Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
Sam Hentges was Cleveland’s 4th round pick of the 2014 draft out of high school in Minnesota. He made the majors in 2021 and had a rough go of it, going 1-4 with a 6.68 ERA/64 ERA+ as both a starter and relief arm. He was only 24, but it[…]
SP Joey Cantillo is one of Cleveland’s better pitching prospects, ranking the organization’s #15 prospect entering the season. This is cool since not only is he in my hometown’s organization, but he was originally drafted by the Padres in the 16th round of the 2017 draft out of High School in Kailua, Hawaii. I actually got his autograph at a University of Hawaii game in 2016.
You could write a book about Bryan Shaw’s career in Cleveland. Good and bad.
Here is it, my first real through-the-mail autograph.
Cleveland Baseball Minor League Collection: 1983 TCMA Lynchburg Mets Dwight Gooden Man, Dwight Gooden was an amazing pitcher there for a hot minute. It’s still crazy to look at his stats. At his peak, which I will say was from 1984-1993, he went 154-81 with a 118 ERA+ and 1.169[…]
I don’t think there is any doubt that Tito is going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when his time comes. His managing record is impressive. He has an 1874-1586 record over 22 seasons
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.
In 1962, the Cleveland Indians Dick Donovan won 20-games. While winning 20-games is always impressive, doing it while pitching for the often offensive-challanged Cleveland Indians–who that season went 80-82–always makes it even more special.
Bobby Brownlie. He was, for a hot minute, a very big deal.
From 2004-2008 outfielder Brad Snyder was one of Cleveland’s best prospects, ranking as high as #3 in 2006. His power-speed combination had some people comparing him to Fred Lynn, which is a very high compliment. Unfortunately, strikeouts were a problem that dogged Snyder as he moved up through the minors,[…]