All-Time Indians: Roy Weatherly

Roy Weatherly was signed by the Indians D level farm team, the Opelousas Indians, in 1934 at the age of 19 out of Texas. While he wasn’t college educated and was significantly younger than the rest of the players at that level, he quickly made a name for himself by batting .346 and slugging .490. Just one year later, he was promoted to the A level New Orleans Pelicans and after continuing to hit well above .300, he joined the Indians in 1936 at the age of 21.

By the mid 1930’s, the dominant teams of the 1920’s had been completely dissolved and the great teams of the late 1940’s and 1950’s were just beginning. One Hall of Famer, Earl Averill, had replaced another, Tris Speaker, in center field barring Weatherly from his primary position. This didn’t dissuade the youngster, however as he made his Major League debut on June 27th and almost immediately stole the starting right fielder role from Bruce Campbell. Weatherly would play every game in July and August and despite batting .372, Campbell was rarely used as anything more than a pinch hitter. Weatherly ultimately batted .335, knocked in 53 and scored 64 in his rookie year across 84 games.

Despite this hot start, Weatherly didn’t begin the 1937 season as the starter and was never able to regain that role. Campbell was still hitting above .300, but Weatherly was barely hitting .200 and after batting just .201 through the middle of August, he was sent back to New Orleans to finish the year. After this set back, Weatherly made a stance and would not return to the minors until after coming back from World War II in 1946.

Weatherly opened 1938 as the Indians reserve outfielder, but when Averill dealt with a back injury late in the year, he took over the starting center field job and ran with it. Even when Averill came back for the final weeks of the season, Weatherly remained in center with Averill moving to right field. He batted just .262, but his solid defense kept his job and made it easier for the Indians to trade the ailing Averill during the following season. In that 1939 campaign, Weatherly began as the center fielder, but was ultimately replaced by Ben Chapman, moving to a reserve role yet again. In his 95 games, Weatherly had 100 hits and batted .310/.348/.406.

After his great rookie year, it wouldn’t be until 1940 that Weatherly would remain a starter through an entire season. This was a good year for the Indians as it marked Lou Boudreau‘s first full season with the team and with Hal Trosky and Ken Keltner both having nice seasons, the Indians offense flourished. Weatherly was a big part of that, playing in 135 games and batting .303 in addition to setting career highs in runs (90), hits (175), doubles (35), triples (11), home runs (15), RBI (59) and steals (9). Of those, only Boudreau had more hits and scored more runs on the team and only Trosky slugged more home runs. Exclusively used as the center fielder, Weatherly was a well rounded player, providing every aspect of a solid hitter outside of the usual strength of a center fielder, speed. While he wasn’t one of the Indians six All-Star representatives that season, he was one of the five who received MVP votes, coming in 11th, behind Bob Feller (2nd) and Boudreau (5th) on his own team. Hank Greenberg of the Tigers would ultimately take the honor that year with 41 home runs and 150 RBI.

In 1941, Weatherly continued on as the regular center fielder, although he was often spelled by Soup Campbell. This season, he batted just .289 in 102 games although he did score 59 runs (4th on the team) and knock in 37. Most of this production came in May and June as he ended the month of April with a .237 average and would raise is to a high of .313 on May 30th before ultimately falling below .300 again later in the season. Weatherly’s poor numbers didn’t really stand out on this team, however, no hitter hit above .300 and besides Boudreau and Keltner, who each went to their third All-Star Game, there was little to be excited about in the Tribe dugout.

The following season would be Weatherly’s last in Cleveland. In his third year as the primary center fielder, he would knock in 39, score 61 and bat .258 in 128 games. This time, it would be Buster Mills taking at bats from Weatherly, but none of the outfielders were particularly bright and the entire outfield, now consisting of Weatherly, Jeff Heath and Oris Hockett, would be switched out multiple times in the coming seasons before finally settling on the superb group of Dale Mitchell, Larry Doby and Allie Clark for the championship season of 1948.

While he didn’t get a chance to play in the World Series with the Indians, Weatherly was able to grab a ring with the Yankees. In December of 1942, he was traded along with Oscar Grimes for Roy Cullenbine and Buddy Rosar. Both Cullenbine and Rosar would have two great seasons (including an All-Star appearance for both) in Cleveland before being traded again, but Weatherly was largely a disappointment in New York. He played in just 77 games, batted only .264 and was benched during the World Series. The following year, he joined the military and and missed all of 1944 and 1945 before returning to the Yankees in 1946. Playing in just two games for New York, he was traded around the league, spending time with the Boston, Pittsburgh, New York (Giants this time), Baltimore and Philadelphia minor league teams until he retired at the age of 43 in 1958. During that span, he spent just a total of 50 games in 1950 with the Giants in the Majors. Following his retirement, Roy Weatherly returned to his home state of Texas where he died at the age of 75 in 1991. In the end, despite a short career, Weatherly would hit 141 doubles, knock in 251 runs and strike out just 151 times in over 2,400 at bats making him one of the greatest center fielders in Indians history.