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Most games played at second base in Cleveland Indians history

So far we have covered six of the hitting positions in this series. This week, we review second base, home to quite a few notable players through the years.

Let's give a round of applause to Jason Kipnis
Let's give a round of applause to Jason Kipnis
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

When the 2000s wrapped up, 237 players had appeared as a second baseman for the Blues/Bronchos/Naps/Indians. Incumbent second baseman Jason Kipnis was not the team's regular second baseman since 2012, but he has been steadily climbing up the list since his debut.

Kipnis is currently seventh overall but he is 159 games behind Carlos Baerga. If he stays healthy and plays every game he could pass him, but that likely will not occur until 2017. Kipnis has four years on his deal with a team option for a fifth. If he averages 140 games over those five seasons, he would end up in second place.

Also, with Kipnis getting the bulk of the playing time in the 2010s, only 17 new faces have played second base since 2009. Here is the full list of  new players who made at least one appearance:

Adam Everett, Anderson Hernandez, Brent Lillibridge, Cord Phelps, Drew Sutton, Elliot Johnson, Jason Donald, Jason Kipnis, Jayson Nix, Jose Lopez, Jose Ramirez, Justin Sellers, Mark Grudzielanek, Mike Aviles, Orlando Cabrera, Ryan Raburn, , Zach Walters.

And onto the top 25:

Player

Years

Games Played

1

Nap Lajoie

1902-1914

1385

2

Bobby Avila

1949-1958

1098

3

Bill Wambsganss

1914-1923

938

4

Duane Kuiper

1974-1981

774

5

Ray Mack

1938-1944, 1946

767

6

Carlos Baerga

1990-1996, 1999

735

7

Jason Kipnis

2011-2015

576

8

Joe Gordon

1947-1950

549

9

Tony Bernazard

1984-1987

507

10

Odell Hale

1931, 1933-1940

488

11

Roberto Alomar

1999-2001

468

12

Jack Brohamer

1972-1975, 1980

441

13

Ronnie Belliard

2004-2006

383

14

Johnny Hodapp

1929-1932

354

15

Jerry Browne

1989-1991

337

16

Eddie Leon

1970-1972

284

17

Pedro Gonzalez

1965-1967

280

18

Vern Fuller

1966-1970

271

19

Freddy Spurgeon

1924-1927

250

20

Terry Turner

1909-11, 1913-18

233

21

Carl Lind

1927-1930

231

22

Roy Hughes

1935-1937

224

23

Julio Franco

1985-1988, 1997

216

24

Johnny Temple

1960-1961

206

25

Riggs Stephenson

1921-1924

203

On a personal note, this is home to my favorite player growing up, Duane Kuiper (see my avatar).

With Kipnis joining the list, he has bumped off Dutch Meyer. With 25 players having played 200 or more games, that puts them at 9.8% of the 254 total. Another 22 players have over a hundred games, leaving 81% with under 100 games. Only 34 players have just a single game at second.

Previous entries:

Catcher

First Base

Right Field

Left Field

Third Base

Designated Hitter