Cleveland Indians: Who deserves to have their number retired next?

With Frank Robinson getting his number retired, what former Cleveland Indians great could be next in line to have his number retired by the club?

This past weekend the Cleveland Indians honored former player and manager Frank Robinson with a statue at Heritage Park. The club also retired his No. 20 as part of the ceremony for the man who was the first black manager in Major League Baseball history.

It was the ninth number retired by the Cleveland Indians, though only the seventh by a man who wore the number for Cleveland as Jackie Robinson‘s No. 42 is retired across all of baseball and the No. 455 is for “the fans”.

For comparison, the New York Yankees retired the 21st number of a former player the previous weekend when they retired Derek Jeter‘s No. 2. In fact, among franchises that have not relocated and have been around since at least 1960, the Indians have only retired more numbers than the Chicago Cubs who have only retired six numbers.

The Indians have a bit of an unwritten rule that being a member of the Hall of Fame is a requirement for having one’s number retired, which is one reason for the limited number of retired numbers.

Of the seven who have had theirs retired, only Mel Harder is not in the baseball Hall of Fame and he likely had his number retired not just for his playing career but also his coaching career (he’s credited with converting Bob Lemon to a pitcher, for example).

Keeping all that in mind, we are going to take a look at a few former Cleveland Indians who could deserve having their numbers retired and included is how likely it is that they could have it retired.

Jim Thome, No. 25

With the addition of Frank Robinson, the number of statues at Progressive Field is now at four with Robinson, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Jim Thome. Of the four, only Jim Thome does not have his number retired.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d think having your number retired by a club should be easier than having a statue erected. However, so far that’s not been the case for the man who holds the franchise record with 337 career home runs.

Drafted in the 13th round out of tiny Illinois Central College back in 1989, Thome was not someone many pegged for stardom right away. However, 610 home runs later and he’s a lock for the Hall of Fame once he’s eligible in 2018 (though some may argue it’ll take a year or two).

In addition to leading the club in home runs, Thome is also the franchise leader in walks with 1,008 in his career as an Indian, with no other player eclipsing 900. Thome also cracks the top ten franchise leaderboard in RBI (second), OBP (third), SLG (3rd), OPS (third), total bases (fourth), runs (fifth), WAR (T-fifth), and doubles (10th).

The only knocks on his resume is his poor defense and perhaps some remaining bitterness for how he left the club after the 2002 season. However, he returned to the club years later and it would seem the organization and most fans have forgiven him. He’s a lock to have his number retired at some point, perhaps as early as next season.

Likelihood of number being retired: Guaranteed, 100-percent and should be the next number retired by the club.

Kenny Lofton, No. 7

Next up is another guy I feel should already have his number retired, and that’s former center fielder Kenny Lofton.

Lofton is the franchise leader in stolen bases with 452, and no one else is within 150 of him. Like Thome, Lofton also finds himself on multiple top ten lists in Cleveland Indians’ history, including runs (third), WAR (fourth), and hits (ninth).

In fact, Lofton’s 48.5 WAR (per baseball-reference) is higher than Earl Averill‘s 47.9 and he has his No. 3 retired by the club.

Lofton also won multiple Gold Gloves as a member of the Cleveland Indians for his outstanding center field defense. He was also one of the most well-liked players among fans ever. So why hasn’t his number already been retired?

What hurts Lofton is that he never made the MLB Hall of Fame, and in fact, was knocked off the ballot after his first year of eligibility, failing to get even five-percent of the vote.

However, many consider this one of the bigger Hall of Fame voting blunders and Lofton’s overall resume is not only worthy of being in the Hall of Fame but better than many players that have gotten in recently or players that are about to get in (like Vladimir Guerrero).

Eventually, I believe cooler heads will prevail and regardless of if Lofton gets into the Hall of Fame (I believe he will eventually), I think the Indians will retire his number.

Likelihood of number being retired: High

Omar Vizquel, No. 13

Though one of the most respected and popular Cleveland Indians players of all-time, Omar Vizquel‘s legacy is one that many can’t agree on.

There’s no denying he was a great defender at shortstop, winning 11 Gold Gloves in his career, including eight with the Indians. His 11 awards are second-most ever at the position behind Ozzie Smith and his eight with the Indians are a franchise high.

In addition to the defense, Omar ranks in the top ten in franchise history in several offensive categories, including stolen bases (second), runs (sixth), hits (seventh), doubles eighth), and total bases (10th). He finished his big league career with 2877 career hits, 2692 of which came at shortstop. That puts him second on the all-time hit list among shortstops behind only Derek Jeter.

Vizquel’s detractors, however, will point out to the sheer length of his career, both overall and with the Indians, as to why he put up such big counting number stats. Omar played in the tenth-most games in franchise history (1478) and accumulated the fifth-most at-bats (5708).

On the other hand, there’s something to be said about longevity, especially in a day and age when players don’t stick with the same team often, particularly a small market club like Cleveland. To this day it still looks weird whenever someone other than Omar is wearing No. 13.

Omar may never make the MLB Hall of Fame but that should not stop him from having his number retired, just like it didn’t stop Mel Harder’s No. 18 from being retired.

Likelihood of number being retired: Medium

Manny Ramirez, No. 24

While Vizquel may have the biggest debate over how good he actually was, Manny Ramirez may be the most polarizing due to his multiple suspensions for performance-enhancing drug use. Strictly looking at his time in Cleveland and his numbers, Manny Ramirez should be right up there with Jim Thome as a no-brainer for number retirement.

Ramirez is the franchise leader in both OPS and slugging percentage as well as ranking in the top ten in home runs (third), OBP (fourth), and RBI (eighth). He’s also the franchise leader in RBI in a single season with 165 in 1999.

He hit over 500 career home runs in his career (236 with Cleveland) and one of the only guys in baseball history to post a triple slash line of at least .300/.400/.550 in his career, something he accomplished in Cleveland as well and he remains the only one to ever do it.

However, the two suspensions later in his career for performance-enhancing drugs may have killed any chance for Ramirez. He won’t get into the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible with the writers and may never get in.

The Indians could hold to that and also decide to never retire his number, though they could also decide that what happened after he left Cleveland shouldn’t affect his legacy as an Indian.

Likelihood of number being retired: Low-to-Medium

Sam McDowell, No. 48

Sam McDowell pitched in a time after the greats like Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Mel Harder and well before the great teams of the 1990s, which is why to some his inclusion here may be somewhat surprising. However, a closer look at McDowell’s numbers tells another story.

McDowell finished his Tribe career with 2,159 strikeouts, second-most behind only the legend Rapid Robert’s 2,581. Third on the Tribe’s career strikeout list? That would be a tie between Bob Lemon and Early Wynn…who each had just 1,277! McDowell also ranks in multiple other top ten franchise pitching lists, including WAR (fifth), shutouts (eighth), and ERA (ninth).

In addition to his career achievements, McDowell also holds the franchise record for strikeouts per nine innings at 10.7 in 1965. And while he does not hold the single-season strikeout record (Feller also has that), McDowell does hold the second, third, fourth, and fifth-highest single-season strikeout totals in franchise history. He remains the only Indians pitcher to ever strikeout out 300 batters in a season twice (1965 and 1970).

Of the four pitchers that rank higher than McDowell in WAR (per baseball-reference), two have their numbers retired (Feller, Harder) and two played in a time before the numbers existed (Stan Coveleski, Addie Joss).

McDowell’s 42.3 WAR actually bests Bob Lemon’s 37.5 rather easily, so why doesn’t he get more consideration?

Fair or not, the time in which he pitched factors in. Pitching numbers were great across the board in the 1960s and in addition, the Tribe was simply never that great while McDowell was around.

He’s the first guy on our list that never played in a World Series with the club or even the playoffs for that matter, and while that’s not his fault it likely keeps him from ever seeing his number retired despite having a case for being the best left-handed pitcher in Tribe history.

Likelihood of number being retired: Low

Hal Trosky, No. 7

The second player with No. 7 to show up, Hal Trosky is a name I’m guessing few would consider for number retirement. For starters, why retire “his” No. 7 when Lofton has arguably a better case for being the best Indian to wear the number? Well, for one, Trosky has the case for being the best power hitter in the first 90 years of the franchise.

Playing in the 1930s and 40s, Trosky put up huge numbers in a short period of time with the club. The left-handed hitting first baseman ranks in the top ten in RBI (fourth), SLG (fourth), home runs (fifth), total bases (sixth), OPS (seventh), and doubles (ninth). For nearly 60 years, his .551 SLG was the franchise best until Albert Belle, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez passed him in the 1990s.

Trosky also held many single-season records until the 1990s, including most RBI (beat by Ramirez in 1999), most extra-base hits (beat by Belle in 1995), and highest SLG (beat by Belle in 1994). Trosky still holds the single-season record for most total bases with 405 in his historic 1936 season, which one should recall was back when seasons were only 154 games long.

What really hurts Trosky’s chances here was his relatively short career (injuries limited him to just 11 seasons in his career, nine of which were with Cleveland) and the long time it’s been since he’s played.

Most of his achievements no longer look as great after the offensive explosions we saw in the 1990s and 2000s. However, that shouldn’t take away from how great Trosky was even if in a short time.

Teams have retired the same number twice before so there’s room for both Lofton and Trosky to have No. 7 retired in Cleveland.

Likelihood of number being retired: Very low, unfortunately

Mike Hargrove, No. 21

The Indians’ recent retirement of Frank Robinson’s No. 20 really opens the door for a guy like Mike Hargrove. Robinson obviously had his number retired for what he did as a manager (breaking a color barrier) and not what he did as a player with the club.

Hargrove would do the same, though Hargrove was no pushover with the club, owning the ninth-best career on-base percentage in club history.

As a manager though, Hargrove really shined. Taking over during the 1991 season, which saw the team lose a franchise-record 105 games, Hargrove eventually helped mold a young, talented group into American League champions.

Hargrove is the second-winningest manager in club history with 721 victories, just six behind Lou Boudreau. Hargrove is (as of now) the only Tribe manager to guide his team to multiple AL pennants, having done so in 1995 and 1997, and he’s the only manager to win multiple division titles, winning five from 1995 through 1999.

What could hurt Hargrove is that he never won a World Series despite managing some of the best clubs in franchise history. He also managed at a time when the American League Central was considered very weak and perhaps that lessens some of his achievements (it shouldn’t).

Hargrove’s No. 21 is also already retired, having been so for Bob Lemon in 1998. In fact, Hargrove switched to No. 30 that year as a sign of respect to the Hall of Famer.

Still, though, Hargrove wore No. 21 in his playing days and that’s the number he should be remembered for and he should be remembered with his name and number alongside the likes of Robinson, Feller, Lemon, etc.

Likelihood of number being retired: Low, sadly

Addie Joss, Nap Lajoie, and Stan Coveleski

These three players all played at a time before players wore numbers on their jerseys so none have ever gotten any consideration for an honor such as this.

However, teams have gone out of their way to honor such players, like the Detroit Tigers have with Ty Cobb. The Indians could do so with an of these three as well, as all three are Hall of Famers.

Joss holds numerous records with the club, including the lowest career ERA and lowest ERA in a single season. He’s also one of only two to ever throw a perfect game. It’s crazy to think what might have been had he not tragically died.

Nap Lajoie is the Tribe’s career hits leader and for a time the club was actually named after him (the Cleveland Naps). Coveleski is second in WAR to only Bob Feller among Tribe pitchers and won three games in the 1920 World Series to help the club win its first-ever championship.

All three of these guys should have their names up in the stands with their initials used in lieu of a number (ie, “AJ” for Addie Joss). The Tribe may remain content with their plaques in Heritage Park, however.

Likelihood of their “numbers” being retired: Medium?

There are a few others that could be up for consideration but have their warts. Shoeless Joe Jackson is the franchise leader with a .375 career batting average but spent only a few years in Cleveland before going to Chicago and then suffering a lifetime ban for his “part” in the Black Sox Scandal.

Albert Belle was one of the most feared hitters ever but falls short in some categories and had a troubled off-the-field experience, to say the least.

Al Rosen had a monster 1953 season and great career but enough to retire his No. 7? Charles Nagy was a long-time Indian and fan favorite but his numbers are lacking. Even Herb Score could get some consideration for his time as the team’s radio broadcaster as well (wouldn’t be the first to receive such an honor).

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Maybe one of the more interesting options would be former owner Dick Jacobs. He wouldn’t be the first owner honored and he did do a lot to help save baseball in Cleveland.

However, he never won a title and while his teams won a late later in his tenure they also lost a ton early as he remains the only owner to have multiple 100-loss clubs.

If I had my way (and I obviously do not), I’d love to see the trio of Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, and Omar Vizquel have their numbers retired over the next five years.

I know Lofton and Vizquel won’t be in the Hall of Fame, but like with Mel Harder I think there’s enough there to still warrant their honors.

I’d still retire Trosky’s No. 7 as well as the three “no number” guys I mentioned. I’d even like to see Mike Hargrove get honored as a manager and Score as an announcer. Sure that puts the total number of Indians at 16 but is that so bad when you consider over 115 years of franchise history?

Next: Breaking down Salazar's move to the bullpen

So who do you think should be next in line for having their number retired with the Cleveland Indians? Did we miss anyone? Is no one worthy of the honor right now? Do you agree that Hall of Fame status should play a big role in the decision? Let us know in the comments below.