1976 Cleveland Indians season

1976 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Nick Mileti
General manager(s)	Phil Seghi
Manager(s)	Frank Robinson
Local television	WJW-TV
Local radio	WWWE
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The Cleveland Indians finished the 1976 MLB season with an 81–78 win-loss record. The team scored 615 runs and allowed 615 runs for a run differential of zero.^[1]

Offseason[]

• November 22, 1975: Oscar Gamble was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for Pat Dobson.^[2]
• December 9, 1975: John Ellis was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Stan Thomas and Ron Pruitt.^[3]
• December 9, 1975: Ray Fosse was purchased by the Indians from the Oakland Athletics.^[4]
• December 12, 1975: Jack Brohamer was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Larvell Blanks.^[5]

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

v t AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	62	0.610	—	45–35	52–27
Baltimore Orioles	88	74	0.543	10½	42–39	46–35
Boston Red Sox	83	79	0.512	15½	46–35	37–44
Cleveland Indians	81	78	0.509	16	44–35	37–43
Detroit Tigers	74	87	0.460	24	36–44	38–43
Milwaukee Brewers	66	95	0.410	32	36–45	30–50

Record vs. opponents[]

1976 American League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	8–4	8–4	7–11	12–6	6–6	11–7	4–8	13–5	4–8	8–4
Boston	11–7	—	7–5	6–6	9–9	14–4	3–9	12–6	7–5	7–11	4–8	3–9
California	4–8	5–7	—	11–7	7–5	6–6	8–10	4–8	8–10	5–7	6–12	12–6
Chicago	4–8	6–6	7–11	—	3–9	6–6	8–10	7–5	7–11	1–11	8–9	7–11
Cleveland	11–7	9–9	5–7	9–3	—	6–12	6–6	11–6	9–3	4–12	4–8	7–5
Detroit	6–12	4–14	6–6	6–6	12–6	—	4–8	12–6	4–8	9–8	6–6	5–7
Kansas City	6–6	9–3	10–8	10–8	6–6	8–4	—	8–4	10–8	7–5	9–9	7–11
Milwaukee	7–11	6–12	8–4	5–7	6–11	6–12	4–8	—	4–8	5–13	5–7	10–2
Minnesota	8–4	5–7	10–8	11–7	3–9	8–4	8–10	8–4	—	2–10	11–7	11–7
New York	5–13	11–7	7–5	11–1	12–4	8–9	5–7	13–5	10–2	—	6–6	9–3
Oakland	8–4	8–4	12–6	9–8	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–5	7–11	6–6	—	7–11
Texas	4–8	9–3	6–12	11–7	5–7	7–5	11–7	2–10	7–11	3–9	11–7	—

Notable transactions[]

• May 28, 1976: Fritz Peterson was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Stan Perzanowski and cash.^[6]
• June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
  • Joe Beckwith was drafted by the Indians in the 12th round, but did not sign.^[7]
  • Ron Hassey was drafted by the Indians in the 18th round.^[8]
• October 1, 1976: Ramón Romero was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.^[9]

Opening Day Lineup[]

Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
28	Rick Manning	CF
18	Duane Kuiper	2B
25	Buddy Bell	3B
26	Boog Powell	1B
21	George Hendrick	RF
9	Rico Carty	DH
24	Charlie Spikes	LF
8	Alan Ashby	C
15	Frank Duffy	SS
37	Dennis Eckersley	P

^[10]

Roster[]

1976 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 22 Jim Bibby 31 Jackie Brown 35 Tom Buskey 41 Pat Dobson 37 Dennis Eckersley 32 Don Hood 34 Jim Kern 17 Dave LaRoche 40 Harry Parker 16 Fritz Peterson 33 Eric Raich 23 Stan Thomas 36 Rick Waits		Catchers  8 Alan Ashby  4 Rick Cerone 10 Ray Fosse Infielders 25 Buddy Bell 14 Larvell Blanks  9 Rico Carty 12 Ed Crosby 15 Frank Duffy 12 Orlando González 16 Alfredo Griffin 27 Doug Howard 18 Duane Kuiper 30 Joe Lis 26 Boog Powell 20 Frank Robinson		Outfielders 21 George Hendrick 29 John Lowenstein 28 Rick Manning 13 Ron Pruitt 11 Tommy Smith 24 Charlie Spikes		Manager 20 Frank Robinson Coaches  6 Rocky Colavito (Hitting/First Base)  1 Dave Garcia (Third Base)  2 Harvey Haddix (Pitching)  7 Jeff Torborg (Bullpen)

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	Ray Fosse	90	276	83	.301	2	30
1B	Boog Powell	95	293	63	.215	9	33
2B	Duane Kuiper	135	506	133	.263	0	37
3B	Buddy Bell	159	604	170	.281	7	60
SS	Frank Duffy	133	392	83	.212	2	30
LF	George Hendrick	149	551	146	.265	25	81
CF	Rick Manning	138	552	161	.292	6	43
RF	Charlie Spikes	101	334	79	.237	3	31
DH	Rico Carty	152	552	171	.310	13	83

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
Larvell Blanks	104	328	92	.280	5	41
Alan Ashby	89	247	59	.239	4	32
John Lowenstein	93	229	47	.205	2	14
Tommy Smith	55	164	42	.256	2	12
Doug Howard	39	90	19	.211	0	13
Ron Pruitt	47	86	23	.267	0	5
Orlando González	28	68	17	.250	0	4
Frank Robinson	36	67	15	.224	3	10
Joe Lis	20	51	16	.314	2	7
Rick Cerone	7	16	2	.125	0	1
Alfredo Griffin	12	4	1	.250	0	0
Ed Crosby	2	2	1	.500	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
Pat Dobson	35	217.1	16	12	3.48	117
Dennis Eckersley	36	199.1	13	12	3.43	200
Jackie Brown	32	180	9	11	4.25	104
Rick Waits	26	123.2	7	9	4.00	65
Fritz Peterson	9	47	0	3	5.55	19

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
Jim Bibby	34	163.1	13	7	3.20	84
Stan Thomas	37	105.2	4	4	2.30	54
Don Hood	33	77.2	3	5	4.87	32

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
Dave LaRoche	61	1	4	21	2.24	104
Jim Kern	50	10	7	15	2.37	111
Tom Buskey	39	5	4	1	3.63	32
Harry Parker	3	0	0	0	0.00	5
Eric Raich	1	0	0	0	16.88	1

Awards and honors[]

All-Star Game

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Joe Sparks
AA	Williamsport Tomahawks	Eastern League	Red Davis
A	San Jose Bees	California League	Gomer Hodge
Rookie	GCL Indians	Gulf Coast League	Jack Cassini

^[11]

Notes[]

References[]

• 1976 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
• 1976 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com