CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland Indians catcher and current assistant coach Sandy Alomar Jr. will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards next month.
Alomar Jr. will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Cuyahoga Community College, during the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards ceremony at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Grand Ballroom on Feb. 6.
Alomar Jr. spent 11 of his 20 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Indians, who acquired him, as well as Carlos Baerga and Chris James in a trade with the San Diego Padres for outfielder Joe Carter prior to the 1990 season.
Alomar Jr. returned to the Indians’ organization as a coach on November 17, 2009, where he has been a first-base coach, bench coach, Major League catching instructor and interim manager for the final six games of the 2012 season.
In 985 regular-season games over his 11 years with the Indians, Alomar Jr. registered 944 hits, including 194 doubles, eight triples and 92 home runs, along with 416 runs scored, 453 runs batted in and 165 walks against 386 strikeouts.
Alomar Jr. had a .277 batting average, along with .315 on-base, .419 slugging and .734 on-base-plus-slugging percentages with the Indians.
Over 49 games in 10 playoff series with the Indians, Alomar Jr. had 37 hits in 173 at-bats, including nine doubles, five home runs and one triple, along with 28 runs batted in, 17 runs scored and seven walks.
Alomar Jr. was the 1990 American League Rookie of the Year, a 1990 Gold Glove Award winner and six-time AL All-Star, with his most memorable showing coming in the 1997 Midsummer Classic at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Alomar Jr. belted a two-run home run over the 19-foot high wall in left-center field, which turned out to be the game-winning hit and won him All-Star Game Most Valuable Player honors. Alomar Jr. was the first player in MLB history to earn All-Star Game MVP honors in his home park.
That was one of several memorable moments for Alomar Jr. in 1997.
In 125 games, Alomar Jr. registered career highs with 146 hits, 37 doubles, 21 home runs, 83 runs batted in and a .324 batting average, along with .354 on-base, .545 slugging and .900 on-base-plus-slugging percentages.
Alomar Jr. will be the sixth current or former member of the Indians to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards.
Alomar Jr. will join a group that includes Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller (2004), former owner Richard Jacobs (2005), former pitcher and announcer Herb Score (2006), broadcaster Tom Hamilton (2014) and former infielder/manager Mike Hargrove (2016) as former Indians who have been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.