The 1987 Cleveland Indians season was the 87th in franchise history. The team, predicted by Sports Illustrated magazine to finish first, finished seventh in the American League East. Club president Peter Bavasi would resign before the regular season began. Bavasi had joined the Indians in November 1984. As team president, 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.New York Times, January 24, 1987 There was much optimism that the team would reach its full potential in 1987.

Sluggers Joe Carter and Cory Snyder were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated 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 and Steve Carlton, as well as Tom Candiotti (with Niekro and Candiotti, Cleveland had two starters whose main pitch was the knuckleball).

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.

Offseason November 7, 1986: Fran Mullins was released by the Indians. November 28, 1986: Casey Parsons was signed as a free agent by the Indians. December 23, 1986: John Butcher was released by the Indians. January 19, 1987: Doug Frobel was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians. February 23, 1987: Curt Wardle was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Jeff Kaiser.

Regular season In 1987, the Cleveland Indians achieved a baseball first. The Indians had veteran pitchers Steve Carlton and Phil Niekro on their roster to add experience. Their most notable accomplishment was appearing in a game together against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. 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 and win a World Series championship. Niekro would be picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays and come within two games of winning the American League East Championship.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Transactions April 4, 1987: Steve Carlton signed as a free agent with the Indians. May 11, 1987: Don Schulze was traded by the Indians to the New York Mets for Ricky Nelson. May 12, 1987: Dave Gallagher was traded by the Indians to the Seattle Mariners for Mark Huismann. July 15, 1987: Tony Bernazard was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Darrel Akerfelds and Brian Dorsett. July 31, 1987: Steve Carlton was traded by the Indians to the Minnesota Twins 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 Albert Belle was drafted by the Indians in the 2nd round. Belle signed on August 27, 1987. Beau Allred was drafted by the Indians in the 25th round.

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position4 Tony Bernazard 2B2 Brett Butler CF14 Julio Franco SS30 Joe Carter LF29 Andre Thornton DH26 Brook Jacoby 3B10 Pat Tabler 1B28 Cory Snyder RF23 Chris Bando C49 Tom Candiotti P

Roster 1987 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager (Apr 6 - July 15) (July 16 - Oct 4) Coaches (Pitching, Apr 6 - Jun 30) (Hitting/First Base) (Pitching, July 1 - Oct 4) (Bullpen) (Third Base) (Bullpen)

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 Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB 50 154 17 41 6 0 3 16 .266 1 89 211 20 46 9 0 5 16 .218 0 38 125 14 27 9 1 2 13 .216 2 79 293 39 70 12 1 11 30 .239 7 137 522 91 154 25 8 9 41 .295 33 149 588 83 155 27 2 32 106 .264 31 89 220 27 55 17 0 11 31 .250 1 29 87 11 18 5 0 3 12 .207 1 60 141 16 25 10 0 1 9 .177 0 5 11 2 3 0 0 1 3 .273 0 128 495 86 158 24 3 8 52 .319 32 29 40 5 4 0 0 2 5 .100 0 15 36 2 4 1 1 0 1 .111 2 142 485 57 136 21 1 18 76 .280 5 67 257 31 68 9 3 3 21 .265 9 155 540 73 162 26 4 32 69 .300 2 19 17 2 1 0 0 0 1 .059 2 39 80 7 18 2 1 0 7 .225 1 18 25 2 4 0 0 1 5 .160 0 157 577 74 136 24 2 33 82 .236 5 151 553 66 170 34 3 11 86 .307 5 36 85 8 10 2 0 0 5 .118 1 22 64 9 11 4 0 1 4 .172 0 Team totals 162 5606 742 1476 267 30 187 691 .263 140

Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K 2 6 6.75 16 13 0 74.2 84 60 56 38 42 1 0 8.68 14 0 1 18.2 27 18 18 10 9 7 8 4.64 39 17 6 120.1 145 75 62 47 65 0 1 9.22 15 0 1 13.2 21 14 14 5 9 7 18 4.78 32 32 0 201.2 193 132 107 93 111 5 9 5.37 23 14 1 109.0 111 76 65 63 71 1 1 4.55 16 0 0 31.2 26 17 16 13 22 5 1 3.39 10 9 0 69.0 68 29 26 22 28 0 3 4.08 21 0 1 39.2 49 31 18 12 20 2 3 5.09 20 0 2 35.1 38 22 20 8 23 6 5 3.15 49 0 8 91.1 101 45 32 24 87 0 0 16.20 2 0 0 3.1 4 6 6 3 2 7 11 5.89 22 22 0 123.2 142 83 81 53 57 1 1 6.08 14 0 0 26.2 33 21 18 16 11 6 13 6.50 32 29 0 153.2 185 126 111 57 61 4 2 5.67 25 0 3 27.0 25 22 17 21 25 3 8 5.10 16 15 0 102.1 112 62 58 37 97 1 0 5.10 55 0 0 72.1 96 42 41 21 40 0 1 14.29 6 0 0 5.2 7 10 9 7 6 0 1 5.06 6 0 1 5.1 3 3 3 7 4 3 9 5.25 37 11 1 97.2 96 63 57 49 59 Team totals 61 101 5.28 162 162 25 1422.2 1566 957 835 606 849

Award winners

All-Star Game Pat Tabler, designated hitter, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington

References

1987 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1987 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com