# 1977 Cleveland Indians season

The 1977 Cleveland Indians season was the 77th season for the franchise, the 63rd as the Indians and the 46th season at Cleveland Stadium. They failed to improve upon their 81–78 campaign from the previous season, and missed the playoffs for the 23rd consecutive season, finishing the season at 71–90.

## Offseason

* November 5, 1976: Joe Lis was drafted from the Indians by the Seattle Mariners in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft.
* December 6, 1976: Rick Cerone and John Lowenstein were traded by the Indians to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rico Carty.
* December 10, 1976: Jackie Brown was traded by the Indians to the Montreal Expos for Andre Thornton.
* March 30, 1977: Boog Powell was released by the Indians.

## Regular season

On May 30, Indians pitcher Dennis Eckersley threw a no-hitter against the California Angels.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 100 | 62 | .617 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2½ | 54‍–‍27 | 43‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2½ | 51‍–‍29 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 26 | 39‍–‍42 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Cleveland Indians | 71 | 90 | .441 | 28½ | 37‍–‍44 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 67 | 95 | .414 | 33 | 37‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 54 | 107 | .335 | 45½ | 25‍–‍55 | 29‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1977 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–8 | 5–6 | 5–5 | 11–4 | 12–3 | 4–7 | 11–4 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 |
| Boston | 8–6 | — | 7–3 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 8–3 | 10–1 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| California | 6–5 | 3–7 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 4–7 | 5–10 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 6–4 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | 7–3 | 7–8 | — | 6–4 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 3–7 | 10–5 | 10–5 | 6–9 | 8–3 |
| Cleveland | 4–11 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–6 | — | 8–7 | 3–7 | 11–4 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–3 | 7–3 | 2–9 | 9–5 |
| Detroit | 3–12 | 6–9 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 7–8 | — | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 2–8 | 10–5 |
| Kansas City | 7–4 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 7–3 | 8–3 | — | 8–2 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 |
| Milwaukee | 4–11 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 4–11 | 5–10 | 2–8 | — | 3–8 | 8–7 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 8–7 |
| Minnesota | 4–6 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 5–10 | 9–2 | 5–5 | 5–10 | 8–3 | — | 2–8 | 8–6 | 7–8 | 8–7 | 9–1 |
| New York | 7–8 | 7–8 | 7–4 | 7–3 | 12–3 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 8–2 | — | 9–2 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Oakland | 2–8 | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 6–8 | 2–9 | — | 7–8 | 2–13 | 7–3 |
| Seattle | 3–7 | 1–10 | 6–9 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 6–5 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 8–7 | — | 9–6 | 4–6 |
| Texas | 6–4 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–6 | 9–2 | 8–2 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 3–7 | 13–2 | 6–9 | — | 7–4 |
| Toronto | 5–10 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 3–8 | 5–9 | 5–10 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | — |

### Transactions

* June 7, 1977: Jerry Dybzinski was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 15th round of the 1977 amateur draft.
* September 9, 1977: Ray Fosse was traded by the Indians to the Seattle Mariners for Bill Laxton and cash.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 28 | Rick Manning | CF |
| 18 | Duane Kuiper | 2B |
| 27 | Jim Norris | RF |
| 9 | Rico Carty | DH |
| 29 | Andre Thornton | 1B |
| 11 | Bill Melton | 3B |
| 25 | Buddy Bell | LF |
| 10 | Ray Fosse | C |
| 15 | Frank Duffy | SS |
| 37 | Dennis Eckersley | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 |
| Buddy Bell | 129 | 479 | 64 | 140 | 23 | 4 | 11 | 64 | .292 | 1 |
| Larvell Blanks | 105 | 322 | 43 | 92 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 38 | .286 | 3 |
| Bruce Bochte | 112 | 392 | 52 | 119 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 43 | .304 | 3 |
| Rico Carty | 127 | 461 | 50 | 129 | 23 | 1 | 15 | 80 | .280 | 1 |
| Paul Dade | 134 | 461 | 65 | 134 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 45 | .291 | 16 |
| Frank Duffy | 122 | 334 | 30 | 67 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 31 | .201 | 8 |
| Ray Fosse | 78 | 238 | 25 | 63 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 27 | .265 | 0 |
| Alfredo Griffin | 14 | 41 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .146 | 2 |
| Johnny Grubb | 34 | 93 | 8 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | .301 | 0 |
| Fred Kendall | 103 | 317 | 18 | 79 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 39 | .249 | 0 |
| Duane Kuiper | 148 | 610 | 62 | 169 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 50 | .277 | 11 |
| John Lowenstein | 81 | 149 | 24 | 36 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 12 | .242 | 1 |
| Rick Manning | 68 | 252 | 33 | 57 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 18 | .226 | 9 |
| Bill Melton | 50 | 133 | 17 | 32 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .241 | 1 |
| Jim Norris | 133 | 440 | 59 | 119 | 23 | 6 | 2 | 37 | .270 | 26 |
| Dave Oliver | 7 | 22 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .318 | 0 |
| Ron Pruitt | 78 | 219 | 29 | 63 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 32 | .288 | 2 |
| Charlie Spikes | 32 | 95 | 13 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | .232 | 0 |
| Andre Thornton | 131 | 433 | 77 | 114 | 20 | 5 | 28 | 70 | .263 | 3 |
| Team Totals | 161 | 5491 | 676 | 1476 | 221 | 46 | 100 | 631 | .269 | 87 |

### 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 |
| Larry Andersen | 0 | 1 | 3.14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 14.1 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 8 |
| Jim Bibby | 12 | 13 | 3.57 | 37 | 30 | 2 | 206.2 | 197 | 100 | 82 | 73 | 141 |
| Tom Buskey | 0 | 0 | 5.29 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 34.0 | 45 | 24 | 20 | 8 | 15 |
| Cardell Camper | 1 | 0 | 3.86 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9.1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| Pat Dobson | 3 | 12 | 6.14 | 33 | 17 | 1 | 133.1 | 155 | 94 | 91 | 65 | 81 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 14 | 13 | 3.53 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 247.1 | 214 | 100 | 97 | 54 | 191 |
| Al Fitzmorris | 6 | 10 | 5.41 | 29 | 21 | 0 | 133.0 | 164 | 87 | 80 | 53 | 54 |
| Wayne Garland | 13 | 19 | 3.60 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 282.2 | 281 | 130 | 113 | 88 | 118 |
| Don Hood | 2 | 1 | 3.00 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 105.0 | 87 | 42 | 35 | 49 | 62 |
| Jim Kern | 8 | 10 | 3.42 | 60 | 0 | 18 | 92.0 | 85 | 39 | 35 | 47 | 91 |
| Dave LaRoche | 2 | 2 | 5.30 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 18.2 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| Bill Laxton | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Sid Monge | 1 | 2 | 6.23 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 39.0 | 47 | 31 | 27 | 27 | 25 |
| Rick Waits | 9 | 7 | 3.99 | 37 | 16 | 2 | 135.1 | 132 | 67 | 60 | 64 | 62 |
| Team Totals | 71 | 90 | 4.10 | 161 | 161 | 30 | 1452.1 | 1441 | 739 | 661 | 550 | 876 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Jack Cassini |
| AA | Jersey City Indians | Eastern League | John Orsino |
| A | Waterloo Indians | Midwest League | Woody Smith |
| A-Short Season | Batavia Trojans | New York–Penn League | Gene Dusan |