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Most games played at first base in Cleveland Indians history

A few weeks back, we delved into the catching position, next up is first base.

The previous and expected first baseman for the Indians in 2016
The previous and expected first baseman for the Indians in 2016
Jason Miller/Getty Images

Returning to the franchise list, we now review the players to play first base. When the previous decade ended, there had been 261 players to appear on defense at the first base bag. That has increased to 279 over the past six seasons. But unlike the catching position, only one player has cracked the Top 25, Carlos Santana. He is now tied for 19th in team history with Ryan Garko.

If Santana were to stay at first, which seems a bit doubtful with the signing of Mike Napoli, he could have jumped into the Top 15 this year. If Santana is not dealt this year or next (and I expect that affordable $12M team option to be picked up), he just needs 90 games this year or next to reach the Top 15. And he would just need 114 games to reach the Top 10.

Other new players to the total list include Brandon Moss, Brent Lillibridge, Casey Kotchman, Chris Johnson, Jack Hannahan, Jerry Sands, Jesus Aguilar, Jordan Brown, Jose Lopez, Lonnie Chisenhall, Mark Reynolds, Nick Swisher, Russ Canzler, Russell Branyan, Ryan Raburn, Shelley Duncan and Yan Gomes.

Player

Years

Games Played

1

Hal Trosky

1933-1941

1111

2

George Stovall

1904-1911

802

3

Mike Hargrove

1979-1985

769

4

Jim Thome

1997-2002

755

5

Doc Johnston

1912-14, 1918-21

698

6

George Burns

1920-21, 1924-28

681

7

Fred Whitfield

1963-1967

491

7

Tony Horton

1967-1970

491

9

Ben Broussard

2002-2006

469

10

Ed Morgan

1928, 1930-1933

456

11

Vic Power

1958-1961

450

12

Andre Thornton

1977-79, 1981-84

449

13

Paul Sorrento

1992-1995

442

14

Mickey Rocco

1943-1946

431

15

Luke Easter

1950-1953

427

16

Vic Wertz

1954-1958

426

17

Chris Chambliss

1971-1974

398

18

Pat Tabler

1984-1988

358

19

Carlos Santana

2011-2015

342

19

Ryan Garko

2006-2009

342

21

Les Fleming

1941-42, 1945-47

320

22

Charlie Hickman

1902-1904, 1908

283

23

Mickey Vernon

1949-1950, 1958

274

24

Lew Fonseca

1927-1931

270

25

Bill Glynn

1952-1954

263

With Santana moving up the list, Tito Francona (Terry's dad) is the one who got bumped off the list. Besides Francona, only Eddie Robinson, Matt LaPorta and Boog Powell have cracked 200 games at first base, just 16% of the total. Just 22 have made it past 100, leaving 82% of the players wither fewer than 100. And 51 players have just a single game at first, including Lillibridge, Raburn and Gomes.

Previous Entries:

Catcher