All-Time Indians: Grady Sizemore

The story of Grady Sizemore was one of the brightest and shortest in Indians history, playing four full seasons at an All-Star level before injuries derailed an extremely promising career. Sizemore was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in 2000 and just two years later was involved in the infamous Bartolo Colon trade that also saw Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips come to Cleveland. Sizemore was only in Advanced A in the minors at the time, but it would take him less than two years to break into the Majors and a short period after that to make the trade a complete success for the Tribe considering only the value returned by Sizemore for Colon.

After breaking into the Indians Major League roster in 2004, Sizemore never looked back and didn’t return to the minors until injury rehab in his final season. Not only that, but Sizemore barely sat out of the lineup, playing in 43 games after being called up in July, then 158 in 2005 and 162 in both 2006 and 2007. It is very possible that it was this constant beating to his knees in particular that lead to the abrupt ending to Sizemore’s career.

Grady was always a high flyer, often diving to make a play or crashing into a wall. It wasn’t all just show either as UZR shows Sizemore saved more runs than the average center fielder in each year from 2004 through 2008 including a career best 13 in 2006. Almost all of this came from his incredible range and as he slowed down in his later years, his poor arm strength became a greater issue and he fell slightly below league average from 2009 through 2011.

The Indians originally center fielder in 2004 was Coco Crisp, another defensive standout thanks to his incredible foot speed and when Sizemore was brought up, it allowed Crisp to move to left field. In 2005, Casey Blake joined them, moving from third base to right field and what followed was one of the greatest defensive outfields in Indians history. The Indians could see the bright future of Sizemore and knew that they wanted to keep him around for a long time. To do so, they broke the mold and signed him to the biggest contract ever given to a player so young and with so little Major League experience, a nearly $4M deal that spanned until 2011 with options for 2012 and 2013.

The 2005 Indians were the best squad produced in Cleveland as a whole since they went to the play-offs in 2001 thanks to some great starting pitching, good defense and a prolific offense largely based around Sizemore and Travis Hafner. These two made quite the pair and from 2005 through 2007, Hafner knocked in Sizemore 76 times. In 2005, the Indians finished with 93 wins, second in the AL Central and just shy of a Wild Card birth. After a disappointing overall 2006 season, they would finally break through in 2007.

Sizemore didn’t have a disappointing 2006 though as he finally earned some respect around the league. He was selected to his first All-Star game and came in 11th in MVP voting (he finished 23rd in voting in 2005), a few spots behind Hafner. In addition to leading the league in games played, Sizemore lead the AL in runs scored (134) and doubles (53) and all three numbers also were enough to rank in the top ten in Indians history for a single season. These were also career highs for Sizemore as where his 190 hits, .290 average and .533 slugging percent.

As Sizemore aged, he became a smarter player, with a greater knowledge of the strike zone and on the bases. This lead to 101 walks and 33 steals in 2007 while still hitting 34 doubles and 24 home runs. For this, he was again an AL All-Star and came in 12th in the MVP voting at the end of the season, winning his first Gold Glove as well. As often happens, he was most likely being acknowledged for his previous two seasons defensively with his increased offense finally putting him on the map.

With 96 wins and an AL Central title, the 2007 squad was at least the best Indians team since 1999 and possibly the best since 1995. Sizemore was a big part of that in the regular season, playing all 162 games and all 11 games in the post-season. While he may not have played quite to the level of his standard, he still hit two home runs and stole two bases against the Yankees and Red Sox as the Indians took the latter to seven games in the ALCS.

The following season would be the beginning of the end for Sizemore. While he continued to hit for power and steal bases, he no longer hit for a high average. Setting career bests in home runs (33), RBI (90) and steals (38) while batting a career low .268. As already mentioned, this is also when his defense began to slip, although he still played in 157 games. This completed a four season stretch where, including the post season, Sizemore played 650 of 659 games. It might not be Iron Horse quality, but neither Lou Gehrig or Cal Ripken played every single day in center field.

Starting in 2009, the constant beating Sizemore took began to really show its toll. He played only 106 games although he did hit another 18 home runs with 64 RBI. At the same time, his stolen base efficiency and average dropped considerably in what would be his last season of at least 100 games with the Tribe. Due to those injuries, Sizemore missed all but 33 games in 2010. He came back for 71 games in 2011 and hit 10 more home runs to pad his career stats a little, but it would be short lived. Despite being signed through 2012, Sizemore’s double knee surgery cost him the entire season which he spent rehabbing. He took off all of 2013 as well before attempting a comeback with Boston in 2014, then Philadelphia in 2015. In neither city nor in Tampa, where he was traded from the Phillies was he able to repeat his early success.

Even though his career was shorter than it should have been, Sizemore still accrued 139 home runs, 134 steals and 43 triples, his overall numbers placing him among the top 30 Indians hitters of all time and easily in the top ten center fielders, both offensively and defensively.