Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since 1994 they have played in Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field). The team's spring training facility is in Winter Haven, Florida, but will move to Goodyear, Arizona in 2009.
The "Indians" name originates from a request by the club owner to decide a new name, following the 1914 season. In reference to the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves), the media chose "the Indians". They are nicknamed "the Tribe" and "the Wahoos". The latter is a reference to the mascot which appears in the team's logos, Chief Wahoo.
One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. The team actually began play in 1900, when the AL was officially a minor league. Then called the Cleveland Blues, the team played in League Park until moving to Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1932. They have an all-time franchise record of 8,075-7,711 (.512). The Indians are the reigning American League Central Champions.

Franchise history

The Indians Nickname

Legend has it that the team honored Louis Sockalexis when it assumed its current name in 1915. The spectacular Sockalexis, a Native American, had played in Cleveland 1897-99.
Research indicates that this legend is mostly untrue. When the "Naps" sent longtime leader Napoleon Lajoie to the Philadelphia Athletics at the end of the 1914 season, owner Charles Somers asked the local newspapers to come up with a new name for the team. They chose "Indians" as a play on the name of the Boston Braves, then known as the "Miracle Braves" after going from last place on July 4 to a sweep in the 1914 World Series. Proponents of the name acknowledged that the Cleveland Spiders of the National League had sometimes been informally called the "Indians" during Sockalexis' short career there, a fact which merely reinforced the new name.
In any case, the name stuck. And 34 years later, the Indians went on to defeat that same Braves franchise, 4 games to 2, in the 1948 World Series -- after first winning a one game playoff against Boston's other team, the Red Sox. The victory over the Braves was the franchise's second of two World Series titles; the Tribe also won the 1920 World Series, defeating the Brooklyn Robins 5 games to 2.
The club nickname and its cartoon logo have been criticized for perpetuating Native American stereotypes, and protests have arisen from time to time. In 1997, during the team's most recent World Series appearance, three Native American protesters were arrested, but later acquitted.

Forest City club
Open professional baseball began in Cleveland during the 1869 season and one team was hired on salary for 1870, as in several other cities following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Re Stockings, the first fully professional team. That leading Cleveland baseball club was the Forest City, a nickname of the city itself. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was often called the Forest Citys, in the same generic way that the team from Chicago was sometimes called The Chicagos. The Forest City club was formed about 1865, when baseball club organization and "national" association membership boomed following the Civil War.
In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the first professional league, as did the Forest Citys of Rockford, Illinois. New York and Philadelphia had been the home cities of most top baseball clubs before the league era, but only one club from each joined the professional NA, whose nine-city circuit was made up by four western clubs and eastern rivals in Washington, D.C., Troy, New York and Boston. That didn't last: two of the western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that city's White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NA's western outpost in 1872 and the Forest City's failed, playing a full schedule to July 19 followed only by two games versus Boston in mid-August.

National League era
In 1876, the National League supplanted the N.A. as the major professional league. Cleveland was not among its charter members, but by 1879 the league was looking for new entries and the city returned to a major circuit. The Cleveland Blues played mainly in the middle of the pack for six seasons and was ruined by trade war with the Union Association in 1884, when its three best players moved for the money: Fred Dunlap, Jack Glasscock, and Jim McCormick. St Louis from the U.A. took its place for 1885. That franchise only lasted a couple of years, but another St. Louis franchise would deal a devastating blow to another Cleveland team some 15 years later.
Cleveland went without major league ball for only two seasons, joining the American Association in 1887, after that league's Allegheny club had jumped to the N.L. Cleveland followed suit in 1889, as the Association began to crumble. (It folded after 1891, and the National League acquired four of its franchises to swell to 12 teams.) With the unique nickname Spiders, supposedly inspired by their long-limbed players, Cleveland slowly became a power in the league
The Spiders survived a challenge from an entry in the one-season Players' League in 1890. The next year the Spiders moved into League Park, which would become the home of Cleveland professional ball for the next 55 years. Led by native Ohioan Cy Young, the Spiders became a contender in the mid-1890s, when they played in the Temple Cup Series (that era's World Series) twice, winning it in 1895. The team began to fade after that, and was dealt a severe blow under the ownership of the Robison brothers.
The Robisons, despite already owning the Spiders, were allowed to also acquire a controlling interest in the St. Louis Cardinals franchise in 1899. They proceeded to strip the Cleveland team of its best players (including Young) to help fill the St. Louis roster. The St. Louis team improved to finish above .500. The Spiders were left with essentially a minor league lineup, and began to lose games at a record pace. Drawing almost no fans at home, they ended up playing most of their season on the road, and became known as "The Wanderers", finally slinking home in 12th place, 84 games out of first place, with an all-time worst record of 20 wins and 134 losses.
Following the 1899 season, the National League disbanded the Cleveland franchise along with three other teams in Washington, Baltimore, and Louisville. The disastrous 1899 season would actually be a step toward a new future for Cleveland fans the next year.
Seeking to capitalize on general public disillusionment with the National League, Ban Johnson changed the name of his minor league, the Western League, to the American League and shifted the WL's Grand Rapids club to Cleveland, taking over League Park in 1900. Although still a minor league, the new organization was ready to make its move. In 1901 the American League broke with the National Agreement and declared itself a competing Major League. The Cleveland franchise was among its eight charter members.

1901-1946: Early to middle history of the franchise
The new team was owned by Charles Somers and Jack Kilfoy. Somers, a wealthy industrialist and also co-owner of the Boston Americans, lent money to other team owners, including Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's, to keep them and the new league afloat. With the new league competing for fans, the American League began raiding the senior League for players. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie , a Philadelphia Phillies star who was angry that his contract was capped at $2,400 per year, signed with the Philadelphia Athletics.
The Phillies subsequently filed for an injunction which was initially later granted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. With the injunction only applicable in the state of Pennsylvania, he was sent to Cleveland, who offered $25,000 salary over three years. Lajoie, however, was enjoined from playing in the state of Pennsylvania and would sit out any series scheduled for Philadelphia. At the time, the team was known as the Bronchos or the Blues. In honor of its popular new star Cleveland soon acquired the nickname Naps.
Early on, Cleveland finished in the middle of the pack before contending for the championship in 1908, but the team began to unravel. Cy Young who returned to Cleveland in 1909, was ineffective for most of his three remaining years and Addie Joss became ill and died before the 1910 season.
Despite a strong lineup anchored by the potent Lajoie and Shoeless Joe Jackson, poor pitching kept the team below third place for most of the next decade, and jokes about "Naps" as a synonym for "sleeps" began to circulate. The team hit rock bottom in 1914 and 1915, finishing in the cellar and suffering through the financial difficulties of its owner. Lajoie was sent back to Philadelphia after the 1914 season and Jackson was sold midway through the 1915 season. With Lajoie gone, the club renamed itself the "Indians" for the 1915 season.
In February, 1916 Somers sold the team to a syndicate headed by James C. "Jack" Dunn. Dunn hired a new manager, Lee Fohl, brought up two young pitchers, Hall of Famers Stan Coveleski and Jim Bagby, and acquired another Hall of Fame player, Tris Speaker, who had been engaged in a salary dispute with the Red Sox.
Tris Speaker took over the reins as player-manager in 1919 and would lead the team to glory in 1920--but not before tragedy intervened. On August 16, the Indians were playing the Yankees at the Polo Grounds in New York. Shortstop Ray Chapman, who often crowded the plate, was batting against Carl Mays, who had an unusual underhand throwing motion. Mays' pitch hit Chapman in the head, fracturing his skull. Chapman died the next day, the first and only player fatality on the field. The Indians, who at the time were locked in a tight three-way pennant race with the Yankees and White Sox, were not slowed down by the death of their teammate. Rookie Joe Sewell, a future, Hall of Famer hit .329 after replacing Chapman in the lineup.
In September 1920, the Black Sox Scandal came to a boil. With just a few games left in the season, and Cleveland and Chicago neck-and-neck for first place at 94-54 and 95-56 respectively, the Chicago owner suspended eight players. The White Sox lost 2 of 3 in their final series, while Cleveland won 4 and lost 2 in their final two series. Cleveland finished 2 games ahead of Chicago and 3 games ahead of the Yankees to win its first pennant, led by Speaker's .388 hitting, Jim Bagby's 30 victories and solid performances from Steve O'Neill and Stan Coveleski. Cleveland went on to defeat the Brooklyn Robins 5-2 in the World Series for their first title, winning four games in a row after the Robins took a 2-1 Series lead.
The team would not reach the heights of 1920 again for 28 years. Speaker and Coveleski were aging and the Yankees were rising with a new weapon: Babe Ruth and the home run. They managed two second-place finishes but spent much of the decade in the cellar. In 1927 Dunn's widow, Mrs. George Pross, sold the team to a syndicate headed by Alva Bradley.
The Indians were a middling team by the 1930s, finishing third or fourth most years. 1936 brought Cleveland a new superstar in 17-year old picher Bob Feller, who came from Iowa with a dominating fastball. Feller struck out 17 batters and led the league in strikeouts from 1938-1941. By 1940, Feller, along with Ken Keltner, Mel Harder and Lou Boudreau led the Indians to within one game of the pennant. However, the team was wracked with dissension, with some players (including Feller and Mel Harder) going so far as to request that owner Alva Bradley fire manager Ossie Vitt. Reporters lampooned them as the Cleveland Crybabies. Feller, who had pitched a no-hitter to open the season and won 27 games, lost the final game of the season to unknown pitcher Floyd Giebell of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won the pennant and Giebell never won another major league game.
Cleveland entered 1941 with a young team and a new manager; Roger Peckinpaugh had replaced the despised Vitt. But the team regressed, finishing in fourth. The team would soon be depleted of two stars. Hal Trosky retired in 1941 due to migraine headaches and Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy two days after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Starting third baseman Ken Keltner and outfielder Ray Mack were both drafted in 1945 taking two more starters out of the lineup.

1947-1959
In 1946 Bill Veeck formed an investment group that purchased the Cleveland Indians from Bradley's group for a reported $1.1 million. Among the investors was Bob Hope, who had grown up in Cleveland. A former owner of a minor league franchise in Milwaukee, Veeck brought to Cleveland a gift for promotion. Recognizing that he had acquired a solid team, Veeck soon abandoned the aging, small and lightless League Park to take up full-time residence in massive Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Prior to 1947 the Indians played most of their games at League Park, and occasionally played several weekend games at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. league Park was demolished in 1951, although a potion of the original ticket booth remains.
Making the most of the field itself in the cavernous stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as 15 feet (5 m) between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season. The massive stadium did, however, permit the Indians to set the all-time one game regular-season attendance record in 1954 at over 84,000.
Veeck hired rubber-faced Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box was the sort of promotional stunt by Bill Veeck that delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Under Veeck's leadership, Cleveland's most significant achievement was breaking the color barrier in the American League by signing Larry Doby, formerly a player for the Negro League's Newark Eagles in 1947, eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers. Similar to Robinson, Doby battled racism on and off the field but posted a .301 batting average in 1948, his first full season. A power-hitting center fielder, Doby led the American League twice in homers.
In 1948, needing pitching for the stretch run of the 1948 pennant race, Veeck turned to the Negro Leagues again and signed pitching great Satchel Paige amid much controversy. Barred from Major League Baseball during his prime, Veeck's signing of the aging star in 1948 was viewed by many as another publicity stunt. At an official age of 42, Paige became the oldest rookie in Major League baseball history, and the first black pitcher. Paige soon proved he could still pitch and ended the year with a 6-1 record with a 2.48 ERA, 45 strikeouts and two shutouts.
In 1948, veterans Boudreau, Keltner, and Joe Gordon had career offensive seasons, while newcomers Larry Doby and Gene Bearden also had standout seasons. The team went down to the wire with the Boston Red Sox, winning a one-game playoff, the first in American League history, to go to the World Series. In the series, the Tribe defeated the Boston Braves four games to two for their first championship in 28 years. Boudreau won the American League MVP Award.
The Indians would appear in a film the following year titled The Kid From Cleveland. The film portrayed the team helping out a "troubled teenaged fan" and featured many members of the Indians organization.
In 1949 Cleveland again contended before falling to third place. On September 23, 1949m Bill Veeck and the Indians buried their 1948 pennant in center field the day after they were mathematically eliminated from the pennant race.
In 1949 Veeck was forced to sell the Indians to a syndicate headed by William Daley during a difficult divorce, but left behind a competitive team that continued to contend through the early 1950s, featuring: Feller, Minnie Miñoso, Larry Doby, Luke Easter, Bobby Avila, Al Rosen, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and Mike Garcia. However, Cleveland only won a single pennant in the decade, finishing second to the New York Yankees five times.
In 1954, Cleveland won a then-record 111 games and returned to the World Series against the New York Giants. The team was upset by the Giants in a sweep which became famous for Willie Mays amazing over-the-shoulder catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in Game 1.

1960-1993: The curse of Rocky Colavito
From 1959 to 1993, the Indians managed one third-place and five fourth-place finishes but spent the rest of the time in the American League cellar. Frank 'Trader' Lane was an early culprit in the construction of what became a running joke in baseball for three decades. The team's ill-advised trades under a number of general managers would haunt the team.
Constant ownership changes did not help the Indians. In 1966, Daley's syndicate sold the team to frozen food millionaire Vernon Stouffer of Stouffer Foods. Prior to Stouffer's purchase the team was rumoured to be relocated due to poor attendance. Despite the potential for a financially strong owner, Stouffer had some non-baseball related financial setbacks and consequently the team was cash-poor. In order to solve some financial problems, Stouffer had made an agreement to play a minimum of 30 home games in New Orleans. After rejecting an offer from George Steinbrenner and former Indian Al Rosen, Stouffer sold the team in 1972 to a group led by impresario Nick Mileti. Steinbrenner went on to buy the Yankees in 1973.
Only five years later, Mileti's group sold the team for $11 million to a syndicate headed by trucking magnate Steve O'Neill and which included Gabe Paul, who had been an executive with the Indians, Reds and Yankees. But O'Neill's death in 1983 led to the team going on the market once more. His son, Patrick O'Neill, did not find a buyer until the Jacobs brothers, Richard and David, purchased the team in 1986.

The 30 Year Slump
The 30+ year slump began for the Indians with the club's most infamous trade; which involved slugging right fielder and fan favorite, Rocky Colavito. Just before Opening Day in 1960 Colavito was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. It was a blockbuster trade that swapped the 1959 AL home run co-champion (Colavito) for the AL batting champion (Kuenn). Colavito would continue to have monster seasons for Detroit and later the Kansas City Athletics before returning to Cleveland in 1965 while Kuenn would only play one season for the Indians before departing. Akron Beacon Journal columnist Terry Pluto documented the decades of woe that followed the trade in his book The Curse of Rocky Colavito.
In the 1960s, the team also sent budding stars Tommy John, Luis Tiamt, and Lou Piniella packing, receiving little in return. At one point, Lane even traded Harry Chiti to the New York Mets, receiving him back as the player to be named later after 15 days.
The 1970s were little better with the Indians trading away several future stars, including Graig Nettles, Dennis Eckersley, Buddy Bell and 1971 Rookie of the year Chris Chambliss, for a number of players who made no impact.
The team was unable to move out of the cellar with losing seasons between 1969 and 1975. One highlight was the acquisition of Gaylord Perry in 1972. The Indians traded fireballer 'Sudden Sam' McDowell for Perry who went on to win the Cy Young Award, the first Indian pitcher to win the award. In 1975, they again broke the color line when they hired Frank Robinson as MLB's first African American manager. Robinson served as player-manager and would provide a franchise highlight when he pinch hit on Opening Day and hit a home run. But the high profile signing of Wayne Garland, a 20-game winner in Baltimore, proved to be a disaster after Garland suffered from shoulder problems. The team failed to improve with Robinson as manager and he was fired in 1977.
The 1970's also featured the infamous Ten Cent Beer Night at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The ill-conceived promotion at a 1974 game against the Texas Rangers ended in a riot by fans and a forfeit by the Indians.
There were bright spots in the 1980s. In May of 1980, Len Barker threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays, joining Addie Joss as the only other Indian pitcher to do so. 'Super Joe' Charbonneau won the American League Rookie of the Year award. Unfortunately, Charboneau was out of baseball by 1982 after he fell victim to back injuries and Barker never became a consistently dominant starting pitcher.
Eventually, the Indians traded Barker to the Atlanta Braves for Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby who would become mainstays for the team for the remainder of the decade. Butler and Jacoby were joined by Joe Carter, Mel Hall, Julio Franco and Cory Snyder who brought new hope to fans in the late 1980's.
After a rare winning season in 1986, Sports Illustrated, with Carter and Snyder pictured on the cover, boldly predicted the Indians to win the American League East in 1987. The team went on to lose 101 games and finish last in American League East, a fate attributed to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

Organizational Turn Around
In 1989, a fictional Cleveland Indians baseball team was portrayed in the movie Major League, which depicted a hapless Cleveland ball club going from worst to first by the end of the film.
The team's fortunes started to turn in 1989, ironically with a very unpopular trade. Power-hitting outfielder Joe Carter was sent to the San Diego Padres for two unproven players, Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Carlos Baerga. Alomar made an immediate impact, not only being elected to the All-Star team but also winning Cleveland's fourth Rookie of the Year award and a Gold Glove Award. Baerga would become a three-time All-Star with solid offensive numbers.
Indians general manager John Hart made a number of moves that would finally bring success to the team. In 1991, he hired former Indian Mike Hargrove to manage and then traded catcher Eddie Taubensee to the Houston Astros who, with a glut of outfielders, were willing to part with future All-Star outfielder, Stolen Base Champion, and Gold Glove winner Kenny Lofton. Lofton would finish second in AL Rookie of the Year balloting with a .285 average and 66 stolen bases.
The Indians were named "Organization of the Year" by Baseball America in 1992, in response to the appearance of offensive bright spots and an improving farm system.
The team suffered a tragedy during spring training of 1993, when a boat carrying pitchers Steve Olin, Tim Crews, and Bob Ojeda crashed into a pier. Olin and Crews were killed, and Ojeda was seriously injured. (Ojeda missed the rest of the season, and would retire the following year).
Since their 1986 purchase, the Jacobs Brothers had pushed for a new stadium to replace the deteriorating Cleveland Stadium. In May 1990, Cuyahoga County voters passed an excise tax on sales of alcohol and cigarettes in the county. The tax proceeds would be used to finance the building of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex which would include Jacobs Field and Gund Arena for the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team.
The team finished the two-division era as the only team never to win a division title. But by the end of the 1993 season, the team was in transition, leaving Cleveland Stadium and fielding a talented group of players not seen in over a generation.

1994-2001: A new beginning
Indians General Manager John Hart and team owner Richard Jacobs managed to turn the team's fortunes around. The Indians opened Jacobs Field in 1994 with the aim of improving on the prior season's sixth-place finish. The Indians were only one game behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox on August 12 when a players strike wiped out the rest of the season.

1998-2001
In 1998, the Indians made the playoffs for the fourth straight year, and defeated the wild-card Boston Red Sox three games to one in the first round. However, the 114-win New York Yankees proved too good to be beaten in the ALCS, which the Tribe lost four games to two. Following the season, the Indians acquired bullpen left-hander Ricardo Rincón from Pittsburgh, and signed free agent second baseman Roberto Alomar, brother of catcher Sandy Alomar.
Cleveland won the Central Division again in 1999, and jumped out to a two games to none lead over the Red Sox in the Division Series but were eliminated, losing the next three games. An injury to starter Dave Burba in game three forced Hargrove to go to his bullpen in the 5th inning. Unfortunately, four pitchers, including presumed game four starter Jaret Wright, surrendered nine runs in relief. As a result of Wright's appearance, and the exclusion of a long reliever/emergency starter (such as Chris Haney or Jim Brower) from the playoff roster, both Bartolo Colon and Charles Nagy were forced to start on only three days rest (after lengthy starts in Games 1 and 2). The Indians lost game four 23-7 and game five 12-8. Four days later, longtime manager Mike Hargrove was dismissed.
In 2000, the Indians had 44-42 start but caught fire after the All Star break and went 46-30 the rest of the way to finish 90-72. The team had one of the league's best offenses that year and a defense that yielded three gold gloves. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as they ended up five games behind the Chicago White Sox in the Central division and missed the wild card by one game to the Seattle Mariners. Mid-season trades brought Bob Wickman and Jake Westbrook to Cleveland, and free agent Manny Ramírez departed for Boston after the season.
The season was notable in that the Indians set a Major League record for most pitchers used in a single season. Colon, Burba, and Chuck Finley posted strong seasons and the bullpen was solid. But with Jaret Wright and Charles Nagy spending months on the disabled list, the team could not solidify the final two spots in the rotation. Other starting pitchers that season combined for a total of 346 2/3 innings and 265 earned runs for an ERA of 6.88.
In 2000, Larry Dolan bought the Indians for $323 million from Richard Jacobs, who, along with his late brother David, had paid $35 million for the club in 1986.
2001 saw a return to the playoffs. After the departures of Manny Ramírez and Sandy Alomar, Jr., the Tribe signed former-MVP Juan González, who helped the Indians win the Central division with a 91-71 record.
One of the highlights came on August 5, 2001, when the Indians completed the biggest comeback in MLB History. Cleveland rallied to close a 14-2 deficit in the sixth inning to defeat the Seattle Mariners 15-14 in 11 innings. The Mariners, who won a record 116 games that season had a strong bullpen and Indians manager Charlie Manuel had already pulled many of his starters with the game seemingly out of reach.
Seattle and Cleveland met in the first round of the playoffs, with the Indians taking an two games to one lead. However, with Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer and their vaunted bullpen, the Mariners won Games 4 and 5 to deny the Indians their first playoff series victory since 1998.

2001-present: The Shapiro years
In the 2001 offseason, GM John Hart resigned and his assistant Mark Shapiro took the reins. Shapiro moved to rebuild by dealing aging veterans for younger talent.
In 2002, Shapiro traded fan favorite pitching ace Bartolo Colon for prospects Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore, acquired Travis Hafner from the Rangers for Ryan Drese and Einar Diaz, and picked up Coco Crisp from the St. Louis Cardinals for aging starter Chuck Finley. Jim Thome left after the season.
The Indians young team posted strong offensive numbers in 2004 but still struggled with a bullpen that blew more than 20 saves. A highlight of the season was a 22-0 victory over the New York Yankees on August 31, one of the worst defeats suffered by the Yankees in team history.
In early 2005, the offense got off to a poor start. After a brief July slump, the Indians caught fire in August, and cut a 15.5 game deficit in the Central Division down to 1.5 games. However, the season came to a heartbreaking end as the Indians went on to lose six of their last seven games, five of them by one run, missing the playoffs by only two games.
In 2006 the Indians made several roster changes, while retaining its nucleus of young players. In the offseason, a three-team trade sent Coco Crisp, David Riske and Josh Bard to Boston and Arthur Rhodes to Philadelphia in exchange for third base prospect Andy Marté, catcher Kelly Shoppach and outfielder Jason Michaels. Shapiro signed Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson to replace Kevin Millwood and Scott Elarton and dealt veterans Bob Wickman, Ben Broussard, and Ronnie Belliard after the Indians had fallen out of contention. The team had a solid offensive season, led by career years from Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore. Hafner, despite missing a month after being hit by a pitch, tied the single season Grand Slam record with six, set in 1987 by Don Mattingly. The team hit a comnbined 14 Grand Slams to tie a record set by the Oakland A's in 2000. Despite the solid offensive performance, the bullpen struggled with a Major League worst 23 blown saves, and the Indians finished a disappointing fourth.
In 2007, Shapiro signed veteran help for the bullpen and outfield in the offseason. Veterans Aaron Fultz, and Joe Borowski joined Rafael Betancourt in the Indians bullpen. Shapiro also signed right fielder Trot Nixon and left fielder David Dellucci to short term contracts for veteran leadership. The Indians improved significantly over the prior year and went into the All-Star break in second place. The team brought back Kenny Lofton for his third stint with the team in late July. The Indians finished with a 96-66 record and their 7th Central Division title in 13 years and their first post season trip since 2001.
The Indians began their playoff run by defeating the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, 3 games to 1 and jumped out to a three games to one lead over the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. The season ended in disappointment when Boston swept the final three games to advance to the 2007 World Series.
Despite the loss, Cleveland players took home a number of awards. Grady Sizemore, who had a .995 fielding percentage and only two errors in 405 chances, won the Gold Glove award, Cleveland's first since 2001. Indians Pitcher C.C. Sabathia won the second Cy Young Award in team history with a 19-7 record, a 3.21 ERA and an MLB leading 241 innings pitched. Eric Wedge was awarded the first Manager of the Year Award in team history.

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