With players always coming and going, it’s understandable people don’t like to spend a lot of money on baseball jerseys. And that’s why Major League Baseball teams sell lesser-known players’ uniforms and T-shirt jerseys (shirseys) for a bargain. These are perfect for the Tribe fans who just want something that says a player’s name. Yet when folks still don these jerseys years later, it becomes a bit of a head scratcher.
Thankfully, Indians reporter Zack Meisel of The Athletic, and formerly Cleveland.com, started a Twitter hashtag to address this phenomenon. Called #randomjerseysightings, Indians fans now tweet these obscure jersey sightings at Meisel and he re-tweets the best ones.
The 2017 season brought out some amazing jerseys. Remember these 20 players or not, these guys actually played for the Tribe.
With players always coming and going, it’s understandable people don’t like to spend a lot of money on baseball jerseys. And that’s why Major League Baseball teams sell lesser-known players’ uniforms and T-shirt jerseys (shirseys) for a bargain. These are perfect for the Tribe fans who just want something that says a player’s name. Yet when folks still don these jerseys years later, it becomes a bit of a head scratcher.
Thankfully, Indians reporter Zack Meisel of The Athletic, and formerly Cleveland.com, started a Twitter hashtag to address this phenomenon. Called #randomjerseysightings, Indians fans now tweet these obscure jersey sightings at Meisel and he re-tweets the best ones.
The 2017 season brought out some amazing jerseys. Remember these 20 players or not, these guys actually played for the Tribe.
Brent Lillibridge
During the not very successful Manny Acta years, the Indians employed a number of subpar utility players like Lillibridge. In 2012, Lillibridge appeared in 43 games with the Indians, spending time in left field, center field, third base, shortstop, second base and first base. He had just 24 hits in 111 at-bats and finished his Tribe career with a .216 batting average.
Photo via @BrianJB85/TwitterFrank Herrmann
Frank Herrmann wasn’t a terrible relief pitcher for the Indians over his 95 appearances out of the bullpen from 2010 through 2012. But if you asked most Tribe fans about Herrmann, they’d say that the most memorable thing about him is that he went to Harvard. He finished his Indians career with a 4.26 earned run average and only pitched 14 games in the majors after he left the organization.
Photo via @ChrisKreitzer12/TwitterKevin Cash
Kevin Cash played in exactly zero games with the Indians. He did play in parts of eight seasons in the Majors as a catcher and finished with an atrocious .183 batting average in 681 at-bats. Yet none of those at-bats were with the Tribe. Cash was the Indians bullpen coach in 2013 and 2014 and is currently the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes, someone bought the shirsey of the bullpen coach.
Photo via @H_Grove/TwitterTyler Houston
In 1999, Tyler Houston appeared in 13 games for the Indians. He had four hits and one home run in 30 plate appearances. Houston appeared in 10 games for the Indians at third base and one at catcher.
Photo via @ZackMeisel/TwitterMark Lowe
Mark Lowe had a long career in the big leagues, pitching in 382 games out of the bullpen for six different teams, finishing his career with a 4.22 earned run average. He did not however have a long career with the Indians. The righty reliever pitched in just seven games for the Tribe in 2014, finishing his brief Tribe career with a 3.86 earned run average in only seven innings.
Photo via @ZackMeisel/TwitterKent Mercker
Kent Mercker has the distinction of having the best career of any player on this list. He pitched in 692 games over 18 seasons in the majors, starting 150 of those games and finishing his career with 74 wins and a 4.16 earned run average. But his career with the Indians lasted just 10 games, pitching 11 and two-thirds innings out of the bullpen in 1996. He did finish with a 3.09 ERA in his very brief stint with the Tribe.
Photo via @MarkusSultan/TwitterNyjer Morgan
Nyjer Morgan had a brief, yet productive career for the Indians. The colorful outfielder, who went by the self-proclaimed alter ego “Tony Plush” during his interviews, finished his Indians career with a .341 batting average. In 2014, he played in 52 games and had 41 at-bats with the team before he shattered his knee while diving for a fly ball and hasn’t played in the Majors since.
Photo via @JL_Baseball/TwitterPreston Guilmet
Definitely in the running for the most obscure player on this list, relief pitcher Preston Guilmet appeared in just four games for the Tribe in 2013. He posted a 10.13 earned run average, giving up six runs in five and one-third innings. After leaving the Indians organization, he pitched in 15 more big league games, last appearing in the majors in 2015.
Photo via @MTAndrews24Sal Fasano
Buying a backup catcher’s jersey is one thing. Buying the jersey of a backup jersey who appeared in just 15 games with the Indians in 2008 and wearing it nine years later is a whole different level. Fasano finished his Tribe career with a .261 batting average, getting 12 hits in his 46 at-bats. After an 11-year career with nine different teams, he never played in a game again after his time with the Tribe.
Photo via @ZackMeisel/TwitterCasey Kotchman
Kotchman is one player on this list who actually had a decent career. He’s the all-time leader in fielding percentage for a first basemen. But that decent career certainly did not include 2012, his one year with the Indians, in which he appeared in 142 games and finished the season with a .229 batting average in 463 at-bats. He also walked only a pathetic 26 times in his 500 plate appearances. Kotchman, who played 939 games in his career, played in just six games after leaving Cleveland.
Photo via @ZackMeisel/TwitterScott Atchison
Old man Atchison actually had one really good season with the Indians. In 2014, after making the team as a spring training invitee, Atchison became a key part of the Tribe bullpen, finishing the season with a 6-0 record and a 2.75 earned run average in 72 innings, appearing in 70 total games. The next year, Atchison flamed out, finishing with a 6.86 earned run average in just 19 and two-third innings and never pitched in the majors again. After his playing career, he joined the Indians’ organization as an advanced scout, a role that he is currently in.
Photo via @TheRealGSid/TwitterJason Stanford
Jason Stanford pitched for the Indians over parts of three seasons, appearing in games in the 2003 and 2004 seasons and also in 2007. Stanford pitched in 23 games for the Tribe, the entirety of his Major League career. In those 23 games, he made 12 starts and finished his career with a respectable 3.61 earned run average, giving up 35 in 87 and one-third innings. Stanford later served as a post game analyst on SportsTime Ohio. He is perhaps best remembered by Tribe fans for getting arrested twice in the warehouse district within two years, for drunken disorderly conduct and aggravated disorderly conduct after allegedly questioning a man’s sexual orientation because the man was wearing a pink shirt.
Photo via @AndrewZelman/TwitterTodd Hollandsworth
Hollandsworth had a good and memorable career with the Dodgers and was the 1996 National League Rookie of the Year. He did not have a memorable career with the Indians. In 2006, he appeared in 56 games with the Tribe, finishing with a .237 batting average in 156 at-bats. The only thing impressive about a Todd Hollandsworth jersey is that his last name can fit on the back of it.
Photo via @ZackMeisel/TwitterTravis Buck
Yes, some guy named Travis Buck played for the Indians. No, we don’t remember him either. In 2011, Buck appeared in 50 games, hitting .228 with just two home runs in 149 at-bats while playing all three outfield positions. Buck played just one more season in the big leagues after playing for the Tribe.
Photo via @BrettGates/TwitterTrevor Crowe
At one point, outfielder Trevor Crowe was considered to be one of the top prospects in the Indians organization. That potential never materialized into big league success. Crowe appeared in just 205 games with the Indians, finishing his Tribe career with a .245 batting average and just three home runs in 653 at-bats over parts of three seasons. The former first round pick played for the Tribe in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Photo via @SWard_12/TwitterVinny Rottino
Another guy who played with the team during the Manny Acta years, Rottino appeared in 18 games with the team in 2012, batting just .107 in 28 at-bats. He did hit one home run. Rottino played catcher and outfield with the Tribe. He finished his major league career with an awful .165 batting average in just 97 at-bats.
Photo via @ZackMeisel/TwitterChad Durbin
During parts of the 2003 and 2004 seasons, pitcher Chad Durbin appeared in 20 games for the Tribe, starting in nine of those 20 games. Durbin gave up 45 runs in 60 innings for the Indians, good for a 6.75 earned run average.
Photo via @SkatingTripods/TwitterPerci Garner
Garner pitched in eight games in 2016, all out of the bullpen, posting a 4.82 earned run average in nine and ? innings. Garner grew up in Dover, Ohio, so this one can be excused as someone wanting to buy a jersey of a somewhat local product, we guess.
Photo via @SnarkyNino/TwitterAaron Cunningham
In 2012, Aaron Cunningham played in 72 games for the Indians, appearing mostly in the outfield. He went to the plate 109 times, getting a measly 17 hits in 97 at-bats for a below-Mendoza line batting average of .175 which was actually .024 points higher than his batting average in 2009. Cunningham never appeared in the majors again after 2012.
Photo via @HaliganLLC/TwitterSean DePaula
Depaula pitched a total of 23 games for the Indians in the 1999, 2000 and 2002 seasons and didn’t have much success. The right-handed reliever gave up 26 runs in 31 and two-third innings, finishing his career with a 6.75 earned run average. DePaula surprisingly did have some playoff success – in the American League Division Series vs. Boston in 1999, DePaula logged five innings over three games and allowed only one earned run for a 1.80 earned run average.
Photo via @AndrewZelman/Twitter
