# 1989 Cleveland Indians season

The 1989 Cleveland Indians season was their 89th season in the American League. For the third consecutive season, the Indians had a losing record. The Indians had at least 73 wins for the second consecutive season.

## Offseason

* November 28, 1988: The Indians traded a player to be named later to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Denny González and a player to be named later. The deal was completed on March 25, 1989, with the Pirates sending Félix Fermín to the Indians and the Indians sending Jay Bell to the Pirates.
* December 2, 1988: Luis Aguayo was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
* December 3, 1988: Jesse Orosco was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
* December 5, 1988: Bud Black was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
* December 6, 1988: Julio Franco was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Pete O'Brien, Oddibe McDowell, and Jerry Browne.
* March 26, 1989: Keith Atherton was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Carmelo Castillo.

## Ohio Cup

The first Ohio Cup, which was an annual pre-season baseball game, was played in 1989. The single-game cup was played at Cooper Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and was staged just days before the start of each new Major League Baseball season.
| No. | Year | Winner | Runner-up | Score | Venue | Date | Attendance |
| 1 | 1989 | Indians | Reds | 1-0 | Cooper Stadium | April 2 | 15,978 |

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 47‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 6 | 46‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 81 | 81 | .500 | 8 | 45‍–‍36 | 36‍–‍45 |
| New York Yankees | 74 | 87 | .460 | 14½ | 41‍–‍40 | 33‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 73 | 89 | .451 | 16 | 41‍–‍40 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Detroit Tigers | 59 | 103 | .364 | 30 | 38‍–‍43 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1989 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 7–6 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 5–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 3–10 | 1–11 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–8 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 2–11 | 1–11 | 8–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 2–11 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 6–6 | 2–11 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 |
| New York | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 5–7 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 5, 1989: 1989 Major League Baseball draft
** Alan Embree was drafted by the Indians in the 5th round. Player signed September 6, 1989.
** Jim Thome was drafted by the Indians in the 13th round. Player signed June 18, 1989.
** Brian Giles was drafted by the Indians in the 17th round. Player signed July 18, 1989.
* June 22, 1989: Willie Cañate was signed by the Indians as an amateur free agent.
* July 2, 1989: Oddibe McDowell was traded by the Indians to the Atlanta Braves for Dion James.
* July 27, 1989: Doug Piatt was traded by the Indians to the Montreal Expos for Rick Carriger (minors).
* August 7, 1989: Keith Atherton was released by the Cleveland Indians.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 20 | Oddibe McDowell | LF |
| 14 | Jerry Browne | 2B |
| 30 | Joe Carter | CF |
| 9 | Pete O'Brien | 1B |
| 28 | Cory Snyder | RF |
| 25 | Dave Clark | DH |
| 26 | Brook Jacoby | 3B |
| 6 | Andy Allanson | C |
| 16 | Félix Fermín | SS |
| 21 | Greg Swindell | P |

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Andy Allanson | 111 | 323 | 75 | .232 | 3 | 17 |
| 1B | Pete O'Brien | 155 | 554 | 144 | .260 | 12 | 55 |
| 2B | Jerry Browne | 153 | 598 | 179 | .299 | 5 | 45 |
| 3B | Brook Jacoby | 147 | 519 | 141 | .272 | 13 | 64 |
| SS | Félix Fermín | 156 | 484 | 115 | .238 | 0 | 21 |
| LF | Oddibe McDowell | 69 | 239 | 53 | .222 | 3 | 22 |
| CF | Joe Carter | 162 | 651 | 158 | .243 | 39 | 112 |
| RF | Cory Snyder | 132 | 489 | 105 | .215 | 18 | 59 |
| DH | Dave Clark | 102 | 253 | 60 | .237 | 8 | 29 |

#### 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 |
| Dion James | 71 | 245 | 75 | .306 | 4 | 29 |
| Albert Belle | 62 | 218 | 49 | .225 | 7 | 37 |
| Brad Komminsk | 71 | 198 | 47 | .237 | 8 | 33 |
| Joel Skinner | 79 | 178 | 41 | .230 | 1 | 13 |
| Luis Aguayo | 47 | 97 | 17 | .175 | 1 | 8 |
| Luis Medina | 30 | 83 | 17 | .205 | 4 | 8 |
| Mark Salas | 30 | 77 | 17 | .221 | 2 | 7 |
| Mike Young | 32 | 59 | 11 | .186 | 1 | 5 |
| Paul Zuvella | 24 | 58 | 16 | .276 | 2 | 6 |
| Dave Hengel | 12 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 0 | 1 |
| Beau Allred | 13 | 24 | 6 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Tommy Hinzo | 18 | 17 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Denny González | 8 | 17 | 5 | .294 | 0 | 1 |
| Danny Sheaffer | 7 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Keedy | 9 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 1 |
| Mark Higgins | 6 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Magrann | 9 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Pete Dalena | 5 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 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 |
| Bud Black | 33 | 222.1 | 12 | 11 | 3.36 | 88 |
| John Farrell | 31 | 208.0 | 9 | 14 | 3.63 | 132 |
| Tom Candiotti | 31 | 206.0 | 13 | 6 | 3.37 | 129 |
| Greg Swindell | 28 | 184.1 | 13 | 10 | 3.10 | 124 |

#### 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 |
| Scott Bailes | 34 | 113.2 | 5 | 9 | 4.28 | 47 |
| Rich Yett | 32 | 99.0 | 5 | 6 | 5.00 | 47 |
| Rod Nichols | 15 | 71.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.40 | 42 |
| Ed Wojna | 9 | 33.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.09 | 10 |
| Steve Davis | 12 | 25.2 | 1 | 1 | 8.06 | 12 |
| Joe Skalski | 2 | 6.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Doug Jones | 59 | 7 | 10 | 32 | 2.34 | 65 |
| Jesse Orosco | 69 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2.08 | 79 |
| Keith Atherton | 32 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4.15 | 13 |
| Steve Olin | 25 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.75 | 24 |
| Tim Stoddard | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.95 | 12 |
| Brad Havens | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 6 |
| Jeff Kaiser | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.36 | 4 |
| Rudy Seánez | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 7 |
| Neil Allen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15.00 | 0 |
| Kevin Wickander | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Doug Jones, relief pitcher, reserve
* Greg Swindell, pitcher, reserve

### Team leaders

* Games – Joe Carter (162)
* AB – Jerry Browne (598)
* Runs – Jerry Browne (83)
* Hits – Jerry Browne (179)
* Doubles – Joe Carter (32)
* Triples – Brook Jacoby (5)
* Home runs – Joe Carter (35)
* RBI – Joe Carter (105)
* Walks – Pete O'Brien (83)
* Strikeouts – Cory Snyder (134)
* Stolen bases – Jerry Browne (14)
* Batting average – Dion James (.306)
* On-base percentage – Jerry Browne (.370)
* Hit by pitch – Joe Carter (8)
* Wins – Tom Candiotti, Greg Swindell (13)
* Strikeouts – John Farrell – (132)
* Earned run average – Greg Swindell – (3.10)
* Saves – Doug Jones – (32)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Colorado Springs Sky Sox | Pacific Coast League | Mike Hargrove |
| AA | Canton–Akron Indians | Eastern League | Bob Molinaro |
| A | Kinston Indians | Carolina League | Ken Bolek |
| A-Short Season | Watertown Indians | New York–Penn League | Brian Graham |
| Rookie | Burlington Indians | Appalachian League | Jim Gabella |
| Rookie | GCL Indians | Gulf Coast League | Mike Bucci |