1981 Cleveland Indians season

Last updated

1981  Cleveland Indians
League American League
Division Eastern Division
Ballpark Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City Cleveland, Ohio
Record
  • 1st half: 26–24 (.520)
  • 2nd half: 26–27 (.491)
  • Overall: 52–51 (.505)
Divisional place
  • 1st half: 6th (5 GB)
  • 2nd half: 5nd (tied; 5 GB)
Owners Steve O'Neill
General managers Phil Seghi
Managers Dave Garcia
Television WUAB
Radio WWWE
  1980 Seasons 1982  

The 1981 Cleveland Indians season was the franchise's 81st season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Indians finished the first half of the season in sixth place in the American League East, and the second half of the season tied for fifth place. Managed by Dave Garcia, the Indians played their home games at Cleveland Stadium and had an overall record of 52 wins and 51 losses.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Milwaukee Brewers 62470.56928–2134–26
Baltimore Orioles 59460.562133–2226–24
New York Yankees 59480.551232–1927–29
Detroit Tigers 60490.550232–2328–26
Boston Red Sox 59490.54630–2329–26
Cleveland Indians 52510.505725–2927–22
Toronto Blue Jays 37690.34923½17–3620–33
AL East
First Half Standings
WLPct.GB
New York Yankees 3422.607
Baltimore Orioles 3123.5742
Milwaukee Brewers 3125.5543
Detroit Tigers 3126.5443+12
Boston Red Sox 3026.5364
Cleveland Indians 2624.5205
Toronto Blue Jays 1642.27619
AL East
Second Half Standings
WLPct.GB
Milwaukee Brewers 3122.585
Boston Red Sox 2923.5581+12
Detroit Tigers 2923.5581+12
Baltimore Orioles 2823.5492
Cleveland Indians 2627.4915
New York Yankees 2526.4905
Toronto Blue Jays 2127.4387+12

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore 2–26–63–64–26–75–32–46–07–67–54–22–15–2
Boston 2–22–45–47–66–13–36–72–53–37–59–33–64–0
California 6–64–26–77–53–30–64–33–32–22–86–42–46–6
Chicago 6–34–57–62–53–32–04–12–45–77–63–32–47–5
Cleveland 2–46–75–75–21–54–43–62–17–53–28–42–24–2
Detroit 7–61–63–33–35–13–25–89–33–71–25–19–36–4
Kansas City 3–53–36–00–24–42–34–59–42–103–36–73–45–3
Milwaukee 4–27–63–41–46–38–55–49–33–34–22–24–56–4
Minnesota 0–65–23–34–21–23–94–93–93–32–83–6–15–85–1
New York 6–73–32–27–55–77–310–23–33–34–32–35–42–3
Oakland 5–75–78–26–72–32–13–32–48–23–46–14–210–2
Seattle 2–43–94–63–34–81–57–62–26–3–13–21–65–83–3
Texas 1–26–34–24–22–23–94–35–48–54–52–48–56–2
Toronto 2–50–46–65–72–44–63–54–61–53–22–103–32–6

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
#NamePosition
27 Miguel Diloné DH
20 Rick Manning CF
21 Mike Hargrove 1B
34 Joe Charboneau LF
11 Toby Harrah 3B
6 Jorge Orta RF
16 Bo Díaz C
7 Alan Bannister 2B
15 Tom Veryzer SS
28 Bert Blyleven P

[4]

Roster

1981 Cleveland Indians roster
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
Chris Bando 21473103006.2130
Alan Bannister 682323661111117.26316
Joe Charboneau 48138142971418.2101
Bo Díaz 631822557190738.3132
Miguel Dilone 72269337855019.29029
Jerry Dybzinski 485710170006.2987
Mike Fischlin 22433101005.2333
Mike Hargrove 9432243102210249.3175
Toby Harrah 10336164105124544.29112
Ron Hassey 6119084440125.2320
Von Hayes 43109212882117.2578
Pat Kelly 487581640116.2132
Duane Kuiper 72206155360014.2571
Larry Littleton 2623200001.0000
Rick Manning 1033604788153433.24425
Jorge Orta 883385092143534.2724
Karl Pagel 1415340214.2670
Ron Pruitt 59000000.0000
Dave Rosello 438411204017.2380
Andre Thornton 692262254120630.2393
Tom Veryzer 75221135440014.2441
Team Totals10335074319221502139397.263119

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
Len Barker 873.9122220154.1726746127
Bert Blyleven 1172.8820200159.1525140107
Tom Brennan 223.1776048.120171415
John Denny 1063.1519190145.262516694
Wayne Garland 375.791210056.040361415
Ed Glynn 001.174007.21144
Bob Lacey 007.59140021.12018311
Dennis Lewallyn 005.4070013.188211
Sid Monge 354.34310458.031282141
Dan Spillner 443.14325797.141343959
Mike Stanton 334.36240243.121211834
Rick Waits 8104.9222210126.174694451
Team Totals52513.8810310313931.0442401311569

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Charleston Charlies International League Cal Emery and Frank Lucchesi
AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League Woody Smith
A Waterloo Indians Midwest League Gomer Hodge
A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Dave Oliver

[5]

Notes

  1. Dan Spillner at Baseball Reference
  2. Bert Blyleven at Baseball Reference
  3. Chronological list of no-hitters at Retrosheet
  4. 1981 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Len Barker</span> American baseball player

Leonard Harold Barker III is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He pitched the tenth perfect game in baseball history. Barker pitched with the Texas Rangers (1976–78), Cleveland Indians (1979–83), Atlanta Braves (1983–85) and Milwaukee Brewers (1987). During an 11-year baseball career, Barker compiled 74 wins, 975 strikeouts, and a 4.34 earned run average.

The 1987 Minnesota Twins won the World Series for the first time since moving from Washington in 1961, the second time that the franchise won the World Series. Having won only 85 games during the 1987 regular season, they won the World Series with the then-fewest regular season wins since Major League Baseball expanded to a 162-game season in 1961, and the fewest of any team since the 1889 New York Giants. They also became the first team to win the World Series despite being outscored by their opponents in the regular season, having scored 786 runs and allowed 806.

Led by new manager Bill Rigney, the 1970 Minnesota Twins won the American League West with a 98–64 record, nine games ahead of the Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series. Of note, the Twins were the only team in the American League to have a winning record in the regular season versus the Orioles. The 1970 ALCS would be the last MLB postseason games played at Metropolitan Stadium, as the Twins would not return to the postseason stage until 1987 when they won the World Series.

The 1973 Minnesota Twins finished 81–81, third in the American League West.

The 1975 Minnesota Twins finished 76–83, fourth in the American League West.

The 1985 Minnesota Twins finished with a record of 77–85, tied for fourth in the American League West, and 14 games behind the division winner and eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

The 1986 Minnesota Twins finished at 71–91, sixth in the AL West, 21 games behind the eventual AL runner-up California Angels. 1,255,453 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Pitcher Bert Blyleven made a prediction on Fan Appreciation Day on October 3, saying that if the team came together as a unit and signed some other good players, they could potentially bring a World Series championship to Minnesota. That prediction proved accurate the next year.

The 1989 Minnesota Twins finished 80–82, fifth in the AL West Division. 2,277,438 fans attended Twins games, the 7th highest total in the American League.

The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season competing in Major League Baseball. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Blue Jays finished both halves of the season in seventh place in the seven-team American League East. Managed by Bobby Mattick, the Blue Jays played their home games at Exhibition Stadium and had an overall record of 37 wins and 69 losses.

The 1979 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 3rd in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.

The 1978 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

The 1976 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 4th in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses.

The 1984 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 84th season in the major leagues, and their 85th season overall. They finished with a record of 74-88, good enough for 5th place in the American League West, 10 games behind the 1st place Kansas City Royals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 San Diego Padres season</span>

The 1978 San Diego Padres season was the tenth in franchise history. They finished in fourth place in the National League West with a record of 84–78, eleven games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the Padres' first-ever winning season.

The 1978 Atlanta Braves season was the 108th season for the franchise and their 13th in Atlanta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Spillner</span> American baseball player (born 1951)

Daniel Ray Spillner is an American former professional baseball player. He was a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1985. He played for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. He led the Padres pitching staff in strikeouts in 1975.

The 2014 Cleveland Indians season was the 114th season for the franchise. They finished in third place, five games back in the Central Division.

References