1987 Cleveland Indians season

March 2026 November 2013 Cleveland Indians 1987 American League East Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland, Ohio Richard Jacobs Joe Klein, Hank Peters Pat Corrales, Doc Edwards WUAB Joe Tait, Jack Corrigan WWWE Herb Score, Steve Lamar 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.Principals http://www.bavasisports.com/principals.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20070804061754/http://www.bavasisports.com/principals.htm 2007-08-04 Bavasi Sports Partners 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.New York Times, January 24, 1987 There was much optimism that the team would reach its full potential in 1987. 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 November 7, 1986: Fran Mullins was released by the Indians.Fran Mullins https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mullifr01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en November 28, 1986: Casey Parsons was signed as a free agent by the Indians.Casey Parsons https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parsoca01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en December 23, 1986: John Butcher was released by the Indians.John Butcher https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/butchjo01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en January 19, 1987: Doug Frobel was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.Doug Frobel https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/frobedo01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en February 23, 1987: Curt Wardle was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Jeff Kaiser.Jeff Kaiser https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kaiseje01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en 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 Record vs. opponents CLE Transactions April 4, 1987: Steve Carlton signed as a free agent with the Indians.Steve Carlton https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carltst01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en May 11, 1987: Don Schulze was traded by the Indians to the New York Mets for Ricky Nelson.Don Schulze https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schuldo01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en May 12, 1987: Dave Gallagher was traded by the Indians to the Seattle Mariners for Mark Huismann.Mark Huismann https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/huismma01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en July 15, 1987: Tony Bernazard was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Darrel Akerfelds and Brian Dorsett.Tony Bernazard https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bernato01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en July 31, 1987: Steve Carlton was traded by the Indians to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later. The Twins completed the deal by sending Jeff Perry (minors) to the Indians on August 18. Draft picks June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft Albert Belle was drafted by the Indians in the 2nd round. Belle signed on August 27, 1987.Albert Belle https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/belleal01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Beau Allred was drafted by the Indians in the 25th round.Beau Allred https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/allrebe01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position4 Tony Bernazard 2B2 Brett Butler CF14 Julio Franco SS30 Joe Carter LF29 Andre Thornton DH26 Brook Jacoby 3B10 Pat Tabler 1B28 Cory Snyder RF23 Chris Bando C49 Tom Candiotti P 1987 Opening Day Lineup https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR198704060.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Roster 1987 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers 47 Darrel Akerfelds 47 Mike Armstrong 43 Scott Bailes 13 Ernie Camacho 49 Tom Candiotti 32 Steve Carlton 36,11 Jamie Easterly 52 John Farrell 39 Don Gordon 37 Mark Huismann 46 Doug Jones 48 Jeff Kaiser 35 Phil Niekro 44 Reggie Ritter 18 Ken Schrom 53 Sammy Stewart 21 Greg Swindell 44,36 Ed Vande Berg 22 Frank Wills 42 Rich Yett Catchers  6 Andy Allanson 23 Chris Bando 24 Rick Dempsey  4 Brian Dorsett Infielders 16 Jay Bell  4 Tony Bernazard 30 Joe Carter 14 Julio Franco  1 Tommy Hinzo 26 Brook Jacoby 17 Junior Noboa 10 Pat Tabler 34 Eddie Williams Outfielders  2 Brett Butler  8 Carmen Castillo 12 Dave Clark 31,38 Doug Frobel 15 Dave Gallagher 27 Mel Hall 20 Otis Nixon 15 Casey Parsons 28 Cory Snyder Other batters 29 Andre Thornton Manager  7 Pat Corrales (Apr 6 - July 15) 32 Doc Edwards (July 16 - Oct 4) Coaches  1 Jack Aker (Pitching, Apr 6 - Jun 30) 25 Bobby Bonds (Hitting/First Base) 31 Steve Comer (Pitching, July 1 - Oct 4) 32 Doc Edwards (Bullpen) 45 John Goryl (Third Base)  7 Luis Isaac (Bullpen)  4 Dave Roberts 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 Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB Andy Allanson 50 154 17 41 6 0 3 16 .266 1 Chris Bando 89 211 20 46 9 0 5 16 .218 0 Jay Bell 38 125 14 27 9 1 2 13 .216 2 Tony Bernazard 79 293 39 70 12 1 11 30 .239 7 Brett Butler Brett Butler (baseball) 137 522 91 154 25 8 9 41 .295 33 Joe Carter 149 588 83 155 27 2 32 106 .264 31 Carmelo Castillo 89 220 27 55 17 0 11 31 .250 1 Dave Clark Dave Clark (baseball) 29 87 11 18 5 0 3 12 .207 1 Rick Dempsey 60 141 16 25 10 0 1 9 .177 0 Brian Dorsett 5 11 2 3 0 0 1 3 .273 0 Julio Franco 128 495 86 158 24 3 8 52 .319 32 Doug Frobel 29 40 5 4 0 0 2 5 .100 0 Dave Gallagher 15 36 2 4 1 1 0 1 .111 2 Mel Hall 142 485 57 136 21 1 18 76 .280 5 Tommy Hinzo 67 257 31 68 9 3 3 21 .265 9 Brook Jacoby 155 540 73 162 26 4 32 69 .300 2 Otis Nixon 19 17 2 1 0 0 0 1 .059 2 Junior Noboa 39 80 7 18 2 1 0 7 .225 1 Casey Parsons 18 25 2 4 0 0 1 5 .160 0 Cory Snyder 157 577 74 136 24 2 33 82 .236 5 Pat Tabler 151 553 66 170 34 3 11 86 .307 5 Andre Thornton 36 85 8 10 2 0 0 5 .118 1 Eddie Williams Eddie Williams (baseball) 22 64 9 11 4 0 1 4 .172 0 Team totals 162 5606 742 1476 267 30 187 691 .263 140 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 Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K Darrel Akerfelds 2 6 6.75 16 13 0 74.2 84 60 56 38 42 Mike Armstrong Mike Armstrong (baseball) 1 0 8.68 14 0 1 18.2 27 18 18 10 9 Scott Bailes 7 8 4.64 39 17 6 120.1 145 75 62 47 65 Ernie Camacho 0 1 9.22 15 0 1 13.2 21 14 14 5 9 Tom Candiotti 7 18 4.78 32 32 0 201.2 193 132 107 93 111 Steve Carlton 5 9 5.37 23 14 1 109.0 111 76 65 63 71 Jamie Easterly 1 1 4.55 16 0 0 31.2 26 17 16 13 22 John Farrell John Farrell (pitcher) 5 1 3.39 10 9 0 69.0 68 29 26 22 28 Don Gordon Don Gordon (baseball) 0 3 4.08 21 0 1 39.2 49 31 18 12 20 Mark Huismann 2 3 5.09 20 0 2 35.1 38 22 20 8 23 Doug Jones Doug Jones (baseball) 6 5 3.15 49 0 8 91.1 101 45 32 24 87 Jeff Kaiser 0 0 16.20 2 0 0 3.1 4 6 6 3 2 Phil Niekro 7 11 5.89 22 22 0 123.2 142 83 81 53 57 Reggie Ritter 1 1 6.08 14 0 0 26.2 33 21 18 16 11 Ken Schrom 6 13 6.50 32 29 0 153.2 185 126 111 57 61 Sammy Stewart 4 2 5.67 25 0 3 27.0 25 22 17 21 25 Greg Swindell 3 8 5.10 16 15 0 102.1 112 62 58 37 97 Ed Vande Berg 1 0 5.10 55 0 0 72.1 96 42 41 21 40 Tom Waddell Tom Waddell (baseball) 0 1 14.29 6 0 0 5.2 7 10 9 7 6 Frank Wills Frank Wills (baseball) 0 1 5.06 6 0 1 5.1 3 3 3 7 4 Rich Yett 3 9 5.25 37 11 1 97.2 96 63 57 49 59 Team totals 61 101 5.28 162 162 25 1422.2 1566 957 835 606 849 Award winners All-Star Game Pat Tabler, designated hitter, reserve Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 ChandlerLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: BurlingtonJohnson Lloyd The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball Wolff Miles Baseball America 2007 978-1-93-239117-6 3rd Durham, North Carolina References 1987 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1987 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cleve