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 seen the team finish in seventh place in the American League East. Sports Illustrated magazine predicted that the Indians would finish in first. Club president Peter Bavasi would resign before the regular season began. Bavasi had joined the Indians in November 1984. As president of the Cleveland Indians, 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 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 98640.605—54–2744–37
Toronto Blue Jays 96660.593252–2944–37
Milwaukee Brewers 91710.562748–3343–38
New York Yankees 89730.549951–3038–43
Boston Red Sox 78840.4812050–3028–54
Baltimore Orioles 67950.4143131–5136–44
Cleveland Indians 611010.3773735–4626–55

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; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPRERBBK
Darrel Akerfelds 266.751613074.260563842
Mike Armstrong 108.68140118.21818109
Scott Bailes 784.6439176120.175624765
Ernie Camacho 019.22150113.2141459
Tom Candiotti 7184.7832320201.213210793111
Steve Carlton 595.3723141109.076656371
Jamie Easterly 114.55160031.217161322
John Farrell 513.39109069.029262228
Don Gordon 034.08210139.231181220
Mark Huismann 235.09200235.12220823
Doug Jones 653.15490891.145322487
Jeff Kaiser 0016.202003.16632
Phil Niekro 7115.8922220123.283815357
Reggie Ritter 116.08140026.221181611
Ken Schrom 6136.5032290153.21261115761
Sammy Stewart 425.67250327.022172125
Greg Swindell 385.1016150102.162583797
Ed Vande Berg 105.10550072.142412140
Tom Waddell 0114.296005.210976
Frank Wills 015.066015.13374
Rich Yett 395.253711197.263574959
Team Totals611015.28162162251422.2957835606849

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]

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References

  1. ↑ Principals Archived August 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ New York Times, January 24, 1987
  3. ↑ Fran Mullins page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Casey Parsons page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ John Butcher page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ "Doug Frobel Stats".
  7. ↑ Jeff Kaiser page at Baseball Reference
  8. 1 2 Steve Carlton page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Don Schulze page at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Mark Huismann page at Baseball Reference [ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ Tony Bernazard at Baseball Reference
  12. ↑ Albert Belle page at Baseball Reference
  13. ↑ Beau Allred page at Baseball Reference
  14. ↑ 1987 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  15. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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