# 1975 Cleveland Indians season

The 1975 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Indians competing in the American League East, where they finished fourth with a record of 79–80.

## Offseason

One highlight of the season was the arrival of Frank Robinson to the club. Prior to the start of the season, the Indians named him player-manager, giving him distinction of being the first black manager in Major League Baseball history.

### Notable transactions

* February 25, 1975: Dave Duncan and Al McGrew (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Boog Powell and Don Hood.

## Regular season

* Earl Averill CF Retired 1975

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 95 | 65 | .594 | — | 47‍–‍34 | 48‍–‍31 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 69 | .566 | 4½ | 44‍–‍33 | 46‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 77 | .519 | 12 | 43‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 80 | .497 | 15½ | 41‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Detroit Tigers | 57 | 102 | .358 | 37½ | 31‍–‍49 | 26‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–4 | 10–8 | 12–4 | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 11–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 3–9 | 6–5 | 4–14 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 4–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 |
| Cleveland | 8–10 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 3–6 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 5–7 |
| Detroit | 4–12 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 1–11 |
| Kansas City | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 14–4 |
| Milwaukee | 4–14 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | — | 2–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 10–2 | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 8–10 |
| New York | 10–8 | 5–11 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 |
| Texas | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 20, 1975: Dick Bosman and Jim Perry were traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Blue Moon Odom and cash.
* June 3, 1975: Rick Cerone was drafted by the Indians in the 1st round (7th pick) of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 7, 1975: Blue Moon Odom and a player to be named later were traded by the Indians to the Atlanta Braves for Roric Harrison. The Indians completed the deal by sending Rob Belloir to the Braves on June 16.
* June 13, 1975: Gaylord Perry was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown, Rick Waits, and $100,000.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 23 | Oscar Gamble | LF |
| 20 | Frank Robinson | DH |
| 21 | George Hendrick | CF |
| 24 | Charlie Spikes | RF |
| 26 | Boog Powell | 1B |
| 7 | John Ellis | C |
| 25 | Buddy Bell | 3B |
| 10 | Jack Brohamer | 2B |
| 12 | Ed Crosby | SS |
| 36 | Gaylord Perry | 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 |
| Alan Ashby | 90 | 254 | 32 | 57 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 32 | .224 | 3 |
| Buddy Bell | 153 | 553 | 66 | 150 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 59 | .271 | 6 |
| Ken Berry | 25 | 40 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | 0 |
| Jack Brohamer | 69 | 217 | 15 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 16 | .244 | 2 |
| Rico Carty | 118 | 383 | 57 | 118 | 19 | 1 | 18 | 64 | .308 | 2 |
| Rick Cerone | 7 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | 0 |
| Ed Crosby | 61 | 128 | 12 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .234 | 0 |
| Frank Duffy | 146 | 482 | 44 | 117 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 47 | .243 | 10 |
| John Ellis | 92 | 296 | 22 | 68 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 32 | .230 | 0 |
| Oscar Gamble | 121 | 348 | 60 | 91 | 16 | 3 | 15 | 45 | .261 | 11 |
| George Hendrick | 145 | 561 | 82 | 145 | 21 | 2 | 24 | 86 | .258 | 6 |
| Duane Kuiper | 90 | 346 | 42 | 101 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 25 | .292 | 19 |
| Leron Lee | 13 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .130 | 1 |
| Joe Lis | 9 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | .308 | 0 |
| John Lowenstein | 91 | 265 | 37 | 64 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 33 | .242 | 15 |
| Rick Manning | 120 | 480 | 69 | 137 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 35 | .285 | 19 |
| Tommy McCraw | 23 | 51 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .275 | 4 |
| Boog Powell | 134 | 435 | 64 | 129 | 18 | 0 | 27 | 86 | .297 | 1 |
| Frank Robinson | 49 | 118 | 19 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 24 | .237 | 0 |
| Tommy Smith | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .125 | 0 |
| Charlie Spikes | 111 | 345 | 41 | 79 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 33 | .229 | 7 |
| Bill Sudakis | 20 | 46 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .196 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 159 | 5404 | 688 | 1409 | 201 | 25 | 153 | 643 | .261 | 106 |

### 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 | 0 | 4.76 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Fred Beene | 1 | 0 | 6.94 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 46.2 | 63 | 42 | 36 | 25 | 20 |
| Jim Bibby | 5 | 9 | 3.20 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 112.2 | 99 | 48 | 40 | 50 | 62 |
| Dick Bosman | 0 | 2 | 4.08 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 28.2 | 33 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 11 |
| Jackie Brown | 1 | 2 | 4.28 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 69.1 | 72 | 40 | 33 | 29 | 41 |
| Tom Buskey | 5 | 3 | 2.57 | 50 | 0 | 7 | 77.0 | 69 | 27 | 22 | 29 | 29 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 13 | 7 | 2.60 | 34 | 24 | 2 | 186.2 | 147 | 61 | 54 | 90 | 152 |
| Roric Harrison | 7 | 7 | 4.79 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 126.0 | 137 | 71 | 67 | 46 | 52 |
| Don Hood | 6 | 10 | 4.39 | 29 | 19 | 0 | 135.1 | 136 | 76 | 66 | 57 | 51 |
| Jim Kern | 1 | 2 | 3.77 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 71.2 | 60 | 31 | 30 | 45 | 55 |
| Dave LaRoche | 5 | 3 | 2.19 | 61 | 0 | 17 | 82.1 | 61 | 26 | 20 | 57 | 94 |
| Blue Moon Odom | 1 | 0 | 2.61 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Gaylord Perry | 6 | 9 | 3.55 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 121.2 | 120 | 57 | 48 | 34 | 85 |
| Jim Perry | 1 | 6 | 6.69 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 37.2 | 46 | 34 | 28 | 18 | 11 |
| Fritz Peterson | 14 | 8 | 3.94 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 146.1 | 154 | 73 | 64 | 40 | 47 |
| Eric Raich | 7 | 8 | 5.54 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 92.2 | 118 | 61 | 57 | 31 | 34 |
| Bob Reynolds | 0 | 2 | 4.66 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 9.2 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Jim Strickland | 0 | 0 | 1.93 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Rick Waits | 6 | 2 | 2.94 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 70.1 | 57 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 34 |
| Team Totals | 79 | 80 | 3.84 | 159 | 159 | 33 | 1435.1 | 1395 | 703 | 613 | 599 | 800 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* George Hendrick, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | American Association | Red Davis |
| AA | San Antonio Brewers | Texas League | Woody Smith |
| A | San Jose Bees | California League | Del Youngblood |
| Rookie | GCL Indians | Gulf Coast League | Tony Pacheco |