Tag: terry turner

Never Thought We’d See It. A New Franchise Leader In Games Played

As a kid growing up a Cleveland Indians’ fan starting in 1965, we still were interested in the history of the team and the sport of baseball in general. One feature of the Streets and Smith’s Annual Baseball Magazine was the section showing the all-time leaders in certain categories.

That’s how we got to know Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson. And we wanted to know more about them.

In old Municipal Stadium in the 60’s, there was an Indians’ Hall of Fame, we believe it was down the right field line, and you could see artifacts from the franchise’s past along with players who were honored by the franchise.

We would look at all of the franchise greats and leaders in different categories, and they never changed because the teams weren’t very good for one, and no one stayed here all that long. If the Tribe had a really good player, he was likely to be moved for prospects. And that was true even before free agency took effect.

When Andre Thornton entered the all-time Top 10 for home runs, that was a big deal to us.

Then, the new era of Cleveland baseball arrived with Jacobs/Progressive Field and new names were starting to show up on the Top 10 lists, names like Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, and Omar Vizquel took their place.

Thome and Belle and first and third respectively in homers, Thome and Ramirez are 3rd and 9th in RBI. Vizquel and Lofton are 8th and 10th in hits and are 3rd and 1st in stolen bases. The players on those great teams from 1994-2001 are littered throughout the franchise’s leaders and all of them are now in the Cleveland Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thome is enshrined in Cooperstown and Lofton and Belle should be in our opinion. Ramirez would be there as well if not for the PED issues surrounding him.

Last night, Jose Ramirez broke one club record that has stood for a long, long time, the number of games played in franchise history with 1620. The player who held the record, Terry Turner, played in last game in a Cleveland uniform in 1918, that’s 108 years ago folks.

Before Ramirez, the last players to join this list would be Jim Hegan, who last wore a Cleveland uniform in 1957. He ranks fifth. Lou Boudreau played here until 1950 is fourth, while Ken Keltner, tied for 7th, last played with the Indians in 1949.

That would be 69 years since Hegan was traded. That’s what a franchise icon Ramirez has become.

It has been discussed before, but this is just the first of many franchise records Jose Ramirez will own. Within a couple of years, he will likely be the career leader in home runs, runs batted in, and runs scored.

He is well within reach of having the most hits, doubles, and stolen bases too.

That little kid back in the ’60’s would never have imagined a player as good as Jose Ramirez spending his entire career in Cleveland.

Ramirez’ Place In Cleveland Baseball History

A few years ago, we wrote a piece talking about Francisco Lindor’s place in Cleveland baseball history if he were to play his entire career here, or at least a sizeable portion of it.

Well, we had the wrong player. Jose Ramirez is one of the best players in the game, and he wants to spend his entire career in a Cleveland uniform.

So, let’s look at some of the all time Cleveland counting stats and see where Ramirez will wind up statistically for the franchise.

The franchise leader in games played is Terry Turner, who played 1619 games with Cleveland, the last in 1919. Ramirez has played in 1026 as of today, and if he averages 140 games through the end of 2028 when his contract ends, he will surpass that total easily.

Napoleon Lajoie is the club’s all time leader in hits with 2047 and he last wore a Cleveland uniform in 1914. Ramirez has 1038 currently. Assuming he gets 100 more hits this season, he would need to get about 150 hits per season to pass the man the team was once named after.

Jim Thome’s 337 home runs is the current standard and Ramirez has belted 176 as of now, averaging almost 28 per season in the last five full seasons. After this season, the switch-hitting third baseman will need slightly over 20 homers a year to break the franchise mark.

As for RBIs, the all-time leader is Earl Averill with 1084 and Ramirez has 591 to date, averaging 90 a year in the last five full seasons. At that pace, he will pass Averill, but as we know that depends on his teammates and other teams choosing to pitch to him.

Averill is also the leader in total bases (3200) with Ramirez currently at 1885. Jose has averaged 290 total bases in the last five full seasons, so he should pass the 2000 mark before the end of this season.

Keep in mind using the last five full seasons includes the 2016 season in which Ramirez only hit 11 homers and knocked in 76 runs. His power surge started the following season when he belted 29 dingers.

Ramirez has 256 career doubles and the franchise leader is also the all time in this department, Tris Speaker, who had 486 of his two-baggers in a Cleveland uniform. Ramirez gets a lot of hustle doubles because of his speed, but his total has dipped since he started belting balls over the fence.

He had a league leading 56 in 2017, but the past few seasons, he’s been around 30-35. At that pace, he gets in the top five all time, but no higher.

In terms of WAR, Ramirez is already in 10th place at 36.9, and at the pace his current season is on, he will likely be 9th by the end of this season, passing the aforementioned Turner. Being conservative, he will be in the top five in franchise history during the 2024 assuming he stays healthy.

Many of Cleveland’s all time leaders in these counting statistics come either from the 90’s teams (like Thome) or more than 80 years ago, so it will be refreshing to see Ramirez’ name at the top.

No doubt he will be one of the greatest, if not THE greatest player to ever wear a Cleveland baseball outfit.

You are witnessing one of the best ever here.