Monday night, there was a changing of the guard at the top of the American League Central Division. A Kansas City win combined with a Detroit Tigers loss moved the Royals into the driver’s seat, proving that nothing is settled in the Central. Now five and a half games in back of KC, the Cleveland Indians will look to stay relevant in both the divisional and AL Wild Card races as they host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the club’s final interleague series of 2014.

Cleveland (59-59), despite struggling to stay afloat this season with ineffective starting pitching, horrendous defense, inconsistent offense, and injuries, still finds itself within striking distance for a playoff opportunity. They climbed back to .500 again this weekend after taking the final two games of their three-game series at Yankee Stadium. They dropped Friday’s opener by a 10-6 final, as five runs in the first and sixth innings were too much to overcome. They got the usual stellar outing from Corey Kluber on Saturday and his relief corps secured the 3-0 shutout. A successful spot start from Carlos Carrasco paced the club to a 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon.

Arizona (51-67) has been ravaged by injuries this season and have never recovered. They won the two first games of their series at home against the Colorado Rockies before losing the final game in extra innings on Sunday. They won 5-3 on Friday night and 14-4 in an offensive explosion on Saturday. The Rockies scored a pair of runs in the tenth inning for a 5-3 win on Sunday to avoid the sweep.

PITCHING PROBABLES

T.J. House (1-3, 4.13 ERA) will make his second career interleague start with Tuesday’s 7:05 PM ET scheduled first pitch. He is 0-1 in four starts since his first career win with a 3.92 ERA. Josh Collmenter (8-6, 4.09) will oppose for Kirk Gibson’s Diamondbacks. “Tomahawk” has allowed a .300 batting average against left-handed hitters this season, a potential disadvantage for him against Cleveland’s lefty heavy lineup.

Trevor Bauer (4-7, 4.52) will make his first career start against the team that drafted him three years ago on Wednesday night as he takes on former Indians farmhand Vidal Nuno (0-3, 4.05). Bauer is 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA and .264 batting average against at Progressive Field this season. The lefty Nuno, a 48th round pick of Cleveland in 2009, was 2-5 with a 5.42 ERA in 17 games with the Yankees prior to his trade in July to Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television broadcasts of both games will be available on Fox Sports SportsTime Ohio and Fox Sports Arizona. Radio versions will be provided by the Cleveland Indians Radio Network and the Arizona Diamondbacks Radio Network.

ALL-TIME

Cleveland holds an 8-6 advantage in the brief series between the two clubs dating back to 2002. The Indians are 4-2 in games on the shores of Lake Erie.

The clubs split their two-game set earlier this season. Arizona won a 14-inning marathon in the opener, with Collmenter getting the win with an inning of relief. Kluber won a 6-1 decision in the second game.

PERSONNEL MOVES

The Indians placed right fielder David Murphy (right abdominal strain) and first baseman/DH Nick Swisher (right knee soreness) on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday after injuries sustained in Cleveland’s win on Saturday. Murphy is expected to miss four to five weeks. Outfielder Tyler Holt and utility man Zach Walters were recalled from Triple-A Columbus.

Center fielder Michael Bourn (left hamstring strain) continues to work his way back in a rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus. Designated hitter Jason Giambi (left knee inflammation) is on the 60-day DL.

The Diamondbacks have a frightening number of players out with Tommy John procedures. Pitchers Bronson Arroyo, Patrick Corbin, David Hernandez, Daniel Hudson, and Matt Reynolds have all missed time this season after undergoing the surgery. Hudson and Reynolds may return in September.

Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt suffered a broken left hand when hit by a pitch in a pinch-hitting performance against Pittsburgh and will likely miss the remainder of the season. Outfielders A.J. Pollock (right hand surgery) and Cody Ross (left calf strain) could return from the 15-day disabled list sometime this month. Infielder Chris Owings is also out with a left shoulder strain.

Former Indians third base prospect Andy Marte was sent to Triple-A Reno by Arizona after he cleared waivers.

FILLING THE STAT SHEET

Jason Kipnis has raised his batting average eleven points over the last eleven games from .240 to .251. He has five multi-hit efforts in that span. While he has only driven in two runs during the stretch of better play, he has scored eleven runs.

When one streak ends for Michael Brantley, it seems like another one is right on the horizon. After his six-game hitting streak ended against Cincinnati, he started what has become a four-game streak and counting. He is hitting .410 in ten games in August with a pair of home runs and ten runs batted in.

Yan Gomes continues to make a name for himself around baseball for his efforts on the diamond, especially behind the plate. He leads all MLB catchers in post All-Star Game RBIs with 16, runs with 12, hits with 28, and doubles with nine. He trails in home runs by one with four. His .378 batting average and .662 slugging trails only that of Chicago’s Tyler Flowers (.390 and .712 respectively) amongst catchers making regular starts and his on-base percentage (.410) is third.

Mark Trumbo has hit safely in eight straight games and reached base safely in ten straight. During his current hitting streak, he has three multi-hit games and has driven in nine runs. He is hitting .370 on his tear and is hitting .343 overall for the month of August. A trip through Progressive Field may slow him down though, as he has hit just .136 in 13 career games in Cleveland.

Outfielder David Peralta is hitting .316 in his last ten games with ten runs batted in. Five of them came on Saturday, when he had three hits, scored twice, and hit a home run in Arizona’s win over Colorado.

Miguel Montero has hit in four straight, batting .500 (6-for-12) during the stretch with a home run and three RBI. He reached base safely all four times in his last start, drawing three walks in addition to his home run.

THE CANDY MAN

Ever wonder what happened to former Major League knuckleballer Tom Candiotti? Look no further than the Arizona Diamondbacks broadcast booth, where he is in his ninth season as the D’Backs radio analyst and occasional television analyst.

Candiotti spent seven of his 16 MLB seasons in Cleveland with the Indians. He originally signed with the Royals out of independent ball in 1980 before being taken by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 Draft in December of the same year.

Candiotti signed with the Indians as a free agent following the 1985 season with just a few months of MLB service under his belt with the Brewers in 1983 and 1984. He made a career for himself in Cleveland, putting together some of his best professional seasons while in an Indians uniform. He led the AL with 17 complete games in his first full season in the Majors in 1986.

After a 7-6 start with a 2.24 ERA in 1991, the Indians dealt him to the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of June with outfielder Turner Ward, currently the hitting coach on the Diamondbacks’ coaching staff, for pitcher Denis Boucher and outfielders Glenallen Hill and Hard Hittin’ Mark Whiten. He would help the Jays reach the postseason and started two games of the ALCS.

He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers after the season and spent six years there before pitching for Oakland in 1998 and 1999. He rejoined the Indians for a month in the middle of the 1999 season in what would be his last MLB action.

After his playing career, he worked as a special assistant to the General Manager with Cleveland in 2000 and 2001. He has also worked as an analyst for the Blue Jays, ESPN, and the Little League World Series, appeared in the movie “61*”, and was inducted into the Professional Bowling Hall of Fame’s celebrity wing in 2007.

NEXT UP…

Cleveland will play host this weekend to the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles for three games, including a pair of Rock N’ Blast fireworks shows. Arizona will continue its road trip with a four-game stop in Miami.

Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Sometimes one good pitch is really all a pitcher needs.

“I got to the Major Leagues as a conventional pitcher,” former Tribe starting pitcher Tom Candiotti said. “I had a very good curveball and very good control but I didn’t throw hard enough. I was the guy who was called up and sent down all of the time and I just couldn’t stick.”

Candiotti turned to what is commonly known as a “last resort” for pitchers trying to save a career—the knuckleball.

“So one day in spring training when I was probably going to get released by the Brewers, I was screwing around throwing it and the manager saw me,” Candiotti remembered. “They called me in to the office and said that they didn’t know that I threw a knuckleball and sent me to work on it—which I did. I went down to AA, then AAA and then winter ball and got signed by the Indians in 1986.”

It was with the Tribe that “Candy Man” got his first real shot at the Major Leagues, as he had pitched in just 18 games over two seasons with the Brewers. Candiotti started 34 games for Cleveland in 1986 and led the American League in complete games.

“I fully committed to the knuckleball at that point and had 17 complete games, won 16 and threw 250-some innings for the Indians that year.”

To most fans, Candiotti’s knuckler might have seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was actually something that he had played around with for years.

“I don’t think that anyone really taught me how to throw it—I think I just kind of developed it,” Candiotti said. “Most of it came from me just playing catch with my dad. When he’d get home from work, I’d be out in the front lawn with his glove and my glove and before he could get into the house we’d have a game of catch. He had a knuckleball, so I tried to throw a knuckleball and it just kind of evolved that way. I threw it every once in a while in high school and every once in a while in college and then even every once in a while in the minor leagues.”

The knuckleball worked well enough to cement Candiotti as the top starter on the surprisingly good 1986 Indians. For the team that won 84 games, Candiotti led the club with 16 wins and a 3.57 ERA. The Tribe’s 24-game improvement seemed to come out of nowhere—and Candiotti was a major reason why. The fans flocked to Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium to finally see a winning baseball team after years of mediocrity or worse.

“One of my favorite memories was from that 10 game winning streak where they had to postpone games because of the rush at the attendance gates,” Candiotti remembered. “I don’t know if they didn’t have enough people working out there or if the turnstiles weren’t working, but they had to delay games. I remember the stress of being a starting pitcher at that time and not wanting to be the guy who screwed up that streak.”

It wasn’t Candiotti that ended the streak as the Tribe went 2-0 in his starts during that span. The Tribe also got a couple of victories from another knuckleball veteran during the stretch, 47-year old and future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro. Niekro served as a mentor to the young Candiotti, who is forever grateful.

“Being able to work with Phil Niekro full-time was kind of an ‘Are you kidding me?’ scenario,” Candiotti said. “He’s one of the greatest knuckleballers of all-time and I had him as like my own pitching coach. I worked a lot with Knucksie and he taught me so much…not only about becoming an accomplished knuckleball pitcher, but about how to handle yourself, how to give credit where credit is due and how to carry yourself as a Major Leaguer. I’ll never forget all of the time that he spent with me and the lessons that I learned from him.”

Because of Candiotti’s success and the team’s turnaround, Cleveland was the American League’s darling pick for the 1987 season. Sports Illustrated picked the Indians to represent the AL in the World Series in their Baseball Preview issue. The result was certainly not what the Indians or their fans were hoping for, however, as the ’87 Tribe floundered to a 61-101 record.

“The expectations were so high for a team that two years previously had lost 100 games,” Candiotti said with his head shaking. “In ’86 we had a nice rebound and played over .500 ball and had a nice, little 10 game winning streak early in the season. It really captivated the city and captivated us by making us believers in ourselves. We played pretty good ball and then the hype happened. It’s one thing when you’re just playing free and loose with nothing to lose and a whole other thing when people say, ‘Whoa, wait a minute! These guys are good and are going to win it all!’ We had an offense that was pretty good that year and a pitching staff that wasn’t.”

It wasn’t just the pitching that let the 1987 Tribe down either, as the offense scored just 742 runs and the defense was lousy, as well.

“For any pitching staff that wants to be good, you have to have some defense too,” Candiotti said. “We had some thumpers in the lineup, but the defense was not real good either. That killed us.”

To make matters worse, Candiotti also remembers that the lack of clubhouse chemistry was a big issue.

“There was a lot of division on the team at that time between the pitching staff and the hitters. They always say not to finger-point, but there was definitely finger-pointing going on and a lot of guys had a tough time handling it. We just got in a hole early in the season and we just couldn’t pull our way out of it.”

Candiotti stuck around with the Indians into the 1991 season when he was traded to the Blue Jays with Turner Ward in exchange for pitcher Denis Boucher, outfielders Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten and cash.

“It was a tough one,” Candiotti said of the deal that sent him from the 105-loss Indians to the eventual AL East Champs. “I kind of knew that it was going to happen just from some conversations with John Hart, who was very, very honest with what he was trying to do here. They had to get young and get some youthful players. I was just one of those pieces that he was looking to trade. I didn’t want to get traded because my mom grew up in Youngstown and I had friends and family that would always come to every single game that I pitched here. I really didn’t want to leave. I loved Cleveland and felt comfortable here. So I was very disappointed when I did get traded even though I knew it was going to happen.”

During Candiotti’s six seasons in Cleveland, he won 72 games but the team never finished higher than fourth place. Candiotti still reflects fondly on his time, despite his team’s mediocrity.

“It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of good moments during those days, but never could quite get over the hump.”

The ’91 Blue Jays gave Candiotti his first career playoff experience as they lost to the eventual World Champion Twins in the ALCS. Candiotti felt at home even in Canada, as a few of his former teammates were on Toronto roster.

“There were guys that I knew there like Joe Carter and Pat Tabler, so that made me feel like I fit in,” Candiotti said. “And then when you get 50,000 people in the stadium and you’re playing pretty good baseball in a pennant race, it brought out the best in me. My preparation, concentration and focus all changed and I was able to have one of the best years of my career.”

The good year combined with a strong track record got him a lucrative free agent deal as Candiotti signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he spent the next six seasons as one of their regular starters. For a stretch from 1992-95, had the fifth best ERA (3.38) in the National League behind only Greg Maddux, Jose Rijo, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Over the same stretch, however, Candiotti also had a losing record of 33-46 due to playing on a poor Dodgers team.

After the 1997 season he left LA and headed up the Pacific Coast to Oakland and had the worst stretch of his career with the Athletics. In 1998, Candiotti led the league with 16 losses and then followed that up with a 6.35 ERA through 11 games with the A’s in ’99. The A’s then released the knuckleballer and he signed back with Indians who were in the midst of winning their fifth consecutive AL Central crown.

“The Indians and they were a really good team at that time,” Candiotti said. “When I was released by the A’s, I was picked up by the Indians.”

During his first game back with the first place Tribe, Candiotti got to experience a heartwarming homecoming.

“Probably one of my favorite memories from my time with the Indians was my first game back and Charles Nagy started and just got shellacked,” Candiotti remembered. “I hadn’t pitched in about three weeks and I got here and they threw me right into the bullpen. Sure enough, I came in that game against the Royals and pitched very, very well. Then every inning that I came off of the mound I got a standing ovation. It was not really for that performance—even though I was pitching great—but it was for a lot of memories and gratitude from the fans from my time at the old stadium. They definitely welcomed me back and it felt like a tribute. It was pretty cool. It was really, really heartwarming.”

After finishing the ’99 season with the Indians, Candiotti signed a free agency deal with the Anaheim Angels for spring training in 2000. After spending some time with the Angels during camp, The Candy Man decided it was time to hang up his spikes.

“When I got done playing it was the spring of 2000. My knees were giving me too many problems to the point where it wasn’t fun anymore so I called it a career.”

Despite his playing career ending, his time involved with baseball was far from over, however.

“I started working for the Cleveland Indians, where I was kind of Mark Shapiro and John Hart’s assistant,” Candiotti said. “I did that for just a little while when an opportunity opened up to work for ESPN. I took that and was doing game telecasts with ESPN for about five years and I did a few Baseball Tonight’s as well. I enjoyed doing that, and I also did about 30 Toronto Blue Jays games a year as well. I liked the industry because it got me to the ballpark all of the time where I got to see my buddies who are now coaches, trainers and everything else.”

Eventually, his part time gigs turned into something more permanent, as Candiotti now serves as a television and radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I was at a game and I happened to see Derrick Hall, a CEO for the Diamondbacks who was a kind of clubhouse director when I was with the Dodgers, and he wanted me to come and work with them on their radio broadcasts. I didn’t really know anything about the radio but I tried it and I liked it.”

As an announcer, Candiotti stays involved with the game that he loves, but finds it fun to watch how the game has evolved, even from when he played.

“It’s fun watching how the game evolves. It’s gotten so much more athletic,” Candiotti said of today’s game. “These guys now can throw a ball through a brick wall. It’s unbelievable the power and speed that these guys have now. It’s kind of fun to be a part of that.”

Another part of the game that has changed is the lack of the pitch that gave Candiotti so much success during his career. Nowadays, the knuckleball is seen as somewhat of a lost art as only a handful of players even attempt to throw it.

“It’s a very difficult pitch to throw. If it wasn’t, you’d have a whole lot of them,” Candiotti said. “There’s also a different mentality for the coach and the general managers. Knuckleballs almost seem like a disease at times. The stigma is that there’s going to be wild pitches, passed balls, walks and baserunners all over the place…and that’s not necessarily true when you have a good knuckleballer. I don’t think I ever really walked a lot of guys except maybe my first couple years of trying to learn to throw the pitch. Other than that, I tried to keep my walks down and limit baserunners. It’s just a very hard pitch to throw and probably an even harder pitch to handle.”

Candiotti was one of the few that learned to master the craft and was very successful because of it. He looks back on his career and smiles, but his face lights up when speaking of his time with the Cleveland Indians.

“There’s a lot of good memories from here because I grew up on this team.”

Photo: Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs by K.P. Wee

So – elephant in the room – it would appear that the Indians aren’t going to win the World Series.

And it’s safe to assume that most of us blame this on Sports Illustrated.

Those voodoo-priest bastards just had to go and throw Michael Brantley and Corey Kluber on the cover and pick the Tribe to win the whole thing. But give SI credit – the juju they’ve got cooking in their black-curtained editorial offices works fast. Almost as fast as the last time they put the whammy on the Indians with an LSD-induced World Series prediction in 1987.

Not only did the ’87 Tribe not win it all that year, but it also went down in history as one of the worst editions of the Indians ever, losing 101 games and forever establishing itself as a beacon of false hope to which all future optimism would be compared.

You’d think this year’s team won’t sink THAT low, but statistically speaking, they’re starting to merge onto that freeway and have begun to mirror the 1987 team in all kinds of uncomfortable ways.

Now that our October schedule is clear and we’re looking for excuses not to watch somebody weakly ground out to second for three hours every night, let’s play a little game called “Guess the Jinx.”

Below is a list of 10 disturbing little details. Try to guess whether they pertain to the 1987 team that was supposed to go to the World Series but finished in last place, or the 2015 team that was supposed to go to the World Series but currently sits in last place.

Keep in mind that the better you do at this game simply indicates an aptitude for categorizing and memorializing pain. So, as with most of the Cleveland sports experience, there are no real winners, just survivors.

And with that, let’s play our game…

The Indians failed to win 10 consecutive series.

2015

Since taking two of three from Houston in the opening set, this year’s Indians have lost or split (mostly lost) every series since. The 1987 Tribe – despite embarking on losing streaks of six and eight games in the first month – topped out at six straight winless series.

Though they struggled over the first six weeks of the season, at least the Indians managed to string together back-to-back victories more than once.

1987

By losing 10 of its first 11 games, this team made it clear from the outset it was going to be an industrial accident. But it did manage to win back-to-back games on two wonderful occasions and even strung together three straight victories at one point. Since winning games two and three in Houston, the well-mannered 2015 Tribe has apparently decided it’s always best to follow up a victory by letting the other team have a turn.

The Indians’ opening day pitcher not only lost his first start, but five of his first seven.

Both

This one pertains to both Tom Candiotti in 1987 and Kluber in 2015 – though Candiotti did manage to pick up a victory in his fourth outing to avoid the 0-5 record that, until Wednesday, Kluber carried around like a sack of wet cement. Candiotti didn’t manage his second victory until June – which, incredibly, must look pretty good to last year’s Cy Young Award winner right now.

After 33 games, the Indians had the worst record in the American League, and already stood a distant 10 games back in their division.

1987

Just that you had to stop and think about which one it might have been indicates how bad things are this year. The 1987 Tribe won just 11 of their first 33 for an appropriately fractional .333 winning percentage, and they trailed the Yankees by 10 games in the American League East. Sounds utterly horrific, doesn’t it? This year’s Tribe is better. By exactly one game.

The Indians started their home schedule by getting dusted in a three-game sweep, and lost six of their first seven home games.

Both

One of the trademarks of a truly disappointing team is its ability to physically hurl its fans off the bandwagon in a hurry. And there’s no better way to euthanize excitement for an expected pennant run than by getting spanked on your first two home stands, which happened both in 1987 and this year.

For all their struggles, at least the Indians provided some excitement by winning three games in walk-off fashion in the first three weeks.

1987

As if to atone for the 1-10 start, the ’87 Indians strung together three dramatic walk-off triumphs in a five-game stretch in late April, two on back-to-back nights. The 2015 Indians have yet to deliver a walk-off, though they’ve lost this way twice.

The Indians had seven guys in the regular starting lineup with batting averages below .250.

2015

Even though Cory Snyder – who appeared on the SI cover – was only hitting .220 at this point while Tony Bernazard and Rick Dempsey were both under the Mendoza line, the ’87 lineup was still slightly more balanced than 2015’s.

The Indians’ cleanup hitter managed to crack a batting average of .240.

1987

Ah, good old Mel Hall. By this time in 1987, he was hitting .247 with a Ruthian four homers and 13 RBI. This year the Indians can’t quite decide who their cleanup hitter is (always a promising sign), but leading candidates Carlos Santana (.237) and Brandon Moss (.238) just aren’t providing Mel Hall-type numbers.

There was a game in which the Indians had twice as many errors as hits.

1987

Surprise! With all the talk about this year’s dreadful Indians defense, you naturally assumed they’d get the nod here. But nope – in early May, the ’87 Tribe collected two hits and four errors in a shutout loss to the Royals. But give this year’s team credit for trying – on April 27 they committed three errors while scoring just two runs, and in two other games their run and error tallies have equalled out.

Over the first six weeks, the Indians drew an average of more than 17,000 per home game.

1987

Playing in a miserable venue for baseball that hadn’t undergone effective renovations since the Spanish-American War, the ’87 Tribe did manage to draw an average of 17,103 to its first 17 games. So far this year, playing in a ballpark with working toilets, the Indians are averaging just 15,540.

Thanks for playing! And if you scored anywhere between zero and 10, take a drink.

Photo: Sports Illustrated

As Did The Tribe Win Last Night helps fans count down the days until the Indians retake the field in an official Major League game, we look back at some of the players who wore the Cleveland jersey with pride.

Countdown to Opening Day – 68 days

When looking at the Cleveland Indians current roster, one of the glaring concerns this offseason has been the outfield depth.

With Michael Brantley on the shelf to start the season after shoulder surgery, it leaves the Indians with plenty of question marks and concerns about the quality of the rest of their outfield. Abraham Almonte and Lonnie Chisenhall both performed nicely in the second half, but have been inconsistent throughout their careers. Free agent addition Rajai Davis is 35 years old and saw a stark decline in his base stealing last year, one of the qualities he brings to the table annually. Others around the club provide more questions than answers due to age, experience, or results.

The same could not be said of the club in the late 1980’s, when each of the first two players to wear the number 68 in franchise history were blocked behind a large number of other options available on the Indians roster.

The Indians broke in all sorts of new numbers during the final few years of the 1980’s decade as the club struggled to find an identity and success. In 1988, the number made its first appearance on the field for the Tribe as outfielder Scott Jordan wore it for seven games after a September call-up that year. He had one single and one RBI in ten plate appearances in his only action at the Major League level in his career.

Jordan was the Indians’ fourth round pick in 1985 and got the call in 1988 from Double-A Williamsport after hitting .254 for the Bills in 129 games. He was released after the season and signed with Houston, playing at their Double-A and Triple-A affiliates to wrap up his professional career in 1989.

In that same season, the Indians dealt from their outfield depth and acquired the second man to wear 68 for the club when they received outfielder Turner Ward and catcher Joel Skinner from the New York Yankees for outfielder Mel Hall in March.

Cleveland ended the 1988 season with Hall, Joe Carter, and Cory Snyder as regulars in the outfield. Carmelo Castillo served as an occasional fill-in as the trio started the majority of the games in the Tribe outfield.

Hall, however, let his off-the-field drama pack his bags from Cleveland. He was arrested in 1987 for stealing money from the apartment of a woman in Texas, but charges were dropped. In the offseason following the 1988 campaign, his name was one of several prominent Cleveland athletes to appear in the black book of an alleged madam working out of the city.

When asked about the negative publicity surrounding the matter, Hall was quoted as saying, “I’m in there with two all-pros,” referring to the two Browns players mentioned in the unpleasantness.

With outfielder Dave Winfield facing back surgery, the Yankees acquired the career .281 hitter Hall from the Indians. When asked if he had ever envisioned himself in pinstripes, the left-handed hitter replied simply, “Yeah, in prison.”

It’s ironic how that situation played out for Hall.

As for the Indians’ return, they acquired the young prospect Ward and the light-hitting Skinner. Ward was set to head to Triple-A Colorado Springs to play center field for the Sky Sox, but those plans changed quickly when he was injured in an intrasquad game in Tucson, Arizona. While sliding trying to make a catch, he broke his fibula and dislocated his right ankle. The injury required surgery.

“Turner lost the ball in the sun and tried to make a sliding catch,” director of player development Dan O’Dowd said when the club announced his injury. “But his right ankle got caught under him just as he started to slide. It was a bad injury.”

He appeared in 34 games at the minor league level for the Tribe, but was a non-factor for the Major League club. They finished the season 73-89 and had dealt Castillo shortly after the Hall trade, using Brad Komminsk, Dion James, Dave Clark, and offseason addition Oddibe McDowell to fill the hole in the outfield next to Carter and Snyder.

The outfield puzzle was no less clear heading into 1990, even after Carter was dealt to the San Diego Padres. Joey Belle, Chris James, Dion James, Komminsk, Candy Maldonado, Snyder, and Mitch Webster all were on the MLB roster. The Toronto Blue Jays were sniffing around the Cleveland depth, as they looked for a fourth outfield option to pair with George Bell, Mookie Wilson, and Junior Felix, but nothing transpired.

Ward returned to Colorado Springs as the club’s center fielder and played well, eventually moving to right field when the Indians acquired center fielder Alex Cole from San Diego. Belle had started the season in the Majors but was optioned because of a lack of playing time and even less intensity from the young outfielder. Belle had also accidentally hit a bat boy with his helmet after striking out, was benched or removed from games three different times, and knocked a notebook out of the hand of a reporter after being asked about his error in the outfield that had led to three unearned runs. He also got into swearing matches with a fan in Colorado Springs and showed a lack of hustle.

After the Sky Sox were eliminated from the minor league playoffs, the Indians purchased the contract of Ward and added him to the roster. He hit .348 for the Tribe while playing right field, driving in ten runs in 14 games of action.

The strong showing did not carry over in the spring, when he was expected to win the right field job as one of ten outfielders in camp. Instead, he needed a strong finish to leave Arizona with the club. The struggles returned, however, in the regular season and, after hitting .230 with 16 singles, seven doubles, and just five RBI in 40 games in his new and more appropriate number 20, he was optioned to Triple-A. The stay was short as, after 14 games, he was shipped to Toronto with starting pitcher Tom Candiotti for outfielders Mark Whiten and Glenallen Hill and pitcher Denis Boucher.

The Jays needed pitching and the Indians needed hitting. The Indians were also unwilling to pay Candiotti what he wanted, which was a trend with Cleveland starting pitching around that time.

“If I was a fan, a real loyal Cleveland Indians fan, I’d be upset,” Candiotti was quoted in The Plain Dealer on June 28, 1991. “The players change year in and year out here. It’s hard for Cleveland fans to relate to the players.

“I’m more frustrated than anything. I really legitimately wanted to stay here. I don’t know how many times I let the front office know. This trade was done purely because of economics.”

Ward spent parts of the 1991-1993 seasons with the Blue Jays with moderate success. He was selected off of waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993 and played in 102 games for the club his first of three seasons there. He joined the Pittsburgh Priates for the 1997-1999 seasons, playing in a career-high 123 games with nine homers and 46 RBI in 1998 while running through a wall at Three Rivers Stadium, but was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 1999 season. He remained with that club through 2000 and spent his final 17 Major League games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2001.

He returned to the game as a coach in 2006 in the Pirates organization and then later with the Diamondbacks. He was the assistant hitting coach in Arizona in 2013 and later became the team’s hitting coach. He joined the staff of another former Indians outfielder this offseason when he was named hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their new coach, Dave Roberts.

Photo: baseball-birthdays.net

Join Did The Tribe Win Last Night as we count down to Opening Day!

Countdown to Opening Day – 49

If you were a fan of the Cleveland Indians in the 1980s, chances are you were well aware of right-hander Tom Candiotti and his mastery of the elusive knuckleball.

The long-time Major Leaguer’s name was back in the news this week as a story broke that former successful MLB closer (and one-time unsigned Indians draft pick) Brian Wilson hoped to reinvent himself as a knuckleball pitcher. Wilson last pitched in the Majors in 2014 in his only season after his second Tommy John surgery. He was out of baseball in each of the last two years, but threw a 30-minute bullpen session at USC last week to showcase his control of his new pitch through several arm slots with hopes of returning to the mound in professional action once again.

Candiotti’s name is forever tied to the knuckleball, just like his predecessors Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro, and Charlie Hough, and more recent successes like R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield.

The “Candy Man” broke into the professional game in 1980, joining the Kansas City Royals after spending time at St. Mary’s College of California and in independent ball in Canada. After a year in the Royals farm system, he was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 draft and progressed through their minor league system, but he missed the 1982 season while undergoing the still new Tommy John surgery, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, after dealing with a right elbow injury.

Unlike the others before him (with the exception of John himself), Candiotti recovered from the experimental procedure and would make his Major League debut with ten appearances after his early August call-up in 1983. He made eight more appearances in 1984, but after playing at Double-A and Triple-A for the Brewers in 1985, he signed with the Indians.

1991 Topps

Some of the best years of his career came in Cleveland, despite being surrounded by unimpressive teams who failed to perform to their expected levels. He won what would be a career-high 16 games in his first year with the Indians in 1986 while throwing nearly three times as many innings (252 1/3) as he had pitched in his first two seasons in the Majors. He was also the top pitcher in the American League in complete games with 17.

His time in the Cleveland rotation also gave him a great opportunity to learn from one of the best at his craft.

“Being able to work with Phil Niekro full-time was kind of an ‘Are you kidding me?’ scenario,” Candiotti said in a 2014 interview with Steve Eby of Did The Tribe Win Last Night. “He’s one of the greatest knuckleballers of all-time and I had him as like my own pitching coach. I worked a lot with Knucksie and he taught me so much…not only about becoming an accomplished knuckleball pitcher, but about how to handle yourself, how to give credit where credit is due and how to carry yourself as a Major Leaguer. I’ll never forget all of the time that he spent with me and the lessons that I learned from him.”

As the Indians struggled during the Sports Illustrated cover jinx season of 1987, Candiotti’s numbers did too as he went 7-18 with a 4.78 ERA in 32 starts. The team did show signs of improvement over the next several years and Candiotti was a reliable and durable innings eater in the rotation, averaging 14 wins and 208 innings pitched over the next three years.

The Indians were in a different place in 1991, despite having some pieces worth building around. After failing to find success with a core roster of players entering some of the prime years of their careers as the 1980s closed, the team traded star Joe Carter ahead of the 77-85 1990 season and would falter badly in 1991 in what would become a 57-105 embarrassment.

Candiotti started 7-6 with a 2.24 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and three complete games through his first 15 starts, but the club shipped him to Toronto on June 27 with outfielder Turner Ward. The Blue Jays, who had been actively looking for pitching and outfield help and had been linked to the Indians back in spring training as a potential trade partner, got both from the Tribe while Cleveland brought back pitcher Denis Boucher, outfielders Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten, and cash considerations.

Cleveland would send longtime corner infielder Brook Jacoby to Oakland a month later and staff ace Greg Swindell to Cincinnati following the season.

Candiotti was not a fan of his relocation.

“If I was a fan, a real loyal Cleveland Indians fan, I’d be upset,” Candiotti was quoted in The Plain Dealer on June 28, 1991. “The players change year in and year out here. It’s hard for Cleveland fans to relate to the players.

“I’m more frustrated than anything. I really legitimately wanted to stay here. I don’t know how many times I let the front office know. This trade was done purely because of economics.”

Candiotti shared a different perspective years later in his 2014 interview with Did The Tribe Win Last Night’s Eby.

“It was a tough one,” Candiotti said of the trade. “I kind of knew that it was going to happen just from some conversations with John Hart, who was very, very honest with what he was trying to do here. They had to get young and get some youthful players. I was just one of those pieces that he was looking to trade. I didn’t want to get traded because my mom grew up in Youngstown and I had friends and family that would always come to every single game that I pitched here. I really didn’t want to leave. I loved Cleveland and felt comfortable here. So I was very disappointed when I did get traded even though I knew it was going to happen.”

Getty Images

In his new home north of the border, Candiotti continued a career year on the mound while helping the Blue Jays replace Dave Stieb. He went 6-7 with a 2.98 ERA over his final 19 starts and led the Toronto staff with three complete games. The club won the American League East and Candiotti made a pair of starts in the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins, but was hit hard in his first two career postseason appearances as the Blue Jays came up short in their World Series pursuits.

A free agent after the season, Candiotti headed west to Los Angeles, signing a four-year contract with the Dodgers. He would stay in Dodger blue for six years in total, putting together a 3.57 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over those half dozen seasons. He returned to the postseason in 1996, working two scoreless innings in the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, and split his final season in Los Angeles between the rotation and bullpen before becoming a free agent and moving up the coast to Oakland.

He played parts of two seasons with the A’s, leading the league in losses with 16 in 1998. After a rough start to his 1999 season, he was released in the middle of June and would return to Cleveland at the end of the month, playing his final seven Major League games with the Indians while going 1-1 with an 11.05 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP before his release just over a month later.

He ended his 16-year Major League career with a 151-164 record with a 3.73 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 2,725 innings of work.

Following his playing days, Candiotti spent time in the Indians front office as a special assistant to the general manager and was named one of the 100 greatest Indians players ever. He moved on to work for ESPN and also the Toronto Blue Jays as a television analyst. He logged some screen time in the baseball movie “61*” and became a member of the International Bowling Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

This coming season, he will begin his 12th year working as a radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Other notable Indians to wear the number 49: Mel Harder (1929), Juan Pizarro (1969), Dick Bosman (1973), Jose Mesa (1992-1998), John Rocker (2001), Tony Sipp (2009-2012), Austin Adams (2014-2016)

Photo: Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs by K.P. Wee

While trying to compose a lineup of all-time Cleveland Indians players with names worthy of Halloween, I quickly realized that such a task was going to prove difficult.

While there were butchers (Hank Butcher, John Butcher) and doctors (Doc Edwards, Doc Gooden), Danny Graves, and even one Mysterious Walker, compiling a list left me far too short of completing a worthy lineup.

But it also reminded me of one important thing about Halloween – don’t forget Candy.

Six different players named Candy have suited up at the big league level over the years, beginning with Candy Cummings (real name William Arthur Cummings), a pitcher who played from 1872 to 1877 with five different teams (none in Cleveland) in the National Association and the National League who would later enter the Hall of Fame as a pioneer/executive of the game in 1939 via Old Timers Committee selection. In a much different era, he put up some eye-popping numbers, including his rookie season with the New York Mutuals in 1872 at the age of 23 when he went 33-20 with 55 starts, 53 complete games, and 497 innings pitched. His best season would come in 1875 with the Hartford Dark Blues, when he went 35-12 with a 1.60 ERA in 48 games, striking out a league-best 82 batters and walking just four for a 20.5 strikeout/walk rate. He is sometimes credited as the first pitcher to throw a curveball and tried to defend his claim in August of 1908 with his piece “How I Pitched the First Curve” in Baseball Magazine.

The first Candy in Cleveland, however, was Candy LaChance (real name George Joseph LaChance), born conveniently on Valentine’s Day in 1870 in Putnam, Connecticut. He spent six seasons in the National League from 1893 to 1898 with the Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms and one more in the NL with the Baltimore Orioles in 1899 before coming to Cleveland. In 1900, he played for the minor league Cleveland Lake Shores of the American League (before the league became a major league rival to the NL). LaChance stayed in Cleveland in 1901, appearing in 133 games for the Blues while hitting .303.

He later spent four seasons with the Boston Americans before bouncing around the Eastern League and the Connecticut State League.

Candy Maldonado (real name Candido Maldonado Guadarrama) is a far more recent representative for the Indians, joining the club in 1990 after showing some consistent pop for the San Francisco Giants. He made his big league debut in 1981 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent five years with the club before he was traded to the Giants. Four years there included his first 20-homer season in 1987 and back-to-back 85-RBI seasons in 1986 and ’87.

He signed with the Indians for the 1990 season and put up career-best numbers across the stat sheet. He appeared in a career-high 155 games for the club as a corner outfielder and designated hitter and put up personal bests in hits (161), doubles (32), homers (22), RBI (95), and walks (49), but also struck out 45 more times than he had in any one season.

Maldonado was on the move after one year with the Tribe, splitting the 1991 season between Milwaukee and Toronto before spending the 1992 season with the Blue Jays, when he made his sixth trip to the playoffs and second to the World Series. He began the 1993 season in Chicago with the Cubs, but was dealt to the Indians in August of that season for Glenallen Hill. He would hit .247 in the final 28 games that season and just .196 in 42 games in 1994 before the strike. His big league career ended in 1995, with time spent between Toronto and Texas.

His son of the same name was selected in 46th round of the 2006 draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but he did not play professionally.

One also cannot leave out the Candy Man, Tom Candiotti. A veteran of 16 Major League seasons, Candiotti spent seven of those years in an Indians uniform.

He debuted in the Majors in 1983, spending two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers while also spending time back in the minors. He signed with the Indians following the 1985 season and turned into a quality knuckleball specialist in the game. He won a career-high 16 games for Cleveland in his first season with the Indians in 1986 while leading the American League with 17 complete games. He struggled, as did his teammates, in 1987, but he bounced back with three more strong seasons for the Tribe from 1988 to 1990.

He was off to another strong start in 1991, posting a 7-6 record through 15 starts with three complete games and a 2.24 ERA when the Blue Jays came calling again for his services. A free agent to be following the season, the Indians attempted to bulk up their outfield options for the future, sending Candiotti and outfielder Turner Ward to Toronto for pitcher Denis Boucher, outfielders Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten, and cash considerations. He appeared in his first postseason games that year for the Blue Jays, going 0-1 in two starts against the Minnesota Twins in the American League Championship Series.

Candiotti left Toronto after the season via free agency, signing after less than a month on the market with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would spend six years at Chavez Ravine, making his way back to the playoffs in 1996 with the club. He left for Oakland following the 1997 season and spent a season and a half with the A’s before a midseason release in 1999. The Indians signed him less than two weeks later, using him twice as a starter and five times in relief before his release on August 2.

Even Cleveland’s early Negro League franchises were represented by Candy on the field. Candy Jim Taylor (real name James Allen Taylor) worked as a player-manager of the Cleveland Tate Stars in 1921 (an independent Negro League team) and 1922 (in the Negro National League) and would take over the managerial duties of the new Cleveland Nationals team in 1923, but that team disbanded and merged with the Toledo Tigers. Taylor took over as player-manager there, but the team folded due to financial issues in July. He would return to Cleveland in 1926 with the Cleveland Elites in his final stint in the city in a baseball career that spanned more than 40 years.

Photo: Rick Stewart/Stringer

While the offseason has been historically slow and the winter has crawled along at an even slower pace, we at Did The Tribe Win Last Night look ahead to the warmer days of the 2018 season by remembering Tribe players past and present.

Countdown to Opening Day – 49 days

If you were a fan of the Cleveland Indians in the 1980s, chances are you were well aware of right-hander Tom Candiotti and his mastery of the elusive knuckleball. Candiotti’s name is forever tied to the pitch, just like his predecessors Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro, and Charlie Hough, and more recent successes like R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield.

The “Candy Man” broke into the professional game in 1980, joining the Kansas City Royals after spending time at St. Mary’s College of California and in independent ball in Canada. After a year in the Royals farm system, he was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 draft and progressed through their minor league system, but he missed the 1982 season while undergoing the still new Tommy John surgery, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, after dealing with a right elbow injury.

Unlike some of the others before him (with the exception of John himself), Candiotti recovered from the experimental procedure and would make his Major League debut with ten appearances after his early August call-up in 1983. He made eight more appearances in 1984, but after playing at Double-A and Triple-A for the Brewers in 1985, he signed with the Indians.

1991 Topps

Some of the best years of his career came in Cleveland, despite being surrounded by unimpressive teams who failed to perform to their expected levels. He won what would be a career-high 16 games in his first year with the Indians in 1986 while throwing nearly three times as many innings (252 1/3) as he had pitched in his first two seasons in the Majors combined. He was also the top pitcher in the American League in complete games with 17.

His time in the Cleveland rotation also gave him a great opportunity to learn from one of the best at his craft.

“Being able to work with Phil Niekro full-time was kind of an ‘Are you kidding me?’ scenario,” Candiotti said in a 2014 interview with Steve Eby of Did The Tribe Win Last Night. “He’s one of the greatest knuckleballers of all-time and I had him as like my own pitching coach. I worked a lot with Knucksie and he taught me so much…not only about becoming an accomplished knuckleball pitcher, but about how to handle yourself, how to give credit where credit is due and how to carry yourself as a Major Leaguer. I’ll never forget all of the time that he spent with me and the lessons that I learned from him.”

As the Indians struggled during the Sports Illustrated cover jinx season of 1987, Candiotti’s numbers did too as he went 7-18 with a 4.78 ERA in 32 starts. The team did show signs of improvement over the next several years and Candiotti was a reliable and durable innings eater in the rotation, averaging 14 wins and 208 innings pitched over the next three years.

The Indians were in a different place in 1991, despite having some pieces worth building around. After failing to find success with a core roster of players entering some of the prime years of their careers as the 1980s closed, the team traded star Joe Carter ahead of the 77-85 1990 season and would falter badly in 1991 in what would become a 57-105 embarrassment.

Candiotti started 7-6 with a 2.24 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and three complete games through his first 15 starts, but the club shipped him to Toronto on June 27 with outfielder Turner Ward. The Blue Jays, who had been actively looking for pitching and outfield help and had been linked to the Indians back in spring training as a potential trade partner, got both from the Tribe while Cleveland brought back pitcher Denis Boucher, outfielders Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten, and cash considerations.

Cleveland would send longtime corner infielder Brook Jacoby to Oakland a month later and staff ace Greg Swindell to Cincinnati following the season.

Candiotti was not a fan of his relocation.

“If I was a fan, a real loyal Cleveland Indians fan, I’d be upset,” Candiotti was quoted in The Plain Dealer on June 28, 1991. “The players change year in and year out here. It’s hard for Cleveland fans to relate to the players.

“I’m more frustrated than anything. I really legitimately wanted to stay here. I don’t know how many times I let the front office know. This trade was done purely because of economics.”

Candiotti shared a different perspective years later in his 2014 interview with Did The Tribe Win Last Night’s Eby.

“It was a tough one,” Candiotti said of the trade. “I kind of knew that it was going to happen just from some conversations with John Hart, who was very, very honest with what he was trying to do here. They had to get young and get some youthful players. I was just one of those pieces that he was looking to trade. I didn’t want to get traded because my mom grew up in Youngstown and I had friends and family that would always come to every single game that I pitched here. I really didn’t want to leave. I loved Cleveland and felt comfortable here. So I was very disappointed when I did get traded even though I knew it was going to happen.”

Getty Images

In his new home north of the border, Candiotti continued a career year on the mound while helping the Blue Jays replace Dave Stieb. He went 6-7 with a 2.98 ERA over his final 19 starts and led the Toronto staff with three complete games. The club won the American League East and Candiotti made a pair of starts in the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins, but was hit hard in his first two career postseason appearances as the Blue Jays came up short in their World Series pursuits.

Unfortunately for Candiotti, his time in Toronto ended a year or two too early. The Blue Jays would return to the playoffs in each of the next two seasons and would win the Fall Classic each time. A free agent after the 1991 season, Candiotti instead headed west to Los Angeles, signing a four-year contract with the Dodgers. He would stay in Dodger blue for six years in total, putting together a 3.57 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over those half dozen seasons. He returned to the postseason in 1996, working two scoreless innings in the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, and split his final season in Los Angeles between the rotation and bullpen before becoming a free agent and moving up the coast to Oakland.

He played parts of two seasons with the A’s, leading the league in losses with 16 in 1998. After a rough start to his 1999 season, he was released in the middle of June and would return to Cleveland at the end of the month, playing his final seven Major League games with the Indians while going 1-1 with an 11.05 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP before his release just over a month later.

He ended his 16-year Major League career with a 151-164 record with a 3.73 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 2,725 innings of work.

Following his playing days, Candiotti spent time in the Indians front office as a special assistant to the general manager and was named one of the 100 greatest Indians players ever. He moved on to work for ESPN and also the Toronto Blue Jays as a television analyst. He logged some screen time in the baseball movie “61*” and became a member of the International Bowling Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

He will begin his 13th year working as a radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks when play begins this spring.

Other notable Indians to wear the number 49: Mel Harder (1929), Juan Pizarro (1969), Dick Bosman (1973), Jose Mesa (1992-1998), John Rocker (2001), Tony Sipp (2009-2012), Austin Adams (2014-2016)

Photo: Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs by K.P. Wee

Major League Baseball will kick off the 2019 season with its earliest start ever (excluding international openers) as all 30 teams will take the field on March 28. Follow along with Did The Tribe Win Last Night as we count down the days until Opening Day 2019. – BT

Countdown to Opening Day – 49 days

Sometimes, the wait is worth it. Such has been the case for southpaw Tyler Olson, who is expected to return to the number 49 for a third straight season with the Indians.

It wasn’t long ago that Olson was claimed by the Indians on waivers, a castaway joining his fourth different organization in six months and his fifth in 19 months.

Drafted in the 17th round in 2012 by the Oakland Athletics while pitching for Gonzaga, Olson returned to school and jumped to the seventh round the following year when he was selected by the Seattle Mariners. A starter in their farm system for much of his first two years, he moved into the bullpen in 2015, getting a non-roster invite to spring training that year. He started the year with the M’s, joining the club’s relief staff. He went 1-1 in eleven outings with a 5.40 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP at the age of 25 as walks and an ugly hit per nine rate led to all sorts of problems for the young hurler and a return trip to the minors.

That winter, he was designated for assignment and dealt two days later to the Los Angeles Dodgers for future considerations. His time with the Dodgers organization was extremely short-lived, however, as less than a month later, he was on the move after designation, packaged with Ronald Torreyes and sent to the New York Yankees for infielder Rob Segedin and the familiar player to be named later or cash.

Olson – Cleveland Indians Twitter

Olson started the year on the farm, working for the Yankees’ Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate with lackluster results as both a starter and reliever. He got two separate one-day calls to New York, working in one game and allowing a pair of runs on three hits and two walks in two and two-thirds innings before he was designated for assignment in June. The Kansas City Royals claimed him and optioned him to the minors, but after five relief appearances for their Omaha affiliate, he was once again designated for assignment. This time, he landed with the Tribe, who optioned him to Columbus. His results there were little better – he went 1-0 with a 5.91 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP with on-going command issues in nine appearances. He was even designated for assignment again, but this time went unclaimed and was outrighted back to the farm club.

Olson was a non-roster invitee to spring training in 2017, but began the season with Columbus. This time, his results were intriguing as he showcased a 3.21 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP in 34 Triple-A appearances. His walk rate was under control, he was averaging just six hits per nine innings of work, and his strikeout rate was a professional best 11.6 per nine. The Indians added him to the 40-man and 25-man roster in July and, with the exception of a brief option less than a week in length at the end of July, he remained with the Tribe. His numbers with Cleveland were nothing short of superb – he worked 30 scoreless appearances for a perfect 0.00 ERA. In those 20 innings of work, he struck out 18, walked six, and gave up just 13 hits (0.95 WHIP).

He started the 2018 season in the Indians bullpen, but was part of the troubled mix that struggled to get through games unscathed. His April numbers were deceiving, as he allowed just seven base runners in nine and two-thirds innings of 12 games, but five came in to score despite striking out 14, walking none, and holding the opposition to a .194 average. Walks flooded his stat sheet in May, as he walked five in the month and a .308 average against led to five more runs tagged to his line. In June, he allowed five more runs to score and had the damage hit in just an inning and one-third of work before he landed on the disabled list with a left latissimus dorsi strain. After his rehab assignment, he was optioned back to Columbus, and after another quick shuttle to Cleveland and back, he rejoined the parent roster for the rest of the campaign at the end of August. Like his similar impressive run the previous year, he ended on a good note, as in his 13 appearances over the last two months of the season, he allowed five hits and four walks in nine and one-third scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts.

Right-handers were a big issue for Olson in 2018, as he allowed a .314 average to them in 12 1/3 innings with 15 strikeouts, seven walks, and ten runs scored (6.57 ERA and 1.86 WHIP). Left-handers, as would be expected, struggled against him as the matchup card gave Olson an edge to the tune of a .182 average against over 15 innings with 25 strikeouts, five walks, and six runs scored (3.60 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP).

With the loss of Andrew Miller in the offseason via free agency but the return of Oliver Perez, the Indians will continue to run three left-handers in their ‘pen. With All-Star closer Brad Hand leading the staff in a more traditional, non-matchup role, manager Terry Francona will be able to utilize Olson and Perez in the usual LOOGY patterns.

Olson has shown himself capable of being a dependable reliever for stretches. He will hope that his overall numbers from 2018 (2-1, 4.94 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) do not carry over, but that he can use his better finish and a reduction to his walk rate to establish himself as a key arm in the Indians bullpen for the years ahead. If he can do that, he could provide Cleveland with some stability in the relief corps as a player under contract through the 2023 season.

If you were a fan of the Cleveland Indians in the 1980s, chances are you were well aware of right-hander and #49 Tom Candiotti and his mastery of the elusive knuckleball. Candiotti’s name is forever tied to the pitch, just like his predecessors Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro, and Charlie Hough, and more recent successes like R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield.

The “Candy Man” broke into the professional game in 1980, joining the Kansas City Royals after spending time at St. Mary’s College of California and in independent ball in Canada. After a year in the Royals farm system, he was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 draft and progressed through their minor league system, but he missed the 1982 season while undergoing the still new Tommy John surgery, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, after dealing with a right elbow injury.

1991 Topps

Unlike some of the others before him (with the exception of John himself), Candiotti recovered from the experimental procedure and would make his Major League debut with ten appearances after his early August call-up in 1983. He made eight more appearances in 1984, but after playing at Double-A and Triple-A for the Brewers in 1985, he signed with the Indians.

Some of the best years of his career came in Cleveland, despite being surrounded by unimpressive teams who failed to perform to their expected levels. He won what would be a career-high 16 games in his first year with the Indians in 1986 while throwing nearly three times as many innings (252 1/3) as he had pitched in his first two seasons in the Majors combined. He was also the top pitcher in the American League in complete games with 17.

His time in the Cleveland rotation also gave him a great opportunity to learn from one of the best at his craft.

“Being able to work with Phil Niekro full-time was kind of an ‘Are you kidding me?’ scenario,” Candiotti said in a 2014 interview with Steve Eby of Did The Tribe Win Last Night. “He’s one of the greatest knuckleballers of all-time and I had him as like my own pitching coach. I worked a lot with Knucksie and he taught me so much…not only about becoming an accomplished knuckleball pitcher, but about how to handle yourself, how to give credit where credit is due and how to carry yourself as a Major Leaguer. I’ll never forget all of the time that he spent with me and the lessons that I learned from him.”

As the Indians struggled during the Sports Illustrated cover jinx season of 1987, Candiotti’s numbers did too as he went 7-18 with a 4.78 ERA in 32 starts. The team did show signs of improvement over the next several years and Candiotti was a reliable and durable innings eater in the rotation, averaging 14 wins and 208 innings pitched over the next three years.

The Indians were in a different place in 1991, despite having some pieces worth building around. After failing to find success with a core roster of players entering some of the prime years of their careers as the 1980s closed, the team traded star Joe Carter ahead of the 77-85 1990 season and would falter badly in 1991 in what would become a 57-105 embarrassment.

Candiotti started 7-6 with a 2.24 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and three complete games through his first 15 starts, but the club shipped him to Toronto on June 27 with outfielder Turner Ward. The Blue Jays, who had been actively looking for pitching and outfield help and had been linked to the Indians back in spring training as a potential trade partner, got both from the Tribe while Cleveland brought back pitcher Denis Boucher, outfielders Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten, and cash considerations.

Cleveland would send longtime corner infielder Brook Jacoby to Oakland a month later and staff ace Greg Swindell to Cincinnati following the season.

Candiotti was not a fan of his relocation.

“If I was a fan, a real loyal Cleveland Indians fan, I’d be upset,” Candiotti was quoted in The Plain Dealer on June 28, 1991. “The players change year in and year out here. It’s hard for Cleveland fans to relate to the players.

“I’m more frustrated than anything. I really legitimately wanted to stay here. I don’t know how many times I let the front office know. This trade was done purely because of economics.”

Candiotti shared a different perspective years later in his 2014 interview with Did The Tribe Win Last Night’s Eby.

“It was a tough one,” Candiotti said of the trade. “I kind of knew that it was going to happen just from some conversations with John Hart, who was very, very honest with what he was trying to do here. They had to get young and get some youthful players. I was just one of those pieces that he was looking to trade. I didn’t want to get traded because my mom grew up in Youngstown and I had friends and family that would always come to every single game that I pitched here. I really didn’t want to leave. I loved Cleveland and felt comfortable here. So I was very disappointed when I did get traded even though I knew it was going to happen.”

Getty Images

In his new home north of the border, Candiotti continued a career year on the mound while helping the Blue Jays replace Dave Stieb. He went 6-7 with a 2.98 ERA over his final 19 starts and led the Toronto staff with three complete games. The club won the American League East and Candiotti made a pair of starts in the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins, but was hit hard in his first two career postseason appearances as the Blue Jays came up short in their World Series pursuits.

Unfortunately for Candiotti, his time in Toronto ended a year or two too early. The Blue Jays would return to the playoffs in each of the next two seasons and would win the Fall Classic each time. A free agent after the 1991 season, Candiotti instead headed west to Los Angeles, signing a four-year contract with the Dodgers. He would stay in Dodger blue for six years in total, putting together a 3.57 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over those half dozen seasons. He returned to the postseason in 1996, working two scoreless innings in the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, and split his final season in Los Angeles between the rotation and bullpen before becoming a free agent and moving up the coast to Oakland.

He played parts of two seasons with the A’s, leading the league in losses with 16 in 1998. After a rough start to his 1999 season, he was released in the middle of June and would return to Cleveland at the end of the month, playing his final seven Major League games with the Indians while going 1-1 with an 11.05 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP before his release just over a month later.

He ended his 16-year Major League career with a 151-164 record with a 3.73 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 2,725 innings of work.

Following his playing days, Candiotti spent time in the Indians front office as a special assistant to the general manager and was named one of the 100 greatest Indians players ever. He moved on to work for ESPN and also the Toronto Blue Jays as a television analyst. He logged some screen time in the baseball movie “61*” and became a member of the International Bowling Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2007. He has worked as a radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2006.

Other notable Indians to wear the number 49: Mel Harder (1929), Juan Pizarro (1969), Dick Bosman (1973), Jose Mesa (1992-1998), John Rocker (2001), Tony Sipp (2009-2012), Austin Adams (2014-2016)

Photo: AP Photo/Jim Mone

*** ** * ** ***

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Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 71
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 70
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Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 63
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 62
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 61 – Dan Otero
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 60
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 59 – Carlos Carrasco
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 58 – Neil Ramirez
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 57 – Shane Bieber
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 56 – Cody Anderson
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 55 – Roberto Perez
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 54
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 53
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 52 – Mike Clevinger
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 51
Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 50

Baseball takes little time off in between seasons, so neither can we. Follow along at Did the Tribe Win Last Night as we count down to March 26, when the Cleveland Indians host the Detroit Tigers for game one of the 2020 season. – BT

Countdown to Opening Day – 49 days

The number 49 is back open for business in the city of Cleveland after reliever Tyler Olson signed a minor league deal with a non-roster spring invitation with the Chicago Cubs on January 17.

Olson had overcome numerous professional hurdles, including bouncing around five different organizations in a 19-month span when he joined the Indians via a waiver claim off of the roster of the Kansas City Royals on July 9, 2016, but he was unable to turn better luck in Cleveland into prolonged success.

Olson began the year as one of three southpaws in the Tribe bullpen for the 2019 season, joining veteran Oliver Perez and All-Star closer Brad Hand. He had a good showing in the spring, striking out nine and walking three in eight innings of one-run baseball over ten appearances, but those results did not carry far into the regular season. After making four scoreless appearances to start his season, he allowed solo runs in back-to-back appearances against the Royals on April 12 and 14. He allowed four of the five base runners that he faced to reach in that second game, then walked the lone batters that he faced on April 15 and April 20 before giving up another run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning against Atlanta on April 21.

Olson – Cleveland Indians Twitter

The 29-year-old settled down for a few good outings before giving up two runs on four hits in an inning and two-thirds in a blowout 10-0 loss to Seattle on May 5. Five scoreless efforts followed before he allowed another run in a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay on May 26. He gave up five runs in a rough June, allowing seven hits (three homers) and three walks with eleven strikeouts in seven and one-third innings over nine games, but he started to trend back in the right direction in July while working a bit less frequently.

A sloppy performance against Houston on August 1, when he allowed three runs on two hits, three walks, and a hit batter, was the turning point in Olson’s season after making a season-high 39 pitches. The following day, he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a non-baseball medical condition. It was announced at the time that Olson had been fighting shingles for a period of six to eight weeks and that the team wanted him to focus on addressing the illness without having baseball “hanging over his head”, according to manager Terry Francona on August 2.

It turned out to be his final appearance with the Indians. He made a rehab appearance on August 13 for Double-A Akron (facing four batters while giving up a hit and a walk and striking out two) and he followed it with a three-batter outing for Triple-A Columbus on August 16 (hitting one and giving up a hit while striking out a third), but he was shut back down on reports that his body was not responding well enough between games. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on September 1, officially ending his season.

Olson was outrighted from the Indians’ 40-man roster on November 4, but he declined the assignment and became a free agent. In 39 appearances for Cleveland in 2019, he went 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP in 30 2/3 innings of work.

Olson will look to continue his pro career with the Cubs, his sixth big league organization. He was originally drafted in the 17th round in 2012 by the Oakland Athletics while pitching for Gonzaga, but he returned to school and jumped to the seventh round the following year when he was selected by the Seattle Mariners. He debuted in the Majors for the M’s but was later traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in December of 2015 and moved a month later to the New York Yankees. After six months (and one MLB appearance) with the club, he was a waiver claim by the Royals before moving across the division to the Indians’ organization. He finished his 2016 season in the minors, but saw 30 scoreless games of action for the Indians in 2017 and 43 more relief appearances in an injury-shortened 2018 campaign before his illness ended his 2019 season prematurely.

If you were a fan of the Cleveland Indians in the 1980s, chances are you were well aware of right-hander and #49 Tom Candiotti and his mastery of the elusive knuckleball. Candiotti’s name is forever tied to the pitch, just like his predecessors Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro, and Charlie Hough, and more recent successes like R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield.

The “Candy Man” broke into the professional game in 1980, joining the Kansas City Royals after spending time at St. Mary’s College of California and in independent ball in Canada. After a year in the Royals farm system, he was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 draft and progressed through their minor league system, but he missed the 1982 season while undergoing the still new Tommy John surgery, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, after dealing with a right elbow injury.

1991 Topps

Unlike some of the others before him (with the exception of John himself), Candiotti recovered from the experimental procedure and would make his Major League debut with ten appearances after his early August call-up in 1983. He made eight more appearances in 1984, but after playing at Double-A and Triple-A for the Brewers in 1985, he signed with the Indians.

Some of the best years of his career came in Cleveland, despite being surrounded by unimpressive teams who failed to perform to their expected levels. He won what would be a career-high 16 games in his first year with the Indians in 1986 while throwing nearly three times as many innings (252 1/3) as he had pitched in his first two seasons in the Majors combined. He was also the top pitcher in the American League in complete games with 17.

His time in the Cleveland rotation also gave him a great opportunity to learn from one of the best at his craft.

“Being able to work with Phil Niekro full-time was kind of an ‘Are you kidding me?’ scenario,” Candiotti said in a 2014 interview with Did The Tribe Win Last Night. “He’s one of the greatest knuckleballers of all-time and I had him as like my own pitching coach. I worked a lot with Knucksie and he taught me so much…not only about becoming an accomplished knuckleball pitcher, but about how to handle yourself, how to give credit where credit is due and how to carry yourself as a Major Leaguer. I’ll never forget all of the time that he spent with me and the lessons that I learned from him.”

As the Indians struggled during the Sports Illustrated cover jinx season of 1987, Candiotti’s numbers did too as he went 7-18 with a 4.78 ERA in 32 starts. The team did show signs of improvement over the next several years and Candiotti was a reliable and durable innings eater in the rotation, averaging 14 wins and 208 innings pitched over the next three years.

The Indians were in a different place in 1991, despite having some pieces worth building around. After failing to find success with a core roster of players entering some of the prime years of their careers as the 1980s closed, the team traded star Joe Carter ahead of the 77-85 1990 season and would falter badly in 1991 in what would become a 57-105 embarrassment.

Candiotti started 7-6 with a 2.24 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and three complete games through his first 15 starts, but the club shipped him to Toronto on June 27 with outfielder Turner Ward. The Blue Jays, who had been actively looking for pitching and outfield help and had been linked to the Indians back in spring training as a potential trade partner, got both from the Tribe while Cleveland brought back pitcher Denis Boucher, outfielders Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten, and cash considerations.

Cleveland would send longtime corner infielder Brook Jacoby to Oakland a month later and staff ace Greg Swindell to Cincinnati following the season.

Candiotti was not a fan of his relocation.

“If I was a fan, a real loyal Cleveland Indians fan, I’d be upset,” Candiotti was quoted in The Plain Dealer on June 28, 1991. “The players change year in and year out here. It’s hard for Cleveland fans to relate to the players.

“I’m more frustrated than anything. I really legitimately wanted to stay here. I don’t know how many times I let the front office know. This trade was done purely because of economics.”

Candiotti shared a different perspective years later in his 2014 interview with Did The Tribe Win Last Night.

“It was a tough one,” Candiotti said of the trade. “I kind of knew that it was going to happen just from some conversations with John Hart, who was very, very honest with what he was trying to do here. They had to get young and get some youthful players. I was just one of those pieces that he was looking to trade. I didn’t want to get traded because my mom grew up in Youngstown and I had friends and family that would always come to every single game that I pitched here. I really didn’t want to leave. I loved Cleveland and felt comfortable here. So I was very disappointed when I did get traded even though I knew it was going to happen.”

Getty Images

In his new home north of the border, Candiotti continued a career year on the mound while helping the Blue Jays replace Dave Stieb. He went 6-7 with a 2.98 ERA over his final 19 starts and led the Toronto staff with three complete games. The club won the American League East and Candiotti made a pair of starts in the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins, but was hit hard in his first two career postseason appearances as the Blue Jays came up short in their World Series pursuits.

Unfortunately for Candiotti, his time in Toronto ended a year or two too early. The Blue Jays would return to the playoffs in each of the next two seasons and would win the Fall Classic each time. A free agent after the 1991 season, Candiotti instead headed west to Los Angeles, signing a four-year contract with the Dodgers. He would stay in Dodger blue for six years in total, putting together a 3.57 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over those half dozen seasons. He returned to the postseason in 1996, working two scoreless innings in the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, and split his final season in Los Angeles between the rotation and bullpen before becoming a free agent and moving up the coast to Oakland.

He played parts of two seasons with the A’s, leading the league in losses with 16 in 1998. After a rough start to his 1999 season, he was released in the middle of June and would return to Cleveland at the end of the month, playing his final seven Major League games with the Indians while going 1-1 with an 11.05 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP before his release just over a month later.

He ended his 16-year Major League career with a 151-164 record with a 3.73 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 2,725 innings of work.

Following his playing days, Candiotti spent time in the Indians front office as a special assistant to the general manager and was named one of the 100 greatest Indians players ever. He moved on to work for ESPN and also the Toronto Blue Jays as a television analyst. He logged some screen time in the baseball movie “61*” and became a member of the International Bowling Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2007. He has worked as a radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2006.

Other notable Indians to wear the number 49: Mel Harder (1929), Juan Pizarro (1969), Dick Bosman (1973), Jose Mesa (1992-1998), John Rocker (2001), Tony Sipp (2009-2012), Austin Adams (2014-2016)

Photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Miss out on our other Countdown pieces? Check out more Indians history below!

Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 99 (Daniel Robertson)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 90 (Adam Cimber)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 88 (Phil Maton)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 77 (Jack Armstrong)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 76 (Tom Magrann)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 75 (Mike Walker)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 73 (Ricardo Rincon)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 72 (Jason Giambi)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 71 (Johnny Hodapp)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 70 (James Karinchak, George Kontos)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 69 (Luis Medina)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 68 (Jefry Rodriguez, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 67 (Aaron Civale, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 66 (Yasiel Puig, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 65 (Zach Plesac, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 64 (Tom Kramer, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 63 (Josh Smith, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 62 (Nick Wittgren, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 61 (Dan Otero, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 60 (Jhonny Peralta, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 59 (Carlos Carrasco)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 58 (Neil Ramirez, others)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 57 (Shane Bieber)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 56 (Cody Anderson)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 55 (Roberto Perez)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 54 (Hunter Wood)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 53 (Logan Allen)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 52 (Mike Clevinger)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 51 (numerous)
Countdown to Indians’ 2020 Opening Day – 50 (James Hoyt, others)