All-Time Indians: Frank Duffy

Between Lou Boudreau‘s final year as starting short stop in 1949 and Julio Franco‘s first in 1983, the Indians had just two short stops start at that position for more than four years, Larry Brown and Frank Duffy. While Duffy didn’t have the career numbers of many of the great short stops in Indians history, he was unfortunate enough to play for the Indians in a time of reduced offense and would likely have been a much more effective player if he had played with better lineup around him.

Duffy was originally signed by the Reds as the sixth overall pick in 1967 and quickly moved up the system, hitting AAA in 1969 and the Majors in 1970. He didn’t play long in Cincinnati and after just 19 games across two seasons he was traded to the Giants, then quickly moved again to Cleveland in a blockbuster deal that saw future Cy Young award winner and Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry come to the Indians in exchange for Sam McDowell, possibly the greatest strike out pitcher in team history and the ace of the staff through the late 1960’s.

While it seemed a fairly even deal at the time, the Indians ended up getting the best of the Giants as Perry played four great seasons in Cleveland before being traded again while McDowell had troubles with alcoholism and would start just 51 more games. Duffy was the bonus and he immediately became the starter, despite playing just 40 games previously in his career.

Duffy replaced the extremely light hitting Jack Heidemann and at 24 was instantly both a better hitter and defender. In that first year, he played in 130 games and batted .239 with a little bit of everything offensively, stealing six bases with four triples and three home runs. These numbers would be typical of his Indians career as he averaged two triples and four home runs per season with a .233 average during his six seasons in Cleveland.

The 1973 season would be the best in Duffy’s career as he set career marks in RBI (50), home runs (8) and a .263 average with just 41 strike outs in 361 at bats. He played just 116 games that year, but he still qualified for and was the top fielding short stop in the AL with a .986 fielding percent. This was really Duffy’s specialty with any offense being a bonus. In addition to leading the league in fielding percent twice (the other was 1976), Duffy set the Indians record in career fielding percent as a short stop, surpassing Boudreau with a .979 compared to .973. Since then, he was surpassed by Omar Vizquel who completed 98.5% of plays and won the only Gold Gloves ever won by an Indians short stop, all eight. Duffy himself never won a Gold Glove, but nothing should be taken away from his defense as only Mark Belanger of Baltimore won the award from 1972 through 1978.

Duffy had similar numbers in 1974 in 158 games, the most he would ever play in a season. While his 64 runs scored and 48 RBI that year may not seem impressive from the standpoint of the decades to come, compared to the rest of the Indians, none of whom knocked in or scored more than 80, he was a star. In an essence, he was the perfect bottom of the lineup hitter for a solid offensive team looking for great defense up the middle. The Indians were not that team.

At 28 years old in 1975, Duffy batted .243 and knocked in another 47, giving him three straight seasons with at least that many. He also set a career best with ten steals, but was caught ten times as well, reducing the value. The next season, he would steal another ten, but do so without being caught a single time. He would play another 133 games in 1976, but batted just .212 with another tremendous season in the field.

Duffy would play his final full season in 1977 and it would be his last in Cleveland as well. This was his worst season as a full timer, batting just .201 and knocking in 31, giving him at least 30 RBI and runs scored in five straight years. He hit two more triples that year to add to his career total which ended at 14, an impressive total for a man who never hit more than four in a year and played just six seasons. This went along with 96 career doubles and 26 home runs. While overall, his offensive numbers weren’t great, the combination of his incredible defense along with a weak lineup with little competition around him allowed him to remain a starter long enough to deserve recognition.

With little left in the tank, Duffy was resigned as a free agent in the Winter of 1977, then sent to Boston for Rick Kreuger just prior to the 1978 campaign. Kreuger would pitch just 9.1 innings in relief for Cleveland, but Duffy wouldn’t be much better, playing in just 70 more games with just five more extra base hits across the next two seasons. In May of 1979, Duffy was released from the Red Sox leading to his retirement from baseball.