Cleveland Indians: What Tribe greats would make up a Field of Dreams lineup?

What Cleveland Indians greats would make up a Field of Dreams lineup?

Imagine you’re standing on a baseball field in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa and old-time baseball players begin emerging from the corn, all wearing old Cleveland Indians uniforms. What nine players are walking towards you?

With Major League Baseball taking a game to the grounds of Kevin Costner’s “Field of Dreams” we started asking ourselves a few questions. First, how did a farmer who’s corn was talking to him end up as the Cleveland Browns general manager? More importantly, what Cleveland baseball greats would emerge from that field?

For the purpose of this, sticking to the movie, the players would have to be ghosts, so they have to have passed. They also have to be some of the best players throughout the history of the organization, so here’s what we’ve got for the Cleveland Indians Field of Dreams lineup.

P – Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians (1936-1956)

There’s no better place to start when talking about Cleveland greats than Bob Feller. The best player to ever put on a Cleveland uniform, Feller was an eight-time All-Star and posted just ridiculous stats for the majority of his career.

He led the majors in wins during both the 1940, 1941 and 1946 seasons and just the American League an additional three times. In fact, his 1940 campaign is arguably the best single season by a pitcher ever.

In 1940, Feller tossed 31 complete games while posting an American League-best 2.61 ERA over 320.1 innings, which wasn’t even the most of his career in a single season. He also led baseball in strikeouts with 261 and posted an American League-best 1.133 WHIP.

Beyond the insane stats that would take forever to list, Feller also spent what could have been the prime of his career serving in the military during the 1942-1944 seasons. One can only wonder what greatness could have occurred, coming off back-to-back seasons when he led the MLB in wins.

1B – Shoeless Joe Jackson, Cleveland Indians (1910-1915)

You can’t have a Field of Dreams team and not include Shoeless Joe Jackson. While he’s most known for his time with the Chicago White Sox, Shoeless Joe’s best seasons might have come when he was in a Cleveland uniform.

Jackson finished in the Top 10 of the MVP voting during each season from 1911-1914, all spent with Cleveland. He was even the runner-up during the 1913 campaign when he led the majors in hits (197) and the American League in doubles (39) as well as slugging percentage (.551).

With Cleveland, Jackson twice led the majors in hits, doing so in 1912 as well. He also led the American League in triples that season with 26. Over 674 games with Cleveland, the most for any team throughout his career, Jackson slashed .375/.441/.542 with 168 doubles, 89 triples, 138 stolen bases and 353 RBI.

2B – Nap Lajoie, Cleveland Indians (1902-1914)

It’s hard to leave the namesake of the Cleveland Naps off the list of Cleveland baseball greats. While the name is what is remembered for Nap Lajoie, his stats were the reason he earned that recognition.

Arriving to Cleveland during the 1902 season, Lajoie immediately made an impact. In 1903 he posted one of the best slash lines in the game at .344/.379/.518, but that was nothing compared to 1904. In 1904, Lajoie led the American League in every slash line stat, going .376/.413/.546 with a .959 OPS. He also led the majors in hits with 208, doubles with 49 and RBI with 102 over 140 games.

While Lajoie wouldn’t quite match those stats again, he hit below .300 just twice in Cleveland over a total of 13 seasons with the club. He won the Batting Title three different times and the Triple Crown once.

LF – Tris Speaker, Cleveland Indians (1916-1926)

Another player/manager great in the history of Cleveland baseball, Tris Speaker was the man behind the 1920 title that brought the city it’s first championship. While Speaker didn’t win an MVP in Cleveland like he did in Boston, he still managed to be one of the best players in the game at the time.

Speaker’s best stat will always be his doubles. While in Cleveland, he led the majors in the stat during five different seasons, including each season from 1920 until 1923. When his career ended, he had totaled 792 doubles, an MLB-record that still stands. The closest is Pete Rose who was 46 shy of the record. After Rose, Speaker has nearly 70 more than the third name on the list, Stan Musial.

Speaker also led the majors in doubles during the 1923 campaign, tallying 103, one of just two 100+ RBI seasons over his 22-year major league career.

CF – Earl Averill, Cleveland Indians (1929-1939)

A six-time All-Star for the Tribe, spanning consecutive seasons from 1933 until 1938, Earl Averill is one of the select few players who have their number retired by Cleveland. While he never won an MVP award, he finished in the top five on three different occasions over that same span.

Averill’s best season, statistically, came in 1936. He led the majors in hits with 232 as well as triples with 15. The performance placed him at a career-best third in the MVP voting. He was also able to slash .378/.438/.627, all of which miraculously didn’t lead the league.

When Averill ended his time in Cleveland he was the all-time leader in runs scored (1,154), triples (121), home runs (226), extra-base hits (724), total bases (3,201) and bases on balls (726).

RF – Larry Doby, Cleveland Indians (1947-1958)

The first black player in the history of the American League, Larry Doby entered major league baseball with the Cleveland Indians less than three months after Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Doby would go on to have one of the best careers in Cleveland baseball history, including being part of the 1948 World Series team.

Over the course of his career in Cleveland, Doby was a seven-time All-Star, including finishing second in the MVP voting during the 1954 season, finishing just 20 points behind Yogi Berra.

Doby led the American League in home runs twice, knocking 32 in both 1952 and 1954. The 1954 campaign also saw him led the league in RBI as well with 126. When his time in Cleveland came to a close he had totaled 776 RBI on 215 home runs over a 10-year span.