All-Time Indians: Luke Sewell

The brother of one of the greatest players in Indians history was actually one of the greatest catchers in Indians history himself. Luke Sewell was the fourth longest tenured catcher for the Tribe, starting for seven seasons during the 1920's. Luke came to Cleveland shortly after his brother Joe Sewell, just missing out on the first Indians championship in 1920.

Sewell joined the team as a 20 year old rookie in 1921 and played as the reserve catcher behind Steve O'Neill and Glenn Myatt until 1926. He then became the starting catcher and stayed in that role for seven straight seasons. While he was never incredibly productive (and was devoid of any power), he played long enough for the Indians to rank among the the top catchers in runs scored, RBI and triples. One thing he had in common with his brother, Joe was his skill in avoiding strike outs. In a long career of near 1,000 games played and more than 3,000 at bats, he struck out less than 200 times.

Sewell ended his first stint with the Indians just prior to the 1933 season when he was sent to the Washington Senators in exchange for Roy Spencer. In 1939 he returned as a free agent, but only played in 16 games. After his playing career, Sewell managed for St. Louis (AL) and Cincinnati through the 1950's. Joe Sewell died in 1987 at the age of 86.