Cleveland Busts From the Past

When he made his way to Cleveland in the 1998-1999 seasons, he put up average numbers at best. His win totals never exceeded eight. His ERA was 3.76 in 1998 and 6.26 in 1999. He was unable to manage more than 100 strikeouts in either season.



9. Andre Rison Andre Rison had a number of successful seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons before coming to Cleveland. He was best known for his success in Atlanta where he made the Pro Bowl four times in five seasons. In 1993 he led the NFL with 15 receiving touchdowns.

He played one year in Cleveland which was the worst season of his career only catching 47 passes for 701 yards and only three touchdowns. The epitome of a bust.



10. John Rocker Known more for his controversial ramblings and anger management issues, Rocker came to the Indians from the Braves after several successful seasons in which his ERA was below 3.00 every season and his save totals were 38 and 24 in his first two full seasons. He came to the Tribe in the middle of the 2001 season with 19 saves but never fulfilled his promise in Cleveland going 3-7 and watching his ERA balloon to over five.



These are ten that my friends and I could come up with ourselves. In addition to these ten, there are several established stars that came to Cleveland and didn't live up to their incoming status but managed some limited success. While they didn't live up to their expectations, they can't be called "busts" in my mind either.

The toughest example for me to label would be Shawn Kemp. This is a tough one because Kemp DID lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to the playoffs. It was a very mediocre team at the time as well. He was the obvious leader on the court and carried the team. But he was far from the touted "Rainman" that we loved to watch in Seattle. He was really a shell of his former self.

Then there's Larry Hughes. He was signed as the second man to LeBron James. The Scottie Pippen to Micheal Jordan. The Robin to Batman. But he never embraced that role and never lived up to his hype as he struggled to develop any consistency shooting or on the defensive end.

Some others who were able to contribute in a positive manner although not as well as they did in pre-Cleveland years included Orel Hersheiser, Eddie Murray and Dennis Martinez.

Some had solid careers prior to their Cleveland let down but didn't arrive with the high expectations these others; Ball, Mark Mosely, Don Strock, Pepper Johnson, Joe Jurivius, Phil Neikro, Steve Carlton, Mark Bavaro and Jamir Miller, for example.

We can talk about the Curse all we want when it comes to the teams' lack of championships and numerous moments of bad luck, but don't forget the bad luck Cleveland has had with superstars as well.

Unless otherwise noted, I referenced Wikipedia to find specific statistics and background information.

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