www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 052014 092014 Editor Matt Tustison Copy Editor Nicholas Cafarelli Interior Design and Production Christa Schneider Cover Design Christa Schneider Photo Credits Mark Duncan AP Images cover AP Images title 4 7 9 12 15 17 20 42 top middle bottom File AP Images 11 Alvin Quinn AP Images 18 BT AP Images 23 43 top Ronald C Modra Sports Imagery Getty Images 25 Mark Duncan AP Images 26 37 47 Gary Gardiner AP Images 29 Jack Smith AP Images 30 43 middle Eric Draper AP Images 32 Charles Krupa AP Images 34 43 bottom Kathy Willens AP Images 38 Tony Dejak AP Images 41 Ron Schwane AP Images 44 Library of Congress Control Number 2014932914 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gitlin Marty Cleveland Indians by Marty Gitlin p cm Inside MLB Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-62403-467-1 1 Cleveland Indians Baseball team History Juvenile literature I Title GV875 C7G57 2015 796 357'640977132 dc23 2014932914
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Title Triumph 4 Chapter 2 From Birth to Crybabies 12 Chapter 3 Decades of Futility 18 Chapter 4 The Return of Winning Baseball 26 Chapter 5 From Contention to Collapse 34 Timeline 42 Quick Stats 44 Quotes and Anecdotes 45 Glossary 46 For More Information 47 Index 48 About the Author 48
CHAPTER 1 TITLE TRIUMPH
T he date was October 3 1948 The site was Cleveland Municipal Stadium The mood was dreary The Indians had just lost their last game of the regu lar season against the Detroit Tigers A win would have earned them their first Ameri can League AL pennant in 28 years The defeat forced a one game playoff the next day in Boston against the Red Sox for the AL title Cleveland short stop manager Lou Boudreau had to decide who would pitch in that crucial game He could have selected Bob Feller Feller was one of the most accomplished right-hand ers in baseball history Or he could have chosen future Hall of Famer Bob Lemon But instead he picked knuckleballer Gene Bearden One might think that the players were shocked But they trusted Boudreau He had not let them down all season Boudreau instructed his players to keep the choice a Rookie Gene Bearden middle fellow pitcher Bob Lemon left and catcher Rookie Gene Bearden middle fellow pitcher Bob Lemon left and catcher Jim Hegan celebrate after the Indians won the 1948 World Series Jim Hegan celebrate after the Indians won the 1948 World Series t TITLE TRIUMPH 5
