5 Greatest Cleveland Guardians Pitchers of All Time

The Cleveland Guardians are one of baseball's most storied franchises, one with countless imprints on the formation of the game today, influence on baseball in the Midwest, and unfortunately, the longest title drought in baseball today.

Through it all, they have been able to develop some all-time greats on the mound. To show just how loaded this list is, modern workhorses like CC Sabathia and Corey Kluber failed to make the cut.

For a team with so much history, and countless pitching royalty, it's tough to get it right. Here's our attempt at ranking Cleveland's five best MLB pitchers of all time.

5. Early Wynn (1949-1957, 1963)

Wynn split his prime between Cleveland, Washington, and Chicago, but put together some of his best seasons while in The Sixth City. That included his role on Cleveland's historically great pitching staff along with Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, and Mike Garcia.

In 1954, Wynn won 23 games for Cleveland, and the team won an American League record 111 games along with the pennant, though they were swept in four games by the heavy underdog NY Giants, led by Willie Mays (think "The Catch"). Wynn allowed three runs in seven innings in the Giants' 3-1 Game 1 win.

Wynn was a highly talented pitcher before coming to Cleveland, but working with pitching coach Mel Harder "made a pitcher" out of him, in his words. Wynn added a curveball, knuckleball, and changeup during his time there.

Wynn's Cleveland legacy, already great after leaving for the White Sox in 1958, was cemented when he returned in 1963 with one goal in mind: to become the 14th pitcher in MLB history to record 300 wins; he finished 1962 in Chicago with 299.

In June, he re-signed with Cleveland, failed to win in his first three starts, but threw "nothing but bloopers and junk," according to opposing Kansas City hitter Ed Charles, as he recorded win No. 300.

4. Addie Joss (1902-1910)

Joss' MLB career was tragically cut short by his dying of spinal meningitis at just 31 years old in 1911. A star pitcher for what was then known as the Naps after player manager Nap Lajoie, "The Human Hairpin" achieved a nearly inimitable career ERA of 1.88, the second-lowest in baseball history.

Joss used a corkscrew and pinball windup, where he would turn completely towards second base and whip the baseball to home plate, hiding the baseball from hitters until the very last second.

In doing so, Joss threw two no-hitters before pitching one of the most dominant performances in baseball history on October 2, 1908, a 74-pitch perfect game against the White Sox, then the second in baseball history.

3. Stan Coveleski (1916-1924)

Coveleski's legacy in Cleveland is best remembered for his utter and complete dominance in the 1920 World Series, where he threw not one, not two, but three complete games against the Brooklyn Robins to help Cleveland to a 5-2 series win in the Fall Classic, then a best-of-nine affair rather than best-of-seven.

That 1920 World Series was the icing on the cake of a truly magnificent campaign in which Coveleski racked up 133 strikeouts, an American League high.

Over nine seasons in Cleveland, Coveleski picked up 172 wins and was known as a fierce workhorse. Coveleski mastered the art of the spitball before Gaylord Perry, the modern spitballer, was even born.

2. Bob Lemon (1946-1958)