My least favorite Indians
This idea came from a conversation I had Sunday with my brother. He asked me if I had ever hated an Indian as much as I do Casey Blake.
"Hate" is an awfully strong word. But if you're a long time reader, you know I haven't been exactly fond of the player.
And that's an important point to make. As sports fans, we don't -- we can't -- dislike people we don't know. All we have to go on is play on the field, or a perceived lack of hustle, or whatever.
I told my brother I'm sure I've been as hard on other players as I am on Blake. He wasn't so sure. But here are a few players I have been mad at over the years, or at the very least, have been negative about.

Jim Thome: Some people are probably snickering now.
"How could you not like Jim Thome?"
He's an Indians' legend. He's a class guy. He's a likely hall of famer.
He also irritated the heck out of me in 2000.
Looking at his final stats (.269, 49 homers), it doesn't look so bad. But that season, all I remember is Thome swinging for the fences every at-bat. It wasn't just he wanted to hit a home run. It was he wanted to hit a 500-footer every time up.
Or at least that's how it appeared. Either way, after he hit a game-winning homer when a single would have won the game, I remember having a conversation with my father that went something like this:
Zach: Some game, huh?
Dad: What was he thinking about?
Some friends may remember me bitching out Thome after he'd hit a game-winning homer. I did it for comedic effect, but I had become convinced Thome was one-dimensional.
In truth, I wasn't all that upset when he signed with Philadelphia. Erik may remember that the day the deal with the Phillies was signed, I made a prediction:
They'll choke on that contract.
Again, this was never personal. But I am probably one of the only Indians' fans to think the team was better off not re-signing Thome.

Eric Plunk: The relief pitcher had some solid years setting up Jose Mesa. At least that's what the stats indicate. And yet, no matter the year, I always had a feeling of doom whenever he entered the game.
Despite having good stuff, Plunk seemed to fail in important situations. The best example I can give is when the Indians had their 100-win season in 1995. They lost only one extra-inning game all year: Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, when Seattle's Jay Buhner launched a Plunk pitch into the right field bleachers.
Plunk had ERAs under three four consecutive seasons for the Indians. After the 1996 season, the Tribe rewarded him with a big contract.
Plunk was never the same. He blew up in 1997, finishing with a 4.66 ERA (though in fairness, he could have been the stopper in last year's bullpen). He was traded to the Brewers the next year.
Despite his great numbers, I don't think the Indians have had a pitcher in my lifetime who I feared the manager giving the ball to more.

John McDonald: He was Casey Blake before Casey Blake was cool. Well, not quite. But the Indians announcers always talked about how solid he was, how the Indians were right not to deal him before 2004 because "he's an Indian," and how "Johnny Mac" was a keeper.
Never bought it.
All I saw was a reserve player who couldn't hit and was abover average defensively.
I love defensive specialists. My favorite Reds player is Juan Castro. But I have seen Juan Castro play, and John McDonald play, and John McDonald is no Juan Castro.
Reports this winter said the Indians were trying to reaquire McDonald. Yeah, because weak-hitting infielders are so hard t find these days.

Honorable Mentions
Andre Thornton- This is more for my grandmother, who complained all the time to her seven-year old son all the time that Thornton was a stiff. How can someone not love Andre Thornton? My grandmother was ahead of her time.

Jim Poole- Why did Mike Hargrove like him so much?

Jay Bell- I agreed with Hank Peters. I was so mad Bell was on the 1988 all-star ballot I actually wrote in Ron Washington's name. The Indians traded him for Felix Fermin. Not sorry then; not sorry now.

Matt Underwood- Do announcers count?