Ten Worst Offensive Seasons in Cleveland Indians History

As we continue to recognize the greatest single season performances in Indians history, it’s time to jump to the other end of the spectrum and look at some of the worst. We’ve already looked at the worst pitching seasons in Indians history, so it’s time for some offensive offense (or lack thereof). There is a 250 at bat minimum for all players on this list and many of the players included helped the team in other ways (particularly defensively), but only offensive stats were considered in the ranking.

10. Al Cihocki – SS – 1945

Starting the list off with a bang is a player no one alive has ever heard of before. An often used utility man in the only Major League season of his illustrious career, Cihocki played short stop, second and third for 92 games and was actually a pretty good defender up the middle as far as we can tell. He was only that, however. At the plate, he hit .212/.241/.265 with just 12 extra base hits in over 300 plate appearances. He would walk just 11 times to 48 strike outs and was a poor baserunner. There is little surprise he didn’t get a second season, although it is surprising that the Indians let him go as long as they did especially considering that the starting short stop was one of the best defensive players in Indians history and also the manager of the team, Lou Boudreau.

9. Tom Veryzer – SS – 1979

A defense first player, Veryzer had the best offensive season of his career in 1978 and it looked like he could be turning things around after a rough start to his career in Detroit. It didn’t work out that way. In 1979 he was worth -33.5 runs compared to the average hitter and -1.5 through base running. His defense, which isn’t counted here, was superb as he went over 500 plate appearances without a home run and so slugged just over .250. His offensive numbers would improve to his career averages over the next two seasons, but he would never be a league average offensive performer in his seven seasons with at least 200 PA.

8. Brandon Phillips – 2B – 2003

We’re all guilty of revisionist history at one point or another and those who look past Phillips 2003 season when discussing what the Indians missed out on by trading him for essentially nothing are very much so. While he was ok defensively (nothing like he would eventually be with the Reds), the future All-Star would be worth -26.9 runs from his offense in 2003, a stark contrast from his career high of +16.9 in 2011 with Cincinnati. While he did have a little power (the only thing saving him from being closer to the top of this list) he struck out 77 times to just 14 walks. This is a part of his game that he wouldn’t really get around to correcting until 2009, long after Eric Wedge‘s patience had worn out with the future superstar.

7. Joe Evans – 3B – 1917

The Indians were good in 1917. After three years finishing in the bottom two spots in the AL, they won 88 games and finished in third, building to a World Series in 1920. They did this despite being the only team with two players in the top ten. The first, and thus better, of the two was Evans, who played nearly every game at third base for the team in his first full season. The Indians learned their lesson as Evans would never start again after 1917, although he did hit more extra base hits the next season in 50+ less games. For context, three hitters on the 1917 team hit over .300 while four slugged over .380 including Tris Speaker who hit 42 doubles.

6. Yan Gomes – C – 2016

This season barely qualifies at 251 at bats and unlike many of the others, was more an issue of injuries than ability, but still it was an extremely ugly one. While Gomes’ ability to put one out of the park when he did make contact kept him from the bottom half of this list, his .167 average was literally the worst in Indians history for a hitter with at least 250 PA. Of 1,122 qualifying seasons, Gomes was the single worst hitter in Cleveland history beating out a host of people you’ve never heard of before and everyone on this list. Unlike most who have some power, Gomes had no patience in 2016 and his OBP was the second lowest among Indians hitters all time, just .003 higher than Fritz Buelow in 1905, a season that didn’t qualify for this list due to the fact that he did walk a few times giving him 250+ plate appearances, but not 250 at bats.

5. Luis Valbuena – 2B – 2010

Heading into 2017, Valbuena has made himself a valuable player worth more than one WAR each of the last four seasons, but if Indians fans hold some trepidation over any potential reunion with the free agent it is likely because of this season. He joins Gomes with one of the worst batting averages of all time, coming in 12th, just ahead of his 2010 teammate, Lou Marson. Unlike Gomes, however, Valbuena had no power in his early days and hit just 12 doubles and two home runs in over 300 PA. After being used in over 70 games at second base during 2010, he would be replaced by the free agent Orlando Cabrera in 2011 and ultimately the rookie Jason Kipnis before being sold to Toronto.

4. John Gochnauer – SS – 1902

Starting an expansion franchise is always hard and back in 1901, teams didn’t get the first pick in the amateur draft or to select players who weren’t protected by other teams’ 40 man rosters. Instead, the original Indians were a motley group of amateurs, the 1900 Lake Shores minor league team and players rejected from other teams. Their starting short stop in 1901, Frank Scheibeck, was bad (top 15 bad, but not top 10 bad) and he was replaced for 1902 by the rookie John Gochnauer, formerly of the minor league Dayton Veterans and for a very short period, the St. Louis Browns.

Gochnauer would play two nearly identical seasons in Cleveland, hitting .185 with 16 doubles and 4 triples each year, but he had a lower OBP, stole less bases, knocked in less runs and scored fewer in 1902, so that is the season that is included. They were so similar that he could have been #4 and #5, but how much negativity do we need to pile on a man who died in 1929? 1903 would be his final season in the Majors as he was replaced in 1904 by Terry Turner, who would be the Indians light hitting short stop/third baseman through 1918.

3. Steve O’Neill – C – 1917

The second entry from an otherwise solid 1917 team was the Indians first great catcher, Steve O’Neill. O’Neill played in each season from 1911 through 1923 for the Tribe, guiding the pitching staff to it’s zenith during the 1920 season. In 1917, however, he was atrocious. A career .263 hitter with a .337 slugging percent, he hit for neither power or average as he struck out a career high 55 times and knocked in a career low (in seasons with at least 100 games played) 29 runs.

O’Neill provides some hope for Gomes as he was a good hitter the four years prior to his one bad season, then became a great hitter from 1920 through 1922, hitting over .310 each year while slugging over .400. He is certainly one hitter the Indians were lucky not to give up on after one bad season.

2. Bill Wambsganss – 2B – 1915

A second hitter the Indians didn’t give up on after a bad year, Wambsganss became famous after hitting the first grand slam in World Series history and turning the only unassisted triple play in the Fall Classic. Five years earlier, however, Wamby hit .195 in his first full season, slugging .227. While he would never be a great base stealer, he would hurt his team far more then help it in 1915, wasting some of the very few times he reached base by getting caught stealing nine times. In addition, he had absolutely no power, hitting for extra bases just eight times in over 400 plate appearances, leading to the 6th worst slugging percent in team history with at least 250 PA (O’Neill was 4th while the aforementioned Buelow was number 1).

1. Bill Bradley – 3B – 1909

Bradley deserves a lot of credit despite being one of the more forgotten Indians. He jumped from the Cubs to his hometown Cleveland team in 1901 despite severely decreasing his chance of playing for a winning team. He was the only position player on that initial 1901 team to play through 1903 and he made it all the way until 1910. The Indians just might have been better off had he called it quits after 1908.

The career .271 hitter dropped well below .200 in 1909 and slugged just .222 (third worst all time) despite once hitting 11 home runs, 12 triples and 39 doubles during the height of the dead ball era. Bradley wasn’t a bad player by any measure, but he peaked during his early 20’s and was all used up by the time he turned 32 in 1909. He walked just 19 times in 376 plate appearances making sure that he didn’t hit for power, average or get on base, placing him in Gomes territory with the 4th worst OBP in Indians history. His playing time in both 1909 and 1910 was almost certainly out of respect for his contributions over the previous decade and in hope that he would turn things back around. When he didn’t Turner moved from short to third with another light hitter, Ivy Olsen, taking over short in 1911. As light hitting as Turner and Olsen were, neither they nor the many short stops to come could compete with Bradley for the worst offensive season in Indians history.

Borderline: Frank Duffy (1975), Frank Sheibeck (1901), Wilbur Good (1909), George Strickland (1955) and Andy Allanson (1986)