Indians Celebrating Omar Vizquel

This weekend, the Cleveland Indians will be inducting former shortstop Omar Vizquel into the team’s Hall of Fame. Vizquel spent 11 seasons in Cleveland and won eight of his 11 Gold Gloves while manning the six-spot for the Tribe. Overall, Vizquel spent 24 seasons in the majors, accumulating some solid overall numbers, with his most productive seasons coming in Cleveland:

Some career achievements for the long-time shortstop:

1st in MLB history in games played at shortstop (2,709)
1st in MLB history in double plays turned (1,734) – thanks should go to Roberto Alomar on part of that, as well.
1st in MLB history in shortstop fielding percentage (.985)
40th in MLB history in hits (2,877)
16th in MLB history in singles (2,264)
8th highest defensive value among shortstops in MLB history (FanGraphs)

The Venezuelan shortstop followed in the footsteps of

Luis Aparicio

and

Dave Concepcion

, while having offensive peaks that rival those of the other slick fielders who came before him. For many who have forgotten the value that Vizquel brought defensively due to his longevity and the years between his prime and the present, consider the greatness of

Andrelton Simmons

defensively…only every year.

Vizquel had a long-lasting career due to his ability with the glove, but he wasn’t just a slick fielder. His counting stats added up historically to make him one of the greatest Indians of all-time. Now coaching first base for the Detroit Tigers, he comes to town for enshrinement into the Indians Hall of Fame.

The Indians will provide an Omar Vizquel jersey to the first 12,500 fans at Saturday’s game, and Vizquel will be honored with his spot in Heritage Park as the 40th member of the Indians’ Hall of Fame prior to the game that night against the Tigers.