1975 Cleveland Indians season

The 1975 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Indians competing in the American League East, where they finished fourth with a record of 79–80.

1975 Cleveland Indians
Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in MLB
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Nick Mileti
General manager(s)	Phil Seghi
Manager(s)	Frank Robinson
Local television	WJW-TV
Local radio	WWWE
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Offseason

One highlight of the season was the arrival of Frank Robinson to the club. Prior to the start of the season, the Indians named him player-manager, giving him distinction of being the first black manager in Major League Baseball history.[1]

Notable transactions

• February 25, 1975: Dave Duncan and Al McGrew (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Boog Powell and Don Hood.[2]

Regular season

Earl Averill CF Retired 1975

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	95	65	0.594	—	47–34	48–31
Baltimore Orioles	90	69	0.566	4½	44–33	46–36
New York Yankees	83	77	0.519	12	43–35	40–42
Cleveland Indians	79	80	0.497	15½	41–39	38–41
Milwaukee Brewers	68	94	0.420	28	36–45	32–49
Detroit Tigers	57	102	0.358	37½	31–49	26–53

Record vs. opponents

1975 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	9–9	6–6	7–4	10–8	12–4	7–5	14–4	6–6	8–10	4–8	7–5
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	8–4	7–11	13–5	7–5	10–8	10–2	11–5	6–6	8–4
California	6–6	6–6	—	9–9	3–9	6–5	4–14	7–5	8–10	7–5	7–11	9–9
Chicago	4–7	4–8	9–9	—	7–5	5–7	9–9	8–4	9–9	6–6	9–9	5–13
Cleveland	8–10	11–7	9–3	5–7	—	12–6	6–6	9–9	3–6	9–9	2–10	5–7
Detroit	4–12	5–13	5–6	7–5	6–12	—	6–6	7–11	4–8	6–12	6–6	1–11
Kansas City	5–7	5–7	14–4	9–9	6–6	6–6	—	7–5	11–7	7–5	11–7	14–4
Milwaukee	4–14	8–10	5–7	4–8	9–9	11–7	5–7	—	2–10	9–9	5–7	6–6
Minnesota	6–6	2–10	10–8	9–9	6–3	8–4	7–11	10–2	—	4–8	6–12	8–10
New York	10–8	5–11	5–7	6–6	9–9	12–6	5–7	9–9	8–4	—	6–6	8–4
Oakland	8–4	6–6	11–7	9–9	10–2	6–6	11–7	7–5	12–6	6–6	—	12–6
Texas	5–7	4–8	9–9	13–5	7–5	11–1	4–14	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–12	—

Notable transactions

• May 20, 1975: Dick Bosman and Jim Perry were traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Blue Moon Odom and cash.[3]
• June 3, 1975: Rick Cerone was drafted by the Indians in the 1st round (7th pick) of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft.[4]
• June 7, 1975: Blue Moon Odom and a player to be named later were traded by the Indians to the Atlanta Braves for Roric Harrison. The Indians completed the deal by sending Rob Belloir to the Braves on June 16.[3]
• June 13, 1975: Gaylord Perry was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown, Rick Waits, and $100,000.[5]

Roster

1975 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 42 Larry Andersen 47 Fred Beene 22 Jim Bibby 27 Dick Bosman 31 Jackie Brown 35 Tom Buskey 37 Dennis Eckersley 27 Roric Harrison 32 Don Hood 34 Jim Kern 17 Dave LaRoche 13 Blue Moon Odom 36 Gaylord Perry 31 Jim Perry 16 Fritz Peterson 33 Eric Raich 40 Bob Reynolds 44 Jim Strickland 36 Rick Waits		Catchers  8 Alan Ashby  4 Rick Cerone  7 John Ellis Infielders 25 Buddy Bell 10 Jack Brohamer  9 Rico Carty 12 Ed Crosby 15 Frank Duffy 18 Duane Kuiper 30 Joe Lis 14 Tommy McCraw 26 Boog Powell  4 Bill Sudakis		Outfielders  1 Ken Berry 23 Oscar Gamble 21 George Hendrick 22 Leron Lee 29 John Lowenstein 28 Rick Manning 11 Tommy Smith 24 Charlie Spikes Other batters 20 Frank Robinson		Manager 20 Frank Robinson Coaches  6 Dave Garcia (Third Base)  2 Harvey Haddix (Pitching) 14 Tommy McCraw (First Base)  3 Jeff Torborg (Bullpen)

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
C	Alan Ashby	90	254	57	.224	5	32
1B	Boog Powell	134	435	129	.297	27	86
2B	Duane Kuiper	90	346	101	.292	0	25
3B	Buddy Bell	153	553	150	.271	10	59
SS	Frank Duffy	146	482	117	.243	1	47
LF	Oscar Gamble	121	348	91	.261	15	45
CF	George Hendrick	145	561	145	.258	24	86
RF	Charlie Spikes	111	345	79	.229	11	33
DH	Rico Carty	118	383	118	.308	18	64

[6]

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
Rick Manning	120	480	137	.285	3	35
John Ellis	92	296	68	.230	7	32
John Lowenstein	91	265	64	.242	12	33
Jack Brohamer	69	217	53	.244	6	16
Ed Crosby	61	128	30	.234	0	7
Frank Robinson	49	118	28	.237	9	24
Tommy McCraw	23	51	14	.275	2	5
Bill Sudakis	20	46	9	.196	1	3
Ken Berry	25	40	8	.200	0	1
Leron Lee	13	23	3	.130	0	0
Joe Lis	9	13	4	.308	2	8
Rick Cerone	7	14	3	.250	0	0
Tommy Smith	8	8	1	.125	0	2

[6]

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
Dennis Eckersley	34	186.2	13	7	2.60	152
Fritz Peterson	25	146.1	14	8	3.94	47
Roric Harrison	19	126	7	7	4.79	52
Gaylord Perry	15	121.1	6	9	3.55	85
Eric Raich	18	92.2	7	8	5.54	34
Jim Perry	8	37.2	1	6	6.69	11

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
Don Hood	29	135.1	6	10	4.39	51
Jim Bibby	24	112.2	5	9	3.20	62
Jim Kern	13	71.2	1	2	3.77	55
Rick Waits	16	70.1	6	2	2.94	34
Dick Bosman	6	28.2	0	2	4.08	11
Blue Moon Odom	3	10.1	1	0	2.61	10

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dave LaRoche	61	82.1	5	3	17	2.19	94
Tom Buskey	50	77	5	3	7	2.57	29
Jackie Brown	25	69.1	1	2	1	4.28	41
Fred Beene	19	46.2	1	0	1	6.94	20
Bob Reynolds	5	9.2	0	2	2	4.66	5
Larry Andersen	3	5.2	0	0	0	4.76	4
Jim Strickland	4	4.2	0	0	1	1.93	3

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• George Hendrick, reserve[7]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Red Davis
AA	San Antonio Brewers	Texas League	Woody Smith
A	San Jose Bees	California League	Del Youngblood
Rookie	GCL Indians	Gulf Coast League	Tony Pacheco

[8]

Notes

1. Frank Robinson bio at ESPN
2. Boog Powell page at Baseball Reference
3. Blue Moon Odom page at Baseball Reference
4. Rick Cerone page at Baseball Reference
5. Gaylord Perry page at Baseball Reference
6. 1975 Cleveland Indians Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com
7. http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1975as.shtml
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1975 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
• 1975 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com