The Top 10 Left Fielders in Indians History

Updated October 2018

The second installment of the Indians Top 10 Positional Leaders will feature the best Indians left fielders of all time.The Indians have had a lot of great outfielders over the history of the franchise and while most of them have been center fielders, there have been a few good ones in left as well, including the second most prolific home run hitter in team history. For more information on any player click on the link on their name for their All-Time Indians Bio.

10. Mel Hall – 1984, 1986-1988 (Years Starting LF)

The 1980’s weren’t that bad of a time to be an Indians outfielder, with Cory Snyder, Brett Butler and Joe Carter all around by 1986. Hall was probably the worst of this group, but at least played long enough to be considered as one of the better left fielders in Indians history.

9. Jack Graney – 1910-1911, 1913-1917, 1919

Graney is what it looks like when a mediocre player plays an extremely long career (to see what it looks like when a good player plays a long career, check out Charlie Jamieson). Graney played in more games than any left fielder outside of Jamieson, but his .250 average was by far the worst on this list. He is one of the few speed outfielders on the list, stealing 148 bases or about 10 per season.

8. Leon Wagner – 1964-1967

Wagner showed a lot of power for the Tribe, hitting 97 home runs in just six seasons. Only one player ahead of him on the home run rankings did it in less games and most played 300 or more games than Wagner. Wagner did this despite playing in one of the hardest times for the Indians, the years between 1955 and 1994.

7. Tito Francona – 1960-1961, 1963

Francona is one of four players listed between the 1950’s and 1960’s compared to the single player from 1901-1920 and the zero players listed from 1969-1983. The Indians were lucky to have so many talented outfielders over this time, but they came at a cost. The cost for Francona was Larry Doby, one of the Indians all-time greats.

6. Dale Mitchell – 1947-1953

Dale Mitchell was a member of the last two Indians World Series appearances prior to the 1990’s. He was one of just five players to play on both the 1948 and 1954 teams, but he wasn’t very successful in either. During the regular season, he did a lot to help the Tribe get to the postseason with a .312 career average and more than 550 runs scored.

5. Joe Vosmik – 1931-1936

Vosmik was one of the most consistant left-fielders in Indians history, taking over for Jamieson after a decade of great play. Vosmik played next to Earl Averill in center for six years, making this one of the best outfields in Indians history.

4. Charlie Jamieson – 1920-1930

Jamieson started two more seasons in left than any other player on this list and thus leads everyone in at bats, runs, doubles and total bases. He ranks as low as he does because he played in more than 500 more games than the two players ahead of him and still trailed in home runs, RBI, slugging percent and OPS.

3. Michael Brantley – 2012-2018

Despite missing most of two of his last three seasons in Cleveland due to injury, Brantley hit 87 home runs, stole 118 bases, had nearly 250 doubles, more than 500 runs scored, 500 RBI, 350 walks and just 479 strike outs in more than 1050 games. This puts him right in the middle of the greatest left fielders in Indians history with an interesting mix of talents. He isn’t the most powerful, but has a higher slugging percent than those who weren’t exclusively power bats. He isn’t the fastest, but has better speed numbers than everyone who wasn’t specifically a speed player.

2. Jeff Heath – 1938-1940, 1942-1943, 1945

Heath immediately preceeded Mitchell as the Indians starting left fielder and outplayed him in every offensive facet of the game despite a shorter career. Mitchell played in 150 more games, but Heath still had more doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, walks and steals. Heath is definitely one of the most underrated players in Indians history.

1. Albert Belle – 1991, 1993-1996

Belle was the most pure power hitter in the history of the Cleveland Indians. His 242 home runs are second all-time to Jim Thome and his .285 Isolated Power is the highest in team history. Belle spent some time as DH, but was a serviceable left fielder during the majority of his time in Cleveland. Despite a short career, Belle not only ranks as number one on this list, but should be considered highly on the list of top ten hitters in Indians history. Belle’s inclusion with Manny Ramirez in right and Kenny Lofton in center makes the Indians outfield from 1994-1996 the best group in Indians history.

Borderline: Al Smith, Matt Lawton, Minnie Minoso, John Lowenstein, Gene Woodling