The brother of one of the greatest players in Indians history was actually one of the greatest catchers in Indians history himself. Luke Sewell was the fourth longest tenured catcher for the Tribe, starting for seven seasons during the 1920's. Luke came to Cleveland shortly after his brother Joe Sewell, just missing out on the first Indians championship in 1920.

Sewell joined the team as a 20 year old rookie in 1921 and played as the reserve catcher behind Steve O'Neill and Glenn Myatt until 1926. He then became the starting catcher and stayed in that role for seven straight seasons. While he was never incredibly productive (and was devoid of any power), he played long enough for the Indians to rank among the the top catchers in runs scored, RBI and triples. One thing he had in common with his brother, Joe was his skill in avoiding strike outs. In a long career of near 1,000 games played and more than 3,000 at bats, he struck out less than 200 times.

Sewell ended his first stint with the Indians just prior to the 1933 season when he was sent to the Washington Senators in exchange for Roy Spencer. In 1939 he returned as a free agent, but only played in 16 games. After his playing career, Sewell managed for St. Louis (AL) and Cincinnati through the 1950's. Joe Sewell died in 1987 at the age of 86.

A more than a couple of the greatest Indians of the past 110 years have been shortstops including two of the Indians Hall of Famers. It has also been a very prominent position in recent years, with four players on the list playing in the 1990's or later. This list also includes some of the longest tenured Indians with four players who played more than 10 years with the team including the player who played more games as an Indian than any other player. Of all offensive positions, shortstop has to be considered the second most storied in Indians history behind just centerfield.  

10. Johnny Burnett - Starting Short Stop - 1931-1932

Burnett was the shortest termed short stop on the list, but did play very well during his time with the team. Along with a nice average of .292 and an impressive 272 runs scored, Burnett currently holds the Major League record for hits in a single game with nine.

9. Terry Turner - 1904-1908, 1910

Turner played more games as an Indian than any other player which allowed him to rack up almost 1,500 hits in his Indians career. Of course it took him longer than most to add up all those hits as he hit just over .250 over that period. For his contributions to the team over 15 seasons, Turner deserves a space on this list, but his numbers simply don't compare to the other great Indians short stops.

8. Woodie Held - 1959-1962

The next two players were incredibly similar, being the only true power hitting short stops in team history. They also both played positions outside of short as they were below average defenders. Held was a second baseman for a few seasons after he was done at shortstop. He has the strongest dichotomy as a hitter, leading all players in home runs and slugging percent and coming in dead last in average.

7. Jhonny Peralta - 2003, 2005-2008

Peralta was hated during his time with the Indians, mostly because he didn't "look" like a short stop, but it is impossible to deny that he was the most successful power hitting short stop in team history. He ranks second in home runs and third in slugging, while maintaining an average 15 points higher than Held, the other power shortstop. At the end of Peralta's career he was moved to third to make room for the next player on the list, but he stayed at short long enough to set the Indians record for most home runs while playing short stop.

6. Asdrubal Cabrera - 2009-Active

Cabrera is the Indians current short stop and already ranks among the top Indians short stops in home runs, RBI and steals, despite playing in less games than all but one other player on this list. His slash stats are a sign of the times with his average a little lower than the average short stop and his slugging percent a little higher, but he still maintains a decent speed threat and is above average defensively.

5. Julio Franco - 1983-1988

Franco played two stints with the Tribe, but was only a short stop during his first time around. He was actually one of the most well rounded players, coming in fourth among short stops in home runs and steals. He did this despite playing in more than 500 less games than the leaders.

4. Ray Chapman - 1913-1920

Chapman was a great talent who had his career cut short in 1920 when he was struck in the head with a pitch. Before that, Chapman was the Indians first great short stop, stealing 233 bases and scoring 671 times in over 1,000 games played. 

3. Omar Vizquel - 1994-2002, 2004

Vizquel is known as the greatest defensive short stop in Indians history (or at least since the development of televised baseball), winning nine straight Gold Gloves starting 1993. Of course, Omar wasn't just a glove, leading all Indians short stops in steals and runs scored. He also set the postseason records for games played, hits, triples and steals in his six playoff seasons.

2. Lou Boudreau - 1940-1949

Boudreau is almost certainly the most famous player on this list and was the player/manager during the last Indians championship. He is second to Turner in games played at short, but he did have great rate numbers, batting almost .300 and slugging more than .400. He is one of three players on this list with more than 800 runs scored and one of two with at least 700 RBI. He is undoubtedly one of the top ten greatest offensive Indians of all time regardless of position.

1. Joe Sewell - 1921-1928

Boudreau was great, but Sewell was better. His most impressive feat was that he (almost) never struck out. From 1925 through 1933 Sewell lead the league in AB/K. After doing that he still ranks second all time in all of Major League baseball history in this stat. As an Indian he played in less games than Boudreau, but scored more runs, had more hits and stole more bases. He was the only short stop in team history to break 800 runs batted in and still batted .320. Sewell also won a World Series after he took over for Chapman when he was killed in 1920. Sewell was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977 and is unquestionably one of the greatest Indians hitters of all time.

Borderline: Larry Brown, Bill Knickerbocker, Frank Duffy, George Strickland, Lyn Lary

Roberto Alomar was a full fledged star by the time he joined the Tribe and continued his monumental successes with the Indians, putting up some of the best numbers of his career. In 1999, Robbie came to Cleveland in a different way than the normal Indian process for acquiring new talent. He signed a five year contract for more than $7 million a year. His appearance reunited him with his brother Sandy Alomar, Jr and gave the Indians their first steady second baseman since Carlos Baerga left the team in 1996.

Alomar joined with Omar Vizquel to become what is generally assumed to be the greatest double play combination in Cleveland Indians history. The pair combined for six Gold Gloves during Alomar's three years with the team and in fact, won every single second base and short stop Gold Glove from 1993 to 2001 (except 1997 when Vizquel won for SS, but Chuck Knoblauch won at second). Alomar was a perrenial All-Star as well, making the team every year from 1990 though 2001 and starting each year except three (1990, 1995 and 2001). 

Defense wasn't the only part of Alomar's game as he also won the American League Silver Slugger at second base in each of his first two seasons with Cleveland. Among Indians second basemen, he ranks high in average, on base percent, steals and home runs and should be considered one of the top ten of all time. In his best season with the Tribe (1999), Alomar lead the league in runs scored and set a record in the top five all time for the Indians. In addition to his prowess at the plate and in the field, Alomar was the most proficient base stealer in Cleveland history, setting a new record by being safe 87% of the time.

Roberto Alomar was selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame (as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays) in 2011 in just his second year on the ballot. He was elected to the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame during that same year as well for his production during his three years with the team. This induction made Robbie and Sandy the first pair of brothers to be inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.

Joe Vosmik was one of the greatest Indians left fielders in history, ranking among the top five in career average, RBI and doubles. He did this despite playing in less games than any of the other true greats at the position for the Tribe. In 1931, Vosmik took over the starting left fielder job from Charlie Jamieson, one of the longest tenured players at that position. 

Vosmik was a star immediately, knocking in more than 100 RBI in his first year and another 97 the year after. After a poor  1933 season, Vosmik came back for a strong prime, starting for the AL All-Star team and coming in third in the MVP voting in 1935. He also lead the league that year in hits, doubles and triples, his 20 triples remaining in the top five most ever as an Indian in a single season. 

After another successful season in 1936, Vosmik (along with Oral Hildebrand and Bill Knickerbocker) was traded to the St. Louis Browns for what ended up being a poor return of Ivy Andrews, Lyn Lary and Moose Solters. Vosmik ended up having another three good seasons for the Browns and the Red Sox, before retiring from baseball as a Washington Senator in 1944. He died less than 20 years later in 1962 at the early age of 51.

Ed McKean was the longest tenured Spider and the only player to stay with the team from their first season through their second to last in 1898 when he and the rest of the good players were sent to St. Louis. In his career he outpaced every other pre-American League Cleveland baseball player in almost every single career stat. In fact, the only positive counting stat he didn't rank number one in was walks, where he ranked second. This all should seem a foregone conclusion when you see that he played in 500 more games than any other player. Even compared to modern players, McKean would rank in the top two batters in games, at bats, runs, hits, triples, RBI and steals.

McKean was one of the more powerful members of the Spiders, hitting six or more home runs seven times including a team record nine in 1898 (he also set single season Spider records for RBI (133) and triples (24) in 1893). Over his career he had a smooth transition, starting as a speed player and changing over to power as he aged. In his first three seasons he stole 76, 52 and then 35 bases all while his batting average, doubles and RBI increased. He had a significant peak from 1893 through 1894 seeing a dramatic increase in run production, average and a jump up in his speed numbers as well, hitting 24 triples in 1893 and stealing 33 bases the next year.

McKean wasn't a perfect player despite his gaudy offensive numbers as he did have one significant failing. He ranks tenth all time in career errors with 892, twice leading the league in this negative stat. However, back before the modern baseball mitt, errors were much more common, making it very hard to compare this stat with modern players. Poorly maintained fields and no stadium lighting also contributed, but this is an important thing to keep in mind when considering what look like great Earned Run Averages by the Blues and Spiders pitchers.

In 1899 McKean was moved to the St. Louis Perfectos along with the rest of the Spiders who had talent (including Cy Young, Nig Cuppy, Patsy Tebeau, Cupid Childs and Jesse Burkett). This was his last season and he only played 67 games in it after averaging almost 130 games per year while with Cleveland. He died less than 20 years later in 1919 at the age of 55.

Al Lopez was a Major League catcher during his playing career which spanned three decades, playing in almost 2,000 games and making it to two All-Star games during that period. He spent that duration with the Brooklyn Robins, Boston Bees and finally with the Pittsburgh Pirates before ending his career by playing 61 games in Cleveland. Of course, he did nothing during his lengthy playing career to garner any Hall of Fame interest.

After ending his career in Cleveland, Lopez was brought back as manager in 1951, taking over for player manager Lou Boudreau (the most successful manager in Cleveland history). Lopez picked up just where Boudreau left off, setting a new record for highest career winning percentage in club history. After three 90 win seasons, Lopez pulled out the greatest regular season in baseball history, winning 111 games (.721 winning percent) in 1954. What followed was what is considered one of the greatest let downs in sports history as the greatest team in MLB history was swept in the World Series by Willie Mays and the New York Giants.

The next two years Lopez still pushed his team to great finishes, but they never returned to the World Series and Lopez left the team in 1957 as part of the exodus from Cleveland. He then spent the rest of his time in baseball managing the Chicago White Sox. In his managerial career, Al Lopez won 1,410 total games with his two teams, placing him 25th in Major League history. In his Indians career, he ranks fourth all time in wins behind the Indians two great, World Series winning player managers, Boudreau and Tris Speaker, and Mike Hargrove.

Lopez was inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1977 as a manager by the Veteran's Committee and then into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 2006. Al Lopez died in 2005 at the age of 97.

Unlike the positional lists, starting pitchers are being broken down into two separate lists, essentially giving them a top 20 instead of a top ten. This is to make sure not to leave out any of the fantastic starting pitchers the Indians have had over the years and to balance out the numbers of position players compared to pitchers. This particular top ten list is of non-ace starting pitchers. These pitchers often go unnoticed, spending the majority of their careers behind the stars of the team, but definitely deserve some recognition of their own. This list includes a couple of numbers that have been retired by the Indians and a Hall of Famer. Forget about Bob Feller and Stan Coveleski for a minute, here is the rest of the rotation. For this top ten, we will not only be listing the years that the player was a starting pitcher in the rotation, but also the main reason they were not an ace during their career, namely, the player that was the ace.

10. Sonny Siebert - Years Starter: 1965-68 - Ace: Sam McDowell

Siebert wasn't with the team very long and is the only pitcher on the list with less than 1,000 innings pitched, but he earns his spot as a throwback player, posting a career ERA of 2.76 despite playing in the modern age. In fact, he was the first Indians pitcher to hold a career ERA under 2.80 that ended his career after 1917 a feat only accomplished one more time since.

9. George Uhle - 1919, 1921-28 - Stan Coveleski & Joe Shaute

Like the next pitcher on this list, Uhle was a poor average pitcher who managed to stay around for a long time. In his later years, he was preempted as ace by Shaute, who was possibly the worst ace in team history. Uhle's rate stats are the worst of any pitcher listed, but his 2,000 plus innings earned him enough respect to break the top ten.

8. Mel Harder - 1930-39, 1942-47 - Wes Ferrell, Bob Feller, Jim Bagby, Jr.

Harder is the only Indian to get his number retired without making it into the Hall of Fame with good reasons for both. As the longest tenured player in team history, he deserves respect, but his numbers need to be put into perspective as well.  While his counting stats (wins, innings, etc) are among the best of all Indians pitchers in history, his rate stats are among the worst on the list, keeping him low among the top ten. Unlike most of the pitchers on this list who were kept back by one great pitcher (usually Feller, Coveleski, Joss or McDowell), Harder had plenty of chances to take over the rotation for himself, but always took second as a new pitcher became the ace.

7. Jim Bagby, Sr. - 1916-21 - Coveleski

Bagby was an early Indians pitcher and was an amazing innings eater. From 1916 through 1920, Bagby held an ERA under three while throwing more than 240 innings each season. He was undershadowed by the one of the greatest Indian aces ever, Stan Coveleski. In 1920, Bagby set the current Indians record for wins in a season with 31, a record that will never be broken.

6. Mike Garcia - 1950-57 - Feller & Herb Score

The Big Bear had two straight 20 win seasons and four straight with at least 17 wins, but was still pushed back in the rotation time after time, behind Bob Lemon and Early Wynn in addition to those mentioned above. In his career, he is one of very few pitchers to crack 2,000 innings and 1,000 strike outs.

5. Willie Mitchell - 1910-11, 1913-15 - Vean Gregg

Mitchell is another early pitcher who had amazing rate stats and a lot of innings pitched during his Indians career. Mitchell spent a long time with the Tribe and wasn't a great pitcher until his last couple seasons. He spent time as a reliever in between his starting years, setting up his greatest years. He is one of a short list of pitchers who have finished their careers with the Indians with an ERA under 3.00 and a BAA under .230.

4. Earl Moore - 1901-05 - Addie Joss

It's no surprise that half of the 1905 starting rotation is listed in the top ten (the third is in the top 15 and last is inelligible) as pitching was paramount for the early Cleveland teams. There was a large disparancy in talent, as less people played the sport in the early 1900's. Even so, they deserve a lot of credit as they each threw over 1,000 innings and held an ERA under 3.00 for their careers. Moore himself won 82 games, an impressive number considering he only pitched in 161.

3. Bob Lemon - 1948-57 - Feller & Score

Lemon was the closest thing to an ace on this list as he took over for Feller during a two year transition to Score. Even so, he was second or third in the rotation during the majority of career. He ranks first among the non-aces in strike outs and is second to just Harder (who pitched in more than 120 more games than Lemon) in wins and innings pitched. His years at ace were the tie breaker that kept him behind the top two pitchers.

2. Bob Rhoads - 1905-09 - Joss

Rhoads was the best of the early non-ace starters winning 88 of his 185 games and holding the lowest ERA of all non-aces and the fourth best in Indians history. During Rhoads' first four years as a starter, the Indians had an amazing starting rotation and put forth some of the best seasons in Indians history. From 1905 to 1908, the Indians won more than 55% of their games with Rhoads winning 71 games over that span.

1. Luis Tiant - 1964-69 - McDowell

Tiant had a very special year in 1968, setting an Indians record for best BAA and holding an ERA of 1.60. During his time with the Tribe he was incredible, throwing 1,200 innings and maintaining a career ERA under 3.00, something only one starting pitcher (Gaylord Perry) has done since.

Borderline: Guy Morton, Bill Bernhard, Otto Hess, Cy Falkenberg, Willis Hudlin

Bill Bernhard joined the Cleveland Blues in 1902 (after being released by the Philadelphia Athletics) and immediately became the third of Cleveland's three aces alongside Earl Moore and Addie Joss. The trio stayed on top of the league from 1902 through 1904. During that span none of the three pitchers ever held a season ERA over 3.00 or a WHIP over 1.20 (except for Earl Moore in 1902), the best WHIP of the time being Bernhard's 0.94 in 1902 which still ranks in the top ten all time. Each pitcher also won at least 12 games every year during that time.

In 1905 Bernhard fell off after throwing the best season of his career. His ERA ballooned to near 5.00 and he lost more games than he won for the first time with Cleveland (every year prior he had won at least ten more games than he lost). In 1906 Bernhard returned to form one last time, posting a 16-15 record and an ERA of 2.54. During his swan song season, he threw 255 innings, dropping his BAA (.235) and WHIP (1.11) back to respectable dead ball era levels.

In his career, Bernhard ranks in the top five Indians ever in ERA an is ranked among the top Cleveland starting pitchers of all time. He left the Naps in 1907 after pitching just 42 innings and bounced around the minor leagues for a few seasons before leaving baseball altogether. Bill Bernhard died in 1949 at the age of 78.

Doug Jones was the first great closer for the Cleveland Indians and maintains the Indians record for most career save opportunities. He happened to come around at the perfect time for closers as for the first time in baseball history, pitchers were put into save situations simply to earn the save, rather than teams using the best pitcher in the most important situation despite the inning. Jones came to the Tribe in 1985 after being released by Milwaukee. After two good seasons, Jones became the full time closer in 1988 and posted one of the best relief seasons in Indians history. Over the next three seasons, Jones set marks in the top ten for save chances each year and saves twice. When he saved 43 games in 1990 it was an Indians record (broken four seasons later by Jose Mesa)

In 1991 Jones struggled over his first 31 games before the Indians decided to turn him into a starter. After making three straight all-star teams and garnering MVP votes in two of the past three seasons, Jones dropped to a 5.54 ERA (his worst ERA as a closer was 2.56 in 1990). This struggle was enough for the Indians to give up on the 35 year old pitcher and he left the team through free agency to Houston. He then pitched eight more seasons between five other teams, with some great seasons and others where he struggled.

In 1998 the Indians traded right handed reliever Eric Plunk to the Brewers in exchange for an elderly Jones and the Indians were able to take him to his first career playoff appearance. After becoming famous with the Tribe and having his best seasons in Cleveland, Jones had finally returned and had another good partial season. At the end of the season, he joined the Athletics for two years, making the playoffs one more time before retiring.

In his career, Jones remains one of the top closers in Indians history and ranks in the top ten in save conversion percent and top five in total saves (just ten behind Bob Wickman). 

Otto Hess was one of the early pitchers for the Cleveland Blues and Naps, pitching alongside Addie Joss, Earl Moore and Bob Rhoads for the original Cleveland teams. Like the others listed, Hess had an incredibly low career ERA, WHIP and BAA, but unlike the others, he was very inconsistant. His 1904 and 1906 seasons were two of the greatest years ever by an Indians pitcher (his 333 IP in 1906 ranks among the top ten all time), but he had a very below average year in 1905 and wasn't able to pitch 100 innings in his other three seasons.

In his career, the good seasons have outweighed the bad, mostly due to the incredible amount of innings thrown in those two great seasons. He remains among the top ten best Indians ever in ERA and innings per game (7.1). His great rate stats do show through, but his wildness is also apparent as he hit 51 batters in less than 1,000 innings pitched. He also ended his career losing more games than he won (each of the other three pitcher peers listed above had a career winning percent of above .545).

 Hess retired after the 1915 season after being released by the Boston Braves. He had originally been let go by Cleveland in 1908 and played in the minor leagues for a few years trying to make his way back to the pros. Hess is the only player in Major League Baseball history to be born in Switzerland. Otto Hess died in 1926 at the age of 47.