By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Shortstop Omar Vizquel is the only Indians player remaining from the team that moved into Jacobs Field in downtown Cleveland in 1994.

Vizquel, in Cincinnati for Friday night's exhibition opener at Great American Ball Park, said the Indians' new venue played a part in the team's rise.

"It was a great boost, not only for the team, but for the whole city," Vizquel said.

The Indians finished second that season, which ended in August because of the players' strike. It was the first time a Cleveland team had finished that high since 1959.

In 1995, the Indians won their division and made the first of five consecutive postseason appearances, and the new park - known as the Jake - played a part.

"A new ballpark means a new vision," said Vizquel, who came to the Indians in a trade from Seattle after the 1993 season.

"We had so many guys on that team coming from so many directions. They just wanted to put it all together in a new atmosphere. I fit right in there. That was my first year with the Cleveland Indians organization."

But a ballpark doesn't win or lose games.

The Indians had put together a solid nucleus of young players - outfielders Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle, infielder Carlos Baerga and catcher Sandy Alomar.

The team was built with an eye toward moving into the Jake. The timing was perfect.

Beginning in 1994, the Indians compiled a 408-280 record (.593) at Jacobs Field. They have averaged more than 3 million in home attendance a season, and a major-league record streak of 455 consecutive home sellouts started June 12, 1995.

Players, like fans, get excited by coming home to a brand new ballpark.

Indians pitcher Terry Mulholland, a veteran of 14-plus big-league seasons, was with the Pirates when PNC Park opened in Pittsburgh in 2001.

The Pirates arrived from spring training the night before a two-game exhibition series was to begin against the Mets. The bus took them to the ballpark, which was illuminated, where the players had to wait for their luggage.

"We were out there walking around on the field in our street clothes," Mulholland said Friday. "It was like 25 little kids.

"It was like we wanted to call the Mets up that night and say: `Come on over. Let's have a pick-up game.' "

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com