1936 was a special year for the Indianapolis Indians. For the first time in their
history, they had not one, not two, but three future MLB All-Stars on their team.
Keep in mind that up until now, they had had only one All-Star in their entire
history up until this point in Orel Hilderbrand. (Jim Turner who was their
2nd was one of the 3 All-Stars on this 1936 team). Jim Turner was fabulous going
18-13, 3.89 on the season and he would be joined by Dizzy Trout (8-7) who would
go on to have two fantastic seasons for the Detroit Tigers (20-12, 2.48 in 1943,
27-14, 2.12 in 1944). Also in this lineup was Dick Siebert who put up a terrific
.330 batting average along with 30 doubles as a future All-Star for the
Philadelphia Athletics. Even with these big 3, the previous season's entry had
a better punch and finished much higher in the win-loss column. This team however
would actually make the post season... the first Bush Stadium team to do so.
The Indians make it all the way to the finals. The trophy lay just out of hand
however, as they lost the Championship to Rudy York and the Milwaukee Brewers
(the Brewers were still a Triple-A team at this time). With just a taste
of victory in the mouths, the Indians took the field in 1937 and … lost 85 games.
The 3 future All-Stars had been promoted to the Majors and though Elmer Riddle
came to town as the 5th future All-Star (2-2, 5.88), he would only start 4 games
and wouldn't make much of a difference in the Indians rotation. They righted
the ship in 1938, going 6 games above .500 and made it back to the playoffs
but lost in the 1st round. The Indians needed something special to put them over
the top. They found that something special in the Major Leagues… specifically,
the Cincinnati Reds. |