# 1952 Cleveland Indians season

The 1952 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 93–61, just two games behind the New York Yankees.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 49‍–‍28 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 2 | 49‍–‍28 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 14 | 44‍–‍33 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 79 | 75 | .513 | 16 | 45‍–‍32 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 78 | 76 | .506 | 17 | 42‍–‍35 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 78 | .494 | 19 | 50‍–‍27 | 26‍–‍51 |
| St. Louis Browns | 64 | 90 | .416 | 31 | 42‍–‍35 | 22‍–‍55 |
| Detroit Tigers | 50 | 104 | .325 | 45 | 32‍–‍45 | 18‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1952 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 |
| Chicago | 10–12 | — | 8–14–1 | 17–5 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9–1 |
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | — | 16–6 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 12–10 |
| Detroit | 6–16 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 9–13 | 5–17–1 | 8–14 | 11–11–1 |
| New York | 14–8 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 13–9 | 14–8 | 15–7 |
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 17–5–1 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 9–13 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 8–14 | — | 8–14–1 |
| Washington | 14–8 | 9–13–1 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 7, 1952: Herb Score was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.
* August 7, 1952: Wally Westlake was purchased by the Indians from the Cincinnati Reds.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Jim Hegan | 112 | 333 | 75 | .225 | 4 | 41 |
| 1B | Luke Easter | 127 | 437 | 115 | .263 | 31 | 97 |
| 2B | Bobby Ávila | 150 | 597 | 179 | .300 | 7 | 45 |
| SS | Ray Boone | 103 | 316 | 83 | .263 | 7 | 45 |
| 3B | Al Rosen | 148 | 567 | 171 | .302 | 28 | 105 |
| OF | Larry Doby | 140 | 519 | 143 | .276 | 32 | 104 |
| OF | Harry Simpson | 146 | 545 | 145 | .266 | 10 | 65 |
| OF | Dale Mitchell | 134 | 511 | 165 | .323 | 5 | 58 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Jim Fridley | 62 | 175 | 44 | .251 | 4 | 16 |
| Merl Combs | 52 | 139 | 23 | .165 | 1 | 10 |
| Joe Tipton | 43 | 105 | 26 | .248 | 6 | 22 |
| Birdie Tebbetts | 42 | 101 | 25 | .248 | 1 | 8 |
| Bill Glynn | 44 | 92 | 25 | .272 | 2 | 7 |
| George Strickland | 31 | 88 | 19 | .216 | 1 | 8 |
| Barney McCosky | 54 | 80 | 17 | .213 | 1 | 6 |
| Wally Westlake | 29 | 69 | 16 | .232 | 1 | 9 |
| Hank Majeski | 36 | 54 | 16 | .296 | 0 | 9 |
| Pete Reiser | 34 | 44 | 6 | .136 | 3 | 7 |
| Bob Kennedy | 22 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 0 | 12 |
| Dave Pope | 12 | 34 | 10 | .294 | 1 | 4 |
| Johnny Berardino | 35 | 32 | 3 | .094 | 0 | 2 |
| Quincy Trouppe | 12 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Snuffy Stirnweiss | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Bob Lemon | 42 | 309.2 | 22 | 11 | 2.50 | 131 |
| Mike Garcia | 46 | 292.1 | 22 | 11 | 2.37 | 143 |
| Early Wynn | 42 | 285.2 | 23 | 12 | 2.90 | 153 |
| Bob Feller | 30 | 191.2 | 9 | 13 | 4.74 | 81 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Steve Gromek | 29 | 122.2 | 7 | 7 | 3.67 | 65 |
| Sam Jones | 14 | 36.0 | 2 | 3 | 7.25 | 28 |
| Bob Chakales | 5 | 12.0 | 1 | 2 | 9.75 | 7 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Lou Brissie | 42 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3.48 | 28 |
| Mickey Harris | 29 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4.63 | 23 |
| Dick Rozek | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.97 | 5 |
| Ted Wilks | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 | 6 |
| Bill Abernathie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |
| George Zuverink | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Gene Desautels |
| AA | Dallas Eagles | Texas League | L. D. Meyer |
| A | Reading Indians | Eastern League | Kerby Farrell |
| A | Wichita Indians | Western League | Ralph Winegarner |
| B | Cedar Rapids Indians | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Jimmy Bloodworth |
| B | Spartanburg Peaches | Tri-State League | Pinky May |
| C | Bakersfield Indians | California League | Gene Lillard |
| C | Fort Smith Indians | Western Association | Harry Griswold |
| D | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Red Kress |
| D | Green Bay Blue Jays | Wisconsin State League | Phil Seghi |