For fans of the modern Cleveland Indians, who may not be aware of Woodie Held, he was Jhonny Peralta long before Peralta was born. Over his seven years with the Indians, Held hit 130 total home runs and committed 123 errors. Held and Peralta remain the only Indians short stops to hit more than 100 home runs with the team. Held played long before the age of power short stops that came around in the 1990's so he was well ahead of his time. Instead of being heralded as a great power hitting short stop, Held was switched from position to position moving to second base and outfield, eventually getting traded to Washington in 1964.

Woodie Held was involved in another trade with the Indians that turned out to be one of the worst in team history. To obtain Held originally, the Indians traded top prospect Roger Maris to the Kansas City Royals for Held and Vic Power. While both Held and Power had decent careers for the Indians, Maris went on to star with the Yankees breaking Babe Ruth's single season home record by hitting 61 home runs in 1961.

Woodie Held died in June of 2009.

Jim McCormick pitched for the Blues from 1879 to 1884, in an era that cannot be compared to modern baseball. McCormick played through the entire franchise history of the original Cleveland Blues and he was the only pitcher they needed over those six years. The first season of the Blues, they used two total pitchers for the teams 82 games, McCormick and Bobby Mitchell. Apparantly, Mitchell didn't pull his weight as McCormick started 60 of those 82 games and had to relieve Mitchell twice.

Over his time with the team, he averaged more than 500 innings per season (only Jersey Bakley passed 500 IP after), a feat that seems impossible in this age. Included in his gaudy statistics are the pre-AL Cleveland records for single season wins, losses, ERA, games, starts, IP, strike outs and WHIP. In consecutive seasons (1879 and 1880) he lost 40 games, then won 45. Since then, no pitcher has come close to 40 in either decision (although Cy Young passed 30 a few times. Even when the Blues picked up a few more pitchers, McCormick maintained as the work horse, throwing 359 innings in his final season with the team. 

In his career, McCormick is second to Young in almost every pre-1901 Cleveland pitching stat, except ERA, WHIP, BAA and strike outs, where he was number one. During his career he completed 98% of his games averaging more than 8.2 innings per game. Not only was he an ace for the Blues, but he also was the top in the league as well, leading the NL in wins, starts and innings twice each and complete games three times. In 1883, in what was possibly his most impressive feat, he lead the NL in ERA (1.84) and winning percent (.700) in over 300 innings.

McCormick was just the third pitcher in American baseball history to be born in the United Kingdom, coming out of Glasglow. He died in 1918 at the age of 61.

Brook Jacoby was never a great player, but he ended up being one of the best third basemen in Indians history after a fairly long starting career at that position. In 1983, the Indians sent aging starter Len Barker to the Atlanta Braves for two young hitters, Brett Butler and Jacoby. The trade worked incredibly well for the Indians who aquired their starting third baseman and center fielder for most of the next decade.

Jacoby's best years came from 1985-1987 when he averaged more than 20 home runs a season with almost 80 RBI per season. Even after his prime, he continued to produce, ending his time with the Tribe with more than 500 RBI and runs, 190 doubles and 120 home runs. Nearing the trade deadline in 1991, Jacoby was traded to Oakland to finish out the last year of his contract. In 1992, he resigned with Cleveland as a free agent to finish out his career. The Indians already had their new third baseman (Jim Thome) ready to go, so they no longer had any need of Jacoby's services in 1993. Brook Jacoby is the current batting coach for the Cincinatti Reds.

The Cleveland Indians began using good pitchers in the bullpen for the first time in the 1940's, but it was still of a time when the starting pitcher felt the need to complete every single game. As time has went on, the relief pitcher position has become more specialized, with players being used in important, late game situations rather than simply as mop up men. This list includes pitchers of both varieties, ranging from the 1941 Indians to the present day. While it takes at least 200 innings to get noticed for the rankings, relief pitchers are judged more on their average performance than their cumulative totals. Longevity still counts, but much more important is the players effectiveness during their time with the team. This list only includes right handed relievers, while the left handed list can be found here.

10. Ed Klieman - Years as Relief Pitcher - 1943-1948

Despite pretty good average numbers, Klieman holds a precarious place at the end of this count down. An active Indians pitcher is poised to skyrocket up this list assuming he throws at least 63 more innings at his current level. With a longer term view point, most of the early relievers will probably end up being removed as relief pitching becomes more specialized.

9. Steve Gromek - 1941-1942,1947-1953

Gromek was one of the first pitchers used as an exclusive reliever who could have been a starter. In fact, the Indians couldn't help themselves and when Bob Feller and a few others left the team for World War II, Gromek was thrown into a starting role, becoming the ace in 1945. With the return of Feller for the end of that season, Gromek moved back into the pen for the rest of his time. He ended his career with the second highest total of innings pitched among pitchers who were primarily relievers during their time with the Indians.

8. Paul Shuey - 1996-2002

Shuey lead the Indians in holds each of the first two seasons the stat existed, placing himself as record holder early on for both the single season and career marks (he has since lost both). Shuey was the go to reliever during the end of the Indians run in the mid 1990's, throwing in over 360 games in relief. His 10 strike outs per nine innings rank number one among every Indians pitcher ever who has thrown at least 200 innings.

7. Frank Funk - 1960-1962

Funk has thrown the least amount of innings of the players listed, but deserves consideration because he holds the second lowest ERA among right handed relievers. In just two seasons (61-62) Funk threw in over 100 games (all in relief) and dominated constantly, never allowing his BAA get above .222 or his WHIP above 1.20.

6. David Riske - 2002-2005

David wasn't anywhere near as risky as his name would make you think, holding an ERA at 3.55 and BAA under .220. Like another pitcher further on the countdown, Riske was a big part of the great 2005 Indians bullpen, pitching 72 innings in 58 games.

5. Gary Bell - 1962-1967

Bell was the penultimate right hander in Indians history, throwing more innings than any other reliever during his time with the Tribe. He was used as a starter, long reliever, short reliever and closer during his time with the team, striking out over 1,000 batters (good for top ten among all Indians pitchers), while no other relievers had more than 600.

4. Stan Williams - 1965,1967-1969

From 1967-1969, Williams was the Indians go-to relief pitcher, pitching in over 100 games and moving into the closers role by 1969. He was on the outside of the rotation during that time and bounced between a starting role and his place in the bullpen. The fact that some of his best performances came as a starter is the only thing keeping him from the top of this list.

3. Joe Smith - 2009-2012 (Active)

The most impressive thing about Joe Smith (outside of his very unique name) is his ability to keep runs from scoring. Over his three years, he has maintained an ERA under 3.00, in fact, the best for any pitcher to throw at least 200 innings since Gaylord Perry left for Texas in 1975. Smith is still active, so he could move either way on this list depending on his future results, but for now his incredible batting average against (.209), ERA (2.90) and K/BB (1.93) will keep him fairly high on the list considering his limited innings pitched.

2. Rafael Betancourt - 2003-2008

The 2005 and 2007 bullpens were two of the greatest Indians relief corps of all time, despite never having a dominant closer. The main reason they were so great was the combination of Betancourt the other late inning set-up men that gave those closers many more chances than they deserved. In 2005 Betancourt set a new high for single season holds with 31 (a record that has since been broken by Vinnie Pestano) and he maintains the all-time career record with 84. 

1. Eric Plunk - 1992-1998

Plunks postseason exploits marred the end of his time with the Tribe, so many people forget that he was a dominant part of the bullpen for most of a decade. The 1990's Indians were famous for come from behind wins and Plunk took advantage, winning more games than any other pure reliever in Indians history.

Borderline: Cal McLish, Steve Karsay, Don McMahon, Vinnie Pestano (Active), Art Houtteman

Bobby Avila took over for the Hall of Famer Joe Gordon in 1951, knocking in 58 runs in 141 games, an impressive total for a mid century second baseman. Avila joined a strong offense including 1953 MVP Al Rosen and future Hall of Famer Larry Doby. 1954 was the best season in Indians history as far as winning percent goes and it had a lot to due with that strong offense. That year, Avila lead the team in runs scored and batting average (he also lead the league) as he provided a spark at the top of the lineup for Doby and Rosen to knock in.

Avila was one of the top second basemen of his era, starting twice for the American League in the All-Star game in a three year span. He remains one of the top ten Indians second basemen of all time, leading the position in walks and ranking second in games, at bats, runs, hits and total bases while ranking third in home runs. When his career was in a down turn in 1958 the Indians traded Avila to Baltimore. In 1959 he was DFA'd  three times by three different teams before retiring after just a ten year career. Bobby Avila died in 2004.

On May 15th, 1981 Len Barker threw the second perfect game in Indians history (Addie Joss, 1908) and the tenth in all Major League Baseball. The game was in Cleveland against the Toronto Blue Jays and slugger George Bell. Barker struck out four hitters twice each (including Bell) for eleven total. The game ended when pinch hitter Ernie Whitt flew out to centerfielder Rick Manning who completed the play by jumping in the air. Just 7,290 people saw the game, but ten times that amount now claim to have seen the game in person.

Barker was the Indians ace from 1980-1982, heading a very poor rotation compared to the rest of Indians history. Especially after the successful rotations of the late 1960's and early 1970's, the 1980's were a real downturn. Barker was the high point of those teams, averaging over 30 starts during those three seasons and maintaining an ERA under four in two of the three years.

The trade that brought Barker to the Indians was a great one, with the Tribe obtaining Barker and Bobby Bonds for Larvell Blanks and closer Jim Kern. The trade sending him away was even better with the Indians gaining two starting position players for a single aging starter. Brook Jacoby and Brett Butler came to Cleveland and were a huge part of the Indians offense for most of the next decade while Barker only pitched in another 58 total games and never won more than seven games in a season again.

Despite the team's struggles at the position in recent years, second base has been the place for many of the greatest Indians in team history, including the only one that the team was directly named after. Since 1996, the Indians have not had a single second baseman who started more than three seasons, but even so, one of those players still made a place high on the list.

10. Tony Bernazard - Years Starting 2B - 1984-1987

Bernazard holds a precarious position at the end of this list with just 500 games played and poor rate stats. After being without a steady second baseman since Alomar left in 2001, the Indians finally look to have found a new star who should be able to take over this spot with just a few more quality seasons.

9. Ray Mack - 1940-1944

Mack's five seasons as a starter were enough to place him at number 9, despite fairly poor stats across the board. While the top eight players are all upstanding members in Indians history, the final two spots on this countdown were hard to fill with legitimate players.

8. Bill Wambsganss - 1915-1923

Wamby is famous for one thing, his unassisted triple play in the World Series, but he was also a solid second baseman for the Indians for most of a decade. He was part of the first Indians championship team with his great double play partner, Joe Sewell. His 1,170 games are among the most ever at his position and his 122 steals are the second most. He also has the second worst batting average of those listed at a position famous for high batting averages. 

7. Johnny Hodapp - 1929-1931

Hodapp didn't play very long for the Tribe, but his high batting average and proficiency at hitting doubles earned him a spot in the top ten. His .318 average is third out of all second basemen to play a significant time for the Tribe and he hit 134 doubles in just over 600 games, better than any other second baseman with less than 900 games played.

6. Joe Gordon - 1947-1950

Gordon played most of his Hall of Fame career away from the Tribe, but spent enough time manning second for the Indians to warrant a spot on this list. Despite his very short time with the Indians, he was one of two Indians second basemen to break 100 home runs. He was also a large part of the last Indians championship team in 1948 playing beside player/manager Lou Boudreau.

5. Bobby Avila - 1951-1958

Avila ended a long string of very talented second basemen for the Indians that started in the 1930's. He ended up playing more games at second base than any other Indian besides Lajoie. Over that time he accrued some high numbers in high value stats like home runs and stolen bases, although he never knocked in a whole lot of runs. Avila was a prototypical second baseman, with more than 200 more runs than RBI and more than twice as many doubles as home runs.

4. Odell Hale - 1933-1934,1938-1939

Hale played a long time for the Tribe (from 1933-1940, part of which was at third base) and was still able to keep an average near .300. He managed to build up some impressive counting stats over those years, playing in over 1,000 games while scoring and driving in more than 500 runs.

3. Roberto Alomar - 1999-2001

Alomar was one of the few big free agent signings in the past 20 years for the Tribe and he played amazingly. His three years with the team were arguably the best three years of any baseball player in Indians history. His 106 steals are third among second baseman and his 63 home runs are fifth. He was also one of the strongest defensive second basemen in team history, combining with Omar Vizquel for an absolutely amazing double play combination.

2. Carlos Baerga - 1992-1996

Baerga was part of powerful offenses of the mid 1990s and fit in well, hitting more home runs in his career than any other second baseman. He also ranks second in RBI and third in hits. Baerga was the closest to a power hitter on this list as his base hit numbers are skewed towards home runs and doubles and away from triples. He also had less steals than some players who played less seasons than he did.

1. Napoleon Lajoie - 1902-1914

The indisputable greatest Indians second baseman ever is also one of the greatest offensive players in team history and the history of all Major League Baseball. There are only two other Hall of Famers on the whole list (Alomar and Gordon) and both of them went in for their efforts with another team. Lajoie leads all Indians second basemen in almost every statistical category (except home runs and walks) and leads all Indians ever in at bats and hits. Not only was he the greatest Indians second baseman ever, it is possible there will never be another one half as good as he was.

Borderline: Ronnie Belliard, Riggs Stephenson, Duane Kuiper, Jerry Browne, Roy Hughes

Ed Morgan was one of the greatest first basemen in Indians history, despite playing just six seasons with Cleveland. He started in 1928, taking the place of former MVP George Burns. In 1929 the rest of the offense came together as Morgan joined with Joe Sewell, Earl Averill and Charlie Jamieson to form the best offense to this point in Indians history. The next year, Morgan put together one of the top ten offensive seasons in Indians history, knocking in a then record 136 RBI. The next season that record went away as Averill knocked in 143, then again in 1936 when Morgan's replacement, Hal Trosky, knocked in 162, a record that would stand for 33 years. 

After a poor showing in 39 games in 1933 the Indians gave up on Morgan and the Red Sox picked him up in the rule five draft. The next year saw a slight resurgance by Morgan, knocking in 79 runs for Boston, but for the second year in a row he batted below .270 after hitting above .310 for his first four seasons. He retired after just seven total seasons at the age of 30.

Morgan never received any accolades during his time in baseball and didn't play long enough to be involved in Hall of Fame talks, but he certainly left his mark on the Indians ranking among the top ten Indians in both career OBP and batting average. Ed Morgan died in 1980.

Sonny Siebert was a throw back, putting up numbers in the 1960's that look like they should fit in the 1910's. His 2.76 ERA remains second all time of Cleveland pitchers who played their careers after 1920 (behind Gaylord Perry). He holds a few top ten single season marks as well, even when included with the early dead ball era pitchers. In 1965 he placed in the top ten in ERA and K/9, then set a mark in the top ten for BAA in 1968. In his career he ranks among the top five in both batting average against and WHIP.

Siebert started his career with the Tribe in 1964 after signing six years earlier as an amateur free agent. He was already in his prime during his rookie season at the age of 27 when he threw 156 innings and held an ERA of 3.23. He didn't allow his ERA to go above three again in any season until he was traded after just two starts in 1969. The trade was extremely lopsided with the Indians losing Joe Azcue along with Siebert to the Red Sox for three players who never amounted to anything with the team. Siebert wasn't the same pitcher after the trade, however, and he only finished a season with an ERA lower than three one more time. After five pretty good seasons with Boston, Siebert bounced around between four other teams before calling it a career in 1975.

Carlos Baerga was the All-Star second baseman that sat on top of the Indians lineup and helped raise the team to glory in the mid 1990s. In 1989, Baerga came over to the Tribe alongside Sandy Alomar, Jr in the trade that sent Joe Carter to San Diego. Carlos immediately started producing for the Tribe, knocking in 47 runs in his rookie year (1990) in a reserve role and becoming the second most productive offensive player on the team the next season when he knocked in 67 with a .288 batting average. In 1992, he placed himself on the all-time Indians leaderboards, breaking the top five in single season at bats and top ten in games played. He remains one of the top second basemen ever to put on an Indians uniform.

This was also his first of two 200 hit seasons. While this isn't the most miraculous of feats, it has been something hard to come by in recent years for the Tribe, with the last coming in 1996 when Kenny Lofton had 210. Baerga's two 200 hit seasons give him two of the last three in team history. Overall there have been 27 200 hit seasons in Indians history, but only the three mentioned already and one by Carter in 1986 occurred after 1950.

Baerga peaked slightly before the rest of the Indians team as he started his decline when the the Indians were finally seeing some success in 1994 and 1995. He did play well in his only postseason, hitting .292 in 1995, including four RBI in both the ALCS and World Series. His ten hits in the ALCS that year remains in the top five all time for more hits in a postseason series.

In 1996 Baerga was reaching the end of his usefulness as a player and was traded to the Mets for his replacement, Jeff Kent. Kent was the first of many attempts to find a new great second baseman, a quest that continued until 1999 when Roberto Alomar joined the team. Since the departure of Baerga, the Indians have not had a single starting second baseman last more than three years (both Alomar and Ronnie Belliard lasted three years).

In 1999 Baerga came back to the Tribe after struggling with the Mets and Padres for three years, but he was unable to solve his hitting woes and there was no room for him on the roster with Alomar at second and Fryman at third. Baerga bounced around with a few more teams until 2005 (including some time in Korea) and had one more resurgent season in 2003 with the Diamondbacks, but never really found the success he had with the Tribe in the early 1990s.

In 2013, Baerga returned to the Indians as a special instructer in Spring Training. He will be inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in August of 2013.