1987 Cleveland Indians season

Last updated

1987  Cleveland Indians
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City Cleveland, Ohio
Owners Richard Jacobs
General managers Joe Klein
Managers Pat Corrales, Doc Edwards
Television WUAB
Joe Tait, Jack Corrigan
Radio WWWE
Herb Score, Steve Lamar
←  1986 Seasons 1988  →

The 1987 Cleveland Indians season was the 87th in franchise history. The team, predicted by Sports Illustrated magazine to finish first, finished seventh in the American League East. Club president Peter Bavasi would resign before the regular season began. Bavasi had joined the Indians in November 1984. As team president, he served on Major League Baseball's Executive Council. [1] During the 1986 season, the team had an 84–78 record, its best since 1968, and attendance of 1.47 million, its highest since 1959. [2] There was much optimism that the team would reach its full potential in 1987.

Contents

Sluggers Joe Carter and Cory Snyder were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on April 6, 1987, with the headline "Indian Uprising". The Indians were being predicted as the best team in baseball on the back of their two 30+ home run hitters. What sports writers overlooked was that Cleveland had the worst performing pitching staff in the majors, despite the presence of 300 game winners Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton, as well as Tom Candiotti (with Niekro and Candiotti, Cleveland had two starters whose main pitch was the knuckleball).

The 1987 Indians would fall well short of SI's bold prediction. They were not above .500 even once all season, and an 8–20 May ended any realistic hope of contention. They finished 61–101, the worst record in all of baseball. The season would go on to be associated with the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

Offseason

Regular season

In 1987, the Cleveland Indians achieved a baseball first. The Indians had veteran pitchers Steve Carlton and Phil Niekro on their roster to add experience. Their most notable accomplishment was appearing in a game together against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Carlton and Niekro became the first teammates and 300-game winners to appear in the same game. Both were ineffective in a 10-6 Yankee victory. It would be Carlton's first and only pitching appearance at the legendary stadium. Neither pitcher finished the season with the Indians. Carlton would end up with the Minnesota Twins and win a World Series championship. Niekro would be picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays and come within two games of winning the American League East Championship.

Season standings

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 9864.605—54‍–‍2744‍–‍37
Toronto Blue Jays 9666.593252‍–‍2944‍–‍37
Milwaukee Brewers 9171.562748‍–‍3343‍–‍38
New York Yankees 8973.549951‍–‍3038‍–‍43
Boston Red Sox 7884.4812050‍–‍3028‍–‍54
Baltimore Orioles 6795.4143131‍–‍5136‍–‍44
Cleveland Indians 61101.3773735‍–‍4626‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1987 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —1–129–38–47–64–99–32–115–73–107–54–87–51–12
Boston 12–1—4–83–97–62–116–66–77–57–64–87–57–56–7
California 3–98–4—8–57–53–95–87–58–53–96–77–65–85–7
Chicago 4–89–35–8—7–53–96–76–66–75–79–46–77–64–8
Cleveland 6–76–75–75–7—4–96–64–93–96–74–85–72–105–8
Detroit 9–411–29–39–39–4—5–76–78–45–85–77–58–47–6
Kansas City 3–96–68–57–66–67–5—4–88–55–75–89–47–68–4
Milwaukee 11–27–65–76–69–47–68–4—3–97–66–64–89–39–4
Minnesota 7–55–75–87–69–34–85–89–3—6–610–39–46–73–9
New York 10–36–79–37–57–68–57–56–76–6—5–77–55–76–7
Oakland 5–78–47–64–98–47–58–56–63–107–5—5–86–77–5
Seattle 8–45–76–77–67–55–74–98–44–95–78–5—9–42–10
Texas 5–75–78–56–710–24–86–73–97–67–57–64–9—3–9
Toronto 12–17–67–58–48–56–74–84–99–37–65–710–29–3—

Transactions

Draft picks

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
#NamePosition
4 Tony Bernazard 2B
2 Brett Butler CF
14 Julio Franco SS
30 Joe Carter LF
29 Andre Thornton DH
26 Brook Jacoby 3B
10 Pat Tabler 1B
28 Cory Snyder RF
23 Chris Bando C
49 Tom Candiotti P

[14]

Roster

1987 Cleveland Indians
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Statistics

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIAVGSB
Andy Allanson 50154174160316.2661
Chris Bando 89211204690516.2180
Jay Bell 38125142791213.2162
Tony Bernazard 7929339701211130.2397
Brett Butler 13752291154258941.29533
Joe Carter 1495888315527232106.26431
Carmelo Castillo 8922027551701131.2501
Dave Clark 2987111850312.2071
Rick Dempsey 60141162510019.1770
Brian Dorsett 511230013.2730
Julio Franco 12849586158243852.31932
Doug Frobel 2940540025.1000
Dave Gallagher 1536241101.1112
Mel Hall 142485571362111876.2805
Tommy Hinzo 67257316893321.2659
Brook Jacoby 155540731622643269.3002
Otis Nixon 1917210001.0592
Junior Noboa 39807182107.2251
Casey Parsons 1825240015.1600
Cory Snyder 157577741362423382.2365
Pat Tabler 151553661703431186.3075
Andre Thornton 36858102005.1181
Eddie Williams 22649114014.1720
Team Totals1625606742147626730187691.263140

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBK
Darrel Akerfelds 266.751613074.28460563842
Mike Armstrong 108.68140118.2271818109
Scott Bailes 784.6439176120.114575624765
Ernie Camacho 019.22150113.221141459
Tom Candiotti 7184.7832320201.219313210793111
Steve Carlton 595.3723141109.011176656371
Jamie Easterly 114.55160031.22617161322
John Farrell 513.39109069.06829262228
Don Gordon 034.08210139.24931181220
Mark Huismann 235.09200235.1382220823
Doug Jones 653.15490891.110145322487
Jeff Kaiser 0016.202003.146632
Phil Niekro 7115.8922220123.214283815357
Reggie Ritter 116.08140026.23321181611
Ken Schrom 6136.5032290153.21851261115761
Sammy Stewart 425.67250327.02522172125
Greg Swindell 385.1016150102.111262583797
Ed Vande Berg 105.10550072.19642412140
Tom Waddell 0114.296005.2710976
Frank Wills 015.066015.133374
Rich Yett 395.253711197.29663574959
Team Totals611015.28162162251422.21566957835606849

Award winners

All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Buffalo Bisons American Association Orlando Gómez and Steve Swisher
AA Williamsport Bills Eastern League Steve Swisher and Orlando Gómez
A Kinston Indians Carolina League Mike Hargrove
A Waterloo Indians Midwest League Glenn Adams
Rookie Burlington Indians Appalachian League Tom Chandler

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington [15]

References

  1. ↑ "Principals". Bavasi Sports Partners. Archived from the original on August 4, 2007.
  2. ↑ New York Times, January 24, 1987
  3. ↑ "Fran Mullins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Casey Parsons". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  5. ↑ "John Butcher". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Doug Frobel". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Jeff Kaiser". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Steve Carlton". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Don Schulze". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Mark Huismann". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Tony Bernazard". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Albert Belle". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Beau Allred". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ "1987 Opening Day Lineup". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-1-93-239117-6.
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