60 – Johnny Peralta, 2003
Peralta is the most recent Indian to wear No. 60 and the only one to wear the jersey for an extended period of time. He stuck with No. 60 throughout his 77-game rookie season in 2003.
Others notables: Brian Tallet, Bill Selby

61 – Jason Stanford, 2003-04, 2007
No. 61 is one of the few numbers in this range to be worn by multiple players for multiple seasons. Stanford only started 12 games during his Indians career, but one was a key spot start during the Indians run to the playoffs in 2007.
Other notables: Alex Ramirez, Brandon Phillips, Michael Brantley

62 – Jim Poole, 1995-96, 1998-99
While Poole is most remembered for surrendering the home run to David Justice in Game Six of the ’95 World Series, he actually had a pretty decent career in Cleveland as a lefty specialist. And he was definitely on John Hart’s speed dial, as the Indians brought him back midway through the 1998 season and against in 1999.
Other notables: Bob Howry, Trevor Crowe

63- Justin Masterson, 2009-present
The two most impressive Indians careers in numbers 60 and above both belong to No. 63. Masterson is the easy choice here, and by far the greatest Indian to wear a number higher above 60. However, Rafael Betancourt would be a shoo in for any other number in this range.
Other notables: Betancourt, Victor Martinez

64 – Tom Kramer, 1991, 1993
Kramer earns this honor because he technically wore the jersey in multiple seasons, although he switched to No. 29 early in the 1993 season. But since no one else has worn No. 64 for more than 10 games, we’ll give it to Kramer. His most memorable performance was a near perfect game (he allowed only a home run to Julio Franco) in 1993, however, he wore No. 29 on that day.
Other notables: Jason Davis, Rudy Seanez

65 – Cliff Lee, 2002-03
Lee is the only player to lay claim to two uniform numbers. He wore No. 65 during his MLB debut in 2002 and briefly again in 2003 before switching to No. 34. He didn’t switch to 31 until 2005. Jose Roman, who started two games in 1984, is the only other player to wear No. 65.
Other notables: none

66 – Mark Higgins, 1989
No. 66 has only been worn in 11 games in Cleveland, so it’s tough to decide on this on. Russell Branyan is easily the most well known, but he went 0-4 in just one game while wearing No. 66. Higgins earns the honor due having the longest career in the number: a whole six games.
Other notables: Russell Branyan

67 – Chris Nichting, 2000
Fun fact: while working for ESPN at the 2007 Little League World Series I interviewed Chris Nichting’s dad or uncle (can’t remember the exact relation) who was coaching the team from Ohio. Nichting is the only player to wear No. 67 for the Indians.
Other notables: none

68 – Turner Ward, 1990
Ward was a late September call-up in 1990 and hit .348 in 14 games before switching to No. 20 in 1991. With 49 plate appearances in the jersey, he’s easily the easy choice for this selection.
Other notables: Michael Aubrey

69-70 – never worn

71 – Johnny Hodapp, 1929
Early uniform numbers were determined based on batting order, but there must have been some formula for the bench players also. In 1929, Nos. 51, 61 and 71 were all worn. No. 51 and 61 were used again the following season, but then removed from the number rotation and no jersey above 40 was used again until they were given to replacement players during the WWII era. I’ve never been able to find an explanation for these numbers, but there must have been some logic to it at the time. Amazingly, No. 71 was worn during the first game the Indians ever wore numbers on their back, but after Hodapp switched jerseys the following season, it has gone unused for nearly a century.
Other notables: none

72 – never worn

Screen Shot 2014-02-13 at 3.19.40 PM73 – Ricardo Rincon, 1999-02
These days, Rincon is probably best known for his influence in the movie and book Moneyball, but Indians fans remember him as a reliable lefty specialist. The fact that John Hart gave up Brian Giles to land him will forever be remembered as one of the worst trades in franchise history, but Rincon was still solid in his role.
Other notables: Wayne Kirby

74 – never worn

75 – Mike Walker, 1988
Whoever assigned jerseys to rookies in 1988 had some fun. No. 60, 68 and 75 were all used and, at the time, they were the highest jersey ever used by the Indians excluding the 1929-30 seasons.
Other notables: none

76 – Tom Magrann, 1989
The fun with crazy jersey numbers continued the following season with No. 64, 66 and 76 making their debut for the Indians. It would take some time to verify this, but I’m willing to bet Magrann’s No. 76 is one of the highest jersey numbers ever worn by a catcher.
Other notables: none

Screen Shot 2014-02-13 at 3.11.27 PM77 – Jack Armstrong, 1992
Jack Armstrong on choosing No. 77: “If I do have a favorite number, it’s seven. When I came here all the lower numbers were taken and when I went down the list, 77 was just staring at me, so I took it. I’m going to keep it. I don’t know anybody else who wears it, and hey, if it brings me some luck, I can use it.” At the time, Armstrong was just the third player to ever to wear No. 77, and the first since Rico Carty in the early 1960s with the Braves.
Other notables: none

78-87 – never worn

88 – Rene Gonzales, 1994
Gonzalez was the first player in baseball history to wear No. 88, and he stuck with it for 10 seasons and five different organizations. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find the explanation behind Gonzales’ jersey choice. All I was able to come up with was this quote: “I made that number. I came up with it. Nobody had ever worn it in the history of the game.” And also a reference to him calling No. 88 “consistent and infinite.”
Other notables: none

1 Comment

  • #savechiefwahoo says:

    Uh, you forgot number 99. Rickey “Wild Thing” Vaughn. He won the ALCS for the Tribe wearing this number.

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