# 1951 Cleveland Indians season

The 1951 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 93–61, 5 games behind the New York Yankees.

## Offseason

* March 20, 1951: Grant Dunlap was purchased from the Indians by the Shreveport Sports.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍22 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 5 | 53‍–‍24 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 50‍–‍25 | 37‍–‍42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17 | 39‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 25 | 36‍–‍41 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 70 | 84 | .455 | 28 | 38‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36 | 32‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Browns | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 24‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | — | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 14–8 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | — | 17–5 | 7–15 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 10–12 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| New York | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 16–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7–15 | 13–9 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 30, 1951: Minnie Miñoso was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox, and Sam Zoldak and Ray Murray were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Athletics as part of a three-team trade. The Athletics sent Lou Brissie to the Indians, and sent Paul Lehner to the White Sox. The White Sox sent Gus Zernial and Dave Philley to the Athletics.

### 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 | 133 | 416 | 99 | .238 | 6 | 43 |
| 1B | Luke Easter | 128 | 486 | 131 | .270 | 27 | 103 |
| 2B | Bobby Ávila | 141 | 542 | 165 | .304 | 10 | 58 |
| SS | Ray Boone | 151 | 544 | 127 | .233 | 12 | 51 |
| 3B | Al Rosen | 154 | 573 | 152 | .265 | 24 | 102 |
| OF | Larry Doby | 134 | 447 | 132 | .295 | 20 | 69 |
| OF | Bob Kennedy | 108 | 321 | 79 | .246 | 7 | 29 |
| OF | Dale Mitchell | 134 | 510 | 148 | .290 | 11 | 62 |

#### 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 |
| Harry Simpson | 122 | 332 | 76 | .229 | 7 | 24 |
| Sam Chapman | 94 | 246 | 56 | .228 | 6 | 36 |
| Birdie Tebbetts | 55 | 137 | 36 | .263 | 2 | 18 |
| Snuffy Stirnweiss | 50 | 88 | 19 | .216 | 1 | 4 |
| Barney McCosky | 31 | 61 | 13 | .213 | 0 | 2 |
| Merl Combs | 19 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 0 | 2 |
| Minnie Miñoso | 8 | 14 | 6 | .429 | 0 | 2 |
| Paul Lehner | 12 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Clarence Maddern | 11 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Allie Clark | 3 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 1 | 3 |
| Hal Naragon | 3 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Milt Nielsen | 16 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Lou Klein | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Murray | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |
| Thurman Tucker | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Hansen | 3 | 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 |
| Early Wynn | 37 | 274.1 | 20 | 13 | 3.02 | 133 |
| Bob Lemon | 42 | 263.1 | 17 | 14 | 3.52 | 132 |
| Mike Garcia | 47 | 254.0 | 20 | 13 | 3.15 | 118 |
| Bob Feller | 33 | 249.2 | 22 | 8 | 3.50 | 111 |
| Johnny Vander Meer | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 18.00 | 2 |

#### 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 | 27 | 107.1 | 7 | 4 | 2.77 | 40 |
| Bob Chakales | 17 | 68.1 | 3 | 4 | 4.74 | 32 |
| Sam Jones | 2 | 8.2 | 0 | 1 | 2.08 | 4 |

#### 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 | 54 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3.20 | 50 |
| George Zuverink | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.33 | 14 |
| Dick Rozek | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.93 | 5 |
| Jerry Fahr | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 0 |
| Bubba Harris | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |

## Awards and records
### League leaders

* Bob Feller, American League leader, wins

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | San Diego Padres | Pacific Coast League | Del Baker |
| AA | Dallas Eagles | Texas League | L. D. Meyer |
| A | Wilkes-Barre Barons | Eastern League | Bill Norman |
| A | Wichita Indians | Western League | Joe Schultz |
| B | Cedar Rapids Indians | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Kerby Farrell |
| B | Harrisburg Senators | Interstate League | Les Bell and Hal Cox |
| B | Spartanburg Peaches | Tri-State League | Harry Griswold |
| C | Bakersfield Indians | California League | Wimpy Quinn |
| C | Fort Smith Indians | Western Association | Paul O'Dea |
| D | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Mike Tresh |
| D | Batavia Clippers | PONY League | Ed Kobesky and Joe Vosmik |
| D | Green Bay Blue Jays | Wisconsin State League | Phil Seghi |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Spartanburg