Editing Cleveland Guardians (section)

====1995–1996: First AL pennant since 1954====

Having contended for the division in the aborted 1994 season, Cleveland sprinted to a 100–44 record (the season was shortened by 18 games due to player/owner negotiations) in 1995, winning its first-ever divisional title. Veterans [[Dennis Martínez]], [[Orel Hershiser]] and [[Eddie Murray]] combined with a young core of players including [[Omar Vizquel]], [[Albert Belle]], [[Jim Thome]], [[Manny Ramírez]], [[Kenny Lofton]] and [[Charles Nagy]] to lead the league in team batting average as well as team ERA.

After defeating the [[1995 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] in the [[1995 American League Division Series|Division Series]] and the [[1995 Seattle Mariners season|Seattle Mariners]] in the [[1995 American League Championship Series|ALCS]], Cleveland clinched the American League pennant and a [[World Series]] berth, for the first time since 1954. The [[1995 World Series|World Series]] ended in disappointment, however: the Indians fell in six games to the [[1995 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]].

[[File:Kenny Lofton 1996.jpg|thumb|[[Kenny Lofton]] in 1996]]
Tickets for every Indians home game sold out several months before opening day in 1996.<ref name="Tickets">{{cite news|title=Indians plan to sell additional tickets|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/07/sports/baseball-indians-plan-to-sell-additional-tickets.html|access-date=October 19, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=March 7, 1996|archive-date=October 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020115959/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/07/sports/baseball-indians-plan-to-sell-additional-tickets.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Indians repeated as AL Central champions but lost to the [[Wild card (sports)|wild card]] [[1996 Baltimore Orioles season|Baltimore Orioles]] in the [[1996 American League Division Series|Division Series]].