Alomar: Villain Turned Hero in Cleveland

As Roberto Alomar ran back to the Indians’ dugout, many fans realized they had seen an extraordinary play, one worth a standing ovation.

Racing into short center field with his back to the plate, Alomar twisted and snared a blooper hit over his head, turning an apparent single into just another out.

The cheers came from the same fans who turned their backs on Alomar in the 1996 playoffs.

He was a villain then, the Baltimore second baseman who spit in umpire John Hirschbeck’s face. Now he’s the toast of Cleveland, someone Indians fans once only dreamed of having and the best all-around player on the best team in baseball.

“I like it here,” he says.

Alomar, healthy for the first time in two years and free from the backbiting and finger-pointing he endured in Baltimore, is having an MVP-caliber year in his first season with the Indians.

His batting average has been hovering around .340 for a month. He already has more stolen bases this year than he did in each of his three previous years with the Orioles, and batting third for the first time in his career, he’s on pace to shatter his career highs in homers and RBIs.

Playing on the same team with brother Sandy, Alomar has been reborn in Cleveland.

“He has changed the Cleveland Indians. We are a more aggressive team, a more knowledgeable team,” said his brother, the Indians’ catcher who’s been sidelined since knee surgery in May. “Robbie might be the biggest reason why. He has given a spark to this team.”

Sandy Alomar has been able to watch his little brother blossom as he did when they were kids in Puerto Rico.

One day, Roberto Alomar is going from home to third without hitting the ball out of the infield, as he did against the Cubs recently. The next, he’s diving headfirst into first base for an infield hit to keep an inning alive or taking a hit away from Seattle’s David Bell with that great over-the-head catch.

Before the Indians signed Alomar to a free-agent contract last November, Bell was one of 16 different second basemen Cleveland used since trading away Carlos Baerga in 1996.

Bell, dealt to the Mariners last August, has noticed a change in his former team and thinks it can be traced to Alomar.

“He’s a great, great player,” Bell said. “He’s the best I’ve ever seen. I can’t do anything like him.”

Alomar’s aggressiveness and let’s-win-today attitude are rubbing off on all the Indians.

Despite injuries that have allowed them to field their opening-day lineup just four times, they lead the majors in wins and for the fifth straight year are running away in the AL Central.

However, these aren’t the same Indians who lost Game 7 of the 1997 World Series or who fell to the New York Yankees’ juggernaut last October.

This year’s Indians are more polished, more poised and more professional. They’re more patient at the plate. They’re moving runners over. They’re taking the extra base.

Cleveland is a different team in 1999. And Alomar is the difference.

“My dad always told me, and my mom always told me, ‘Go out there and play your game’,” he said.

“Doing the little things and running here and there and making things happen, other people see me do that and it rubs off on the other guys.”

There’s one play that probably best sums up Alomar’s start in Cleveland--off and running.

With the Indians tied 7-7 in the 11th, Alomar hit a hard grounder that Cubs first baseman Mark Grace could only knock down. As Grace scrambled to retrieve the ball and flip it to pitcher Scott Sanders covering first, Alomar was diving headfirst into the bag.

When Sanders fumbled the ball, Alomar popped to his feet and darted for second.

“I didn’t have time to say anything,” Indians first base coach Brian Graham recalled. “Robbie was already on his way. All instinct.”

With another headfirst slide, Alomar was safe at second but didn’t stay there long. Looking up, he saw Sanders had thrown the ball away, and by the time three Cubs ran it down in left, Alomar was standing at third. Moments later, he scored on a single to give the Indians a win.

“Robbie is one of the few players in the game that can make everybody around him better,” Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said. “He sees a lot of things that players can’t see or won’t see.”

Alomar is happy and healthy, maybe happier and healthier than he has ever been.

Injuries that limited him to 112 games in 1997, never completely healed last year in Baltimore. And although he had respectable stats--.282 average, 14 homers and 56 RBIs--they weren’t up to his standards.

As he struggled, so did the Orioles, and when the $70 million team faded from the playoff race, Alomar clashed with Baltimore manager Ray Miller. He became distant and at times grumbled about what he thought was preferential treatment for Cal Ripken Jr.

Some people said he was still bothered by the uproar over the Hirschbeck argument, and that the infamous scene in the SkyDome had changed him and taken away his desire to play.

“I’ve tried to put all of that behind me,” Alomar said. “I hope people understand that in the heat of the battle you do things you shouldn’t do. But I hope people see me the way I play the game.

“I learned a lot from that. I grew up a lot. Now I know who my friends are. Now I know who to trust and who not to trust.”

Mary Pierce has given Alomar someone with whom he can share his trust. The tennis star and the baseball All-Star have been engaged since last year. Last winter, Alomar took a needed break from baseball, traveling to South America and Australia to watch Pierce play.

“Mary and I are a lot alike,” he said. “We’re both sensitive people. We both have good hearts. I think me and her supporting each other has been great. She keeps me focused.”

Cleveland has been a perfect fit for Alomar, who is signed with the Indians through 2002 with a club option for ’03. He bought a beautiful home on the city’s west side and has relished the chance to play baseball again with his brother.

More than anything Alomar, who won two World Series titles with Toronto, wants to win another with Sandy. And he wants to bring one to the Indians, who haven’t won a title in 50 years.

“This is a special team,” he said. “I noticed that right away. It reminds me of Toronto because when one guy gets hurt someone comes off the bench and does the job. We’ve had that all year.”

More importantly, they’ve had Robbie Alomar.