The 1980 Cleveland Indians season was the 80th season for the franchise, the 66th as the Indians and the 49th season at Cleveland Stadium. They failed to improve upon their 81–80 campaign from the previous season, and missed the playoffs for the 26th consecutive season, finishing the season at 79–81.

Offseason October 24, 1979: Paul Reuschel was released by the Indians.Paul Reuschel page at Baseball Reference January 4, 1980: David Clyde and Jim Norris were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Gary Gray and Mike Bucci (minors).Gary Gray page at Baseball Reference February 15, 1980: Jerry Mumphrey was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Bob Owchinko and Jim Wilhelm.Bob Owchinko page at Baseball-Reference

Regular season "Super Joe" Charboneau made his debut with the Indians in 1980, splitting time between left field and designated hitter. His 23 home runs led the team and he captured the city's imagination with his hard hitting and his eccentricities. His tendency to dye his hair unnatural colors, open beer bottles with his eye socket, and drink beer with a straw through his nose, and other stories that emerged about how he did his own dental work and fixed a broken nose with a pair of pliers and a few shots of Jack Daniel's whiskey, stood out in 1980. By mid-season, Charboneau was the subject of a song--"Go Joe Charboneau"—that reached #3 on the local charts.

He finished the season with 87 runs batted in and a .289 batting average while winning the American League Rookie of the Year award—all in spite of being stabbed with a ball-point pen by a crazed fan as he waited for the team bus on March 8. The pen penetrated an inch and hit a rib, but Charboneau played his first regular-season game just over a month later, on April 11. He missed the final six weeks of the season with a pelvis injury. He would never play another full season in the majors after 1980.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 3, 1980: 1980 Major League Baseball draft Kelly Gruber was drafted by the Indians in the 1st round (10th pick). Player signed June 8, 1980.Kelly Gruber page at Baseball Reference Doug Drabek was drafted by the Indians in the 4th round, but did not sign.Doug Drabek page at Baseball Reference Mike Jeffcoat was drafted in the 13th round of the 1980 amateur draft.

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position28 Rick Manning CF11 Toby Harrah 3B21 Mike Hargrove 1B35 Gary Alexander DH6 Jorge Orta RF9 Ron Hassey C34 Joe Charboneau LF18 Duane Kuiper 2B 15 Tom Veryzer SS37 Dan Spillner P 1980 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1980 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Pitching) (Hitting/First Base) (Third Base) (Bullpen)

Player stats

Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB 76 178 22 40 7 1 5 31 .225 0 52 54 11 12 1 2 0 9 .222 2 81 262 41 86 17 4 1 32 .328 9 53 142 13 32 5 1 1 15 .225 0 131 453 76 131 17 2 23 87 .289 2 76 207 15 47 11 2 3 32 .227 1 132 528 82 180 30 9 0 40 .341 61 114 248 32 57 11 1 1 23 .230 4 28 54 4 8 1 0 2 4 .148 0 160 589 86 179 22 2 11 85 .304 4 160 561 100 150 22 4 11 72 .267 17 130 390 43 124 18 4 8 65 .318 0 54 174 25 40 3 1 6 28 .230 0 42 149 10 42 5 0 0 9 .282 0 140 471 55 110 17 4 3 52 .234 12 9 18 0 2 0 0 0 0 .111 0 129 481 78 140 18 3 10 64 .291 6 23 36 1 11 1 0 0 4 .306 0 71 117 16 29 3 0 2 12 .248 0 109 358 28 97 12 0 2 28 .271 0 Team totals 160 5470 738 1517 221 40 89 692 .277 118

Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K 19 12 4.17 36 36 0 246.1 237 127 114 92 187 0 0 7.50 4 0 0 6.0 9 5 5 7 0 6 7 3.45 55 0 12 86.0 71 36 33 27 88 8 6 4.39 16 16 0 108.2 116 54 53 47 59 6 9 4.61 25 20 0 150.1 163 85 77 48 55 4 5 6.75 14 11 0 74.2 103 63 56 24 18 3 5 3.53 67 0 14 94.1 80 39 37 40 61 2 9 5.27 29 14 0 114.1 138 71 67 47 66 0 0 12.91 4 0 0 7.2 13 11 11 6 6 16 11 5.28 34 30 0 194.1 225 122 114 74 100 1 3 5.46 51 0 5 85.2 98 58 52 44 74 13 14 4.45 33 33 0 224.1 231 118 111 82 109 1 0 3.57 17 0 1 35.1 35 18 14 14 20 Team totals 79 81 4.68 160 160 32 1428.0 1519 807 743 552 843

Awards and honors Joe Charboneau, American League Rookie of the Year All-Star Game

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: WaterlooJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References 1980 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1980 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com