While the Indians have had many minor league affiliates over the years, one constant, at least since 1989, has been that the AA club has been nearby in Akron, Ohio. It is difficult to compare minor league franchises from the early years, but we have consistent data from the Indians AA farm club heading back to 1963 when they were the Charleston Indians (1963-64). In the following years, they also had teams in Reading (1965), Pawtucket (1966-67), Waterbury (1968-69, 1985-86), Savannah (1970), Jacksonville (1971), Elmira (1972), San Antonio (1973-75), Williamsport (1976, 1987-88), Jersey City (1977), Chattanooga (1978-82) and Buffalo (1983-84) before making a more permanent home in Akron.
Below follow the best of the best from all those teams. In similar fashion to the previous delving into the Rookie, A and Advanced A levels, career and single stats are considered, but only those accomplished in AA for the Indians from 1963 on.
10. Randy Washington – OF – 1984 Buffalo Bisons & 1985 Waterbury Indians
Washington was taken in the 4th round in 1981 and would ultimately play his entire eight year baseball career in the Indians organization although he would never break through to the Majors. In 1984 he played for AA Buffalo and batted .282 with 24 extra base hits, 63 RBI and 66 runs scored in 120 games. Following this up was an even better year at the same level, batting .307/.407/.454 with 12 steals, 14 home runs and 14 doubles with 84 runs batted in and 74 runs scored.
Washington spent the next three years in AAA for the Indians and even neared the above marks in 1987 with the then AAA Buffalo Bisons, but this wouldn’t be enough for him to break through to the big leagues. After the 1988 season, he was out of affiliated baseball and after a year in the Mexican League in 1990, his playing days were over for good.
9. George Cecchetti – 1B/OF – 1981-82 Chattanooga Lookouts, 1983-84 Buffalo & 1985 Waterbury
Cecchetti was taken in the 19th round in 1979 and although he quickly moved up to AA, consistent play over the course of five years would never earn him a mid-season promotion. Three years younger than the average AA player in 1981, Cecchetti had what would be his top season from a production stand point, hitting 23 home runs, 22 doubles and knocking in 83. An all around player, Cecchetti hit for a mid-level average (.255 that year and ultimately .252 in his AA career), a little power and could run a little as well, stealing eight bases in 1981 and 35 in five years.
As good as his 1981 was, his 1983 was considerably better, with Cecchetti batting .323 with 23 doubles in 123 games (he played 115 or more games in each of his AA seasons). Despite this, he wouldn’t be given a promotion to AAA until 1986 and once there, he had a significantly worse season than any other previous campaign. After this single season with the AAA Maine Guides, Cecchetti would be released and would never catch on with another team despite being only 25 years old.
8. Steve Narleski – RP – 1978-82 Chattanooga
Originally signed prior to the 1976 season, Narleski, the son of former Indians closer Ray Narleski, pitched for the Indians for eight years in the minor leagues without ever reaching the Majors. Five of those seasons were spent at least partially in AA, culminating in a 40-39 record, 31 saves, 3.91 ERA and 281 strike outs in 471.1 innings.
Like his father, Narleski was originally brought up as a reliever and he did have an excellent year in 1979 with a 3.46 ERA and 12 saves in 78 innings, but his best overall season came as a 26 year old in 1982 when he was used as a starter in five games. He finished that year with a 3.34 ERA and struck out a career high 98. After this season he would get his second and final chance at AAA although it would be a short one (just 10 innings) and he would leave baseball immediately after.
7. Sal Rende – 1B – 1978-82 Chattanooga & 1983 Buffalo
The longest tenured AA player for the Indians, Rende played primarily at this level from his second professional season (was taken in the 28th round in 1977) through his last in 1983. While he played just 127 games at the AAA level and none above, he got into 603 in AA, blasting 97 home runs and 100 doubles with 360 RBI and 288 runs scored.
While Rende had a few poor seasons at AA, the good outweighed the bad, particularly in his first two years. His best was likely his second season when he batted .322/.432/.635 with 20 home runs and 44 walks in just 71 games. It was this performance that vaulted him into AAA for the first time, but he played poorly in 1979 and 1980 and would never get another chance at the highest minor league level despite three more years in AA, all within the Indians system.
6. Rick Sawyer – SP – 1971 Jacksonville Suns & 1973 San Antonio Brewers
Sawyer was taken in the third round in 1968 and after three years in A ball, he began playing in AA at the age of 23. In 18 starts that year, he struck out 112 in 138 innings, posting a 3.20 ERA. After spending 1972 in AAA, he was back in AA the next year producing at an even higher level. A 2.82 ERA through 179 innings lowered his career AA ERA to 2.98 while he won an Indians AA record 18 games in 24 starts and saved another in three relief appearances. In just two AA seasons, Sawyer struck out 236 in 317 innings with a record of 26-8.
After this breakout season, Sawyer was traded to New York in a three way deal that netted the Indians Jim Perry. He would play two years in the Majors for the Yankees, but only throw 7.2 total innings before being traded again. He never had a great Major League season, although he did throw 111 innings for the Padres in 1977. Sawyer ended his career with the Indians, playing the 1978 season with their AAA affiliate.
5. Jeff Mutis – SP – 1990-91 Canton/Akron Indians
While many of these top players from AA spent a considerable amount of time there, Mutis did his two seasons and moved on. A 1st round pick from 1988, Mutis didn’t make his AA debut until 1990 at the age of 23. In his first season, he won 11 games, completed seven of his 26 starts with 94 strike outs in 165 innings. In his second, he would match these numbers, but also lower his ERA from 3.16 to 1.80. Combined, he went 22-15 with 334.2 innings and a 2.47 ERA before being promoted directly to the Majors from AA.
Mutis spent the 1992 and 1993 seasons between Cleveland and AAA and was DFA’d at the end of the latter season, after which he was picked up by Florida. This was his first year used as a reliever and his last in the Major Leagues as he was never able to reproduce his single A and AA numbers at either AAA or the Major Leagues. After another chance in AAA with St. Louis, he left affiliated baseball after the 1996 season.
4. Jeff Moronko – 3B/SS – 1981-82 Chattanooga & 1983-84 Buffalo
While he only played 14 games in the Majors, Moronko had a lengthy and successful career in AA, playing in more than 120 games for four straight years from 1981 through 1984. His first such year was at the age of 21 in his first full professional season and he started on top, knocking in 51 runs and scoring another 67 with 24 doubles and 14 steals.
In 1983, Moronko transitioned from third to short and at the same time, from an all around player to a power hitter. In his final AA season in 1984, he crushed 13 home runs (he had 12 the year before as well) with 95 RBI and 84 runs scored. This was also his first year with an average above .300, batting .314 before a mid-season promotion straight to the big leagues. Prior to 1985 he was sent to Texas for Kevin Buckley where he played one last season in AA. He played his final seven MLB games in 1987 with New York where his .091 average lowered his career average to .133 with just one extra base hit.
3. Robin Fuson – SP – 1979-82 Chattanooga & 1983-84 Buffalo
No starting pitcher played more seasons in AA than Fuson as year after year he ate innings and pitched at an elite level for two Indians AA affiliates. His first appearances was in 1979 at the age of 20 when he held an ERA of 4.35 in 31 innings, but by the end of 1984 he would hold a 48-45 record with 512 strike outs and a 3.86 ERA in 778.2 innings. Fuson spend all of 1980 in AA, all but one inning of 1981 and all of 1982 as well.
At 25, Fuson’s 4-0 record, 1.63 ERA and 37 K’s in 38.2 innings finally allowed him to make the jump to AAA in 1984. Soon after, Fuson was sent to Boston, but he was back in Cleveland in 1985, again in AAA. He would continue to grind through 1988, but at the age of 29, he finally had to call it quits without ever reaching the Major Leagues.
2. Mike Hedlund – SP – 1966-67 Pawtucket Indians, 1968 Waterbury
Signed as a 17 year old in 1964, after jumping straight to the Majors for five innings then missing the rest of 1965, Hedlund made his debut in AA in 1966. That year wasn’t that impressive as he was used largely as a reliever with a 4.34 ERA, but he would be around for awhile. Beginning the next season there as well, he held a 2.56 ERA through 17 starts with two complete game shut outs.
For this effort, he earned a mid-season call-up to AAA, but was unimpressive, starting the 1968 back in AA again. This time he was even better with a 2.30 ERA in 27 starts, five shut outs and 149 strike outs in 168 innings. Avoiding the troublesome AAA, he was promoted directly to the Majors in 1968, but again he flamed out quickly, allowing 2 runs in 1.2 innings. Hedlund was then taken by the Royals in the expansion draft and, although he was returned to the Indians in trade later on, he would never play in the Majors or AA. His final career line for the Indians in AA was a 2.96 ERA, 380 IP, 280 K’s, 17 complete games and 7 shut outs.
1. Kevin Rhomberg – OF/3B/2B – 1978-79, 1981 Chattanooga
A 14th round pick from the 1977 draft, Rhomberg quickly advanced to AA in just his second professional season. While he was only used at third initially, he played most outfield in his first two AA season, batting .307 in 58 games his first season. He began the 1979 season in AA as well to get a little more seasoning in and in 132 games he batted .268 with 21 doubles, 9 home runs, 36 steals and 84 runs scored. An all around threat, Rhomberg was promoted to AAA for 1980 and played well there, but returned to AA in 1981 while transitioning to second base.
He was a year younger than the average AA player when he made his debut, but now he was two years older and it showed in his stat line. Batting .366/.457/.474, he hit 14 triples and 24 doubles, scoring 104 and knocking in 74. Unfortunately for him, this would be the best performance of his career. After another good year in AAA in 1982 he made his Major League debut, but he played just 16 games that year, 12 the next and 13 in his final year with the Tribe before being released. He did sign on with the Giants, but never made it to the Majors again before retiring after 1985.
Borderline: Albert Rausch, Jim Rittwage, Tim Glass, Shanie Dugas, Johnny Parker
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
