The Cleveland Indians finished in seventh place in the American League East.

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

magazine predicted that the Indians would finish in first. Club president

Peter Bavasi Peter Bavasi (born in Bronxville, New York, in 1942) is an American former front-office executive in Major League Baseball. The son of Emil J. "Buzzie" Bavasi, who spent almost 35 years in senior management positions in the Major Leagues, Peter Ba ...

would resign before the regular season began. Bavasi had joined the Indians in November 1984. As president of the Cleveland Indians, he served on Major League Baseball's Executive Council. During the 1986 season, the team had an 84-78 record, its best since 1968, and attendance of 1.47 million, its highest since 1959. There was much optimism that the team would reach its full potential in 1987. Sluggers

Joe Carter Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, ...

and

Cory Snyder James Cory Snyder (born November 11, 1962) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and the manager of the Northern Colorado Owlz. He played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 1994 for the Cleveland Indians, ...

were featured on the cover of

on April 6, 1987, with the headline "Indian Uprising". The Indians were being predicted as the best team in baseball on the back of their two 30+ home run hitters. What sports writers overlooked was that Cleveland had the worst performing pitching staff in the majors, despite the presence of 300 game winners

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 31 ...

and

Steve Carlton Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher for six different teams from 1965 to 1988, most notably as a member of the Philadelphi ...

, as well as

Tom Candiotti Thomas Caesar Candiotti (born August 31, 1957) is an American former knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. As of the 20 ...

(with Niekro and Candiotti, Cleveland had two starters whose main pitch was the

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This chan ...

). The 1987 Indians would fall well short of SI's bold prediction. They were not above .500 even once all season, and an 8–20 May ended any realistic hope of contention. They finished 61-101, the worst record in all of baseball. The season would go on to be associated with the

Sports Illustrated cover jinx The ''Sports Illustrated'' cover jinx is an urban legend that states that individuals or teams who appear on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine will subsequently be jinxed (experience bad luck). Explanations A common explanation fo ...

Offseason

* November 7, 1986:

Fran Mullins Francis Joseph Mullins (born May 14, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder. Mullins played at least one game at all four infield positions, but saw most of his playing ti ...

was released by the Indians. * November 28, 1986:

Casey Parsons Casey Robert Parsons is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played parts of four seasons in the majors, between and , for the Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. In four seasons, he played in just 63 games, and ...

was signed as a free agent by the Indians. * December 23, 1986: John Butcher was released by the Indians. * January 19, 1987:

Doug Frobel Douglas Steven Frobel (born June 6, 1959) is a Canadian retired professional baseball player. An outfielder, he appeared in 268 Major League games over five seasons (1982–1985; 1987). He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood tall and ...

was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians. * February 23, 1987:

Curt Wardle Curtis Ray Wardle (born November 16, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons. Curtis pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 1984 to 1985 and the Cleveland Indians in 1985. One highlight of Wardle's brief major ...

was traded by the Indians to the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

for

Jeff Kaiser Jeffrey Patrick Kaiser (born July 24, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Kaiser attended Aquinas High School in Southgate, Michigan where he was teammates with Paul Assenmacher. He played college baseball at Western Michig ...

Regular season

In 1987, the Cleveland Indians achieved a baseball first. The Indians had veteran pitchers

and

on their roster to add experience. Their most notable accomplishment was appearing in a game together against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

. Carlton and Niekro became the first teammates and 300-game winners to appear in the same game. Both were ineffective in a 10-6 Yankee victory. It would be Carlton's first and only pitching appearance at the legendary stadium. Neither pitcher finished the season with the Indians. Carlton would end up with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

and win a World Series championship. Niekro would be picked up by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and come within two games of winning the American League East Championship.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Transactions

* April 4, 1987:

signed as a free agent with the Indians.Steve Carlton page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * May 11, 1987:

Don Schulze Donald Arthur Schulze (born September 27, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and current minor league pitching coach. Schulze graduated from Lake Park High School in 1981. He pitched all or part of six seasons in the majors, betwee ...

was traded by the Indians to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

for

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

. * May 12, 1987:

Dave Gallagher David Thomas Gallagher (born September 20, 1960) is an American former professional baseball journeyman outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams, during his nine-year big league career (–). Early life Gallagher w ...

was traded by the Indians to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

for

Mark Huismann Mark Lawrence Huismann (born May 11, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Early years Huismann was born in Littleton, Colorado, and attended Colorado State University upon graduation from Thomas B. Doherty High Scho ...

. * July 15, 1987:

Tony Bernazard Antonio Bernazard Garcia (born August 24, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball player and former executive in the New York Mets organization. Bernazard served as an assistant to Mets general manager Omar Minaya before being dismissed on July 2 ...

was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for

Darrel Akerfelds Darrel Wayne Akerfelds (June 12, 1962 – June 24, 2012) was a professional baseball pitcher. He also served as the bullpen coach of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, from until his death. He also pitched in the major leagues in par ...

and

Brian Dorsett Brian Richard Dorsett (born April 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player who played eight seasons for the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels, California Angels, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Chic ...

. * July 31, 1987: Steve Carlton was traded by the Indians to the

for a player to be named later. The Twins completed the deal by sending Jeff Perry (minors) to the Indians on August 18.

Draft picks

* June 2, 1987:

1987 Major League Baseball Draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional cont ...

Albert Belle Albert Jojuan Belle (born August 25, 1966), known until 1990 as Joey Belle, is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1989 to 2000, most notably for the Cleveland Indians. Known for his fierce, competitive temperament ...

was drafted by the Indians in the 2nd round. Belle signed on August 27, 1987. **

Beau Allred Beau Allred (born 4 June 1965) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played in parts of three seasons for the Cleveland Indians between 1989 and 1991. His number from 1989-1990 was #55 College and minor leagues Allred played collegiat ...

was drafted by the Indians in the 25th round.

Opening Day Lineup

Roster

Statistics

Batting

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases''

Pitching

''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts''

Award winners

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

Pat Tabler Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. After retiring professional baseball, he became a color analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Canadian sports television networks TSN and Sportsn ...

, designated hitter, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: BurlingtonJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

1987 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference1987 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987 Cleveland Indians Season Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cleve