Today continues our countdown to the start of Indians pitchers and catchers reporting to Goodyear, Arizona on February 20. We’ll count down the days, profiling a former Indian who wore the corresponding number. Some players will be memorable, others just our favorites and some, the only one we could find who wore that number. Today, we chronicle the career of pitcher, Jason Stanford.
By Craig Gifford
Jason Stanford is a fairly well known name when it comes to the Cleveland Indians. However, most fans would be more likely to tell you he’s a pregame analyst and studio host for local Indians games on SportsTime Ohio, rather than a former pitcher. Indeed, the voice fans have heard before and after Indians games for the past three years, did have a brief major league career with the Tribe, donning the number 61.
Stanford’s time in the big leagues lasted just 23 games, 12 starts, over three seasons. He pitched for Cleveland in parts of 2003, 2004 and 2007. His most extensive time in the majors came as a rookie in 2003. The Indians called him up on July 6 that year. He started eight games and appeared in five more. He had a record of 1-3, with a 3.60 ERA.
However, the lefty could never seem to crack an Indians rotations that was blooming with young, potential talent. In the early 2000s, the Indians had a young C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee. Guys like Jake Westbrook, Jason Davis, Billy Traber and Jeremy Guthrie were highly regarded and ahead of Stanford in the Tribe’s pecking order. When Stanford signed with the Indians as a rookie free agent in the summer of 1999, it was still the middle of the Tribe’s peak years.
Stanford was not a bad pitcher. His career numbers were 2-5 with a respectable 3.61 ERA. He never committed an error in 87.1 innings of major league pitching. Stanford was typically successful in the minors, which is why he shot up through the Indians’ organization quickly. The southpaw reached AAA Buffalo in 2001, just two years removed from his final game at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he was twice an All-Conference USA recipient.
Stanford’s final major league game came almost a year to the day of his debut. He threw his last pitch for the Tribe on July 26, 2007. Stanford was not quick to retire from the game, however. Following the 2007 campaign, he signed on with the Washington Nationals. He never reached their big league club and was released in April 2008. He signed a minor league deal with the Tribe on April 25 of that year. Still, he could not crack the major league club, which by that time still had Sabathia and Lee, who had become stars, and boasted Westbrook, an emerging Fausto Carmona and a host of other talented, young arms.
Stanford was released by the Tribe on May 21, 2008. He was picked up by the Cubs shortly after. Unable to reach the majors in Chicago, Stanford stepped away from the active side of the game. Stanford immediately found work as a pregame analyst for the Indians in 2009. He has expanded his role to lead analyst in 2011. He also served as a baseball coach for Howland High School, in Warren, in 2011. Fans may not have many memories of him pitching, but Stanford is still a known name to Clevelanders as his second career is proving to be a success.
Photo: Tucson Citizen
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
