Cleveland's Finest. Vince McKee
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People began to think that even without Chones this team could still be a team of destiny. It was in the fans’ minds that they could pull off one of the all-time greatest upsets. It was easy for the fans to get swept away in it. The problem was that Thurmond had to pick up extra minutes for the hurt Chones, and it was simply too much to ask. Despite their best efforts, we fell short in six games.
North Olmsted native John Rehak, a noted child psychologist and youth basketball coach for many years, also shared his memories of the series:
It is my honest opinion that if Jim Chones didn’t break his foot, that the team would have won the NBA Championship. It was a magical time for our city, and one that I will never forget.
Bruce Rice of North Olmsted, a retired mailman and an avid Cleveland sports fan, recalled:
We brought a banner to each game with a giant rear end on it that said, “Hey Cowens, Stuff This!”
The truth, however, was that Cleveland sports teams were in the middle of a miserable run. The Browns hadn’t been good in years. The Indians never made it back to the playoffs after getting swept in the World Series in 1954 against the San Francisco Giants. The Cavaliers had been terrible until this magical run. They gave the city some desperately needed hope. It didn’t matter if it was the clever nicknames or the colorful uniforms—Cleveland fans were just happy to have a winner.
CHAPTER THREE
Super Joe
The Cleveland Indians had suffered through some very lean seasons for three straight decades. They were in need of a change, in need of a player with so much talent and charisma he could singlehandedly change the face of Cleveland Indians baseball for the better.
In the spring of 1980, a player came out of nowhere to do just that for one unforgettable season. He was more than just an average Joe—he was super!
Joe Charboneau grew up in California with his single mother in search of a dream. He was taught the game of baseball by his older brother, Rick. Six years older than Joe, Rick had an extreme passion for baseball. A great athlete in baseball and hockey, Rick spent a lot of time with Joe, molding him as a young man both on and off the field. The older Charboneau trained his younger sibling in the weight room as well. The brothers were so close that Rick helped Joe in weight training from the age of fourteen all the way through his playing days in the major leagues. The guidance Joe received from Rick helped prepare him mentally and physically to reach the professional level.
Joe Charboneau meets with a fan.
Joe Charboneau would be the first person to say that the main trait of a good hitter is to be tenacious. It isn’t just an hour-a-day thing, but rather a skill that needs daily practice for hours at a time. During an interview at his Cleveland-area home, Charboneau described what he thinks it takes to be a good hitter:
I didn’t have a lot of natural talent, so I had to work every day to groove my swing and keep everything in order. It’s a constant, ongoing project to be a good hitter. You have to imagine yourself doing a lot of it as well, hitting doubles, triples, and home runs. You have to picture yourself succeeding so when you’re not physically doing the work you still have to do it mentally.
Charboneau’s insight provides further evidence that any good ballplayer is blessed not only with physical tools but mental ones as well.
Growing up with his older brother constantly watching baseball, Charboneau had many heroes. He fondly recalled having a Carl Yastrzemski poster in his room, next to a Raquel Welch poster. Not only did he look up to Yastrzemski, but he also idolized both Al Kaline and Stan Musial. His fondness for Musial was so great that he used his bat model to hit with in the majors.
In 1976, after playing ball at Brooksville High School in California, the Minnesota Twins drafted Charboneau. Minnesota had a good program that also had produced major league pitcher Mark Langston. When scout Lee Irwin showed up at Charboneau’s house to sign the contract, it was predetermined that the signing bonus would only be $500. Joe was still trying to take care of his single mother and could not take such a small amount of money, so instead he asked for $5,000—an amount that was promptly denied by the Twins. The Philadelphia Phillies took a chance by drafting Charboneau later that same year. During his time with the Phillies organization, Charboneau met Cal Emery, the last player to hit .400 in Triple A. Charboneau developed his skills further by working with Emery in the Phillies Instructional League. He also had the chance to work with Tony Oliva and Willie Stargell, both great major-leaguers in their own right.
1980 American League Rookie of the Year Joe Charboneau
Charboneau was traded to the Cleveland Indians before the 1979 season began after having a very good 1978 season at the minor league level. He had the fourth-best average in the minor leagues in 1978, a record that caught the attention of the Indians. The team was able to acquire him by trading pitcher Cardell Camper. Charboneau continued his minor league dominance in 1979 by hitting .352 for the Indians’ Double A team—and seemed destined to arrive at the Indians’ Triple A Charleston, South Carolina, affiliate—when he was called up to the majors sooner than anyone might have thought possible. Regular left fielder André Thornton was sidelined with an injured knee, giving Charboneau his shot at the big league club. Playing in front of a huge Cleveland crowd is always special for a ball player, and Charboneau described his first game in the big leagues at Cleveland Municipal Stadium:
Our first opening day after coming home from the road, we played on a sunny afternoon of 74 degrees and in front of 72,000 people. I thought it was going to be like that every day. The next day it was very cold and we only had 3,000 fans in the stands. But Indians fans are great fans, and I really enjoyed them. I had a good relationship with them and they treated me really well. It was a great place to play. I wouldn’t have won Rookie of the Year any place but Cleveland, and 1980 would have not worked out like it did if I didn’t play in Cleveland.
Charboneau’s rookie season became a thing of beauty. He fit in well with his teammates and hit for an impressive .289 average. He also showed signs of serious power, belting 27 home runs and knocking in 87 RBIs. During Joe’s rookie season, Indians fans fell in love with him instantly. A song written about him, “Go Joe Charboneau,” climbed to number three on the local radio record charts.
Charboneau recalled that having all that attention on him “was weird, and it was really strange having a song out. It was overwhelming because I didn’t expect any of that; I just came to play baseball. I never expected any of that—it was just so different. The cool thing was that a lot of the profits went to charity, so I was okay with it.” A number of larger-than-life stories about him made the rounds, including a couple of anecdotes asserting that he could open beer bottles with his eye and fix a broken nose with pliers and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. Joe explained how these stories came about, offering, “it was stuff that happened mostly in college. I attended a junior college in California called West Valley Junior College. One of my old college friends came down to Cleveland one night and told local reporter Dan Coughlin about things that had occurred back in college, and that’s how some of those crazy stories got out.”
Joe gets ready to step into the batter’s box.
Charboneau was quick to give credit to Cleveland’s fans for his success. He has been quoted as saying that “Cleveland was a great place to play,” and he believed that it was his relationship with the fans that helped him to achieve his rookie success. His incredible season caught the attention of nationwide sports analysts as he was voted American League Rookie of the Year—the first Cleveland Indian to achieve that honor in nine seasons. (The last Indian to win the award prior to Charboneau was Chris Chambliss in 1971, and it wouldn’t happen again until 1990 with famed catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.)