A pair of former Cleveland Indians from the 1980s are among seven people selected to enter the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Outfielder Oddibe McDowell spent four seasons with the Texas Rangers before being dealt to the Indians after the 1988 season with first baseman Pete O’Brien and second baseman Jerry Browne for infielder Julio Franco. McDowell spent 69 games with the Tribe, hitting .222 before he was sent to the Atlanta Braves for outfielder Dion James.
Terry Francona debuted with the Montreal Expos and spent five years north of the border before joining the Chicago Cubs. He spent a year there and another year in Cincinnati before coming to Cleveland. He hit .311 in 62 games with the Indians while playing DH, first base, and left field before spending parts of two seasons in Milwaukee.
Also on this date in Tribe history:
1961 – Future Indians catcher, coach, and manager Joel Skinner is born in La Jolla, California. He was 35-41 as Cleveland’s manager after replacing the fired Charlie Manuel in 2002.
2011 – Justine Siegal is believed to be the first woman to throw batting practice to a group of major league hitters, doing so at the Cleveland Indians spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona. The 36-year-old Cleveland native was a former assistant coach at Springfield College and first base coach with the independent Brockton Rox and in 2015 became the first female coach in MLB history when hired by the Oakland A’s as a guest instructor at the team’s fall instructional league.