. A third of this book is repetition though. This book makes me feel the current Indians team is on a similar path as the 90s team.
• 
  Paul Mahon

  I really enjoyed getting Tom Hamilton's prespective in this book. A fun read interesting to hear from the players and coaches perspective on the teams of the 90s.
• 
  Laura Daugherty

  Excellent book about the Indians from 1994-1997.
• 
  Philip Haagensen

  Being from Cleveland, I'm familiar with Terry Pluto from his columns in the Plain Dealer (our city newspaper). His insights and commentary are always interesting and enlightening.
  
  This is his second book I've read/reviewed (The Comeback being the other) and I now have a reference point to his books. They are what his columns are---a collection of anecdotes and inside information relevant to the subject matter, strung from start to finish.
  
  But what works in a newspaper column stumbles in book form. Many times the anecdotes seem thrown together, their only commonality and relation being their subject matter. In this book, Pluto has chapters on each of the various main players on the 1990's Indians teams. But paragraph to paragraph, its like he is rattling off stories and events related to him in a haphazard, random manner. One story doesn't really tie to another except for the fact they are about the same player. He holds back any true criticism or commentary on some of the controversial events or rumors, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. It's like you're in a room with him and he is rattling off stories as they come to his mind.
  
  Each chapter can be read individually; no need for a linear read here as in fact Pluto restates the same fact many times from chapter to chapter if it adds to the chapter's main points. You've heard it before in previous chapters.
  
  I can't say I didn't enjoy the book because Pluto obviously has unique insights and stories others don't have. But you would expect this from a sports beat writer. It's as if he collected all his notes from interviews and observations, organized them according to subject matter, and wrote them down start to finish, damned be any segues or transitions.
  
  For content only the book will be meaningful to anyone who followed the Tribe of the 90's. But as literature....not so much. As a newspaper columnist he does a heck of a job. This book is simply a collection of all those notes.
  
  
  
• 
  N B

  There so much packed into this book, I don't know where to begin! The title pretty much says it all: Glory Days in Tribe Town. If you have been an Indians baseball fan for any length of time, you know that there were a lot more dry deserts without an oasis than there were glory days. I was born in the 1950's and often say I cut my teeth on an Indians baseball, and the love of the game was bred into me. But I'm still waiting, watching, listening, hoping for that ever elusive championship. This book – it brought me so many memories of that wonderful, too brief period of time when we all thought, maybe...
  The 1994 season, when we actually got a new stadium, and the years right after, when we went to the World Series, twice. The immediately following years were pretty awesome too, to a lesser extent. It was magic. If you weren't a Cleveland baseball fan at the time, it's hard to explain, but this book captures it PERFECTLY! So many memories, so many behind the scenes peeks and insights. It captures them all. The way the city became just one big conglomerate of people, all united in a common love for their team, selling out 455 home games in a row. (That's never been done before or since, anywhere!) There are chapters on each individual team member who played an important role on those teams. But there's so much more than that. There's stories about the off-the-field players too. The hiring and grooming of the management team who almost made all our dreams come true: how they brought it all together, and everything they did to try to keep it lasting as long as it could.
  Everything in this book brought back joyous memories of that time. Okay, a few of them were anything but joyous, and hurt like hell. (1997 World Series, Game 7, anyone?) Dang, why did I have to bring that up? But that's part of all those memories, too.
  I read this book a little at a time, savoring it. It was like a big hug, even though sometimes hugs are sad. Now I'm giving it to my son (for whom I originally purchased it). He grew up during the 90's, and has been infected with the baseball bug, too. It's a bond we'll always share.
  Thank you, Terry Pluto and Tom Hamilton, for putting together this beautiful collection of memories. They'll never fade.
• 
  Tom Gase

  This book really took me back to the mid 1990s and watching baseball. Although I'm not from Cleveland or an Indians fan, I remember how good those Indians teams were, especially the 1995 team with players like Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Eddie Murray, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Sandy Alomar and Omar Visquel to just name a few. The book has a chapter for each of the main players on the 1995 team and also talks about how bad the Indians were from 1954 to 1994. It also talks about the old ballpark and the building and completion of a new ballpark, which was then called Jacobs Field. And I'd say all of this was great, worthy of a five-star book. The research, the writing and then the parts where the fans write in, was just great.
  And then the book really started to repeat itself. Sometimes within the same chapter. It was really obvious and made the story not flow really well. The second half talks about players leaving due to free agency and how the 1997 Indians were kind of a surprise to make the World Series, even though that team was loaded. It's weird to think. Entering the 1997 season the Yankees and Indians were both great but the Yankees had only won one of their four World Series and one of their six pennants between 1996 and 2003. And it's weird to think if things had gone just a little differently with some moves, the Indians, not the Yankees could have possibly been winning those pennants. Also this book was weird because it makes Albert Belle to be an explosive person, but not that bad at heart. I just didn't buy that. Terry Pluto is a really good writer, so maybe I was just expecting too much out of this. I don't know. Anyway this book is a must-read for Indians fans and a great read for people who grew up watching baseball in the 1990s. A good nostalgic trip down memory lane.
• 
  Richard Grebenc

  Longtime columnist Pluto and longtime announcer Hamilton collaborate on a wonderful book detailing the glory years of the Cleveland Indians. It is a fun trip down memory lane for one who lived through it and a great way for those too young to fully appreciate that time to get a glimpse into a special time in Cleveland sports that will not be repeated.
  
  The structure of the book is outstanding. Chapters mainly deal with individual personalities (players and management) providing depth about their part in this golden era of Tribe baseball. Even close watchers of the Indians will get some nuggets here.
  
  There are several sections of "Fans Write In" that I skipped. Not interesting to me, but I'm sure others will enjoy hearing from other die-hards.
  
  Pluto has written plenty about the Tribe and shows an intimate knowledge of the team. This book is essential for any Tribe fan's bookshelf.
• 
  Dave

  A fun read about the juggernaut Cleveland teams of the mid-90s. The Cleveland sports pecking order is Browns, then Cavs, then Tribe, so for baseball to sell out every game for 6 years in a town that is now consistently in the bottom 5 in MLB attendance tells you how much they really captured the collective attention of Northeast Ohio with a ridiculously talented offensive squad. Like the Tampa Bay Rays of late, the 49ers of a few years ago, and the Phoenix Suns of the Steve Nash era, it's a shame a group this good didn't walk away with at least one title.
  
  A lot of typos, like a lot. Had the authors and editors tried a bit harder on the presentation and organization this could have 4 stars because the content they had to cover is quite interesting.
• 
  P.M. Bradshaw

  An excellent book about the latest greatest era of Indians baseball, 1994-1997. Terry Pluto is THE Cleveland sports writer, and this book, co-written by Tribe radio personality Tom Hamilton, shows us why. Great individual chapters on all the key players (Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar), and added insights from fans make for a great book.
  
  My only beef, I wish it were a little longer. Maybe a chapter specifically on the 1995 and 1997 games. But it's a small beef in a great read.
• 
  Dan

  A fantastic account of the glory days of the 90s Cleveland Indians. Cleveland was such a baseball town in those days – far more than I've ever seen San Francisco, despite the World Series wins. Baseball was everywhere, on everything, in everything. Indians posters were all over the school, bumper stickers and antenna toppers on every car, Indians appeal on every person. When you went to a game, you were guaranteed to see half a dozen friends – and you went to games twice a month!!
  
  I miss that, and this book made me miss it more, so... success?
• 
  Christina

  Wanted so much to love this book as much as I love Tom. It started entertainingly and reminded me of the joy of those years. However, the poor writing of the book quickly distracted from the enjoyment. It lacked a flow or structure and was often repetitive even down to the same lines being used in multiple chapters. That in addition to fan quotes placed in non corresponding sections and a missing page 326 just left it feeling very sloppy.
• 
  Rich

  This was an average book about a great story. I enjoyed being taken back to the glory days for the Cleveland Indians which, for a big fan like me, were huge days of fun and city pride. This books covers a number of stories about those days in the form of various chapters dedicated to different subjects. It's not a chronology but stories on various topics which concerned these years for the Tribe. Written by Terry Pluto with minimal help from Tom Hamilton.
• 
  Jimmy Rex

  Many of my best memories as a kid revolve around the Tribe and those 6-7 glory years of the 90's. Alomar hitting that home run off Rivera in 1997, my dad surprising me with tickets to games 3 and 4.. This book was amazing, brought a tear to my eye. This was my youth and this was the best I've been able to remember it in a long long time
• 
  Jake Furr

  Great book for all Tribe fans. I was 4-7 years old when the events of this book took place and was a huge Tribe fan as a kid. This really brought back some amazing memories and helped me understand things that I couldn't at a young age. Terry and Tom Hamilton do an amazing job and during Hamilton's comments, you can really hear that amazing radio voice in your head. Go Tribe!
• 
  Jason Chamberlain

  This is essential reading for any Indians fan. I thoroughly enjoyed this walk down memory lane. Terry Pluto always brings such a great perspective to Cleveland sports because he is optimistic, but realistic as well. He avoids the bitter cynicism that is prevalent in so much of the Cleveland sports consciousness.
• 
  Elizabeth

  This book brings back so many memories, both glorious and heartbreaking. It was the perfect book to read during Spring Training. As a bonus, I met Tom Hamilton (again) while in the midst of reading the book while down at Spring Training! I also got to talk to Lonnie Chisenhall about the book!!
• 
  Jake

  Repetitive and filled with typical baseball platitudes and cliches, not offering a very novel or interesting looking at one of the best assembled teams of my lifetime. Padded the book with boring write in stories from Indians fans.
• 
  Kris Stratton

  I grew up with the Indians in the 1990s. My family had season tickets (we split with other families) and we were there for some great games. I was one of the kids who missed school for the parade following the 1995 season. I'm still a tribe fan and this book really helped me relive the Glory Days!
• 
  Greg Miller

  Some great memories in this book, along with a lot of information I didn't know or had forgotten. I think it could have been shorter or edited better - LOTS of repetition from one chapter to another. A fun look back and reminder of how magical those years were.