Record: 104-57, 1st, AL East
Postseason: Lost ALCS to the Minnesota Twins (3-1)
Ballpark: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, aka "The Mistake on the Lake" (100 hits, 117 HR)
Runs scored: 761 (1st)
Runs allowed: 575 (T-2nd)
Pythag record: 101-60 (+3)
Recap: The Indians jumped out to a hot start in April (11-5) and never really looked back, although I guess the Boston Red Sox did make a bit of a run. They closed out the season 39-17 though, leaving the Bosox little opportunity to get back into it. All that being said, they were promptly munched in the League Championship Series by 1968's runners-up the Minnesota Twins. It was a pretty shocking finished to what was up to that point a magical season.
History: Cleveland had a run of 4 pennants in 5 seasons between 1949 and 1953, winning the World Series in two of them ('49 and '52). Their cupboard has been bare ever since. The 104 wins wasn't just a team record, it was the 3rd highest AL win total of all time behind a couple of Yankees teams. They weren't *bad* in 1968, meanwhile, but 104 wins did come from pretty much out of nowhere - 85-76 in the Year of the Pitcher.
Outlook: Cleveland made one move in particular that is JUST PLAIN HEAD SCRATCHING but there's still a great deal of talent on this team. On the other hand, the AL East is loaded, so I can't call a repeat anything like a sure thing. I'd probably even rate the Red Sox as having better chances this year.
Rotation
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Josh | Matthews | 20 | 8 | 0.714 | 0 | 3.17 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 275.0 | 1154 | 272 | 108 | 97 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 111 | 2 | 179 | 9 | 0 | 8.9 | 0.3 | 3.6 | 5.9 |
| Chris | Regan | 15 | 10 | 0.600 | 0 | 3.23 | 33 | 33 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 250.2 | 1021 | 235 | 102 | 90 | 18 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 72 | 3 | 154 | 8 | 1 | 8.4 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 5.5 |
| Dylan | Hamilton | 16 | 12 | 0.571 | 0 | 3.46 | 32 | 32 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 244.1 | 988 | 235 | 96 | 94 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 72 | 1 | 117 | 8 | 1 | 8.7 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 4.3 |
| Andy | Lagunas | 21 | 10 | 0.677 | 0 | 3.38 | 34 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 229.0 | 942 | 222 | 100 | 86 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 66 | 1 | 162 | 12 | 3 | 8.7 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 6.4 |
| Landon | Whittier | 9 | 5 | 0.643 | 0 | 3.15 | 24 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 128.2 | 552 | 116 | 50 | 45 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 72 | 1 | 70 | 5 | 0 | 8.1 | 0.6 | 5.0 | 4.9 |
| Justin | Kindberg | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 2.25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.0 | 60 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 7.3 |
| Philip | Trapasso | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.05 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 59 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 10.8 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 8.8 |
| Shane | Rouser | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.73 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 62 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 10.1 | 1.4 | 6.1 | 7.4 |
| Carlos | Acosta | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 4.91 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 34 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 8.6 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Indians had a really good, solid rotation. It was maybe a step behind Boston's but you can do worse than having two 20 game winners on your squad. The anchor was and is Josh Matthews, the 8th overall pick in the 1968 draft who went straight to the major leagues last year and led the league in HR/9. He doesn't exactly have that "fireballer" profile you'd expect from a young phenom but there's no doubt that he's effective. The other 20-game winner was Andy Lagunas, who himself is only 28 years of age. The team would love to see him add a bit of stamina: he's completed just 12 of 146 career starts and regularly looks gassed after 6 innings.
Dylan Hamilton was the pitcher the Indians got back in the challenge trade with the Red Sox last year. He led the league in wild pitches two years running with Boston and thankfully cut down on that (the 8 WPs didn't even figure into the top 10) but one thing he still needs to work on is paying any attention at all to men on base: he's allowed 84 steals in the last two years. I mentioned Paul Kahl might be the worst pitcher in the league at holding runners and I was very wrong because it's clearly Hamilton. Chris Regan is the team's #4 starter, even though he led the league in games started every year from 1966 to 1968. He's also under 30 (29 as of this writing). 37 year old Cody Graham gets the nod for now as the 5th starter. Graham was instrumental in the Twins' own run but has always been a bit of a tweener. He did lead the league in saves of all things back in 1962 (with the Red Sox and with 21 of them). Should he falter, they also have Vicente Hernandez, whom they acquired in the fleecing of a trade with the Washington Senators that also brought in their new stopper (more on him in just a second).
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Todd | Theisen | 7 | 5 | 0.583 | 31 | 1.96 | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 96.2 | 377 | 73 | 26 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 1 | 79 | 2 | 0 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 7.4 |
| Bob | Kenner | 6 | 1 | 0.857 | 4 | 3.04 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 74.0 | 294 | 56 | 26 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 1 | 76 | 3 | 0 | 6.8 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 9.2 |
| Willis | Chavez | 3 | 2 | 0.600 | 5 | 3.06 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 47.0 | 206 | 52 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 10.0 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 5.0 |
| Bob | Reyes | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 3 | 3.69 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 39.0 | 164 | 37 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 8.5 | 0.5 | 4.2 | 5.3 |
| Danny | Castillo | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 3.09 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 11.2 | 51 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 8.5 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 8.5 |
| Michael | Williams | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0.00 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6.0 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.5 |
| Fernando | Zavala | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Jonathan | Bentley | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Jose | Martinez | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 27.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 0.0 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| Kyle | Kelver | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Todd Thiesen was electric for the Indians in the stopper role, leading all of baseball in saves and holding opponents to a .206 batting average. However, he melted down in the ALCS and lost Game 4 and this led the Indians to not only acquiring his replacement but trading him away to, of all teams, the Minnesota Twins*. I've already spoken about one of the guys they got back in that deal; they got some CF help as well that I'll speak to in a bit. As noted though, before doing so they did shore up the stopper position by trading for Doug Ellis. Ellis saved 26 games for a bad Washington Senators team last year but the Senators are having cash flow issues and so he was available for a virtual song: middle reliever Willis Chavez and CF prospect Bill Swan. Also the Indians got the aforementioned Vicente Hernandez back as well.
The remainder of the bullpen is a little light. Bob Kenner was also moved in the Thiesen deal and so the team is heading into 1970 using 1969's spot starter Landon Whittier as their presumed set-up man. Whittier would start for most teams in this league. After that, the most used man remaining is 30 year old Bob Reyes, who is also a converted starter.
*So... since I "manage" every team, the way I handle trades is I go by the real-life transactions list. You'll see in future write-ups that Philly and St. Louis conducted a blockbuster deal, for instance - this was the Dick Allen for Curt Flood trade. I don't treat these as, like, completely set in stone, where I'm like "okay, Philly trades their third baseman for St. Louis' center fielder", but try to fit them to the actual teams and their situations and so on. I do try and pay special attention to players who flat-out demand a trade as well. Anyway, sometimes these trades work eerily well, sometimes - and this seems to be especially the case with teams that are in a far different situation than their real-life counterparts - they are just... weird. The Todd Thiesen move copied this one:
The Cleveland Indians traded Luis Tiant and Stan Williams to the Minnesota Twins for Dean Chance, Bob Miller, Graig Nettles and Ted Uhlaender.
Luis Tiant, people. He went 9-20 IRL but he was still Cleveland's best pitcher that year. If anything, Thiesen was at least IMO a less impactful move than shipping off one of the big guys in the rotation (and also, Minnesota didn't really need another starting pitcher so much).
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Jonathan | House | 111 | 367 | 30 | 94 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 46 | 37 | 4 | 71 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.256 | 0.325 | 0.341 |
| C | Jason | Zimmerman | 54 | 136 | 17 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.213 | 0.310 | 0.309 |
| C | Ray | Varner | 23 | 58 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.155 | 0.197 | 0.190 |
| C | Jeremy | Dolak | 7 | 26 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.231 | 0.286 | 0.231 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
One of the less mentioned keys to the Indians' run in '69 was the emergence of 26 year old rookie Jonathan House as their starting catcher. House is a lefty and was spelled against LHP for most of the season but showed a real talent in calming down a relatively young pitching staff. He's got a reputation as a tightwad, which, good thing there's no free agency yet, right? He took over for Jeremy Dolak, who is now of course catching for the division rival Red Sox. Jason "T Rex" Zimmerman is the backup and, in 1969, the primary guy against lefties; we expect he'll play a much smaller role as the decade flips over.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Ernesto | Garcia | 139 | 546 | 102 | 131 | 18 | 1 | 42 | 101 | 60 | 5 | 81 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0.240 | 0.314 | 0.507 |
| 1B | Kyle | Kelver | 71 | 128 | 18 | 44 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.344 | 0.390 | 0.547 |
| 2B | T.J. | Pritchett | 66 | 221 | 31 | 58 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 30 | 40 | 4 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.262 | 0.388 | 0.380 |
| 2B | Eric | Biron | 27 | 93 | 10 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.204 | 0.250 | 0.247 |
| 2B | Marcos | Escobedo | 15 | 44 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.227 | 0.294 | 0.364 |
| 2B | Chris | Silverstein | 8 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.167 | 0.250 | 0.222 |
| 3B | Roberto | Hernandez | 151 | 582 | 71 | 171 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 79 | 18 | 1 | 41 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0.294 | 0.313 | 0.418 |
| 3B | Bobby | Flores | 30 | 66 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.167 | 0.295 | 0.303 |
| 3B | Jeremy | Kirby | 16 | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.192 | 0.250 | 0.192 |
| 3B | Jose | Ayala | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 |
| SS | John | Johnson | 123 | 525 | 78 | 184 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 39 | 22 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 0.350 | 0.377 | 0.446 |
| SS | Justin | Ramey | 87 | 282 | 36 | 70 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 41 | 3 | 51 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0.248 | 0.340 | 0.316 |
| SS | Chris | Grube | 21 | 43 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.209 | 0.261 | 0.302 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Ernesto Garcia led the league in HRs despite being rested against tough lefties for much of the season. At 26 years of age, the 139 games and 546 at-bats were still a career-high. He also co-led the AL in RBIs, along with teammate Tommy Pron. He managed to finish 2nd, albeit a fairly distant 2nd, in MVP voting, and also made his 3rd All-Star Game. He does have old player skills but we'll worry about the inevitable early decline when we get to it. His caddy Kyle Kelver would start on most teams. There's no room anywhere for him in Cleveland except as a right-handed pinch-hitting specialist.
TJ Pritchett was really the gem of the big deal with Boston on April 19 that sent Jeremy Dolak and Justin Kindberg off to the Beantowners. Pritchett unfortunately got hurt late in the season, although he did get healthy just in time for the playoffs, where he went 5-14 with 3 RBIs. He was definitely not why they lost. The injury did come at a really bad time, as it was right after the club made the decision that John Johnson was their SS of the future and they sent Justin Ramey off to Washington. They tried several guys in Pritchett's absence and all I can say is, it'll be good to have him back for a full season in 1970.
Roberto Hernandez was just a good, solid third baseman in '69. On a lot of teams he'd hit cleanup, although he kind of lacks the gap power for that. With Cleveland he mostly hit 6th in the lineup and finished 4th on the team in RBI.
John Johnson is a 3 year starter, mostly at 2nd, but the Pritchett trade made the Indians have to make a decision between him and Justin Ramey as to who would be the SS of the future. This coincided with a career year from Johnson, who finished 2nd in the league in hitting. The sudden explosion - he raised his average by more than 100 points compared to 1968 (.244) - screams "fluke", but even if the 25 year old turns out to merely be a .300 hitter, that's still just fine as far as the Indians are concerned.
Outfield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Alonzo | Huanosta | 149 | 611 | 91 | 212 | 19 | 5 | 16 | 82 | 35 | 4 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 23 | 0.347 | 0.381 | 0.473 |
| LF | Nick | Miller | 91 | 170 | 32 | 50 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 27 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0.294 | 0.392 | 0.476 |
| CF | Ray | Herring | 151 | 664 | 90 | 193 | 21 | 4 | 13 | 66 | 38 | 1 | 70 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 19 | 4 | 0.291 | 0.328 | 0.393 |
| CF | Bill | Swan | 8 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.130 | 0.200 | 0.348 |
| RF | Tommy | Pron | 151 | 596 | 77 | 184 | 24 | 0 | 19 | 101 | 60 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0.309 | 0.374 | 0.445 |
| RF | Danny | Valdez | 67 | 66 | 11 | 30 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.455 | 0.519 | 0.727 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Alonzo Huanosta spent all season in a battle with the Chicago White Sox's Willie Vargas for the batting crown. Sadly he cooled off just enough in September - the man still hit .309 for the month, don't get me wrong - to not only hand it off to Vargas but to finish behind teammate John Johnson for the season. Huanosta is the team's 3-hole hitter, specializing in setting the plate for teammates Ernesto Garcia and Tommy Pron.
The third major deal the Indians made this offseason after all the mess they did with their relief staff was that they traded 1969 incumbent Ray Herring off to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Carlos Hernandez. Herring won the Silver Slugger award in CF last season but the Indians were never quite satisfied with his range and so when the Cards came a-knocking with this deal, they jumped on it. Hernandez is another guy who jumped to the US from Cuba. No stats are available for him, of course, but word is that Fidel Castro was very unhappy to hear that Hernandez had defected. He mostly played in right field for the Cards last season but has much of the range that Herring lacked.
As a quick aside, Herring has a good but not great arm but - and I wanted to make sure I brought this up because I might forget by the time I get to St. Louis - threw out *30* baserunners in 1969. Somehow that's not a record for a CF. Some guy named Henning Rasmussen threw out *31* guys in 1950 for the New York Yankees (I just looked him up - Rasmussen finished his career with 7 All-Star appearances and a fringe candidacy for the Hall - he just became eligible in 1970 and got 7% of the vote) and John Hackett, who played for the Expos and Senators last year and who looks like he may be done - also threw out 30. What is up with OOTP and challening guys with guns?
Tommy Pron wasn't quite at the almost-MVP level he reached in 1968 (a .315 average and .378 OBP that both led the league) but he was still pretty great, good enough in fact to lead the league in RBIs (well, co-lead; see above). Pron is not a plus defender by any stretch, so the Hernandez acquisition was a bigger deal than one might think.