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Most games played in left field in Cleveland Indians history

The Indians have had some great left fielders in its history, including two recent team Hall of Fame inductees.

Dr. Smooth has moved up the leader board pretty quickly
Dr. Smooth has moved up the leader board pretty quickly
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Instead of switching back to the infield, in honor of the recent announcement of the new inductees to the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame, we will jump over to left field where two of the inductees played most of their Tribe career. This includes Albert Belle of the 1990s juggernaut squads, and the all-time leader in games played in left, Charlie Jamieson.

At the conclusion of the '00s, 352 players had appeared in left field for the Blues/Bronchos/Naps/Indians. The only player to crack the Top 25 in the past six seasons should be an obvious one, Michael Brantley. He has climbed all the way up to ninth on the career list. He could have been in seventh had he not had to spend the entire 2012 season in center. Not to mention Terry Francona's proclivity for shifting him to center to play an infielder in left (Aviles, Ramirez, Santana). Depending on when Brantley returns from his injury, I think he'll have a tough time passing Leon Wagner for seventh. But by the time his Cleveland career is over, he has a decent shot of jumping into the Top 5, as long as he isn't shifted to first base before then.

It is pretty odd that just over a full season of games (189) would get someone to crack the Top 25, but when Jamieson and Jack Graney account for 25% of the teams' career games in left, it really isn't that too hard to fathom.

But since 2009, 32 new players have resided at that position for at least one game, and that total does not include Brantley, who got into eight games in left in 2009. Here is the full list of new players in the past six seasons:

Aaron Cunningham, Anderson Hernandez, Austin Kearns, Brent Lillibridge, Carlos Santana (!),Chris Dickerson, David Murphy, Ezequiel Carrera, J.B. Shuck, Jason Donald, Jason Kubel, Jayson Nix, Jerad Head, Jerry Sands, Johnny Damon, Jordan Brown, Jose Ramirez, Luis Valbuena, Matt Carson, Michael Bourn, Michael Martinez, Mike Aviles, Nick Swisher, Nyjer Morgan, Russ Canzler, Ryan Raburn, Shelley Duncan, Thomas Neal, Travis Buck, Tyler Holt, Vinny Rotino, Zach Walters.

And onto the top 25:

Player

Years

Games Played

1

Charlie Jamieson

1920-1932

1358

2

Jack Graney

1910-1922

1176

3

Dale Mitchell

1947-1956

885

4

Joe Vosmik

1936-1945

804

5

Jeff Heath

1930-1936

732

6

Albert Belle

1989-1996

704

7

Leon Wagner

1964-1968

560

8

Mel Hall

1984-1988

459

9

Michael Brantley

2009-11, 2013-15

440

10

Tito Francona

1959-61, 1963-64

402

11

Joe Carter

1984-1987, 1989

313

12

Minnie Minoso

1958-1959

295

13

Jack McCarthy

1901-1903

288

14

Gene Woodling

1946, 1955-1957

268

15

Miguel Dilone

1980-1983

261

16

Bill Hinchman

1907-1909

238

17

Coco Crisp

2002-2005

216

18

Matt Lawton

2002-2004

209

18

Pat Seerey

1943-1947

209

20

Jim Jackson

1905-1906

207

21

Jason Michaels

2006-2008

206

21

Moose Solters

1937-1939

206

23

David Justice

1997-2000

197

24

Otis Nixon

1984-1987

191

25

Brian Giles

1996-1998

188

With Brantley entering the Top 25, he ended up bumping John Lowenstein off the list. Again, since this list is very top heavy with career games, only 22 players have passed the 200 game mark, or just 5.7% of the total. Only 30 more have over 100 games, leaving 332 under the 100 game mark. And that includes 54 guys with just a single game, including Anderson Hernandez, Carlos Santana, and Michael Bourn of the new guys.

Previous entries:

Catcher

First Base

Right Field