1987 Cleveland Indians – 61-101

The all hitting no pitching 1987 Cleveland Indians on offense they had it all speed power average pitching however was another story.

Joe Carter (32), Brook Jacoby (32) and Corey Snyder (33) all hit over 30 homers.  Carter (31), Julio Franco (32) and Brett Butler (33) all stole over 30 bases.  A lineup like this should have won over 100 games.  Carter was a 30/30 man, yet it didn’t make a difference the team still topped the century mark in losses.

Unfortunately that lineup was paired up with a pitching staff that had a 5.28 team ERA, which was dead last in the AL that year.  Tom Candiotti (7-18, 4.78) is considered the ace.  If that doesn’t tell you where the problem is, nothing will.  A 48 year old Phil Niekro (7-11, 5.89) was a quarter step away from retirement.  The only bright spot on this so-called staff would be closer Doug Jones (6-5, 3.15, 8 saves).  The problem is that there won’t be many save opps for him to cash in on.

Intangibles:  This team suffered from the “Curse of the Sports Illustrated Cover”.  The geniuses at SI called this the best team in the AL.  They weren’t even the best team in their own city.  I think the Browns won more games that year.

--submitted by Bill Keller--