1968 Cleveland Indians season

1968 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Vernon Stouffer
General manager(s)	Gabe Paul
Manager(s)	Alvin Dark
Local television	WJW-TV
Local radio	WERE (1300)
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Offseason

• October 17, 1967: Jim King was released by the Indians.[1]
• October 26, 1967: Marv Staehle was sent to the Indians by the Chicago White Sox to complete an earlier deal (the White Sox sent Jim King and a player to be named later to the Indians for Rocky Colavito) made on July 29, 1967.[2]
• November 28, 1967: Darrell Sutherland was drafted by the Indians from the New York Mets in the 1967 minor league draft.[3]
• November 28, 1967: Eddie Fisher was traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Bob Scott (minors) and John Scruggs (minors) to the Cleveland Indians for Gordy Lund and John O'Donoghue.[4]
• January 27, 1968: Rick Sawyer was drafted by the Indians in the 3rd round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft Secondary Phase.[5]

Regular season

Transactions

• June 7, 1968: Vince Colbert was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 11th round of the 1968 amateur draft.[6]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	103	59	0.636	—	56–25	47–34
Baltimore Orioles	91	71	0.562	12	47–33	44–38
Cleveland Indians	86	75	0.534	16½	43–37	43–38
Boston Red Sox	86	76	0.531	17	46–35	40–41
New York Yankees	83	79	0.512	20	39–42	44–37
Oakland Athletics	82	80	0.506	21	44–38	38–42
Minnesota Twins	79	83	0.488	24	41–40	38–43
California Angels	67	95	0.414	36	32–49	35–46
Chicago White Sox	67	95	0.414	36	36–45	31–50
Washington Senators	65	96	0.404	37½	34–47	31–49

Record vs. opponents

1968 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	10–8	11–7	7–11	8–10	10–8	13–5	9–9	14–4
Boston	9–9	—	9–9	14–4	10–8	6–12	9–9	10–8	8–10	11–7
California	8–10	9–9	—	8–10	7–11	5–13	7–11	6–12	5–13	12–6
Chicago	7–11	4–14	10–8	—	5–13	5–13	10–8	6–12	10–8	10–8
Cleveland	11–7	8–10	11–7	13–5	—	6–12	14–4	10–8–1	6–12	7–10
Detroit	10–8	12–6	13–5	13–5	12–6	—	10–8	10–8–1	13–5–1	10–8
Minnesota	8–10	9–9	11–7	8–10	4–14	8–10	—	12–6	8–10	11–7
New York	5–13	8–10	12–6	12–6	8–10–1	8–10–1	6–12	—	10–8	14–4
Oakland	9–9	10–8	13–5	8–10	12–6	5–13–1	10–8	8–10	—	7–11
Washington	4–14	7–11	6–12	8–10	10–7	8–10	7–11	4–14	11–7	—

Roster

1968 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 37 Steve Bailey 32 Eddie Fisher 38 Rob Gardner 44 Tommy Gramly 34 Steve Hargan 36 Mike Hedlund 46 Hal Kurtz 48 Sam McDowell 39 Mike Paul 31 Horacio Piña 38 Billy Rohr 43 Vicente Romo 42 Sonny Siebert 40 Darrell Sutherland 33 Luis Tiant 35 Stan Williams		Catchers  7 Joe Azcue  8 Ray Fosse  9 Duke Sims  7 Ken Suarez Infielders 10 Max Alvis 16 Larry Brown 13 Vern Fuller 15 Billy Harris 11 Tony Horton 24 Lou Klimchock 24 Eddie Leon 14 Dave Nelson 17 Chico Salmon 22 Willie Smith		Outfielders  1 José Cardenal 25 Vic Davalillo 20 Jimmie Hall 21 Tommy Harper 22 Lou Johnson 26 Lee Maye 23 Lou Piniella 28 Richie Scheinblum 27 Russ Snyder 29 José Vidal 27 Leon Wagner Other batters 25 Russ Nagelson		Manager  5 Alvin Dark Coaches  4 Johnny Lipon (First Base)  2 Jack Sanford (Pitching)  3 George Strickland (Third Base)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
1B	Tony Horton	133	477	119	.249	14	59
SS	Larry Brown	154	495	116	.234	6	35
LF	Lee Maye	109	299	84	.281	4	26
CF	José Cardenal	157	583	150	.257	7	44

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Dave Nelson	88	189	44	.233	0	19
Billy Harris	38	94	20	.213	0	3
José Vidal	37	54	9	.167	2	5
Willie Smith	33	42	6	.143	0	3

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Horacio Piña	12	31.1	1	1	1.72	24
Steve Bailey	2	5	0	1	3.60	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Eddie Fisher	54	4	2	4	2.85	42
Rob Gardner	5	0	0	0	6.75	6
Darrell Sutherland	3	0	0	0	8.10	2
Tommy Gramly	3	0	1	0	2.70	1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Red Davis
AA	Waterbury Indians	Eastern League	Phil Cavarretta and Ray Mueller
A	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Clay Bryant
A	Rock Hill Indians	Western Carolinas League	Pinky May
Rookie	GCL Indians	Gulf Coast League	Ken Aspromonte

[7]

Notes

1. Jim King at Baseball Reference
2. Marv Staehle at Baseball Reference
3. Darrell Sutherland at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fisheed02.shtml
5. Rick Sawyer at Baseball Reference
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colbevi01.shtml
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1968 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Reference
• 1968 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac