The greatest doubles hitter in Major League history, Tris Speaker, was inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame as a member of the Cleveland Indians. The Grey Eagle had his most successful seasons as a member of the Tribe, after garnering over 1,300 hits during his 9 years with the Boston Red Sox. In 1920, Speaker was the Indians player/manager and guided the team to it's first World Series championship. His 617 wins over eight seasons as manager remain the third most in Indians history. While each of the top three managers have taken the Indians to the World Series, only Speaker and Lou Boudreau have won it for the Tribe.

As an Indian Speaker lead the AL in hits and batting average, OBP and SLG in 1916 and in doubles six times over eleven years. Speaker also impressed on a single season basis, showing that his numbers were not just the result of a long career. He still holds three of the top five single season double totals and two of the top five best batting averages. He hit over .380 four times while with the Tribe and only batted under .300 during two seasons.

Although his most impressive stat is his amazing accumulation of doubles, Speaker was also impressive in many other categories. He is second all time as an Indian in career batting average, behind only Shoeless Joe Jackson, who he also trails in the all MLB rankings where he is sixth all time. Speaker ranks among the top five Indians in games played, runs, hits, triples, runs batted in, total bases, walks and OBP. He is in the top ten in at bats, steals and slugging percent.  Tris Speaker is a member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame (class of 1951) and was voted into baseball's Hall of Fame in just his second year of eligibility with fellow Tribesmen, Napoleon Lajoie and Cy Young. Tris Speaker died in 1958.

Addie Joss was very possibly the greatest player to ever throw a baseball in a Cleveland uniform. Like Bob Feller, he played his whole career in Cleveland, but he was only able to play half the seasons as his life was cut short by tubercular meningitis. Joss joined the team during just their second season in the American League and quickly established some team records that have never been broken. Although a century has passed since his death, no Indians pitcher has even come close to his team records for ERA and WHIP. In fact, no pitcher in Major League Baseball history has had a lower career WHIP than Addie Joss. Only Ed Walsh, a pitcher for the White Sox during the same era as Joss, has a better ERA in all of baseball history.

Many people have forgotten about, or never have even heard of Joss due to the decades that have passed since he last pitched, but he should be remembered. Even though he only played 9 seasons he still ranks in the top ten Indians all time in career wins, losses, complete games, innings pitched and batting average against as well as holding the Indians records in ERA, WHIP and shut outs. Joss lead holds six of the Indians top ten seasons in WHIP (Indians record of 0.81 in 1908) and four of the top five ERA seasons (team record 1.16 in 1908). During his best two seasons in ERA (1904 and 1908), Joss lead the world in that stat.

In 1910 Joss only played in 13 games. He died just before the following season in April 1911 at the age of 31. In order to support his widow, a group of players got together and held the first All-Star game as a charity event. The event featured the American League All-Stars playing against the Cleveland Naps. Many future Hall of Famers were on the field that day including Ty Cobb (wearing a Cleveland jersey, but playing for the all-stars), future Indian player/manager Tris Speaker and current Naps Cy Young and Napoleon Lajoie. Addie Joss himself was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1978, better late than never, and is enshrined in the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.

Napoleon Lajoie was one of the most important players in Indians history. After playing six seasons in the National League with Philadelphia, including a 1901 campaign where he lead the league in just about everything, Lajoie became a free agent and was one of the first big name players to jump ship, switching over to the brand new American League in 1902 for a huge salary of about $8,000 a season. This was such a big move by the Cleveland Bronchos that in 1905 they changed the team name to the Naps. The name stayed until he went back to Philadelphia in 1915 and the team name was changed to the Indians.

When he was with the Tribe he was among the best hitters in all of baseball and always hit for a high average. He lead the majors in batting average in 1903 and 1904 and the AL in 1910. In his most successful season (1904) he lead the AL in hits, doubles, RBI, OBP and SLG. He lead the league in hits and doubles again in 1906 and in 1910 as well.

Among the career leaders in just about every statistical category, Lajoie is also seventh all time in all of baseball history with 657 doubles. The odd thing is that he is not even first on the Indians, though since the greatest doubles hitter ever (Tris Speaker) played the majority of his career with the Tribe. Lajoie still leads all Cleveland players ever in at bats and hits during a career and is the only Indian (Nap, Blue, etc) to acrue over 2,000 hits while with the team. He also ranks in the top 5 in games played, doubles, RBI, total bases, steals and batting average and is in the top 10 for runs scored and triples. His total hits (227) and batting average (.384) in 1910 remain in the top 5 single season bests for an Indian.

Lajoie also spent some time managing the team and was an overall success with a .550 winning percentage. During his reign he never finished worse than 6th in the 8 team American League and once brought the Naps to a second place finish, only a half game behind champion Detroit Tigers. Overall he is currently the 8th most winningest manager in Indians history, even though he only ran the team for 5 seasons. His winning percentage is tied for second best all-time with Mike Hargrove, only trailing Hall of Fame manger Al Lopez.

Napoleon Lajoie is in baseball's Hall of Fame as a Cleveland Nap and is a member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame (class of 1951). He would most certainly have had his number retired as well, if they had worn numbers back in 1910. He was not only the greatest Indians second baseman of all time, but one of the greatest to ever play the position for any team at any time. Lajoie died in 1959.

Mel Harder was the last Indian to get his number retired and the only one who is not in Baseball's Hall of Fame. The Indians have a team rule that in order for a player's number to be retired they have to be inducted into Cooperstown first, but Harder has a good reason to be an exception. He played for 20 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, two more than any other player in Indians history. He played his entire career with the Tribe, spanning 3 decades, but was never able to get a glimpse of the post season, joining the team 8 years after one World Series and retiring one year before another.

The most successful part of Harder's career took place between 1933 and 1939. During this time he made the All-Star team four times and received votes for MVP three times. In the first season of his prime he lead the AL with a 2.95 ERA and lead the league in shut outs the year after. Unlike many other Indians starters that played their whole career with the team, Harder maintained his starting role until the very end, starting all 15 of his games played in 1947.

Harder has lost more games than any pitcher in Indians history. He has also allowed more runs and hits. Of course, he also has pitched in the most games as well with 12 more games played than Bob Feller. He ranks in the top 5 in wins, starts, complete games, and innings. He ranks in the top ten in every other cumulative stat that matters to a starting pitcher. Harder's best seasons were in the mid to late 1930's on a very underrated Cleveland team, during the prime of Earl Averill and the emergence of Feller. During that time the Indians never finished worse than fifth in the 8 team American League and were only kept from the playoffs by the lack of playoffs. During his whole career the Indians won 52% of their games. When looking at the greatest Indians of all time, Mel Harder has accumulated a stack of statistics that just cannot be ignored. Mel Harder died in 2002.

Larry Doby's biggest claim to fame at this point in history is that he was the first black player in the American League. Just three months after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers, the Indians added the Negro League second base man who later became one of the greatest players in team history. Doby's contribution to the 1948 and 1954 World Series teams was downplayed, behind MVP's Al Rosen and Lou Boudreau and star pitchers like Bob Lemon and Bob Feller, but he was integral to the Indians lineup just about every year he played for the team.

From 1950 through 1955 Doby was one of the top two offensive players every season. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he was only the second black players in the Majors, he probably would be in that list of MVPs. He lead the league in home runs and runs in 1952 and in home runs and RBI in 1954. Doby was traded to the White Sox in part of Frank Lane's dismantling of the Indians. Lane removed many of the greatest Indians of all time from the roster in exchange for much lesser players and Doby was no exception. He was traded to the White Sox for Jim Busby and Chico Carrasquel. The Indians then missed out of three of his last four effective years and more than 60 home runs. 

In 1958 Doby was traded back the Tribe from Baltimore and had his last season of any note, although it was his worst as an Indian. He was then traded for Tito Francona (for a second time, the first being when the White Sox traded him to the Orioles) and sent to Detroit and from there back to Chicago. In those last two seasons he played just 39 games as Doby's once stellar career faded out into darkness.

His time in Cleveland did earn him some accolades as well as prestige among the leaderboards. Larry Doby ranks in the top 10 all time in career home runs, runs scored, RBI and walks for the Indians and is one of only 6 players to have his number retired by the Tribe. He is one of the greatest centerfielders in team history along with being one of the best batters overall. Along with being recently inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, Doby is a member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame (class of 1966). Larry Doby died in 2003.

There were 8 players who participated on both the 1948 and 1954 Cleveland Indians World Series teams. Three of those players are among the six Indians to ever have their number retired. Of those players, Bob Lemon was possibly the most impressive in the post season. In 1948 when Indians ace, Bob Feller, uncharacteristically struggled (0-2, 5.03 ERA), Lemon came through with half of the four wins the Indians needed to win the series. He not only won both his starts, but pitched a total of 16.1 innings and only allowed 3 runs. This was just his third season as a pitcher in the pros as he did not pitch during his first two seasons with the Tribe.

Lemon wasn't bad during the regular season either, amassing more than 20 wins 7 times during his career. During his 15 seasons he was able to acrue some incredible numbers as well and is currently ranked among the top five Indians pitchers all time in wins, losses, games played, starts, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, hits, runs, home runs allowed as well as strikeouts. His ERA of 3.23 is very respectable, especially considering that he played his entire career in an Indians uniform, including his final two seasons when he went 6-12 in just 32 games.

The fact that Bob Lemon isn't usually brought up in the conversation about the greatest Indians pitcher of all time is a testament to the fantastic pitching over the history of the Cleveland Indians. Like Lemon, there were a number of other great pitchers who played their entire careers with the Tribe including Feller, Addie Joss and Mel Harder. To honor him, Lemon's number 21 has been retired and he has been enshrined in the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame (class of 1960). He was elected to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1976 for his long career as an Indian. Bob Lemon died in 2000.

Lou Boudreau was the greatest offensive shortstop in Indians history. He played during the most glorified time in Indians history, during the careers of Bob Feller, Larry Doby, Bob Lemon and Jim Hegan and was such a great baseball mind, he was not only the starting shortstop but the manager as well. During his 9 years as manager, Boudreau won more games than any other manager in Indians history. He also was the manager of the last Indians championship in 1948 and won the MVP for that season as well. His MVP was just the second won by a member of the Indians after George Burns won in 1926.

During his 13 year career, Lou Boudreau accrued as impressive a stat line as any player in Indians history. He currently stands in the top 5 in career games played, at bats, doubles and walks and in the top ten in runs hits and total bases. While he never had any amazing single seasons, Lou was very consistent as he hit higher than .283 every year from 1942-1949, during which time he batted .306. Three times (1941, 1944 and 1947) Boudreau hit 45 doubles in a season and each time he lead the AL. He also lead the AL in batting average in 1944 with a .327.

Lou Boudreau was one of only three Indians MVP's ever and one of only 6 Tribesmen to get his number retired. He was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 1954, just four years after retiring. He was then inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970. He died in 2001.

Widely considered to be the best pitcher in Indians history, Bob Feller is definitely the most accomplished. Feller is the only Cleveland Indian to be honored with a statue outside of Progressive Field and has been enshrined in both the Indians and the Major League Baseball Halls of Fame.  Rapid Robert is especially important to Indians history due to a combination of circumstances. First, he never played for any other professional baseball team. He didn't even play for a minor league team as he made his debut on the Tribe as a 17 year old in 1936. Feller was also part of the last Indians World Series winning team and played in two during his career. He cemented his place in Indians history by remaining with the team, helping young pitchers and entertaining fans until his death in 2010. 

During the middle of Feller's career, World War II broke out and rather than waiting to be drafted, Feller enlisted in the U.S. Navy right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Because of this, Feller missed a large part of the prime of his career including all of 1942-1944 and most of 1945. While on an aircraft carrier he was clocked throwing a ball at 98.6 MPH, one of the fastest pitchers of his time. Before this he raced a full speed motorcycle with a pitch and won with a pitch that was estimated at 104 MPH.

Feller was the best pitcher of his time, and although the Cy Young Award had yet to be invented, this can be seen by his statistics through those years. Feller lead the American League in wins from 1939 throgh 1941, 1946 through 1947 and in 1951, ERA in 1941, innings pitched in 1939 through 1941 and 1946 through 1947, WHIP in 1940 and 1947 and strike outs in every full year he pitched between 1938 and 1948. He made the All-Star team every full season from 1938 to 1950 with the exception of 1949, getting the start in 1941 and 1946. His rankings in the MVP voting also show this dominance as he received votes for MVP in every full season from 1939 to 1948 and in 1951.

The best rotation Feller was a part of was between 1950-1951 lead by Hall of Famers Early Wynn and Bob Lemon and brought up in the end by Mike Garcia. Over these two seasons these four pitchers accounted for 147 wins, averaging more than 18 a season for every pitcher in the entire rotation. This group started forming when Lemon became a full time starter in 1948 when both Feller and Lemon were huge parts of that World Series championship along with fellow 20 game winner Gene Bearden. Garcia and Wynn both came to the Tribe in 1949 and finished creating what has to be considered the greatest Indians starting rotation in team history. 

Bob Feller holds the Indians career records in many stats, including three of the ones considered most important (wins, innings pitched and strike outs). His 1946 campaign was probably the best season by an Indians pitcher ever. In that year, only his second after his return from the Navy, he set the current Indians records for innings pitched and strike outs. His 2.18 ERA that season was the lowest of his career and he won more than 20 games for the 5th time in his career. Only Mel Harder has played more seasons in a Cleveland Indians uniform and he didn't take three years off for World War II. Bob Feller, the greatest Indian.

Earl Averill was the most prolific Indians hitter of all time. In just 11 seasons Averill accrued enough stats to be in the top 5 all-time among Indians in at bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, total bases and walks. He is also in the top 10 in games played, OBP, SLG and OPS. His 140 runs in 1931 are the most in a single season in Indians history and he is in the top 10 for two other seasons as well. In 1936 he was one hit away from the all-time single season record for hits. He should be considered the greatest offensive centerfielder in Indians ever and one of the top five overall batters.

Averill was one of the most unlucky Indians ever as far as the postseason is concerned. He debuted 9 years after the Indians won their first World Series and retired 9 years before their second. Despite the team's .537 winning percentage during the time he played, Averill never made it to the World Series. His time on the Indians coincided with many other All-Time Indians stars, but most of them were either at the end of their careers (like Joe Sewell and Charlie Jamieson) or just starting out (like Bob Feller, Ken Keltner and Lou Boudreau). Earl Averill is the Indians all-time career leader in runs scored, triples, RBI (the only player with more than 1,000), and total bases. His accomplishments have been recognized by the Cleveland Indians by being placed in the Indians Hall of Fame and having his number retired and by Major League Baseball when he was entered into Cooperstown in 1975 by the Veteran's Committee. Averill died in 1983.