The top 20: Ranking the greatest major league achievements by former Spokane minor league players, managers
One year after a raging fire reduced most of downtown to ashes, the rustic little town of Spokane Falls fielded its first professional baseball team in 1890.
Spokane Falls became Spokane in 1891. The city’s involvement in professional baseball became an off-and-on affair for the next few decades, but ex-Spokane Indians have been making major impacts on the major leagues for more than a century.
Former Spokane players have set major league records, led the American or National leagues in key statistics, played in a boatload of All-Star Games, won most valuable player awards in the regular season and World Series and starred in the old Negro leagues. Six former Indians are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, including four Spokane players and two Spokane managers.
With another season of major league and minor league baseball upon us, it seems like the time is ripe to rank the 20 (or so) greatest major league achievements of former Spokane minor league players and managers.
1. Hello, Cooperstown: Few aspects of a baseball lover’s existence surpass being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in cute-as-a-button Cooperstown, New York. The enshrined ex-Indians are pitchers Stan Coveleski (with Spokane in 1913-14), Don Sutton (1968) and Hoyt Wilhelm (1971), first baseman George “Highpockets” Kelly (1914) and managers Tommy Lasorda (1969-71) and Duke Snider (1965). Lasorda was honored as a manager, the others as players.
2. Stan the Man (not Musial): Stan Coveleski, one of a select few pitchers permitted to continue throwing spitballs after the 1919 season, celebrated his good fortune by recording three compete-game victories in eight days at the 1920 World Series. The three wins, all five-hitters, remain tied for the most in a World Series. Coveleski gave up only two runs in 27 innings to lead the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) past the Brooklyn Robins (now the Los Angeles Dodgers). Coveleski would have run away with World Series MVP honors, but the award was not presented until 1955. Listed at just 5-foot-11 and 166 pounds, Coveleski had a career record of 215-142 (.602) in 14 seasons. Trivia note: Coveleski’s salary in 1920, when he won a career-high 24 games for the second straight year, was a whopping $4,000.
3. Workhorse hurler: Don Sutton ranks 14th all time with 324 wins, 10th with 58 shutouts and seventh with 3,574 strikeouts. Sutton also ranks seventh in losses (256) and fifth in home runs allowed (472). All of the above statistics lead ex-Indians during baseball’s modern era (since 1900). Sutton’s single-season bests, all compiled with the Los Angeles Dodgers, include 21 wins, a 2.08 earned run average, nine shutouts, 18 complete games and 293 1/3 innings pitched. Sutton appeared in just two games with Spokane, but he pitched in the majors for 23 years before retiring at 43 in 1988.
4. What a relief: Hoyt Wilhelm ranks sixth in MLB history with 1,070 games pitched, and he stands 43rd in saves (228) and 47th in ERA (2.52). All three marks rank first among ex-Indians. The knuckleballer didn’t make his MLB debut until he was 29 years old, when he went 15-3 with 11 saves and an NL-leading 2.43 ERA for the 1952 New York (now San Francisco) Giants. Wilhelm posted sub-2.00 ERAs five straight years (1964-68) with the Chicago White Sox. He was five days shy of his 50th birthday when the Dodgers released him in the middle of his 21st season in the majors in 1972. Wilhelm’s stay in Spokane was brief – eight games in 1971.
5. Steady Eddie, er, George: George “Highpockets” Kelly batted over .300 for six consecutive years (1921-26) with the New York Giants. He drove in more than 100 runs annually from 1921-24. Kelly led the NL with a career-high 136 RBIs in 1924, when he posted a slash line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) of .324/.371/.531. The 6-4 first baseman – his height and long legs inspired his nickname – struck out just 52 times in 144 games and 627 plate appearances in 1924.
6. Lasorda rocks: Tommy Lasorda managed his beloved Dodgers with boundless pride and joy from 1976-96. He guided Los Angeles to four National League pennants and, in 1981 and 1988, World Series championships. Lasorda ranks 23rd all time with 1,599 managing wins. He was named NL Manager of the Year in 1983 and ’88.
7. Duke reigns: Duke Snider amassed an impressive career slash line of .295/.380/.540 during an 18-year run in the big leagues. The silky-smooth center fielder hit 40 or more home runs in each of the Dodgers’ last five seasons in Brooklyn (1953-57). Snider finished his career with 407 homers (58th all time) and helped the Dodgers win one World Series in Brooklyn and one in Los Angeles.
8. Wills had wheels: Maury Wills broke the modern major league record (since 1900) for stolen bases with 104 for the Dodgers in 1962. Wills, whose career took off after he learned to switch-hit in Spokane in 1958-59, spent eight-plus seasons in the minors before he made his major league debut with Los Angeles in 1959. Three years later, he was the National League’s Most Valuable Player. The 1962 all-star shortstop hit .299 with 208 hits and won a Gold Glove for defensive wizardry. Wills’ 104 steals now rank seventh in modern MLB history.
9. MVP’s aplenty: In addition to Wills, ex-Indians Don Newcombe and Steve Garvey won MVP awards in the National League. So did Dolph Camilli, who managed the 1948 Indians after taking the helm during a torrid stretch run. Newcombe, a former Negro leagues standout, claimed MVP and Cy Young Award (best pitcher) honors in 1956, when he posted a 27-7 record for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The 27 wins led the majors and rank first among ex-Indians since 1900. Garvey hit .312 with 21 homers and 111 RBIs with the Los Angeles Dodgers during his MVP season of 1974, when he won the first of four consecutive Gold Gloves at first base. Camilli earned his MVP hardware with Brooklyn in 1941. The first baseman had a slash line of .285/.407/.556 and led the league with 34 homers and 120 RBIs.
10. World Series heroes: Larry Sherry and Ron Cey earned World Series MVP awards with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sherry led the Dodgers to the 1959 World Series title in the club’s second year in Los Angeles. The bullpen ace went 2-0 with two saves and a 0.71 ERA (one run allowed in 12 2/3 innings) in four appearances against the White Sox. Cey shared World Series MVP honors with Dodgers teammates Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager in 1981. Cey, a third baseman out of Washington State, hit .350 with a key three-run homer and six RBIs in six games when the Dodgers knocked off the New York Yankees.
11. Bochy ball: Bruce Bochy, who made his managerial debut with the short-season Class A Spokane Indians in 1989, is tied for fourth in World Series history with four championships as a manager. Bochy won titles with San Francisco in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and with Texas in 2023. The current Texas Rangers skipper ranks seventh in years managing (27), eighth in wins (2,171) and fourth in losses (2,185).
12. Winning it all: According to BaseballReference.com, five former Indians players played on three World Series champions. Shortstop Maury Wills, outfielder-first baseman Ron Fairly and outfielder Tommy Davis played for the Los Angeles Dodgers during championship runs in 1959, ’63 and ’65. Davis saw limited action in ’59 and ’65 and did not play in the World Series either year. Roger Craig pitched on World Series champions with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1959 L.A. Dodgers and 1964 St. Louis Cardinals. Outfielder Bob Meusel helped the Yankees claim World Series honors in 1923, ’27 and ’28. The latter two teams (featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig) are ranked among the best by many baseball historians.
13. Wondrous Williams: Ken Williams leads ex-Indians in career MLB batting average (.319, 60th all time), on-base percentage (.393, 93rd) and slugging percentage (.530, 52nd). The left fielder led the American League with career highs of 39 homers and 155 RBIs in 1922, when he batted .332 and posted career bests of 128 runs and 37 stolen bases for the perennially hapless St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles). Williams hit over .300 in eight of his first nine full seasons in the majors, including a .357 mark in 1923. That remains No. 1 among qualified ex-Indians.
14. Dynamic duo: Two former Indians are keeping good company in the major leagues single-season RBI ranks. Ken Williams’ 155 RBIs for the 1922 St. Louis Browns ties for 31st with Joe DiMaggio, and Tommy Davis’ 153 RBIs with the 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers ties for 35th with some guy named Babe Ruth. DiMaggio and Ruth did drive in more runs in other seasons.
15. Big timber: Ex-Indians have won seven MLB batting titles, all in the National League. Four of the titles belong to third baseman Bill Madlock, who led the league in 1975 (.354) and ’76 (.339) with the Chicago Cubs and in 1981 (.341) and ’83 (.323) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dodgers outfielder Tommy Davis matched Madlock’s back-to-back titles by hitting .346 in 1962 and .326 in ’63. First baseman-outfielder Bill Buckner’s .324 average with the Cubs led the NL in 1980.
16. Willie was a streaker: Willie Davis holds the Dodgers franchise record (including the Brooklyn days) for the longest hitting streak. In 1969, Davis hit safely in 31 consecutive games, which ranks 21st since 1900. Davis’ achievement becomes even more impressive when you consider that such Hall of Famers as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial and Tony Gwynn never put together a 31-game hitting streak. Davis, a blurry-fast center fielder who won three Gold Gloves, hit a career-high .311 in 1969. He was the Minor League Player of the Year with Triple-A Spokane in 1960.
17. Dedicated service: Willie Davis played 2,239 games in center field, topped only by Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Tris Speaker, plus Steve Finley. Davis played 18 seasons in the major leagues. Knuckleball pitcher Charlie Hough lasted 25 years in the majors, a record for ex-Indians and tied for fifth in history. Tommy Lasorda spent all 21 years of his major league managing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. First baseman Steve Garvey made 10 All-Star Game rosters, the most of any ex-Indians player. Pitcher Zack Greinke played 20 years in the majors, won a Cy Young Award, hit .225 with nine home runs, stole nine bases in 10 attempts and won six Gold Gloves – the most of any ex-Indian.
18. Classy Clase: Emmanuel Clase posted a microscopic 0.64 ERA with 12 saves in 22 games with Spokane in 2018, but his numbers were even more impressive last season with the Cleveland Guardians. Clase led the American League with 47 saves, and his ERA was a measly 0.61. Clase gave up only 39 hits in 74 1/3 innings, and he struck out 66 with just 10 walks. Clase has led the AL in saves three straight years, and his 47 saves last year (29th all time) are the most in a single season by a former Indians player.
19. Bash boys: Outfielder Carlos Beltran and outfielder-first baseman Frank Howard cracked the top 70 in career home runs. Beltran ranks 47th with 435, and Howard is 70th with 382. Howard and first baseman Chris Davis made the top 71 in single-season homers. Davis, playing for Baltimore, hit 53 home runs (31st) in 2013 and 47 (86th) in 2015. Davis led the American League both years. Howard clubbed 48 homers (71st) with the 1969 Washington Senators, who are now the Texas Rangers. Beltran’s career high was 41 with the New York Mets in 2006.
20. Tony the tiger: The man’s achievements demand an asterisk, but Tony Mullane won 30 or more games for five straight years in the American Association in the 1880s, when the AA was considered a major league. During his remarkable five-year stretch, Mullane threw complete games in 266 of his 273 starts, including all 49 of his starts in 1883 and 64 of 65 starts in 1884. Mind you, the pitcher’s rubber was just 50 feet from home plate at the start of Mullane’s 13-year MLB career. The distance became 55 feet, 6 inches in 1888, then stretched to the current 60-6 in 1893, Mullane’s next-to-last season in the majors. Mullane, who also played in the field at times, posted a 284-220 major leagues pitching record. He retired from pro ball after spending part of the 1902 season with Spokane.
Howie Stalwick, a former Spokesman-Review sports writer, has covered baseball and many other sports (often as a freelancer) for more than half a century. He retired from full-time work in 2016 and moved back to his hometown of Spokane, where he has been attending Indians games since the 1950s. Contact him at howiestalwick73@gmail.com.