Cleveland Indians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cleveland Indians "The Tribe" Established 1900 |
|||
|
|||
| Major league affiliations | |||
|
|||
| Current uniform | |||
|
|||
| Name | |||
|
|||
| Ballpark | |||
(Played at both Cleveland Stadium and League Park from 1932-1946) |
|||
| Major league titles | |||
| World Series titles (2) | 1948 • 1920 | ||
| AL Pennants (5) | 1997 • 1995 • 1954 • 1948 1920 |
||
| Central Division titles (6) [1] | 2001 • 1999 • 1998 • 1997 1996 • 1995 |
||
| Wild card berths (0) | None | ||
|
[1] - In 1994, a players' strike wiped out the last eight weeks of the season and all post-season. Cleveland was one game out of first place in the Central Division behind Chicago when play was stopped. No official titles were awarded in 1994. |
|||
| Owner(s): Larry Dolan | |||
| Manager: Eric Wedge | |||
| General Manager: Mark Shapiro | |||
The Cleveland Indians (nicknamed The Tribe) are a Major League Baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They currently are in the Central Division of the American League.
Contents
|
[edit] Franchise history
[edit] The Indians Nickname
Legend has it that the team honored Louis Sockalexis when it assumed its current name in 1915. The spectacular Sockalexis, a Native American, had played in Cleveland 1897-1899.
On the contrary, when the "Naps" sent longtime leader Napoleon Lajoie to the Philadelphia Athletics at the end of the 1914 season, owner Charles Somers asked the local newspapers to come up with a new name for the team. They chose "Indians" as a play on the name of the Boston Braves, then known as the "Miracle Braves" after going from last place on July 4 to a sweep in the 1914 World Series. Proponents of the name acknowledged that the Cleveland Spiders of the National League had sometimes been informally called the "Indians" during Sockalexis' short career there, a fact which merely reinforced the new name.
In any case, the name stuck. And 34 years later, the Indians went on to defeat that same Braves franchise, 4 games to 2, in the 1948 World Series -- after first winning a one game playoff against Boston's other team, the Red Sox. The victory over the Braves was the franchise's second of two World Series titles; the Tribe had also won the 1920 World Series, defeating the Brooklyn Robins 5 games to 2. (Pluto, 1999)
The club nickname and its cartoon logo have been criticized for perpetuating Native American stereotypes, and protests have arisen from time to time. In 1997, during the team's most recent World Series, three American Indian protesters were arrested, but later acquitted.[1]
[edit] Forest City club
Open professional baseball began in Cleveland during the 1869 season and one team was hired on salary for 1870, as in several other cities following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. That leading Cleveland baseball club was the Forest City, a nickname of the city itself. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was often called the Forest Citys, in the same generic way that the team from Chicago was sometimes called The Chicagos. The Forest City club was formed about 1865, when baseball club organization and "national" association membership boomed following the Civil War.
In 1871 the Forest Citys of Cleveland joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the first professional league, as did the Forest Citys of Rockford, Illinois. For brevity some authors have termed them "FCCleveland" and "FCRockford", two baseball clubs alone among thousands of soccer football clubs named "FC". New York and Philadelphia had been the home cities of most top baseball clubs before the league era, but only one club from each joined the professional NA, whose nine-city circuit was made up by four western clubs and eastern rivals in Washington, Troy, and Boston. That didn't last: two of the western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that city's White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NA's western outpost in 1872 and the Forest City's failed in turn, playing a full schedule to July 19 followed only by two games versus Boston in mid-August.[1]
[edit] National League era
In 1876, the National League supplanted the N.A. as the major professional league. Cleveland was not among its charter members, but by 1879 the league was looking for some new entries and the city returned to a major circuit. The Cleveland Blues played mainly in the middle of the pack for six seasons but it was ruined by trade war with the Union Association in 1884, when its three best players moved for the money: Fred Dunlap, Jack Glasscock, and Jim McCormick. St Louis from the U.A. took its place for 1885. That franchise only lasted a couple of years, but another St. Louis franchise would deal a devastating blow to another Cleveland team some 15 years later.
Cleveland went without major league ball for only two seasons, before joining the American Association in 1887, after that league's Allegheny club had jumped to the N.L. Cleveland followed suit in 1889, as the Association began to crumble. (It expired after 1891, and the National League acquired four of its franchises to swell to 12 teams.) The Cleveland team slowly built up to becoming a power in the league. They acquired the unique nickname Spiders, a tag supposedly inspired by their long-limbed players.
The Spiders survived a challenge from an entry in the one-season Players' League in 1890. The next year the Spiders moved into League Park, which would become the home of Cleveland professional ball for the next 55 years. Led by native Ohioan Cy Young, the Spiders became a contender in the mid-1890s, when they played in the Temple Cup Series (that era's World Series) twice, winning it in 1895. The team began to fade after that, and was dealt a severe blow under the ownership of the Robison brothers.
The Robisons, despite already owning the Spiders, were allowed to also acquire a controlling interest in the St. Louis Cardinals franchise in 1899. They proceeded to strip the Cleveland team of its best players (including Young) to help fill the St. Louis roster. The St. Louis team improved to finish above .500, although well back of first place. Meanwhile, the Spiders were left with essentially a minor league lineup, and began to lose games at a record pace. Drawing almost no fans at home, they ended up playing most of their season on the road, and became known as "The Wanderers", finally slinking home in 12th place, 84 games out of first place, with an all-time worst record of 20 wins and 134 losses.
Following the 1899 season, the National League disbanded the Cleveland franchise along with three other teams in Washington, Baltimore, and Louisville. The disastrous 1899 season would actually be a step toward a new future for Cleveland fans, the very next year.
Seeking to capitalize on general public disillusionment with the National League, Ban Johnson changed the name of his minor league, the Western League, to the American League and shifted the WL's Grand Rapids club to Cleveland, taking over League Park in 1900. Although still a minor league, the new organization was ready to make its move. In 1901 the American League broke with the National Agreement and declared itself a competing Major League. The Cleveland franchise was among its eight charter members.
[edit] 1901-1946: Early to middle history of the franchise
The new team was originally owned by Charles W. Somers and Jack Kilfoy. Somers generously lent money to other team owners, including Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's, to keep them afloat. With the new league competing for fans, the American League began raiding the older League for players. One of the players that jumped was Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, a Philadelphia Phillies star who signed with the Philadelphia Athletics. When the Phillies got an injunction against the A's, the American League and Mack agreed to move Lajoie to Cleveland early in the 1902 season. The team had previously been known as the Bronchos or the Blues. In honor of its popular new star Cleveland soon acquired the nickname Naps.
Early on, Cleveland finished in the middle of the pack before contending for the championship in 1908, but the retirement of Cy Young, who returned to Cleveland as part of its American League franchise in 1908, and the untimely death of Addie Joss was a harbinger of things to come for Cleveland. Poor pitching was on tap for several years. Despite the strong hitting of Tris Speaker and Shoeless Joe Jackson, the Naps failed to rise above third place for most of the next decade, and jokes about "Naps" as a synonym for "sleeps" began to circulate. In 1916 Somers sold the team to a syndicate headed by James C. "Jack" Dunn. Dunn hired a new manager, Lee Fohl, and brought in two young pitchers, future Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski and Jim Bagby. Behind their strong arms, the Indians would rise back into contention at the end of the decade.
Tris Speaker took over the reins as player-manager in 1919 and the team started the 1920s strong. With Speaker hitting .388, Jim Bagby's 30 victories and solid performances from Steve O'Neill and Stan Coveleski, the team went on to win the pennant and defeat the Brooklyn Robins 5-2 in the World Series for their first title. However, the season was soured by tragedy. That August, shortstop Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch to the head from Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. It was the only fatal play in baseball history.
Shortly afterward, in September 1920, the 1919 Black Sox scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players were charged with throwing the 1919 World Series had begun to unravel. Cleveland and Brooklyn played the 1920 World Series under a cloud of public suspicion. Cleveland won the series 5 games to 2 after shutting out Brooklyn 3-0 at League Park (then called Dunn Field).
Following the 1920 championship, the team did not reach the heights they had achieved in 1920 in the rest of the decade. Speaker and Coveleski were aging and the Yankees were rising with a new weapon: Babe Ruth and the home run. They managed two second-place finishes but spent much of the decade in the cellar. In 1927 Dunn's widow, Mrs. George Pross, sold the team to a syndicate headed by Alva Bradley.
The Tribe, as the Indians are affectionately referred to by Clevelanders, were a middling team by the 1930s, finishing third or fourth most years. In 1936, Cleveland introduced a 17-year old named Bob Feller, a pitcher with a dominating fastball. Feller struck out 17 batters in his first game. By 1940, Feller, along with Ken Keltner, Mel Harder and Lou Boudreau led the Indians to within one game of the pennant. The team was wracked with dissension, with some players (including Feller) going so far as to request that owner Alva Bradley fire manager Ossie Vitt. Reporters lampooned them as the Cleveland Crybabies. Feller, who had pitched a no-hitter to open the season and won 27 games, lost the final game of the season to unknown Floyd Giebell of the Detroit Tigers. Giebell never won another major league game.
With a young team, Cleveland was poised for a solid decade. Their much-despised manager Vitt was replaced by Roger Peckinpaugh in 1941. Unfortunately, the nation entered World War II and Feller went to serve in the Navy, delaying the Tribe's success.
[edit] 1947-1959: Bill Veeck and the 'Big Four'
In 1946 Bill Veeck formed an investment group that purchased the Cleveland Indians from Bradley's group. A former owner of a minor league franchise in Milwaukee, Veeck brought to Cleveland a gift for promotion. At Cleveland he began the innovative Major League career that would bring him fame among many and infamy to others.
Recognizing that he had acquired a solid team, Veeck soon abandoned the aging, small and lightless League Park to take up full-time residence in massive Cleveland Stadium. Prior to 1947 the Indians played most of their games at League Park, and occasionally played several weekend games at Municipal Stadium. Veeck agreed to move the club out of League Park and into Municipal Stadium permanently. In later years, fans and media scorned the stadium, dubbed it the "mistake on the lake", but at the time it was a good idea, as the team was able to draw huge crowds that were possible in no other big league facility.
Making the most of the field itself in the cavernous stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. (He played similar shenanigans with the Milwaukee club.) The fence moved as much as 15 feet between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season. The massive stadium did, however, permit the Indians to set the all-time one game regular-season attendance record in 1954 at over 84,000.
Veeck hired rubber-faced Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box was the sort of promotional stunt by Bill Veeck that delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Under Veeck's leadership, Cleveland's most significant achievement was breaking the color barrier in the American League by signing Larry Doby, formerly a player for the Negro League's Newark Eagles in 1947, eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers. Doby battled racism on and off the field (just as Jackie Robinson did that same year, in the National League) before posting a .301 batting average in 1948, his first full season. A power-hitting center fielder, Doby led the American League twice in homers.
In 1948, needing pitching for the stretch run of the 1948 pennant race, Veeck turned to the Negro Leagues again and signed pitching legend Satchel Paige amid much controversy. A legend for twenty years in the Negro Leagues, Paige is among the greatest pitchers to ever play the game. Barred from Major League Baseball during his prime, Veeck's signing of the aging star in 1948 was viewed by many as another publicity stunt. At an official age of 42, Paige became the oldest rookie in Major League baseball history, and the first black pitcher. Paige soon proved he could still pitch and ended the year with a 6-1 record with a 2.48 ERA, 45 strikeouts, 2 shutouts and 2 base hits.
In 1948, veterans Boudreau, Keltner, and Joe Gordon had career offensive seasons, while newcomers Larry Doby and Gene Bearden also had standout seasons. The team went down to the wire with the Boston Red Sox, winning a one-game playoff, the first in American League history, to go to the World Series. In the series, the Tribe defeated the Boston Braves four games to two for their first championship in 28 years.
In 1949 Cleveland again contended before falling to third place. On September 23, 1949, Bill Veeck and the Indians buried their 1948 pennant in center field before a game, the day after they were mathematically eliminated from the pennant race.
In 1949 Veeck was forced to sell the Indians to a syndicate headed by William Daley during a difficult divorce, but left behind a competitive team that continued to contend through the early 1950s, featuring Feller, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and Mike Garcia (also known as the Big Four). However, Cleveland only won a single pennant in the decade, finishing second to the New York Yankees five times. In 1954, Cleveland won a then-record 111 games and returned to the World Series against the New York Giants. The team was upset by the Giants in a sweep and the 1954 series became famous for Willie Mays amazing over-the-shoulder catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in Game 1.
[edit] 1960-1993: The curse of Rocky Colavito
Frank 'Trader' Lane was an early culprit in the construction of what became a running joke in baseball for three decades. However, the team's ill-advised trades under a number of general managers would haunt fans for years to come. A 30+ year slump began for the Indians with the club's most infamous trade; which involved slugging right fielder and fan favorite, Rocky Colavito.
Just before opening day in 1960 Colavito was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. Akron Beacon Journal columnist Terry Pluto documented the decades of woe that followed the trade in his book The Curse of Rocky Colavito. Pluto takes an in-depth look at this particular era, in which the franchise perennially played an almost comically bad brand of baseball. Pluto has written other books on the Indians, most notably, Our Tribe: A Baseball Memoir.
In 1966 Daley's syndicate sold the team to frozen food millionaire Vernon Stouffer [2] of Stouffer Foods and the team appeared to be well financed. Prior to Stouffer's purchase the team was rumoured to be relocated due to poor attendance. Stouffer had some non-baseball related financial setbacks though and consequently the team was cash-poor.
In the 1960s, the team also sent Tommy John, Luis Tiant, and Lou Piniella packing, receiving little in return. In 1972 Stouffer sold out to impresario Nick Mileti [3]'s group. In 1977 Mileti's group sold out to a syndicate headed by trucking magnate Steve O'Neill and which included Gabe Paul, who had been an executive with the Indians, Reds and Yankees.
The 1970s were little better as the team traded away players Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Dennis Eckersley and Buddy Bell. Without any strength in their farm system to nurture, the team fell deeper and deeper into the doldrums. The Tribe had consecutive losing seasons between 1969 and 1974. The nadir was the ill-conceived Ten Cent Beer Night promotion at a 1974 game against the Rangers which ended in a riot and forfeit. The next year the team featured Frank Robinson as MLB's first African American manager (he was also one of the last player-managers), but he was fired in 1977. From 1959 to 1993, the Indians managed one third-place and five fourth-place finishes but spent the rest of the time in the American League cellar. One of the few bright spots in this time frame occurred on May 15, 1981, when Len Barker pitched a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Another cause for optimism was outfielder Joe Charboneau being named American League Rookie of the Year in 1980. Besides being a solid performer at the plate, "Super Joe" was among the most colorful and eccentric figures ever to play professional sports. However, it seems as if the "curse" hit him and the team as well, for he was injured and sent to the minor leagues in 1981 and 1982, then out of baseball after that. Also, in 1989, the Indians became the central part of the movie Major League, starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Corbin Bernsen. Finally, as if the Curse of Rocky Colavito wasn't enough, the Tribe suffered the Sports Illustrated cover jinx in 1987. After achieving their first winning season since 1979 in 1986, SI predicted the Tribe to win the American League East in 1987, only to see the team lose 101 games and finish last. Note, if the Indians had won their division that year, it would have meant that a different team won the division each year from 1981 through 1987, i.e., all 7 AL East teams would have won the division during that time span. Thus, the Indians are the only AL East team to have never won a division title during the 2 division era of Major League Baseball (1969 through 1993).
On the ownership front, O'Neill died in 1983 and the team was operated by a trust headed by his son, Patrick. Patrick O'Neill put the club up for sale in 1983 but was not able to find a suitable buyer until the Jacobs brothers, Richard and David, bought the team in 1986.
The team's slide on the ballfield continued until the Tribe's inaugural season at Jacobs Field in the strike-shortened year of 1994.
[edit] 1994-2001: A new beginning
Indians General Manager John Hart and team owner Richard Jacobs finally found the light at the end of the tunnel. In what seems to have been a case of life imitating art, the 1994 Cleveland Indians re-discovered their winning ways of the 1940s and 1950s; The 1989 motion picture Major League featured the Indians as a worst-to-first story: the 1993 Indians ended their era at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, 76-86, which was last in the American League East Division. The team opened the 1994 season with a new stadium, Jacobs Field, and with it came the success and the spirits of their movie counterparts. The 1994 MLB Season ended prematurely, with a Players Union strike; on the day the strike began, the Indians were one game behind the Chicago White Sox -- their newly-formed AL Central rivals-- with 49 left to be played.
[edit] 1995: A first since 1954
The strike, which extended into the 1995 season, hardly dampened the team's newly found success. Without losing a step, the 1995 Indians went 100-44 in a shortened season. The team went on to defeat the Boston Red Sox in the Divisional Series; and the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, reaching the World Series for their first time since 1954. Although the Tribe went on to lose to the World Series four games to two against the Atlanta Braves, 1995 was still a remarkable year for the Indians; besides winning 100 games, they also led Major League Baseball in batting average and led the American League in team ERA. The fans responded and the Indians, who had been perennially near the bottom in ticket sales, sold out every home game after June 12 and set a Major League Baseball record with 455 consecutive sellouts from 1995 to 2001.
[edit] 1996
The Tribe took the AL Central Crown again in 1996, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles (three games to one) in the Divisional Series.
[edit] 1997: Two Outs Away
In 1997 the Tribe started lukewarm, but finished the regular season hot. Taking their third consecutive AL Central title, the Tribe shocked the baseball world by beating the heavily-favored New York Yankees in the Divisional Series (3-2). After getting payback for 1996 against the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, the Tribe went on to finish a bittersweet season against the Florida Marlins. In a dramatic series, which featured (among other oddities) one of the coldest games in World Series history, Indians fans were reminded that the Curse of Rocky Colavito was not, in fact, dead: with the Indians in the lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning of game seven, the Marlins managed to tie the game. Relief Pitcher Jose Mesa, who is largely blamed by Tribe fans for the loss, gave up the run. The Marlins went on to clinch the title in the bottom of the eleventh, with Edgar Renteria driving the game winning RBI just past the glove of Indians pitcher Charles Nagy. While the city of Miami celebrated its first world championship, since the 1973 Miami Dolphins, Cleveland became the first team to carry the lead into the bottom of the 9th inning of the 7th game of a World Series, and still lose.
But the sorrow of 1997 did not end there. In his 2002 autobiography, Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel directly blamed Jose Mesa for the loss, and frequently, when the two always met up after their time in Cleveland, Mesa's known for attempting to throw a pitch to intentionally hurt Vizquel.
[edit] 1998-2001
In 1998, the Indians fell short of returning to the World Series for a third time in four seasons, being beaten by the New York Yankees in the ALCS. In 1999, the Divisional Series was the stage for one of the biggest collapses in MLB postseason history; the Indians, who were in command with a two games to none lead going into game three, gave up three consecutive games to the Boston Red Sox. The debacle cost Indians manager Mike Hargrove his job.
The main culprit was managerial moves made during the regular season and during the series. 1. With a division lead approaching 25 games in August, Hargrove decided to make his best set-up man, Steve Karsay, into a 5th starter. Karsay had arm problems causing him to miss significant time including all of 1997. Karsay made several starts and promptly reinjured his arm. 2. After Dave Burba was injured after the 4th inning of game 3 in Boston, with the Indians leading the game 1-0, Hargrove decided to insert his scheduled game 4 starter, Jaret Wright into the game. This move was questionable at the time and in hindsight is even more disastrous. Wright gave up a run in the 5th, another in the 6th, and the Indians bullpen imploded during the rest of the game. If Hargrove would have held off on Wright until game 4 then Bartolo Colon would have worked game 5 on full rest instead of 3-days, something he had not ever done before. Colon's fastball was flat and he got pounded and the Indians lost 24-7. In game 5, Charles Nagy was working on 3 days' rest and he came on to get torn.
Game 5 was one of the most memorable contests in recent baseball history. The Red Sox and Indians went toe to toe as if they were two great heavyweight fighters punching each other out during the early rounds and one or the other needed one good shot to fell the other. Thome and Garciaparra traded big hits until the 4th inning when the score was tied 8-8. Pedro Martinez then came on to no-hit what was arguably one of the 20 best offensive teams of all time. Martinez could not even lift his arm above his shoulder at that point. Troy O'Leary hit a grand slam and the Indians were done.
In 2000, the Indians got off to a mediocre start, going 44-42 at the break. They soon caught fire and went 46-30 the rest of the way to finish 90-72. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as they ended up five games behind the Chicago White Sox in the Central division and missed the wild card by one game to the Seattle Mariners.
The season was notable in that the Indians set a Major League record for most pitchers used in a single season. Colon, Burba, and Finley were outstanding all year, and the backend of the bullpen was lights out (when healthy), but the lack of two more credible starters destroyed the Indians' chances. Outside of these three, the pitchers who started games combined for a total of 346 2/3 innings and gave up 265 earned runs for an ERA of 6.88, and baseball's second highest scoring offense could not keep up. A late season trade of Richie Sexson for Bob Wickman settled down the team before they went on their run. David Justice, who had hit 20 HR for the Tribe, was traded at mid-season to the Yankees for a couple of prospects (Ricky Ledee and Jake Westbrook) while Manny Ramirez was on the DL. Justice would hit another 20 HR while playing for the Yankees the rest of the season, propelling their offense forward enough for NY to back into the playoffs. Ramirez held it against John Hart when Hart criticized Ramirez's slow recovery from a hurt hamstring injury. Ramirez hit 3 HR in his first 4 games back from the DL. Hart was referring to when Ramirez had stated he would just as soon stay in double A ball then rejoin the team. Hart fumed and cut loose into his temperamental slugger.
The team's outfield defense was below-average yet the infield defense was one of the better units over the past 20 years. 3 Indians' infielders won Gold Gloves and Kenny Lofton set the American League record for most consecutive games scoring a run.
In 2000, Larry Dolan bought the Indians for $323 million from Richard Jacobs, who, along with his late brother David, had paid $35 million for the club in 1986.
2001 saw a return to prominence for the Indians. After losing Manny Ramirez to free agency and not re-signing fan favorite Sandy Alomar Jr., the Tribe signed former-MVP Juan Gonzalez, who arguably had one his best years in 2001, and reclaimed the Central division with a 91-71 record. One of the highlights of the season was a game televised nationally on ESPN on August 5, where the Indians erased a 12-run deficit against the juggernaut Mariners and won the game in extra innings, now known as the Impossible Return. The playoff run was short lived, however, as they were eliminated in the first round by the 116-game winning Mariners.
[edit] 2001-present: The Shapiro years
In the 2001 offseason, GM John Hart resigned and his assistant Mark Shapiro took the reins. Shapiro decided that the Indians team was aging, and needed to be rebuilt with young minor-league talent. This sent Cleveland fans in an uproar, and the Indians struggled through 2002 and 2003, posting losing records both years.
In 2002, Shapiro traded fan favorite pitching ace Bartolo Colon for then-unknowns Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore. He also acquired Travis Hafner in a trade with the Texas Rangers involving Ryan Drese and picked up Coco Crisp from the St. Louis Cardinals for aging starter Chuck Finley.
In 2004, the young talent finally started to hit its stride, and the Indians were a terrific offensive team and even beat the New York Yankees 22-0. The bullpen was a major Achilles heel. They blew more than 20 saves that year, and the Indians finished with an 80-82 record.
In early 2005, the offense was anemic, and couldn't score runs like the year before. However, the offense soon picked up, and the Indians began a 9-game winning streak in mid-June, going over .500 for good. After a brief July slump, the Indians caught fire in August, and they cut a 15.5 game deficit in the Central Division to the White Sox down to 1.5 games. However, the season came to a heartbreaking end as the Indians went on to lose six of their last seven games, five of them by one run, and missed the playoffs by only two games.
During the 2006 offseason the Indians traded the popular Coco Crisp along with David Riske and Josh Bard to the Boston Red Sox for reliever Guillermo Mota, third base prospect Andy Marté, catching prospect Kelly Shoppach, a player to be named later and cash, and Arthur Rhodes to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Jason Michaels. Free agent pitchers Kevin Millwood and Scott Elarton signed with other teams, and Shapiro signed Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson to replace them. After falling out of contention for a playoff spot, the team dealt veterans Eduardo Perez, Bob Wickman, Ben Broussard, and Ronnie Belliard for younger players and minor league prospects, and top prospects Jeremy Sowers, Ryan Garko, and Marté were called up from Buffalo and given starting assignments. The team blew 18 save opportunities and finished with a 78-84 record, in fourth place in the AL Central.
[edit] Trivia
- The Indians' non-competitiveness during the 1960s through the 1980s became a subject for humor. A standard joke of the time had a judge asking a child in a parental custody battle which parent he preferred to live with. The child says neither one, they both beat me — the judge then asks who does he want to live with and the answer is "the Cleveland Indians, they don't beat anybody." (This joke also works for the Chicago Cubs.) A local amusement park named Cedar Point featured a paddlewheel boat that went around an 18th century setting that included robotic and apparently hostile Indians. The narrator would frequently say, "Don't be scared, folks. They're not dangerous. They're Cleveland Indians."
- Richie Scheinblum, an outfielder who played with the Indians from 1965 to 1969, joked, "Maybe we should change our name to the Cleveland Utility Company. All we have are utility players," meaning players who were kept on the roster because they played several positions, but none of them particularly well.
- On June 4, 1974 the Indians hosted "Ten Cent Beer Night", but had to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to drunken and unruly fans.
- In 1981, Lon Simmons, then broadcasting for the Oakland Athletics, told his listeners, "The A's leave after this game for Cleveland. It was only by a 13 to 12 vote that they decided to go." The suggestion was that, despite being in a pennant race that would eventually see them win their division, the A's would rather forfeit all the games in the series than actually go to Cleveland; not that they were afraid of the Indians, then having a typically terrible season, but that the city would be terribly unpleasant.
- That same season, Graig Nettles, a New York Yankees third baseman who played with the Indians prior to being traded to the Yankees (he began his Major League career with the Minnesota Twins), took the intercom of the team's charter flight, and said, "We will soon be landing in Cleveland. Please set your watches back 42 minutes."
- A fictionalized version of the Indians were the subject of a 1989 movie, Major League, which starred Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger. Sequels followed in 1994 and 1998.
- Bob Hope held a small share of stock in the Indians and took part in the ceremonies when the Indians played their last home games at Cleveland Stadium in 1993.
- Carlos Baerga was the first of two players to have ever hit one home run from both sides of the plate in the same inning. He did so on April 8, 1993 against the New York Yankees pitchers Steve Howe and Steve Farr in the games 7th Inning.
- Cleveland hometown hero/comedian Drew Carey poked fun at the rest of baseball while he promoted his new sitcom The Drew Carey Show in 1995. In the promos he often uttered the now-famous line:
- Finally, it's your team that sucks!
- The 455 number retired for the Cleveland Indians is in reference to the fans of the city of Cleveland, who sold out Jacobs Field for a Major League Record 455 consecutive games between 1995 and 2002.
- On August 5, 2001, The Indians completed the biggest comeback in MLB History. Being down to the Seattle Mariners, 12-0 in the 4th, and 14-2 in the 6th, the Indians rallied to win, 15-14 in 11 innings. Thus, it became known by baseball fans as The Impossible Return.
- On August 31, 2004, The Indians beat the New York Yankees 22-0. This was the worst defeat in NYY history. Omar Vizquel got 6 hits in the game, tying the MLB record for hits in a 9-inning game. It was the largest loss the Yankees have suffered since they fell to the Indians on July 29, 1928, 24-6.[4]
- On July 4, 2006, The Indians beat the New York Yankees 19-1. This was Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's birthday. Pitcher Jake Westbrook started both of the blowout games against New York. This was the second most lopsided defeat in Yankees history, next to the Indians 22-0 shutout in 2004.
- On September 2, 2006, infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff became the third player to hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat and the first player to do so on his first major league pitch.
- On December 21, 2006, it was announced that the Indians would move their spring training facility from Winter Haven, Florida to Goodyear, Arizona (a West Valley suburb of Phoenix) and re-join the Cactus League in February 2009, after a 15 year absence.
[edit] Baseball Hall of Famers
|
Elected mainly on basis of performance with the Indians |
Other Hall-of-Famers associated with Indians, however briefly |
[edit] Retired numbers
 The Fans - Retired 2001 |
 Bob Feller SP, Coach Retired 1957 |
 Earl Averill CF Retired 1975 |
 Larry Doby CF, Coach Retired 1994 |
 Bob Lemon 3B, SP, Coach Retired 1998 |
 Lou Boudreau SS, M Retired 1970 |
 Mel Harder SP, Coach Retired 1990 |
 Jackie Robinson 2B Retired 1997 |
Jackie Robinson's number 42 is retired throughout Major League Baseball.
The number 455 was honored after the Indians sold out 455 consecutive games between 1995 and 2001. (An MLB record.)
[edit] Current roster
40-man roster
Last updated on February 23, 2007
|
Pitchers
|
Catchers Infielders
Outfielders
Designated hitter |
Non-Roster Invitees
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
|
Coaching staff
- 22
Eric Wedge (Manager) - 35 Joel Skinner (Bench Coach)
- 6
Luis Rivera (First Base/Infield Coach) - 28 Jeff Datz (Third Base Coach)
- 9 Derek Shelton (Hitting Coach)
- 4 Luis Isaac (Bullpen Coach)
- 57 Carl Willis (Pitching Coach)
- 43 Dan Williams (Bullpen Catcher)
- 96 Rubén Félix (Bullpen Catcher)
[edit] Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Buffalo Bisons, International League
- AA: Akron Aeros, Eastern League
- Advanced A: Kinston Indians, Carolina League
- A: Lake County Captains, South Atlantic League
- Short Season A: Mahoning Valley Scrappers, New York-Penn League
- Rookie: GCL Indians, Gulf Coast League
- Rookie: DSL Indians, Dominican Summer League
[edit] Radio and television
The Indians' flagship radio station is WTAM, a news/talk station located at 1100 AM. Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan are the radio announcers.
The television rights are held by SportsTime Ohio, a network launched in 2006 by the Indians. Matt Underwood and Rick Manning form the announcing team for the telecasts.
20 games a year are shown on over the air TV, airing on NBC affiliate WKYC Channel 3, with sports anchor Jim Donovan joining Manning in the broadcast booth.
[edit] See also
- List of the Top 100 Greatest Indians Roster
- Cleveland Indians Season by Season Records
- Indians award winners and league leaders
- Indians statistical records and milestone achievements
- Indians managers and ownership
- List of Cleveland Indians broadcasters
- List of sports team names derived from Indigenous peoples
[edit] External links
- Cleveland Indians official web site
- 1954 Cleveland Indians
- Cleveland Indians 1998 Annual Report, the last filed with the SEC
- Sports E-Cyclopedia
[edit] References
- Lewis, Franklin (2006). "The Cleveland Indians". The Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-885-2
- Pluto, Terry (1999). Our Tribe: A Baseball Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84505-9
- Quirk, James & Rodney D. Fort (1992). "Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports". Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01574-0
- Cleveland Indians. Indians History Overview: The early years. http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cle/history/cle_history_overview.jsp. Retrieved Sep 2, 2004.
| Preceded by Cincinnati Reds 1919 |
World Series Champions Cleveland Indians 1920 |
Succeeded by New York Giants 1921 and 1922 |
| Preceded by New York Yankees 1947 |
World Series Champions Cleveland Indians 1948 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 |
| Preceded by Chicago White Sox 1919 |
American League Champions Cleveland Indians 1920 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1921 and 1922 |
| Preceded by New York Yankees 1947 |
American League Champions Cleveland Indians 1948 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 |
| Preceded by New York Yankees 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 |
American League Champions Cleveland Indians 1954 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 |
| Preceded by Toronto Blue Jays 1992 and 1993 |
American League Champions Cleveland Indians 1995 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1996 |
| Preceded by New York Yankees 1996 |
American League Champions Cleveland Indians 1997 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 |
| Cleveland Indians Franchise | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Buffalo Bisons | Akron Aeros |
Kinston Indians Lake County Captains Mahoning Valley Scrappers |
Gulf Coast Indians VSL Indians |
