All-Time Indians: Terry Turner

Terry Turner won the award for longevity if there ever was one. Only catcher Jim Hegan had a longer career as a hitter with the Indians. From 1904-1910 Turner was the starting shortstop for the Naps, then started at third base for the majority of the time between 1911 and 1914. Turner stuck around as a utility infielder until 1918 and during that whole time, managed to play in more games than any other player in the history of the Cleveland Indians. That incredible amount of time, the equivalent of playing every single game in a modern (162 Game) season for a decade, allowed him to accrue some impressive stats, including being third all time in career at bats and steals. He is also in the top ten in hits and triples.

Turner played with Cleveland almost his entire career, excluding his first season after being signed by Pittsburgh in 1901 and his last season when he was signed by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1919 after being released by the Indians. In total, he played all but 40 games in his career for Cleveland. After his career was over, he stayed in Cleveland until his death in 1960.

Terry Turner was the first of a very long line of extraordinary Indians shortstops. When Turner was moved to third base, his replacement was a young short stop named Ray Chapman. Chapman played until his death in 1920 and was replaced by Hall of Famer, Joe Sewell. A few short term players took over during the 1930’s when Sewell moved to third, until Lou Boudreau took over in 1940. This line of short stops is among the best in baseball history and Terry Turner was the forefather of them all.