1987 Cleveland Indians season

1987 Cleveland Indians
Major league affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
1987 information
Owner(s)	Richard Jacobs
General manager(s)	Hank Peters
Manager(s)	Pat Corrales, Doc Edwards
Local television	WUAB
Local radio	WWWE
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The Cleveland Indians finished in seventh place in the American League East. Sports Illustrated magazine predicted that the Indians would finish in first. Club president Peter Bavasi's 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. 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. There was a lot of optimism that the team would reach its full potential in 1987.

Offseason

• November 7, 1986: Fran Mullins was released by the Indians.
• November 28, 1986: Casey Parsons was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
• December 23, 1986: John Butcher was released by the Indians.
• January 19, 1987: Doug Frobel was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
• February 23, 1987: Curt Wardle was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Jeff Kaiser.

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 would finish 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
Detroit Tigers	98	64	.605	--
Toronto Blue Jays	96	66	.593	2
Milwaukee Brewers	91	71	.562	7
New York Yankees	89	73	.549	9
Boston Red Sox	78	84	.481	20
Baltimore Orioles	67	95	.414	31
Cleveland Indians	61	101	.377	37

Transactions

• April 4, 1987: Steve Carlton signed as a free agent with the Indians.
• May 11, 1987: Don Schulze was traded by the Indians to the New York Mets for Ricky Nelson.
• May 12, 1987: Dave Gallagher was traded by the Indians to the Seattle Mariners for Mark Huismann.
• 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.
  • Beau Allred was drafted by the Indians in the 25th round.

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 32 Doc Edwards Coaches  1 Jack Aker 25 Bobby Bonds 32 Doc Edwards 45 John Goryl

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Chris Bando	89	211	46	.218	5	16
1B	Joe Carter	149	588	155	.264	32	106
2B	Tony Bernazard	79	293	70	.239	11	30
3B	Brook Jacoby	155	540	162	.300	32	69
SS	Julio Franco	128	495	158	.319	8	52
LF	Mel Hall	142	485	136	.280	18	76
CF	Brett Butler	137	522	154	.295	9	41
RF	Cory Snyder	157	577	136	.236	33	82
DH	Pat Tabler	151	553	170	.307	11	86

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Rick Dempsey	60	141	25	.177	1	9
Jay Bell	38	125	27	.216	2	13
Dave Clark	29	87	18	.207	3	12
Andre Thornton	36	85	10	.118	0	5
Dave Gallagher	15	36	4	.111	0	1
Casey Parsons	18	25	4	.160	1	5
Otis Nixon	19	17	1	.059	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Tom Candiotti	32	201.7	7	18	4.78	111
Phil Niekro	22	123.7	7	11	5.89	57
Greg Swindell	16	102.3	3	8	5.10	97
Steve Carlton	23	109.0	5	9	5.37	71

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Rich Yett	37	97.7	3	9	5.25	59

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Doug Jones	49	91.3	6	5	8	3.15	87
Ed Vande Berg	55	72.3	1	0	0	5.10	40
Mark Huismann	20	35.3	2	3	2	5.09	23
Jeff Kaiser	2	3.3	0	0	0	16.20	2

Award winners

All-Star Game

• Pat Tabler, Designated Hitter, Reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
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

References

• 1987 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
• 1987 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com