All-Time Indians: Steve Hargan

The late 1960’s were a time of great pitching for the Cleveland Indians, but even with Sam McDowell, Luis Tiant and Sonny Siebert putting together some of the greatest seasons ever, there was still room for one other Tribe great to make a name for himself. From 1965 through 1972, Steve Hargan was never an ace, but he still managed a solid career backing up all those greats.

Steve Hargan was born in Indiana in 1942 and went to school in state at Ball State before being signed as an amateur by the Indians in 1961. Hargan then worked for five years in the minors, compiling a record of 46-33 across all levels. After a particularly good start to the 1965 season with the AAA Portland Beavers, Hargan was finally promoted to Cleveland in August, making his debut on the third. While his first start could have been better (he allowed five runs in 4+ innings), Hargan would remain in the rotation for the entire month of August before finishing out the season in the bullpen. In all, he posted a 4-3 record with a 3.43 ERA and two saves in his first Major League season.

Going into 1966, the Indians primary rotation still consisted of McDowell, Tiant and Siebert, but along with Gary Bell and John O’Donoghue, Hargan managed to break through with a few starts. Through June 21st, Hargan remained a part of the bullpen although he often pitched multiple innings. On one particular game against the Angels on May 31st, Hargan really proved himself ready to return to the rotation when he pitched ten innings in relief, allowing just a single run and striking out nine. Although it would take almost another full month, Hargan would rejoin the 1966 rotation for good at the end of June and wind up completing seven games, three of which were shut outs.

Now that he was established, Hargan pitched as an equal with the big three in 1967 and, in fact, would wind up being the best of the group and one of two Indians All-Stars that year (along with Max Alvis). Making 29 starts, Hargan completed more than half and threw a league high six shut outs. In just his second full season and his first as a full time starter, he would also set career highs in strike outs (141), innings (223) and wins (14) that he would never match again. While his ERA of 2.62 was slightly increased over his previous season (2.48), this was likely because he didn’t have half a season of relief work to tip the scales. Despite the fact that all four starters combined won just 49 games, all four had ERAs below 4.00 (all but McDowell were below 2.75), averages allowed below .225 and at least 135 strike outs. When the season finished in eighth of ten places in the American League, this rotation proved to be the most wasted in Indians history. Thanks to a completely nonexistent offense, one of the greatest rotations in Indians history lead the team to just 75 wins.

Officially, McDowell was the ace through these years, but in 1968, it was Tiant who would have the best year. While McDowell and Siebert also continued their impressive play, Hargan fell off with his ERA jumping to 4.16, ultimately leading to his removal from the rotation near the end of August. An injury then cost him most of September and he finished the year with a record of 8-15 with just 78 strike outs in 158.1 innings. While he did maintain an impressive .227 batting average allowed, this was par for the course that season as Siebert, McDowell and Tiant all set records within the top ten in Indians history including Tiant’s all-time single season Cleveland record of .164.

Hargan dealt with injuries again at the beginning of 1969, playing only sporadically until the beginning of June, but once he was healthy, he rejoined the rotation for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t be any better this time around as he allowed a 5.72 ERA with a 5-14 record. In addition to his arm problems, this was generally a poor years for pitchers overall in comparison to the previous decade as expansion and a lowered mound lead to inflated ERAs all over the league. For example, the year after Tiant’s excellent 1968 campaign he went 9-20 with a 3.72 ERA.

Hargan had been removed from the rotation in the middle of September of 1969 and stayed in the bullpen to start 1970. After a poor start through six games, however, another trip to the disabled list cost him all of May and June as well as half of July. When he finally returned, Hargan rejoined the starting rotation, he was dynamite. He won his first five starts out of the gate and wouldn’t lose another game until September 8th. Including both his relief numbers from the beginning of the year and his starts later on, Hargan had his last great season with an ERA of 2.90 and a record of 11-3. While it looked like he had regained his form at the age of 27, things were actually heading back in the other direction.

The reason Hargan had been given another chance in the rotation in 1970 was that Siebert and Tiant were no longer with the team and the Indians were stretched thin in the rotation. Even that couldn’t help Hargan keep a spot in 1971 when, after a 1-8 start with a 5.90 ERA, he was sent back to the bullpen. While he would make a few more spot starts in his career for the Tribe, he would never rejoin the rotation again as a full member. That year, even the bullpen couldn’t save his season and he finished with a 6.21 ERA, 1.72 WHIP and a 1-13 record. Injuries and age were catching up to Hargan and his prime was definitely at an end.

In 1972, Hargan pitched just 20 innings with the Indians and with a 5.85 ERA was forced to spend most of the season back with the Beavers. In the following season, the Indians switched affiliates to the Oklahoma 89ers and Hargan stayed the entire season in AAA, pitching 114 innings with a 5.13 ERA. With little belief of a comeback left, Hargan was traded to the Rangers at the end of the season in exchange for Bill Gogolewski, who pitched just 13.2 innings for the Indians in his single season with the club. With the Rangers, Hargan did find his way back to Major League ball, pitching a total of 512.2 innings in Texas over the next four seasons, the first three of which he posted an ERA below 4.00. At the age of 34 in 1977, he was tossed from team to team, playing with Atlanta and Toronto in addition to Texas. The following season he attempted another comeback with both the Twins and Pirates, but it went for naught and he retired after the 1978 season.