Sewell Brings Hope

Baseball is often called a game of failure and nobody is really surprised by the prevailing negative attitude of many fans, especially devotees to teams like the Indians.

A player who fails seven out of ten times at bat can be considered a star and Hall of Fame candidate and that’s exactly what Indians fans got when their permanent replacement for Ray Chapman showed up on Sept. 10, 1920.

The replacement was a splendid player named Joe Sewell, still known as the Hall of Famer who strikes out less than almost anyone. How’s that for pseudo-negative thinking?

Sewell was touted as a promising prospect even before Chapman died. He was mentioned in the Plain Dealer numerous times after signing out of the University of Alabama. Several teams also wanted to sign Sewell who came to the Indians because of an unusual set of circumstances around his initial contact with the New Orleans Pelicans.

This was not like modern times when unproved prospects are acknowledged years before they show up in the major leagues. Many become millionaires before showing up for work in places like Beloit, Wis., or Bluefield West Virginia. Back then, they still started in obscure places but without the Maserati and world class sound system.

It would be unfair to say Sewell bailed the Indians out of the funk they entered after Chapman died…