Steve Hamilton, had he not succumbed to colon cancer in 1997, would have turned 76 on Nov. 30. I remember the former Yankee, especially for one sequence of pitches he threw in a summer game against the Cleveland Indians.

As a New York Yankees fan, these are fond memories from a time when the club was in the midst of a long drought.

Hamilton was an exceptional athlete, having played for the Minneapolis Lakers during the 1958 through 1960 seasons. Hamilton, who stood 6 foot 7 inches tall, averaged 4.5 points over that span, but then turned his attention to baseball. Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1958, Hamilton made his major league debut in 1961 for the Tribe. Cleveland traded him away at season’s end to Washington, where he labored for one campaign before the Yankees sent pitcher Jim Coates to the Senators for him in April of 1963.

Steve was a combined 12-3 with eight saves over the next two years, both ending in New York American League pennants, but World Series defeats. He was mainly a reliever; Hamilton started just 17 games out of the 421 he appeared in over his 12-year career. Hamilton started just seven times with the Yankees, throwing a pair of complete games and one shutout. In 1965, as the team trended into a downward spiral as their stars grew old, Hamilton had an exemplary season, pitching to a 1.39 earned run average in 46 games. He ended his stint with the Yankees in 1970, going on to hurl for the White Sox and Cubs in Chicago, sandwiched around a turn with the Giants.

However, Hamilton did not leave the Bronx without being part of one of the strangest scenes ever witnessed on a professional ball field. On June 24, 1970, Hamilton was mopping up in the second game of a doubleheader versus Cleveland, with the Indians ahead 7-1. In the previous season, he had developed a blooper pitch, throwing it high in the air to the batter after hesitating at the top of his delivery. Tony Horton, the Cleveland first baseman, led off the frame. Hamilton threw his pitch—he nicknamed it the “Folly Floater”—to Horton, who fouled it off behind the plate.

Horton motioned to Hamilton to throw the Floater one more time. The vast majority of fans that think they recall this game will relate how Horton proceeded to strike out. In reality, Horton popped the ball up foul, high enough for Thurman Munson to make a good, running grab in back of home. Horton threw his bat into the air in disgust and put his hands over his head as he turned back to the dugout as if to motion to the roaring fans that he was giving up. Before he got to the Cleveland dugout, Horton got on his hands and knees and crawled the last few feet as the crowd went wild.

Sources:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hamilst01.html

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hamilst01.shtml

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/04/sports/steve-hamilton-62-floater-pitcher-for-yankees.html

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Right-handed pitcher Chen-Chang Lee and infielder Jason Kipnis have won the top minor league awards in the Cleveland Indians farm system.

Lee has been named the 2011 Bob Feller Award recipient as the top pitcher in the Indians’ minor leagues.

Lee, 25, played at Class AA Akron and Class AAA Columbus in 2011, going a combined 6-1 with a save and 2.40 earned run average in 44 relief appearances. He averaged 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and limited minor league hitters to a .210 average against.

On the season, right-handed batters hit .197 off him with just four extra base hits. After beginning the season in Akron, where he had a 2.50 ERA in 23 games, he was promoted to Columbus on June 22 and went 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 21 games.

Lee hails from Taiwan and was signed as an amateur by the Indians in September 2008. He owns a three-year minor league career record of 15-11 with a 3.01 ERA in 133 relief appearances.

Kipnis won the Lou Boudreau Award as the team’s top minor league player of the year for the second straight time, joining Victor Martinez as the only Indian position player to win the award in consecutive seasons.

Kipnis spent the first three and one-half months of the 2011 season at Class AAA Columbus, hitting .280 with 16 doubles, nine triples and 55 RBI in 92 games. At the time of his July 22 promotion to Cleveland, he was leading the International League in triples, was second in runs (65) and tied for 12th in hits (92) and RBI.

A 2009 second-round pick out of Arizona State University, Kipnis hit .272 with Cleveland over the final two months of the season with nine doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 19 RBI in 36 games.

Here are the Bob Feller and Lou Boudreau winners in Indians team history:

FELLER: 1990 Charles Nagy; 1991 Mike Soper; 1992 Chad Ogea; 1993 John Carter; 1994 Steve Kline; 1995 Danny Graves; 1996 Danny Graves; 1997 Marc Deschenes; 1998 David Riske; 1999 Robert Pugmire; 2000 Jason Stanford 2001 Mike Bacsik; 2002 Billy Traber; 2003 Fausto Carmona; 2004 Adam Miller; 2005 Jeremy Sowers; 2006 Adam Miller; 2007 Aaron Laffey; 2008 David Huff; 2009 Hector Rondon; 2010 Alex White; 2011 Chen-Chang Lee.

BOUDREAU: 1990 Jim Thome; 1991 Manny Ramirez; 1992 Ken Ramos; 1993 Jim Thome; 1994 David Bell; 1995 Richie Sexson; 1996 Russ Branyan 1997 Sean Casey; 1998 Alex Ramirez 1999 Scott Morgan; 2000 Billy Munoz; 2001 Victor Martinez; 2002 Victor Martinez; 2003 Grady Sizemore; 2004 Ryan Garko; 2005 Ryan Mulhern; 2006 Kevin Kouzmanoff; 2007 Asdrubal Cabrera; 2008 Beau Mills; 2009 Carlos Santana; 2010 Jason Kipnis; 2011 Kipnis.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Second baseman Jason Kipnis and right-hander Chen-Chang Lee have been named the Indians minor league players of the year. Kipnis is the Lou Boudreau winner and Lee the Bob Feller winner.

Kipnis, who won the award in 2010, is the first Boudreau repeat winner since Victor Martinez in 2001 and 2002. In 92 games at Class AAA Columbus this year, Kipnis hit .280 (96-for-343) with 16 doubles, nine triples, 12 homers and 55 RBI. He scored 65 runs and went 12-for-13 in stolen base attempts.

He homered in the Futures Game as part of the All-Star game festivities in Phoenix and played in the Class AAA All-Star game. Kipnis, 24, was named to the International League’s postseason All-Star team.

The Indians promoted him to Cleveland on July 21 where he hit .272 (37-for-136) with nine doubles, seven homers and 19 RBI in 36 games. His time in the big leagues was interrupted by a trip to the disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. Kipnis was the Indians second round pick in 2009.

He is expected to be the Indians opening day second baseman in 2012.

Kipnis, Martinez, Jim Thome (1990-1993) and right-hander Danny Graves (1995-1996) are the only repeat winners of the Indians minor league players of the year awards. The awards have been in existence since 1990.

Lee, 25, was a combined 6-1 with one save and a 2.40 ERA at Class AA Akron and Columbus. In 44 relief appearances, he pitched 71 1/3 innings and averaged 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings. The opposition hit .210 (53-for-252) against Lee, including a paltry .197 (28-for-142) by right-handers.

The Indians are expected to invite Lee to big league spring training in February.

Lee was signed as a free agent from Taiwan in 2008. In three minor league seasons, he has 278 strikeouts in 227 1/3 innings. He has pitched in the Beijing Olympics and the World Baseball Classic.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Baseball’s Winter Meetings will be held in Dallas next Monday, Dec. 5, through Thursday, Dec. 8.

The Cleveland Indians, who went 80-82 last season and finished second to the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division, aren’t expected to be especially active.

The Indians roster is relatively young, and it’s understood that the current players on board will form the team’s nucleus in 2012.

Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes about the Indians’ approach to the Winter Meetings, referring to general manager Chris Antonetti: 

Cleveland has already shored up its rotation by acquiring Derek Lowe in a trade with the Braves and solidified its outfield by re-signing Grady Sizemore. Next on the agenda — beyond the usual low-profile moves to address depth up and down the roster — is finding a way to improve the Tribe’s offense.

Antonetti has held discussions with free agents and he has talked trades with other teams. The Indians GM is not sure, however, which route might present the best option for upgrading the position-player aspect of his roster.

“It’s very difficult to handicap the two different avenues,” Antonetti said. “We’ve been engaged in both. We’ve certainly had substantive conversations with free agents, as well as laid the groundwork for some potential trades. Now, which direction we end up going, or whether or not those will atually get done, I don’t have a great sense.”

What is clear at the moment is that the Indians plan on relying heavily on the young core that is in the fold, with the hope that the team can build on the success experienced throughout the 2011 season. Cleveland had one of the youngest rosters in baseball, but finished second in the American League Central.

Plain Dealer and cleveland.com Indians coverage will detail any moves the Indians make before, during or after the Winter Meetings.

Rounding third

Baseball, unlike the other sports, quietly settled on a new collective bargaining agreement recently. Jon Steiner, writing for the WaitingForNextYear blog, explains how the new agreement could affect the Indians in Part 1 (league minimum players) and in Part 2 (draft compensation).

An Indians Winter Meetings preview, by Scott Barzilla for the Bleacher Report.

On MLB.com, Jordan Bastian answers readers’ questions about the Indians.

An Arizona Fall League recap for players in the Indians’ organization, by Tony Lastoria of Indians Prospect Insider.

A Bleacher Report slideshow of players ready to make an impact in the big leagues includes Indians pitcher Zach McAllister.

What the new collective bargaining agreement might mean for teams — like the Indians — not in the big markets. By Stephanie Liscio for the blog “It’s pronounced ‘Lajaway.’ “

A chart on remaining options for players on the Indians’ 40-man roster, by Tony Lastoria of Indians Prospect Insider.

Details about how the new CBA will affect the baseball draft, by Jim Callis of Baseball America.

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays acquired second baseman Luis Valbuena from the Cleveland Indians on Saturday in exchange for cash considerations.

The 25-year-old Valbuena appeared in 17 games for Cleveland last season, batting .209 with one home run and one RBI.

The left-handed hitter has played in 229 major league games over four seasons for Seattle (2008) and Cleveland (2009-11), with a .226 average with 13 home runs and 57 RBI.

With the move, the Blue Jays have 40 players on the 40-man roster.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays acquired second baseman Luis Valbuena from the Cleveland Indians on Saturday in exchange for cash considerations.

The 25-year-old Valbuena appeared in 17 games for Cleveland last season, batting .209 with one home run and one RBI.

The left-handed hitter has played in 229 major league games over four seasons for Seattle (2008) and Cleveland (2009-11), with a .226 average with 13 home runs and 57 RBI.

With the move, the Blue Jays have 40 players on the 40-man roster.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.