Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
In July 2005 Beckett Baseball magazine published a All-Time Hot List, tracking the last nine years worth of Hot List cards and ranking then #1-#244. This card, 1995 Bowman Best Andruw Jones, was # 14 on that list.
This set is not cheap. But if knocks out three less well-known former Cleveland players. Well, at least now well-known for their time in Cleveland.
Gonzalez was one of the most sought-after players of the 2014 international class, and Cleveland made signing him a priority. He has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Cleveland’s Top 30 prospect lists from 2017-2020 based on his plus power and excellent speed, but also his penchant for poorly disciplined at-bats.
Al Leiter spent 19 seasons in the majors (1987-2005). He peaked late in his career, so his prime years were relatively short. But those years were still pretty impressive.
Aaron Judge had…a year. Led the game with 62 HR, a .425 OBP, and 211 OPS+. It was one of the greatest seasons in baseball history. He did not bring this bat to the playoffs though and only had five hits in 36 at-bats.
Andrew McCutchen, at his peak, was a great player. From 2010-2015 he had a 146 OPS+ and averaged 23 HR and 22 SB per season. He was selected to five All-Star teams, and won a single Silver Slugger and four Gold Gloves. He has slowed down quite a bit since then.
Since coming to Boston, Verdugo has been a solid player. Over the past two seasons, he has had a 105 OPS+, and only averaged 12 HR a season. Considering the circumstances, Boston was probably hoping for something a little bit more.
ack in 2005, J.B. Cox was Huston Street’s successor in the closing role at the University of Texas. During his junior year, Cox racked up 19 saves and closed out Texa’s 2005 College World Series win.
I have seen tons of Cleveland position prospects never pan out. In fact, even now, I just assume the worst when it comes to the organization developing good major-league hitters. Still, I think Will Benson might be special.
Justin Verlander had a fantastic 2022 season with the Houston Astros. He went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA and 0.829 WHIP, good for a 220 ERA+. Verlander also lead the league in every one of those stats.