A partial list of notable Indians who have never played with Jim Thome

Don't ask me why, I just find this kind of thing fascinating. Jim Thome went nearly nine years without putting on an Indians uniform, and obviously many dozens of people played for the Indians while he was away. What's interesting to me is how many players never played with Thome as an Indian and still haven't — despite having had significant, multi-year careers with the Indians while Thome was away. Here's the fairly interesting and incomplete list, obviously subject to change:

POSITION PLAYERS, by games played as an Indian

1000 — Travis Hafner
923 — Jhonny Peralta
882 — Grady Sizemore
810 — Casey Blake
408 — Ryan Garko
390 — Ronnie Belliard
305 — Jody Gerut
301 — Kelly Shoppach
284 — Franklin Gutierrez
278 — Andy Marte
249 — Jason Michaels
247 — Aaron Boone
235 — Ben Francisco
214 — Michael Brantley
206 — Jamey Carroll
205 — Luis Valbuena
190 — Trevor Crowe
183 — David Dellucci
159 — Josh Barfield
141 — Austin Kearns
87 — Jose Hernandez
74 — Alex Escobar
73 — Ryan Ludwick
73 — Chris Gimenez
46 — Ramon Vazquez

It's a huge list, largely reflecting how complete the 2003 rebuild was. Still, a host of 2004-2008 stalwarts aren't on this list as they debuted in 2002: Bard, Crisp, Broussard, Phillips, Bradley and Victor Martinez. Dellucci debuted with the Phillies in 2006, just a few months after the Phillies had shipped Thome to the White Sox. Jose Hernandez and Thome both played briefly for the 1992 Indians, but they never appeared in the same game. Thome appeared as a pinch hitter in eight games with Blake, with the 2009 Dodgers.

STARTING PITCHERS, by games started as an Indian

84 — Paul Byrd
71 — Jeremy Sowers
52 — Scott Elarton
49 — Aaron Laffey (+30 in relief)
42 — David Huff
40 — Mitch Talbot
33 — Carlos Carrasco

Not much to see here, as the Indians rotation was impressively stable in Thome's absence. Sabathia and Westbrook debuted well before he left, and Thome was in the lineup for Cliff Lee's first two starts as a September callup. Carmona is still in the rotation, so that basically just leaves four guys filling in the gaps for eight years.  

RELIEF PITCHERS, by appearances as an Indian

371 — Rafael Betancourt
161 — Jensen Lewis
116 — Bob Howry
96 — Matt Miller
94 — Fernando Cabrera
87 — Joe Borowski
82 — Scott Sauerbeck
0 — Adam Miller

Have to feel bad for Jensen. The amazing thing about Betancourt is that he's already pitched in 163 games for the Rockies, too; over the past nine years, he's one of only five pitchers with more than 500 appearances and fewer than 25 saves.