While much emphasis is placed on how players rarely stay with a single team over their entire career in the present era, this is not a new issue. Over the course of the history, most of the best players on the Tribe have spent at least a little time somewhere else. The following list denotes those players who made a name for themselves with the Tribe, left, but came back before they were done. While there are a few obvious players who have done this in recent seasons, this is a practice that has occurred over the entire history of the franchise including one player on the list who played for both the Spiders and Indians. For more information about each player, click their name in the headline to bring you to their All-Time Indians article.
10. George Uhle: 1919-1928, 1936
A lesser known pitcher from the early days of the Indians, with more than 2,200 innings and 147 wins, Uhle still ranks among the greatest pitchers in team history. After a ten year run that included seasons of 26 and 27 wins, both of which lead the league, Uhle was sent to Detroit where he remained a solid starter for four more years. After spending two seasons in New York and a year away from the Majors entirely, Uhle returned to Cleveland in 1936 as a 37 year old free agent. He would pitch just seven more games but was often used as a pinch hitter in his final season, batting .381 with four RBI in 23 plate appearances.
9. Larry Doby: 1947-1955, 1958
The Hall of Fame outfielder was signed out of the Negro Leagues by the Indians in 1947 and almost immediately became a star, going to the All-Star game in seven of his first nine seasons. After 202 home runs, Doby was traded to the White Sox for Chico Carrasquel. After being traded in a six player deal (including Tito Francona) to Baltimore, he was brought back to Cleveland in another four team deal in 1958. After just one season back with a .283/.348/.490 line at 34 years old, Doby was traded once more for Francona, this time going to Detroit.
8. Jim Perry: 1959-1963, 1974-1975
While Gaylord may have been the more productive Perry, Jim relates more to the Indians as he was originally signed by Cleveland and came in second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1959. After three more full seasons including an All-Star appearance in 1961 and a league leading 18 wins in 1960, Perry was traded during the 1963 season to the Twins where he would go to two All-Star games and win one Cy Young over ten seasons. While his best seasons were left in Minnesota, Perry returned to Cleveland in a three team deal in 1974 and had an incredible season for a 38 year old with 17 wins and a 2.96 ERA in 252 innings.
7. Jim Thome: 1991-2002, 2011
More an emotional return than one for talent reasons, Thome became the greatest power hitter in team history during the 1990’s, setting the team record with 334 home runs, but left an entire city downtrodden when he left for a bigger paycheck in Philadelphia in 2003. After a near decade providing power to four other teams across both leagues, Thome was traded from the Twins back to Cleveland where he finally pushed his career walk number over 1,000 and his strike outs to 1,400 while with the Indians. While he did play one more season in Philadelphia and Baltimore, the return helped ebb the fans feelings, leading to his number being retired and a statue being commissioned in 2014.
6. Al Smith: 1946-1948 (Buckeyes), 1953-1957, 1964
Smith was the only player to star for both the Cleveland Buckeyes and the Cleveland Indians and he did it twice. He began in the late 1940’s as a third baseman, but was converted to the outfield during his first season in the Major Leagues in Cleveland in 1953. Smith was then traded to the White Sox along with Hall of Famer Early Wynn in exchange for Minnie Minoso. After six years with Chicago and Baltimore, Smith came back to the Tribe in 1964 and played 61 games at a below average level, his final Major League season.
5. Early Wynn: 1949-1957, 1963
Wynn began his career with the Washington Senators , but didn’t become a superstar until he joined the Indians in 1949. As the ace of the staff, Wynn would lead the team to the World Series in 1954 and win 163 games through 1957. After being traded to the White Sox, Wynn would cement his legacy with a Cy Young award and his seventh All-Star appearance before returning to Cleveland in 1963. Unlike many returning, aged stars, Wynn was still a viable pitcher and he posted a 2.28 ERA as a reliever through 55.1 innings.
4. Julio Franco: 1983-1988, 1996-1997
One of the longest tenured (23 seasons) and eventually one of the oldest (possibly 48 when he retired) Major Leaguers ever, Franco underwent a massive transition over the course of his career, from a speedy middle infielder into a power hitting first baseman, DH and pinch hitter. He began that process with the Indians, playing short stop from 1983 through 1988, a period that included a second place Rookie of the Year finish and a Silver Slugger. In 1988 Franco moved to second base, then was traded in a four man deal to Texas prior to 1989. After three All-Star picks in five seasons with the Rangers, another Silver Slugger with the White Sox as a DH in 1994 and spending 1995 in Japan, Franco returned to Cleveland for two more seasons as a first baseman and DH. There, he helped the Tribe reach the play-offs twice after never achieving that level of success over his first 13 seasons.
3. Kenny Lofton: 1992-1996, 1998-2001, 2007
The only player in this top ten to play three separate stints with the Indians, Lofton made his name with the Tribe from 1992 through 1996 when he lead the league in steals each season, won four Gold Gloves and went to three straight All-Star Games. With free agency looming, Lofton was traded to the Atlanta Braves for David Justice and Marquis Grissom, but returned the following season with a four year deal. After two more All-Star appearances, Lofton began his trip around the league, playing for eight different teams in six seasons before returning to the Tribe for their play-off run in 2007. While he played for 17 seasons and with 11 different teams, 1,276 of his 2,103 games came in Cleveland.
2. Cy Young: 1890-1898 (Spiders), 1909-1911
Arguably the greatest pitcher of all time threw for four different franchises, but only intentionally played for two cities. He began his career with a nine year run with the Cleveland Spiders where he accumulated the majority of his 511 wins, but was sold to the St. Louis Perfectos in 1899 before jumping to the Red Sox in 1901. After eight years and another 192 wins in Boston, Young came back to Cleveland in 1909, this time for the Naps. Young joined an already stacked rotation and posted the best season by a 42 year old in Indians history, winning 19 with a 2.26 ERA.
1. Rocky Colavito: 1955-1959, 1965-1967
Possibly the most popular player in Indians history, Colavito was signed by Cleveland at 17, made his debut at 21 and came second in the Rookie of the Year vote the following season. He finished third in MVP voting two years after that in 1958 and hit 129 home runs during the first five years of his career. Despite all that, Frank Lane made one of the worst trades in franchise history after Colavito’s first All-Star appearance in 1959, sending him to Detroit in exchange for the AL batting champion Harvey Kuenn. While Kuenn played just one season in Cleveland, Colavito would hit another 173 home runs between the Tigers and Royals before Gabe Paul attempted to reinvigorate the fan base in 1965 by bringing Colavito home. The Rock was still a presence at the plate, leading the league in RBI and walks in his first season back and he hit another 61 home runs before being traded again in 1968 for Jim King of the White Sox.
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