Ohio Cup (1989-1996)

The Ohio Cup was an annual pre-season baseball game, which pitted the Ohio rivals Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. The single-game cup, played each year at minor-league Cooper Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, was staged just days before the start of each new Major League Baseball season.

A total of eight Ohio Cup games were played, with the Indians dominating. Its demise coincided with the introduction of interleague play in 1997.

The two teams compete annually in the regular-season Battle of Ohio or Buckeye Series.

The Ohio Cup was also a favorite among baseball fans in Columbus, with attendances regularly topping 15,000.

The winner of the game each year was awarded the Ohio Cup in postgame ceremonies.

A New Twist beginning in 2008

The Ohio Lottery now sponsors the Ohio Cup, a 32-inch trophy which will goes winner of the Reds-Indians series. If there is a 3-3 split of the season series, each team will keep the trophy for part of the season. (Cincinnati Enquirer - May 2008)

The Ohio Cup's origin

Ohio's two Major League Baseball teams had never met in the World Series. Prior to 1989, the teams had never even qualified for the post-season in the same year. They came close in both 1919 and 1940 when Cincinnati won both the National League and World Series and Cleveland finished second in the American League.

Details of an Ohio Cup were first unveiled at a press conference on August 25, 1988. The managers of both the Indians and Reds did not treat the cup game as anything more than an exhibition, but many fans in Columbus treated it like a referendum on major league sports in the city. [Chronicle-Telegram. Sunday, April 2, 1989] At that time Columbus did not have any major league sports.

Sitting between Cleveland and Cincinnati, the city was always divided when it came to allegiance to the state's big league teams. "Half the fans (in Columbus) love the Reds and hate the Indians and the other half love the Indians and hate the Reds. It's a great matchup," said the game's promoter, Keith Sprunk. [Ibid]

Indians manager Doc Edwards agreed. "I'll love to play it, it's great. San Francisco and Oakland do the same thing. I'd like to see (the Ohio Cup) become an annual thing, either during the spring or in the summer.". [Ibid]

Ohio Cup 1989-1996

An average crowd of 15,910 attended the first five Ohio Cups at the 15,000 seat Cooper Stadium. Those crowds ranked 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9th and 12th among all time largest baseball crowds at the stadium.

Only a couple thousand made it out in 1995 with temperatures near freezing and replacement players taking the field.

1989

The first Reds and Indians match-up in 16 years proved to be an anti-climax, marred by 40-degree temperatures made colder by constant rain and brisk wind. The so called I-71 battle was uneventful and proved to be something less than a jump-start before both teams' home openers.

Cleveland started only four regulars while Cincinnati opted to play seven of their nine starters including Eric Davis, Barry Larkin and Kal Daniels.

It remained scoreless until the top of the eighth inning when a throwing error by Reds outfielder Herm Winningham allowed Luis Aguayo to score the only run. Minor league pitcher Gregg McMichael received the win while Reds' reliever Mike Griffin was credited with the loss.

Newspaper reports say the game's highlight occurred in the bottom of the third when a pitch from Indians' starter Rich Yett slipped from his hand and landed halfway up the screen behind homeplate.

1990

Originally scheduled to be played on April 1, the game was rescheduled for April 8, because of the 32-day major league lockout. Catchers Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Joel Skinner combined for six RBIs as the Indians won their second straight Ohio Cup before a standing-room only crowd. In an action-packed game, the Indians banged out 13 hits, including six in the fourth inning which resulted in seven-runs. Cory Snyder hit a monster blast off Danny Jackson that traveled well past the 400-foot sign in straightaway center field. Alomar homered twice, the first a three-run shot to left-center, the second a solo effort. Skinner hit a two run shot after being brought in to replace Alomar.

1991

Albert Belle crashed his eleventh home run of the exhibition season as the Indians beat the World Champion Reds 4-3. Jerry Browne hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to lift the Indians to victory. Other highlights included a Bill Doran triple in the fourth inning, which scored the Reds first run.

1992

The Reds finally ended their rivals' supremacy. Cincinnati took the lead in the first. Lead off hitter Bip Roberts doubled and later scored. They added another run in the fourth. Reds' third baseman Chris Sabo counted an RBI double among his two hits while Albert Belle hit two of his team's four hits.

1993

Mike Bielecki stopped Cincinnati on one run and four hits in six innings and Albert Belle had a three-run single as the Tribe won their fourth Ohio Cup in five years. Highlights included a home run by Indians' first baseman Paul Sorrento. The only Reds run was scored by Barry Larkin.

1994

Manny Ramírez and Paul Sorrento homered in a five-run second inning to help give the Indians an 8-4 win. Mark Clark pitched seven innings, allowing five hits and three runs, walking one and striking out five to gain the win. Albert Belle and Eddie Murray led off the second inning with singles and Sorrento followed with his homer. After Jim Thome singled, Ramirez homered. All five runs came off Tom Browning.

1995

With the 1994 Major League Baseball strike only coming to an end on April 2, replacement players traveled to Columbus to take part in the Ohio Cup. Teamsters picketed outside the stadium as snow fell. Two of the first three batters reached base on errors while the bundled-up crowd booed. With temperatures near freezing and replacements Tim Delgado and Rich Sauveur taking the mound, only a couple thousand fans made it out.

1996

A line drive single by Julio Franco in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie Cleveland defeated Cincinnati to win the final Ohio Cup. Manny Ramírez had given Cleveland a 3-1 lead with a three-run homer to left field in the second off the Reds' Mark Portugal. Hal Morris drove in two runs for the Reds with a first-inning single and a double in the third, with Bret Boone scoring both times. A single by Vince Coleman in the fifth drove in Jeff Branson and tied the score at 3-3.

The victory gave the Indians a 6-2 lead in the Ohio Cup series and was viewed by 16,697 people, the largest crowd in the game's history and the second largest at Cooper Stadium.Indians starter Joe Roa was the winning pitcher.

Former Clippers

A number of former Columbus Clippers returned to Cooper Stadium to play in the Ohio Cup as members of the Reds or Indians. Among those appearing for the Reds were Roberto Kelly, the 1987 Clipper of the Year, and pitcher Jose Rijo who appeared briefly with Columbus in 1984. The 1989 Co-Clipper of the Year winners Hal Morris and Brian Dorsett also featured. Alvaro Espinoza, who hit .246 in 119 games with the Clippers in 1988, appeared for Cleveland and knocked in a run with a pinch-hit double in the 1993 Ohio Cup.

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.clippersmedia.com/Media%20Information.pdf Ohio Cup attendances]
* [http://blog.dispatch.com/blog-17/2007/07/your_backintheday_sports_memor.html A fan's Ohio Cup memory]
* Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria
* Marysville Journal-Tribune