Cleveland Guardians Playoff Tickets

Cleveland Indians Postseason History

Cleveland is one of the most passionate sports cities in America, and that passion has had a chance to shine time and time again during the Major League Baseball postseason. Thanks to several runs of dominant pitching and fearsome hitters, the team has been a participant in the World Series on multiple occasions and has been a frequent contender that Cleveland can be proud of.

The most successful period of Indians postseason baseball may have been in the mid to late 1990s, with the team appearing in multiple World Series during that time frame. Cleveland made the Fall Classic in 1995 and 1997, setting up showdowns with both the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins (now known as the Miami Marlins). Those Indians teams were loaded with power hitting players that consistently managed to power the team deep into the playoffs.

Among those power hitters were greats such as Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, and Albert Belle. That threesome would strike fear into the hearts of pitchers in any era of baseball, as they provided power from both sides of the plate. But the Indians had more than just quality bats on their roster, as the team had plenty of pitching to go around during that golden generation.

Charles Nagy was an elite starter for the Indians, who consistently took the ball in big spots for the Tribe. Cleveland even had the services of Orel Hershiser for a period of time during this era, as Cleveland was able to count on his pitching expertise both when he took the mound and in terms of the wisdom he was able to impart on other pitchers. And with a defense anchored by shortstop Omar Vizquel, the pitching staff didn’t have to worry about opposing hitters making contact.

Cleveland also had a solid run in the 2010s, with ace pitcher Corey Kluber leading the team to the 2016 World Series, where they played an epic seven game series against the Chicago Cubs. The two decades from the mid-1990s to the mid-2010s were incredible overall for Indians fans, thanks to their frequent playoff appearances.

Those years were also memorable thanks to their rivalry with the New York Yankees, which spanned several postseasons. One of the more memorable moments from that rivalry was a comeback win in the 2007 Division Series, when swarms of bugs impacted the pitching ability of Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain. It was one of the wilder games in postseason history, and a famous victory for the Tribe.