Cleveland Indians: Who’s Tribe’s best power hitter over last 30 seasons?

Jim Thome

While this list is technically in no particular order, it’s hard to think of Cleveland Indians power hitters and not immediately have Jim Thome come to mind. A 2018 Hall of Fame inductee, Thome spent his first 12 professional seasons in Cleveland and also returned to the club for 22 games during the 2011 season, climbing his way to the top of the record books.

Thome is currently etched in Cleveland baseball history as the best power hitter all-time, statistically speaking. Over his 1,399 games with Cleveland, Thome blasted 337 home runs, nearly 100 more than the next player on the list. He also has two of the three best single seasons for home runs, sending a career-high and club record 52 over the fence in the final season of his first stint, being 2002. Thome also logged 49 the year before in 2001 which is currently the third best power season in the Cleveland history books.

During his historical 2002 season, Thome not only set a club record with 52 home runs, but he had one of the better seasons at the plate ever recorded by a member of the Cleveland Indians. Thome also drew an American League high 122 walks while slashing .304/.445/.667, also leading the American League in slugging percentage.

If you go by statistics alone, Thome is by far the best power hitter for Cleveland over the last 30 years, if not all-time, but does anyone challenge him for the pedestal?

Travis Hafner

When Jim Thome left the Tribe in free agency prior to the 2003 season, Cleveland traded catcher Einar Diaz and pitcher Ryan Drese to the Texas Rangers for a power hitter named Travis Hafner. At the time of the trade, Hafner had just one career home run in the major leagues over 23 games. He would go on to knock 200 for the Cleveland Indians over the span of the next 10 years.

It was a slow rise for Hafner, hitting just 14 during his first season in Cleveland, as well as a rather rapid decline, hitting 20 or more home runs just four times. Nevertheless, when healthy Hafner was a force in the middle of the Tribe’s lineup, especially during the 2006 season. In that year, Hafner logged a career-high 42 home runs, tied for eighth in club history for a single season, in addition to leading the American League in slugging percentage with a mark of .659.

While Hafner’s prime was a bit short-lived, he was still able to rack up enough home runs to place him ninth in club history. It wasn’t all home runs either for Pronk. He also registered 30 or more doubles in three consecutive seasons, spanning from 2004 to 2006.

Hafner’s rise coincided with the team’s resurgence that led to the 2007 season that fell just shy of the World Series. He might have been a bit injury prone, but overall Hafner was a strong bat in Cleveland’s lineup for a decade.

Albert Belle

It’s hard to talk about power hitting for the Cleveland Indians since 1991 and not mention or at least think about Albert Belle. While 1991 was the last time the Tribe finished last in the division, it marked the upward trend in home runs for Belle, being his first season with double-digit dingers, knocking 28. While controversial, Belle’s eight seasons in Cleveland went down as some of the best power seasons in club history.

The 1995 season was Belle’s best in Cleveland, leading the majors in home runs with 50, which at the time was the best single-season mark in team history, only to later be broken by Jim Thome. That season, Belle also led the majors in doubles with 52 and slugging percentage at .690, as well as the American League in runs with 121 and RBI at 126.

When Belle’s tenure in Cleveland was all said and done, he had totaled 242 home runs for the Tribe which is currently second in the record books behind only Thome’s 337. Belle did post a better slugging percentage than Thome with the Tribe, being second in the record book with a mark of .580.

Belle had one more All-Star season after leaving for Chicago in 1996. He ended up with 381 career home runs. One can only wonder how the 1997 World Series may have ended differently if Belle would have been on that team, for better or for worse.

Carlos Santana

When you think of power hitters, Carlos Santana probably isn’t a name that immediately comes to mind, if at all. However, when talking about the last 30 years of Cleveland Indians baseball, Santana has been one of the best. Perhaps it’s because he played so many seasons for the Tribe in a era with a lot of home runs, but nonetheless he’s still on the list.

Debuting with the Tribe in 2010, Santana has played a total of 10 years in Cleveland, the same amount of seasons as Travis Hafner. Over his 10 seasons with Cleveland, Santana managed to belt 216 home runs, ending up with more than Hafner over the same length of seasons. The 216 round-trip knocks for Santana has him tied for fifth in club history with Hal Trosky.

Santana never led the league in home runs or any stat other than walks for that matter, but he was just a consistent player for the better part of a decade for the Tribe. Over his 10 seasons with Cleveland, he logged 30 or more home runs just twice, but at the same time he had 17 or fewer home runs only twice as well. Those were his first season, which was only 46 games played, and the 2020 season with 60 games played. That consistency is what got him on this list as one of the best power hitters for Cleveland over the last 30 seasons.

Manny Ramirez

If we’re talking about career numbers, Manny Ramirez is by far one of the best power hitters to put on a Cleveland Indians uniform. However, if we’re limiting the resume to just time with Cleveland, then Ramirez’s case weakens. However, his “weak case” is still 236 home runs over eight seasons.

While most will remember Manny being Manny in a Boston uniform, his seasons in Cleveland were among the best of his career, especially in regards to power. In both 1998 and 1999 he was able to blast over 40 home runs, accounting for two of his five 40+ home runs seasons over his career. The 1999 season also saw Ramirez lead all of baseball for RBI with 165, a career-high for the slugger and a mark that still stands as a club record.

Ramirez’s name is in the record book a few other places as well, holding the single season record for on-base slugging percentage at 1.154 in 2000. His 45 home runs in 1998 are also fifth in the record book for a single season and his 44 in 1999 are sixth.

As for career numbers as a member of the Cleveland Indians, Ramirez is atop the lists for slugging percentage (.592), on-base slugging percentage (.998) as well as being third in home runs (236) behind only Jim Thome and Albert Belle.

Like Thome and Belle, it can only be imagined what Ramirez could have done if he would have remained with the Tribe for his entire career, or at least a little bit longer. However, the sample size we did get was still rather impressive.