All-Time Indians: Graig Nettles

This is another tale of the Indians being a farm system for a much bigger market team, as moniker often given to the Tribe teams from 1956 through 1993. The player, Graig Nettles, wound up being a six time All-Star, two time Gold Glove winner at third base and an MVP candidate for a short period, but before becoming a Yankee great, Nettles began his career with the Indians. Of course, even before he began his career with the Indians, he started out with the Twins.

Nettles was drafted in 1965 by Minnesota, making his debut just three seasons later in 1967. He began as an outfielder, batting .224 with 12 home runs in 121 games through his first three seasons. After hitting .222 in 1969 with 43 strike outs in 96 games, the Twins had decided their fourth round pick was not likely to pan out and cut their losses with a trade to Cleveland. In exchange, the Indians sent two of the better pitchers in team history, Luis Tiant and Stan Williams for Nettles along with Ted Uhlaender, Bob Miller and Dean Chance. Of course, this trade (and those that followed) was indicative of the decade for the both the Twins and Indians. The Indians lost two great pitchers, one of which would go on to win 122 games with the Red Sox and of the players they received, the two who would have been worthwhile (Miller and Nettles) were both dealt away in short order. Of course the Twins weren’t much better off as they also lost Nettles and released Tiant at the end of the season, allowing him to sign with Boston for his resurgence.

After joining the Tribe, a few things changed for Nettles. For one thing, he played just four innings in the outfield over the next three years and for another, he was given a chance to start for the first time in his career. As the Indians starting third baseman, a position he had played in just 26 games with the Twins, he immediately became one of the strongest hitters on the team. In 1970, he lead the team in home runs and runs scored, slugging .404 in a team high 157 games. Outside of Nettles, this was a general off year for the Indians offense with Vada Pinson and Ray Fosse as the only other strong performers.

The following season, he turned it up a notch, raising his .233 average to .261 while leading the team with 28 home runs (the next best player had just 18), 86 RBI and 78 runs. Again, he lead the team with 158 games played and was a solid defender at the hot corner with a .978 fielding percent. With a 7.5 WAR (eighth in all of baseball), Nettles received his first MVP vote of many to come, finishing in 28th place in the American League.

He would play one more season with the Indians, again leading the offense. This time, it took just 17 home runs to lead the team (Ray Fosse was second with ten), and he also lead in RBI (70), walks (57), hits (141) and runs scored (65). It was obvious that the 27 year old was primed for a superstar career and the Yankees took note, sending John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Rusty Torres and Charlie Spikes to Cleveland in late November for Nettles and Jerry Moses. While Ellis was the team’s starting catcher for the next two season, Torres a solid fourth outfielder and Spikes the Indians top offensive performer over the next three seasons, none were anywhere near what Nettles would ultimately produce.

Graig Nettles played the next eleven years in a Yankee uniform, going to the All-Star game five times, smashing 250 home runs and knocking 834 runs. While this might not be a splash in Yankee history, had he produced these numbers in Cleveland, he would have unquestionably been the greatest third baseman in Indians history. After those eleven seasons, Nettles was sent to San Diego for parts, where he hit another 51 runs and knocked in another 181, going to his final All-Star game in 1985. He ultimately stuck around with Atlanta and Montreal until finally retiring after his 1988 season at the age of 44.