|
All-Century Roster: Indians
By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor
|
Though the Indians enter the 2000 season on an impressive boom of five
consecutive division championships, the history of Cleveland baseball has
primarily been a bust. Before 1995 when the AL Central was created for the
Indians to practice against before the postseason, Cleveland won just three
AL pennants -- 1920, '48 and '54.
 | | | Manny Ramirez helped end decades of bad baseball in Cleveland.(Allsport) | |
Not since 1948 have the Indians won the World Series.
Through the first 55 years of the century, the Indians had Hall of Fame
stars but rarely was there a strong enough mix combining outstanding
seasons to make Cleveland a contender. When the team did put together its
best regular season, winning 111 in 1954, it was baffled by the New York
Giants in a World Series sweep. Baseball began to fade as an attraction in
Cleveland and a 40-year period of general futility saw few stars and poor
attendance at Municipal Stadium.
Indians baseball is the main summer attraction in Ohio again, though, as
the team has sold out every game the past four seasons. The group of stars
over the past five seasons has challenged team and league records at the
plate but never had the level of pitching necessary to bring home another
World Series trophy.
Lineup
| Sandy Alomar, C, 1990-99 |
| Though often sidelined by injuries, having caught 100 or more games in just
four seasons, Alomar is a six-time All-Star. His 1997 season was magical as
he added the All-Star Game MVP honors and 10 RBI in the World Series to
career highs of .324, 21 homers and 83 RBI. The RBI set an Indians record
for catchers. He also had a 30-game hitting streak in '97, the second
longest ever by a catcher. |
| Hal Trosky, 1B, 1933-41 |
| Trosky's career was brief, but productive. The lefty swinger hit .330 with
35 homers, 45 doubles and 142 RBI in his rookie season in 1934. In
1936, he set an Indians record with 162 RBI. The mark was finally passed by
Manny Ramirez in 1999. In his seven full seasons with Cleveland, he drove
in at least 93 runs each year and averaged 122. His 216 homers and 911 RBI
are each third on the Indians' career list. |
| Nap Lajoie, 2B, 1902-14 |
| Lajoie was such an outstanding player and manager that the team was once
called the Naps in his honor. He's generally considered the greatest second
baseman of the dead-ball era. His 2,046 hits are the most in Cleveland
history. He won batting titles in 1903 and '04 but Cleveland was never a
playoff team in his tenure. |
| Lou Boudreau, SS, 1938-50 |
| Boudreau, who also played professional basketball after captaining the
baseball and basketball teams at the University of Illinois, was a slick
fielding shortstop who served as a player-manager. He hit .295 with 101 RBI
in his first full season, one of eight All-Star years. At 24, in 1942, he
became the youngest manager in history. He won the 1944 batting title and
was the AL MVP in 1948, the last time the Indians won the World Series. In
the '48 season, Boudreau struck out just nine times in 560 at bats. He hit
.355 and drove in 106 runs, both career bests. |
| Al Rosen, 3B, 1947-56 |
| Rosen really had only six full seasons in the majors and each one was
exceptional. From 1950-55 he was outstanding, driving in 100 or more runs
five times. He led the AL in RBI in 1952 (105) and 1953 (145) and topped
the league in homers in 1950, with a then-rookie record of 37, and 1953
(43). He was the AL MVP in 1953 when he lost the batting title, and the
Triple Crown, to Mickey Vernon on the final day of the season. Whiplash
from an auto accident led to his career ending prematurely. |
| Manny Ramirez, OF, 1993-99 |
| Ramirez developed into arguably the best all-around hitter in the game in
1999 when he became the first player in 60 years to drive in 160 runs, 165
actually, for a new team record. He also hit a career-best .333 with 44
homers and a .663 slugging percentage. He entered the 2000 season with 10
grand slams at just 27 years old. His 198 homers already have him sixth in
team history. |
| Earl Averill, OF, 1929-39 |
| "Rock" was an outstanding center fielder who homered in his first at-bat
and hit .322 over his 11 seasons in Cleveland. He was a six-time All-Star
and is the team's career leader in runs, triples, extra-base hits and total
bases. On Sept. 17, 1930, Averill became the first Indian to homer three
times in a game. In 1931, he set a team record with 140 runs. |
| Tris Speaker, OF, 1916-26 |
| Speaker preceded Averill in center field, leading the league in doubles six
times and in batting (.386) in 1916. In 1919, he became the player-manager
and in 1920 hit .388 leading the team to the AL pennant. His 1,965 hits are
second to Lajoie in team history. He his .354 average is second to Joe
Jackson's .375. He's second to Averill in runs, triples and total bases and
the team's leader in doubles with 486. |
| Albert Belle, DH, 1989-96 |
| Despite his sour nature which led to his departure from Cleveland, Belle is
unquestionably one of the Indians' greats. He is the team leader in homers
with 242. He was an All-Star from 1993-96 becoming the first Indians
position player selected four consecutive seasons since Larry Doby from
1949-55. In 1995 he led the AL with 50 homers, 126 RBI and 121 runs. He
topped the league in RBI again in 1996 with 148. His 103 extra-base hits in
1995 are tied for fourth most ever. |
Pitchers
| Bob Feller, SP, 1936-41, '45-56 |
| "Rapid Robert" was a star before he graduated from high school. Feller, who
was signed for $1 and an autographed baseball, went on to lead the AL in
wins six times and strikeouts seven times. As a 17-year-old, he struck out
17 Philadelphia Athletics on Sept. 13, 1936 then headed back to school for
his senior year. In 1962, he became the first pitcher since Walter Johnson
to be elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Despite
losing four seasons to service in the Navy, Feller is the winningest
pitcher in team history having won 266 games. In 1940, he won a career-best
27 games and became the only pitcher in history to pitch an Opening Day
no-hitter, one of three in his career. |
| Bob Lemon, SP, 1941-42, '46-58 |
| In his first stint with Cleveland, Lemon was a third baseman. After
returning from World War II, he became a pitcher and was among the best in
the league for the rest of his career in which he won 207 games. He had
seven 20-win seasons and in the last Indians World Series championship
season, Lemon went 20-14 with 10 shutouts. He added two wins in the '48
Series. |
| Addie Joss, SP, 1902-10 |
| Joss had the shortest career of any Hall of Fame pitcher, going 160-97 with
a phenomenal 1.88 ERA in nine seasons. He died of meningitis in 1911 just
two days after his 31st birthday. His 1.88 career ERA is the second lowest
in history. Joss was the toughest pitcher to reach base against in history,
allowing only 8.73 base runners per nine innings. Joss' duel with Big Ed
Walsh and the White Sox on Oct. 2, 1908 goes down as one of the greatest
games of the century. With the pennant on the line, Joss pitched a perfect
game for a 1-0 win. |
| Stan Covaleskie, SP, 1916-24 |
| Covaleskie might have been the greatest control pitcher in history, amazing
considering that his out pitch was a spitball. He once worked into the
eighth inning without throwing a pitch called a ball. In the 1920 World
Series, he beat Brooklyn three times. His 172 wins are fourth most in
Indians history, his 31 shutouts third and his 2.80 ERA sixth. |
| Early Wynn, SP, 1949-57, '63 |
| Wynn had a great fastball but had lost 15 or more games four times by the
time he was traded from the Senators to the Indians. Under the tutelage of
pitching coach and 223-game winner Mel Harder, Wynn developed into one of
the AL's best. He won 20 games four times before moving on to the White
Sox. His 164 wins are fifth best and his 1,277 strikeouts fourth best in
team history. |
| Jose Mesa, RP, 1992-98 |
| Mesa moved into the closer role for the first time in his career in 1995
and was spectacular, finishing second in AL Cy Young Award voting and
fourth in MVP balloting. His 46 saves set a team record. He blew only two
opportunities and had a 1.13 ERA, the lowest ever by an Indians pitcher
with at least 60 innings. His Jacobs Field ERA was 0.28. Mesa saved 39
games in 1996 and was an All-Star again but his career faded and he left
Cleveland. |
| Bench |
| Larry Doby, Joe Jackson, Steve O'Neill, Rocky Colavito, Kenny
Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Robbie Alomar, Ken Keltner, Bobby Avila, Carlos
Baerga, Joe Gordon, Max Alvis, Ray Fosse, Elmer Flick, Joe Sewell, Vic
Power, George Burns, Andre Thornton, Dave Justice, Jim Thome, Dale
Mitchell, Joe Carter, Jeff Heath, Vic Wertz, Matt Williams, Odell Hale,
Woody Held, John Romano, Sam Chapman, Charlie Jamieson, John Hodapp, Joe
Vosmik |
| Best season |
| The 1954 Indians had a strong regular season, winning a
club-record 111 games, but their surprising sweep at the hands of the New
York Giants in the World Series, makes 1948 the best season by Lake Erie.
With Joe Gordon, Lou Boudreau and Ken Keltner forming an outstanding
infield trio and a quality pitching staff led by Bob Feller and Bob Lemon,
the Indians won the AL by a game over the Red Sox then beat the Boston
Braves in the World Series. The '48 Indians led the AL in ERA and fielding
percentage, homers and batting average. |
| |
| Worst season |
| There was an entirely bad generation from the late-1950s
through the mid-1990s but the single worst season came in 1914. The team,
which was called the Brochos at the time, lost 102 games and finished
18 1/2 games out of seventh place despite having Nap Lajoie and
Shoeless Joe Jackson in the lineup. Only 185,000 fans clicked the
turnstiles the whole season. The Indians now get that many for a four-game
series. |
| Best individual season, player |
| Albert Belle became the first player ever
with 50 homers and 50 doubles in a single season in 1995 and that was in
just 143 games due to the strike-shortened schedule. He finished second to
Boston's Mo Vaughn in MVP balloting, the highest finish by an Indian since
Rosen won in 1953. Over a full season, he would have been on pace for 427
total bases which would have been seventh all-time. |
| |
| Best individual season, pitcher |
| For a sixth-place team that finished 36
games off the pace, Bob Feller won 26 games with a career-high 348
strikeouts in 1946. He also had personal bests with 10 shutouts, a 2.18
ERA and 36 complete games. He became the first pitcher to
no-hit the Yankees in 27 years when he did it in April at Yankee Stadium. |
|
|
|