Every MLB team’s Mount Rushmore

Cleveland Guardians

There’s no Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn or Willie Mayes Hayes on this list, but the Cleveland Guardians still have a pretty impressive Mount Rushmore.

Kenny Lofton was the star of the 1990’s Indians, one of the best almost dynasties in recent MLB history. The quintessential leadoff hitter terrorized pitchers on the base paths and hitters in the outfield. Lofton won four consecutive Gold Gloves in 10 seasons in Cleveland and ranks fourth in franchise history in bWAR for position players.

Jim Thome was a bit ahead of his time, a three outcome hitter before people started valuing on base percentage and slugging percentage. Over half of his 612 home runs came with the Indians. Thome will eventually reach Cooperstown and he’s probably the best hitter Cleveland has ever seen.

Bob Feller spent his entire 18-year career with the Indians. Three of what might have been his best seasons were spent in military service. From 1939 to 1947, Feller led the league in innings pitched five out of six times. He won the pitching Triple Crown in 1940 with the most wins, lowest ERA and most strikeouts of any pitcher. Feller was wild, often finishing among the league leaders in walks, but he used this to his advantage.

Larry Doby deserves the final spot for several reasons. First of all, he broke the color barrier in the American League. Secondly, Doby overcame a lot of adversity to lead the Guardians for 10 seasons, leading the American League in home runs on two occasions.

Honorable mentions: Tris Speaker and Nap Lajoie were very good for the franchise in their early days. Manny Ramirez would have surpassed Thome’s numbers had he not burned every bridge in Cleveland. Lou Boudreau is often forgotten but is a main character in the franchise’s narrative.