The greatest Cub/Indian

Congratulations to the Cubs, the Indians, and their fanbases, one of which will enjoy a long-awaited championship!

Now here’s the question.  Which player in baseball history was the best combined Cub/Indian?  My methodology, as it was last year, is to draw the top 200 position players and pitchers from each team by Wins Above Replacement, using the Baseball Reference Play Index.  Then I find the players with the highest value of

(WAR for team 1 * WAR for team 2)

Now I have to admit I couldn’t actually think of a player who played for both the Cubs and the Indians!  And this was borne out by the Play Index results:  there were only five position players and no pitchers who ranked in the top 200 all-time contributors to each team.  Pretty surprising, considering how long both teams have been around!  And here are your top five Cub/Indians:

1.  Riggs Stephenson (193.6)
2.  Andre Thornton (98.8)
3.  Jose Cardenal (47.4)
4.  Mel Hall (9.0)
5.  Mitch Webster (7.8)

I almost wonder whether I did something wrong here.  There was so much more overlap last year between the Royals and the Mets!  But until you tell me otherwise, it’s the Riggs Stephenson Series.