Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Cleveland Indians.
The origin of the Cleveland Indians begins in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1894, where they played in the Western League. The franchise relocated in 1900, becoming the Cleveland Lake Shores, and eventually were an inaugural team of the American League, going through multiple name changes (Bluebirds, Broncos, Naps) before becoming the Indians for over a decade.
Cleveland would become a great sports town, but the baseball team has not given them very much to cheer for over the years. The Indians have only won the World Series twice (1920 and 1948), with three other appearances.
The team has announced that they will soon drop the Indians nickname, though as of this writing, it is not sure what they will change it to and when precisely it will take place.
Our Top 50 lists in baseball look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.
This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.
The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article. They are:
1. Bob Feller
2. Nap Lajoie
3. Tris Speaker
4. Lou Boudreau
We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.
Look for our more material coming soon!
As always, we thank you for your support.
One of the most prolific power hitters of all-time, Jim Thome blasted 337 of his 612 Home Runs as a Cleveland Indian.
As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports. After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.
As such, it is important to us that the Cleveland Indians have retired the number 25 yesterday of Jim Thome in a pre-game ceremony.
2018 has been somewhat of a celebration year for Thome who earlier this year was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Last week, the Chicago White Sox honored him for his accomplishments for them and in June the Philadelphia Phillies did the same. The Minnesota Twins will be honoring Thome next Saturday.
Thome played for six teams over his career over half of which was spent with the Indians. He went to three All Star Games as an Indian where he hit 337 Home Runs with a .287/.414/.566 Slash Line. He is the all time franchise leader in Home Runs. His #25 joins Earl Averill (#3), Lou Boudreau (#5), Larry Doby (#14), Mel Harder (#18), Bob Feller (#19), Bob Lemon (#21) and Jackie Robinson (#42).
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Jim Thome for earning this prestigious honor.