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The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field). The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona. Since their establishment in 1901, the Indians have won two World Series championships, in 1920 and 1948.
The "Indians" name originates from a request by the club owner to decide a new name, following the 1914 season.
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The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field). The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona. Since their establishment in 1901, the Indians have won two World Series championships, in 1920 and 1948.
The "Indians" name originates from a request by the club owner to decide a new name, following the 1914 season. In reference to the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves), the media chose "the Indians". They are nicknamed "the Tribe" and "the Wahoos". The latter is a reference to the mascot which appears in the team's logos, Chief Wahoo.
One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Cleveland in . The team actually began play in 1900 as the Lake Shores, when the AL was officially a minor league. Then called the Cleveland Blues, the team played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Municipal Stadium in . At the end of the 2008 season, they have a regular season franchise record of 8,557–8,178 (.511). The Indians' most recent postseason visit came in 2007, when they won their seventh AL Central title, the most in the division.
Franchise history
Forest City club
Open professional baseball began in Cleveland during the 1869 season and one team was hired on salary for 1870, as in several other cities following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. The leading Cleveland baseball club was Forest City, a nickname of the city itself. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was often called the Forest Citys, in the same generic way that the team from Chicago was sometimes called The Chicagos. The Forest City club was formed about 1865, when baseball club organization and "national" association membership boomed following the Civil War.
In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the first professional league, as did the Forest Citys of Rockford, Illinois. New York and Philadelphia had been the home cities of most top baseball clubs before the league era, but only one club from each joined the professional National Association, whose nine-city circuit was made up by four western clubs and eastern rivals in Washington, D.C., Troy, New York and Boston. Ultimately, two of the western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that city's White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NA's western outpost in 1872 and the Forest City's failed, playing a full schedule to July 19 followed only by two games versus Boston in mid-August.
National League era
In 1876, the National League supplanted the N.A. as the major professional league. Cleveland was not among its charter members, but by 1879 the league was looking for new entries and the city returned to a major circuit. The Cleveland Blues played mainly in the middle of the pack for six seasons and was ruined by trade war with the Union Association in 1884, when its three best players moved for the money: Fred Dunlap, Jack Glasscock, and Jim McCormick. St Louis from the U.A. took its place for 1885.
Cleveland went without major league ball for only two seasons, joining the American Association in 1887, after that league's Allegheny club had jumped to the N.L. Cleveland followed suit in 1889, as the Association began to crumble. (It folded after 1891, and the National League acquired four of its franchises to swell to 12 teams.) With the unique nickname Spiders, supposedly inspired by their "skinny and spindly" players, Cleveland slowly became a power in the league.
The Spiders survived a challenge for fans from the Cleveland Infants, an entry in the one-season Players' League in 1890. The next year the Spiders moved into League Park, which would become the home of Cleveland professional ball for the next 55 years. Led by native Ohioan Cy Young, the Spiders became a contender in the mid-1890s, when they played in the Temple Cup Series (that era's World Series) twice, winning it in 1895. The team began to fade after that, and was dealt a severe blow under the ownership of the Robison brothers.
The Robisons, despite already owning the Spiders, were allowed to also acquire a controlling interest in the St. Louis Cardinals franchise in 1899. They proceeded to strip the Cleveland team of its best players (including Young) to help fill the St. Louis roster. The St. Louis team improved to finish above .500. The Spiders were left with essentially a minor league lineup, and began to lose games at a record pace. Drawing almost no fans at home, they ended up playing most of their season on the road, and became known as "The Wanderers", finally falling to 12th place, 84 games out of first place, with an all-time worst record of 20 wins and 134 losses. Following the 1899 season, the National League disbanded the Cleveland franchise along with three other teams in Washington, Baltimore, and Louisville. The disastrous 1899 season would actually be a step toward a new future for Cleveland fans the next year.
1901–1946: Early to middle history of the franchise
Seeking to capitalize on general public disillusionment with the National League, Ban Johnson changed the name of his minor league, the Western League, to the American League and shifted the WL's Grand Rapids club to Cleveland, taking over League Park in 1900 as the Cleveland Lake Shores. Although still a minor league, the new organization was ready to make its move. In 1901 the American League broke with the National Agreement and declared itself a competing Major League. The Cleveland franchise was among its eight charter members.
The new team was owned by coal magnate Charles Somers and tailor Jack Kilfoyl. Somers, a wealthy industrialist and also co-owner of the Boston Americans, lent money to other team owners, including Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics, to keep them and the new league afloat. The team was originally nicknamed the "Bluebirds," but the players didn't think the nickname was suitable for a baseball team. Writers frequently shortened it to "Blues" due to the players' all-blue uniforms, but the players didn't like this name either. They tried to change the name themselves to "Bronchos," but this name never caught on.
The Blues suffered from financial problems in their first two seasons. This led Somers to seriously consider moving to either Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. Relief came in as a result of the conflict between the National and American Leagues. In 1901, Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the Philadelphia Phillies star second baseman, jumped to the A's after his contract was capped at $2,400 per year–one of the highest-profile players to jump to the upstart AL. The Phillies subsequently filed an injunction to force Lajoie's return, which was granted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The injunction appeared to doom any hopes of an early settlement between the warring leagues. However, a lawyer discovered that the injunction was only enforceable in the state of Pennsylvania.
Mack, partly to thank Somers for his past financial support, agreed to trade Lajoie to the then-moribund Blues, who offered $25,000 salary over three years. Due to the injunction, however, Lajoie had to sit out any games played against the A's in Philadelphia. Lajoie arrived in Cleveland on June 4 and was an immediate hit, drawing 10,000 fans to League Park. Soon afterward, he was named team captain, and the team was renamed the "Naps" after a newspaper conducted a write-in contest.
Lajoie was named manager in , and the team's fortunes improved somewhat. They finished half a game short of the pennant in 1908. However, the success did not last and Lajoie resigned during the 1909 season as manager but remained on as a player.
After that, the team began to unravel, leading Kilfoyl to sell his share of the team to Somers. Cy Young who returned to Cleveland in 1909, was ineffective for most of his three remaining years and Addie Joss died from tubercular meningitis prior to the season.
Despite a strong lineup anchored by the potent Lajoie and Shoeless Joe Jackson, poor pitching kept the team below third place for most of the next decade. One reporter referred to the team as the Napkins, "because they fold up so easily" while others called them the "Molly McGuires" as a play on their manager's name, Deacon McGuire. The team hit bottom in 1914 and 1915, finishing in the cellar both years.
1915 brought significant changes to the team. Lajoie, nearly 40 years old was no longer a top hitter in the league, batting only .258 in 1914. With Lajoie engaged in a feud with manager Joe Birmingham, the team sold Lajoie back to Philadelphia.
With Lajoie gone, the Naps now needed a new nickname. Somers asked the local newspapers to come up with a new name, and they chose "Indians". Legend has it that the team honored Louis Sockalexis when it assumed its current name in 1915. Sockalexis, a Native American, had played in Cleveland 1897–99. Research indicates that this legend is mostly untrue, and that the new name was a play on the name of the Boston Braves, then known as the "Miracle Braves" after going from last place on July 4 to a sweep in the 1914 World Series. Proponents of the name acknowledged that the Cleveland Spiders of the National League had sometimes been informally called the "Indians" during Sockalexis' short career there, a fact which merely reinforced the new name.
At the same time, Somers' business ventures began to fail, leaving him deeply in debt. With the Indians playing poorly, attendance and revenue suffered. Somers decided to trade Jackson midway through the 1915 season for two players and $31,500, one of the largest sums paid for a player at the time.
By , Somers was at the end of his tether and sold the team to a syndicate headed by Chicago railroad contractor James C. "Jack" Dunn. Manager Lee Fohl, who had taken over in early 1915, acquired two minor league pitchers, Stan Coveleski and Jim Bagby and traded for center fielder Tris Speaker, who was engaged in a salary dispute with the Red Sox. All three would ultimately become key players in bringing a championship to Cleveland.
Speaker took over the reins as player-manager in , and would lead the team to a championship in 1920. On August 16, the Indians were playing the Yankees at the Polo Grounds in New York. Shortstop Ray Chapman, who often crowded the plate, was batting against Carl Mays, who had an unusual underhand delivery. It was also was late in the afternoon and the infield would have been in shadow with the center field area (the batters' background) bathed in sunlight. In any case, Chapman did not move reflexively when Mays' pitch came his way. The pitch hit Chapman in the head, fracturing his skull. Chapman died the next day, becoming the only player to sustain a fatal injury from a pitched ball. The Indians, who at the time were locked in a tight three-way pennant race with the Yankees and White Sox, were not slowed down by the death of their teammate. Rookie Joe Sewell hit .329 after replacing Chapman in the lineup.
In September 1920, the Black Sox Scandal came to a boil. With just a few games left in the season, and Cleveland and Chicago neck-and-neck for first place at 94–54 and 95–56 respectively, the Chicago owner suspended eight players. The White Sox lost 2 of 3 in their final series, while Cleveland won 4 and lost 2 in their final two series. Cleveland finished 2 games ahead of Chicago and 3 games ahead of the Yankees to win its first pennant, led by Speaker's .388 hitting, Jim Bagby's 30 victories and solid performances from Steve O'Neill and Stan Coveleski. Cleveland went on to defeat the Brooklyn Robins 5–2 in the World Series for their first title, winning four games in a row after the Robins took a 2–1 Series lead. The Series included three memorable "firsts", all of them in Game 5 at Cleveland, and all by the home team. In the first inning, rightfielder Elmer Smith hit the first Series grand slam. In the fourth inning, Jim Bagby hit the first Series home run by a pitcher. And in the top of the fifth inning, second baseman Bill Wambsganns executed the first (and only, so far) unassisted triple play in World Series history, in fact the only Series triple play of any kind.
The team would not reach the heights of 1920 again for 28 years. Speaker and Coveleski were aging and the Yankees were rising with a new weapon: Babe Ruth and the home run. They managed two second-place finishes but spent much of the decade in the cellar. In 1927 Dunn's widow, Mrs. George Pross (Dunn had died in 1922), sold the team to a syndicate headed by Alva Bradley.
The Indians were a middling team by the 1930s, finishing third or fourth most years. brought Cleveland a new superstar in 17-year old pitcher Bob Feller, who came from Iowa with a dominating fastball. That season, Feller set a record with 17 strikeouts in a single game and went on to lead the league in strikeouts from 1938–1941. By , Feller, along with Ken Keltner, Mel Harder and Lou Boudreau led the Indians to within one game of the pennant. However, the team was wracked with dissension, with some players (including Feller and Mel Harder) going so far as to request that Bradley fire manager Ossie Vitt. Reporters lampooned them as the Cleveland Crybabies. Feller, who had pitched a no-hitter to open the season and won 27 games, lost the final game of the season to unknown pitcher Floyd Giebell of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won the pennant and Giebell never won another major league game.
Cleveland entered 1941 with a young team and a new manager; Roger Peckinpaugh had replaced the despised Vitt; but the team regressed, finishing in fourth. Cleveland would soon be depleted of two stars. Hal Trosky retired in 1941 due to migraine headaches and Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy two days after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Starting third baseman Ken Keltner and outfielder Ray Mack were both drafted in 1945 taking two more starters out of the lineup.
1947–1959
In Bill Veeck formed an investment group that purchased the Cleveland Indians from Bradley's group for a reported $1.6 million. Among the investors was Bob Hope, who had grown up in Cleveland and former Tigers slugger, Hank Greenberg.
A former owner of a minor league franchise in Milwaukee, Veeck brought to Cleveland a gift for promotion. At one point, Veeck hired rubber-faced Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box was the sort of promotional stunt that delighted fans but infuriated the American League front office.
Recognizing that he had acquired a solid team, Veeck soon abandoned the aging, small and lightless League Park to take up full-time residence in massive Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Prior to 1947 the Indians played most of their games at League Park, and occasionally played weekend games at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. League Park was demolished in 1951, although a portion of the original ticket booth remains.
Making the most of the cavernous stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season. The massive stadium did, however, permit the Indians to set the all-time one game regular-season attendance record in 1954 at over 84,000.
Under Veeck's leadership, one of Cleveland's most significant achievements was breaking the color barrier in the American League by signing Larry Doby, formerly a player for the Negro League's Newark Eagles in , eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers. Similar to Robinson, Doby battled racism on and off the field but posted a .301 batting average in 1948, his first full season. A power-hitting center fielder, Doby led the American League twice in homers.
In 1948, needing pitching for the stretch run of the 1948 pennant race, Veeck turned to the Negro League again and signed pitching great Satchel Paige amid much controversy. Barred from Major League Baseball during his prime, Veeck's signing of the aging star in 1948 was viewed by many as another publicity stunt. At an official age of 42, Paige became the oldest rookie in Major League baseball history, and the first black pitcher. Paige soon proved he could still pitch and ended the year with a 6–1 record with a 2.48 ERA, 45 strikeouts and two shutouts.
In , veterans Boudreau, Keltner, and Joe Gordon had career offensive seasons, while newcomers Larry Doby and Gene Bearden also had standout seasons. The team went down to the wire with the Boston Red Sox, winning a one-game playoff, the first in American League history, to go to the World Series. In the series, the Indians defeated the Boston Braves four games to two for their first championship in 28 years. Boudreau won the American League MVP Award.
The Indians would appear in a film the following year titled The Kid From Cleveland, in which Veeck had an interest. The film portrayed the team helping out a "troubled teenaged fan" and featured many members of the Indians organization. However, filming during the season cost the players valuable rest days leading to fatigue towards the end of the season. That season, Cleveland again contended before falling to third place. On September 23, 1949, Bill Veeck and the Indians buried their 1948 pennant in center field the day after they were mathematically eliminated from the pennant race.
Later in 1949, Veeck's first wife (who had a half-stake in Veeck's share of the team) divorced him. With most of his money tied up in the Indians, Veeck as forced to sell the team to a syndicate headed by insurance magnate Ellis Ryan. Ryan was forced out in in favor of Myron Wilson, who in turn gave way to William Daley in . Despite this turnover in the ownership, a powerhouse team composed of Feller, Doby, Minnie Mińoso, Luke Easter, Bobby Avila, Al Rosen, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and Mike Garcia continued to contend through the early 1950s. However, Cleveland only won a single pennant in the decade, finishing second to the New York Yankees five times.
Their best season of the era came in , when the Indians won a then-record 111 games and returned to the World Series against the New York Giants. The team could not bring home the title, however, ultimately being upset by the Giants in a sweep. The series was notable for Willie Mays's famous over-the-shoulder catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in Game 1.
1960–1993: The 30-year slump
From 1960 to 1993, the Indians managed one third-place and five fourth-place finishes but spent the rest of the time in the American League cellar. The Indians hired General Manager Frank Lane, known as "Trader" Lane away from St. Louis in 1957. Lane had gained a reputation as a GM who loved to make deals over the years. With the White Sox, Lane made over 100 trades involving over 400 players in seven years. In a short stint in St. Louis, he traded away Red Schoendienst and Harvey Haddix. Lane summed up his philosophy when he said that the only deals he regretted were the ones that he didn't make.
Arriving after the 1957 season, one of Lane's early trades was to send Roger Maris to Kansas City in the middle of 1958. Indians executive Hank Greenberg was not happy about the trade and neither was Maris, who said that he couldn't stand Lane. After, Maris broke Babe Ruth's home run record, Lane defended himself by saying he still would have done the deal because Maris was unknown and he received good ballplayers in exchange.
After the Maris trade, Lane acquired 25-year old Norm Cash from the White Sox for Minnie Mińoso and then traded him to Detroit before he ever played a game for the Indians. Cash went on to hit over 350 home runs for the Tigers. The Indians received Steve Demeter in the deal, who would have only five at bats for Cleveland.
The curse of Rocky Colavito
In 1960, Lane made the trade that would define his tenure in Cleveland when he dealt slugging right fielder and fan favorite Rocky Colavito.
Just before Opening Day in , Colavito was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. It was a blockbuster trade that swapped the AL home run co-champion (Colavito) for the AL batting champion (Kuenn). After the trade, Colavito hit over 30 home runs four times and made three All Star Teams for Detroit, and later the Kansas City Athletics, before returning to Cleveland in . Kuenn, on the other hand, would play only one season for the Indians before departing in a trade for an aging Johnny Antonelli and Willie Kirkland. Akron Beacon Journal columnist Terry Pluto documented the decades of woe that followed the trade in his book The Curse of Rocky Colavito. Despite being attached to the curse, Colavito said that he never placed a curse on the Indians but that the trade was prompted by a salary dispute with Lane.
Lane also engineered a unique trade of managers in mid-season 1960, sending Joe Gordon to the Tigers in exchange for Jimmy Dykes. Lane left the team in 1961, but the trades continued. In 1965, the Indians traded pitcher Tommy John, who would go on to win 288 games in his career, and 1966 Rookie of the Year Tommy Agee to the White Sox to get Colavito back. Lou Piniella, the 1969 Rookie of the Year and Luis Tiant, who was selected to two All-Star games after leaving, both left. At one point, Cleveland even traded Harry Chiti to the New York Mets, only to receive him back as the player to be named later after 15 days.
The 1970s were little better with the Indians trading away several future stars, including Graig Nettles, Dennis Eckersley, Buddy Bell and 1971 Rookie of the year Chris Chambliss, for a number of players who made no impact.
Constant ownership changes did not help the Indians. In 1963, Daley's syndicate sold the team to a group headed by general manager Gabe Paul. Three years later, Paul sold the Indians to Vernon Stouffer, of the Stouffer's frozen-food empire. Prior to Stouffer's purchase, the team was rumored to be relocated due to poor attendance. Despite the potential for a financially strong owner, Stouffer had some non-baseball related financial setbacks and consequently, the team was cash-poor. In order to solve some financial problems, Stouffer had made an agreement to play a minimum of 30 home games in New Orleans with a possible move there. After rejecting an offer from George Steinbrenner and former Indian Al Rosen, Stouffer sold the team in 1972 to a group led by Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Barons owner Nick Mileti. Steinbrenner went on to buy the New York Yankees in 1973.
Only five years later, Mileti's group sold the team for $11 million to a syndicate headed by trucking magnate Steve O'Neill and which included Gabe Paul, who had been an executive with the Indians, Reds and Yankees. O'Neill's death in 1983 led to the team going on the market once more. His son, Patrick O'Neill, did not find a buyer until real estate magnates Richard and David Jacobs purchased the team in 1986.
The team was unable to move out of the cellar with losing seasons between 1969 and 1975. One highlight was the acquisition of Gaylord Perry in . The Indians traded fireballer 'Sudden Sam' McDowell for Perry, who became the first Indian pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. In , Cleveland broke another color barrier with the hiring of Frank Robinson as Major League Baseball's first African American manager. Robinson served as player-manager and would provide a franchise highlight when he hit a pinch hit home run on Opening Day. But the high profile signing of Wayne Garland, a 20-game winner in Baltimore, proved to be a disaster after Garland suffered from shoulder problems and went 28–48 over five years. The team failed to improve with Robinson as manager and he was fired in .
The 1970s also featured the infamous Ten Cent Beer Night at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The ill-conceived promotion at a game against the Texas Rangers ended in a riot by fans and a forfeit by the Indians.
There were more bright spots in the 1980s. In May 1981, Len Barker threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays, joining Addie Joss as the only other Indian pitcher to do so. "Super Joe" Charbonneau won the American League Rookie of the Year award. Unfortunately, Charboneau was out of baseball by 1983 after falling victim to back injuries and Barker, who was also hampered by injuries, never became a consistently dominant starting pitcher.
Eventually, the Indians traded Barker to the Atlanta Braves for Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby, who would become mainstays of the team for the remainder of the decade. Butler and Jacoby were joined by Joe Carter, Mel Hall, Julio Franco and Cory Snyder, which brought new hope to fans in the late 1980s.
After a rare winning season in , Sports Illustrated, with Carter and Snyder pictured on the cover, boldly predicted the Indians to win the American League East in . Instead, the team went on to lose 101 games and finish with the worst record in baseball, a fate attributed to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.
Cleveland's struggles over the 30-year span were highlighted in the 1989 film Major League, which depicted a comically hapless Cleveland ball club going from worst to first by the end of the film.
Organizational turnaround
Throughout the 1980s, Indians owners had pushed for a new stadium. Cleveland Stadium had been a symbol of the Indians' glory years in the 1940s and 1950s. However, during the lean years even crowds of 40,000 were swallowed up by the cavernous environment. The old stadium was not aging gracefully; chunks of concrete were falling off in sections and the old wooden pilings now petrified. In 1984, a proposal for a $150 million domed stadium was defeated in a referendum 2–1.
Finally, in May 1990, Cuyahoga County voters passed an excise tax on sales of alcohol and cigarettes in the county. The tax proceeds would be used to finance the building of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex which would include Jacobs Field and Gund Arena for the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. The team had new ownership and a new stadium on the way. They now needed a winning team.
The team's fortunes started to turn in , ironically with a very unpopular trade. The team sent power-hitting outfielder Joe Carter to the San Diego Padres for two unproven players, Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Carlos Baerga. Alomar made an immediate impact, not only being elected to the All-Star team but also winning Cleveland's fourth Rookie of the Year award and a Gold Glove. Baerga would become a three-time All-Star with consistent offensive production.
Indians general manager John Hart made a number of moves that would finally bring success to the team. In , he hired former Indian Mike Hargrove to manage and traded catcher Eddie Taubensee to the Houston Astros who, with a surplus of outfielders, were willing to part with Kenny Lofton. Lofton finished second in AL Rookie of the Year balloting with a .285 average and 66 stolen bases.
The Indians were named "Organization of the Year" by Baseball America in 1992, in response to the appearance of offensive bright spots and an improving farm system.
The team suffered a tragedy during spring training of , when a boat carrying pitchers Steve Olin, Tim Crews, and Bob Ojeda crashed into a pier. Olin and Crews were killed, and Ojeda was seriously injured. (Ojeda missed most of the season, and would retire the following year).
By the end of the 1993 season, the team was in transition, leaving Cleveland Stadium and fielding a talented nucleus of young players. Many of those players came from the Indians' new AAA farm team, the Charlotte Knights, who won the International League title that year.
1994–2000: A new beginning
Indians General Manager John Hart and team owner Richard Jacobs managed to turn the team's fortunes around. The Indians opened Jacobs Field in 1994 with the aim of improving on the prior season's sixth-place finish. The Indians were only one game behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox on August 12 when a players strike wiped out the rest of the season. The strike also led to an absurdity: The Minnesota Twins traded Dave Winfield to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later just before the season was officially canceled, so no player was named. To settle the deal, the executives of the teams went out to dinner, and Cleveland picked up the tab, meaning that the future Hall-of-Famer had been dealt for dinner.
1995 season: A first since 1954
Having contended for the division in the aborted 1994 season, Cleveland sprinted to a 100–44 record (18 games were lost to player/owner negotiations) in 1995 winning its first ever divisional title. Veterans Dennis Martinez, Orel Hershiser and Eddie Murray combined with a young core of players including Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Manny Ramírez and Charles Nagy to lead the league in team batting average as well as team ERA.
After defeating the Boston Red Sox in the Division Series and the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, Cleveland clinched a World Series berth, for the first time since 1954. The World Series ended in disappointment with the Indians falling in six games to the Atlanta Braves. The Indians repeated as AL Central champions in , but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the Division Series. Notably in 1996, tickets for every home game for the Indians sold out within 10 minutes of going on sale.
1997 season: Two outs away
In 1997 Cleveland started slow but finished with an 86–75 record. Taking their third consecutive AL Central title, the Indians defeated the heavily-favored New York Yankees in the Division Series, 3–2. After defeating the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, Cleveland went on to face the Florida Marlins in the World Series which featured the coldest game in World Series history. With the series tied after game six, the Indians went into the ninth inning of Game 7 with a 2–1 lead, but closer Jose Mesa allowed the Marlins to tie the game. In the eleventh inning, Edgar Rentería drove in the winning run giving the Marlins their first championship.
Cleveland became the first team to lose the World Series after carrying the lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game. In his 2002 autobiography, Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel blamed Jose Mesa for the loss, which led to a feud between the players.
1998-2000
In , the Indians made the playoffs for the fourth straight year. After defeating the wild-card Boston Red Sox three games to one in the first round of the playoffs, Cleveland lost the 1998 ALCS in six games to the New York Yankees, who had come into the playoffs with 114 wins in the regular season.
For the season, Cleveland added relief pitcher Ricardo Rincón and Roberto Alomar, brother of catcher Sandy Alomar, and won the Central Division title for its fifth consecutive playoff appearance. The team scored 1,009 runs, becoming the first (and, to date, only) team since the 1950 Boston Red Sox to score more than 1,000 runs in a season. This time, Cleveland did not make it past the first round, losing the Division Series to the Red Sox, despite taking a two-games-to-none lead in the series. In game three, Indians starter Dave Burba went down with an injury in the 4th inning. Four pitchers, including presumed game four starter Jaret Wright, surrendered nine runs in relief. Without a long reliever or emergency starter on the playoff roster, Hargrove started both Bartolo Colón and Charles Nagy in games four and five on only three days rest. The Indians lost game four 23–7 and game five 12–8. Four days later, longtime manager Mike Hargrove was dismissed, due in large part to the team's failure to win the World Series.
In , the Indians had a 44–42 start, but caught fire after the All Star break and went 46–30 the rest of the way to finish 90–72. The team had one of the league's best offenses that year and a defense that yielded three gold gloves. However, they ended up five games behind the Chicago White Sox in the Central division and missed the wild card by one game to the Seattle Mariners. Mid-season trades brought Bob Wickman and Jake Westbrook to Cleveland, and free agent Manny Ramírez departed for Boston after the season.
The Indians set a Major League record for most pitchers used in a single season. Colon, Burba, and Chuck Finley posted strong seasons, and the bullpen was solid. But with Jaret Wright and Charles Nagy spending months on the disabled list, the team could not solidify the final two spots in the rotation. Other starting pitchers that season combined for a total of 346 2/3 innings and 265 earned runs for an ERA of 6.88.
In 2000, Larry Dolan bought the Indians for $320 million from Richard Jacobs, who, along with his late brother David, had paid $45 million for the club in 1986. The sale set a record at the time for the sale of a baseball franchise.
2001–present: The Shapiro years
2001
saw a return to the playoffs. After the departures of Manny Ramírez and Sandy Alomar, Jr., the Indians signed former MVP Juan González, who helped the Indians win the Central division with a 91–71 record.
One of the highlights came on August 5, 2001, when the Indians completed the biggest comeback in MLB History. Cleveland rallied to close a 14–2 deficit in the sixth inning to defeat the Seattle Mariners 15–14 in 11 innings. The Mariners, who won a record 116 games that season, had a strong bullpen, and Indians manager Charlie Manuel had already pulled many of his starters with the game seemingly out of reach.
Seattle and Cleveland met in the first round of the playoffs, with the Indians taking a two-games-to-one lead. However, with Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer and a strong bullpen, the Mariners won Games 4 and 5 to deny the Indians their first playoff series victory since 1998.
In the 2001 offseason, GM John Hart resigned and his assistant Mark Shapiro took the reins. Shapiro moved to rebuild by dealing aging veterans for younger talent. He traded Roberto Alomar to the New York Mets for a package that included outfielder Matt Lawton and prospects Alex Escobar and Billy Traber. When the team fell out of contention in mid-, Shapiro fired manager Charlie Manuel and traded pitching ace Bartolo Colón for prospects Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore; acquired Travis Hafner from the Rangers for Ryan Drese and Einar Diaz; and picked up Coco Crisp from the St. Louis Cardinals for aging starter Chuck Finley. Jim Thome left after the season, going to the Phillies for a larger contract.
2002–2006
Young Indians teams finished far out of contention in 2002 and under new manager Eric Wedge. They posted strong offensive numbers in , but continued to struggle with a bullpen that blew more than 20 saves. A highlight of the season was a 22–0 victory over the New York Yankees on August 31, one of the worst defeats suffered by the Yankees in team history.
In early , the offense got off to a poor start. After a brief July slump, the Indians caught fire in August, and cut a 15.5 game deficit in the Central Division down to 1.5 games. However, the season came to a end as the Indians went on to lose six of their last seven games, five of them by one run, missing the playoffs by only two games. The next season, the club made several roster changes, while retaining its nucleus of young players. The off-season was highlighted by the acquisition of top prospect Andy Marté from the Boston Red Sox. The Indians had a solid offensive season, led by career years from Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore. Hafner, despite missing the last month of the season, tied the single season grand slam record of six, which was set in by Don Mattingly. Despite the solid offensive performance, the bullpen struggled with 23 blown saves (a Major League worst), and the Indians finished a disappointing fourth.
2007: Division champions
In , Shapiro signed veteran help for the bullpen and outfield in the offseason. Veterans Aaron Fultz, and Joe Borowski joined Rafael Betancourt in the Indians bullpen. Shapiro also signed right fielder Trot Nixon and left fielder David Dellucci to short-term contracts for veteran leadership. The Indians improved significantly over the prior year and went into the All-Star break in second place. The team brought back Kenny Lofton for his third stint with the team in late July. The Indians finished with a 96–66 record for their seventh Central Division title in 13 years and their first post-season trip since 2001.
The Indians began their playoff run by defeating the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series three games to one, and jumped out to a three-games-to-one lead over the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. The season ended in disappointment when Boston swept the final three games to advance to the 2007 World Series.
Despite the loss, Cleveland players took home a number of awards. Grady Sizemore, who had a .995 fielding percentage and only two errors in 405 chances, won the Gold Glove award, Cleveland's first since 2001. Indians Pitcher CC Sabathia won the second Cy Young Award in team history with a 19–7 record, a 3.21 ERA and an MLB leading 241 innings pitched. Eric Wedge was awarded the first Manager of the Year Award in team history.
2008-Present
The Indians struggled during the 2008 season. Injuries to sluggers Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez, as well as starting pitchers Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona led to a poor start. The Indians, falling to last place for a short time in June and July, traded CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers. However, amid the mediocrity, some key players began to shine. Pitcher Cliff Lee went 22-3 with an ERA of 2.54 and earned the AL Cy Young Award. Grady Sizemore had a career year winning a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger, and the Indians finished with a record of 81-81.
Season-by-season results
Uniforms
The Indians' home uniform is white with navy piping around the neck and down either side of the buttons on the front of the jersey; the navy piping is also located around each sleeve. Across the front of the jersey in script font is the word "Indians" in red with a blue and white outline. The jersey has the Chief Wahoo logo on the left sleeve. The home cap is navy with a red bill and features the Chief Wahoo logo on the front.
The road uniform is gray with identical piping to the home jersey. The word "Cleveland" in red script font is placed on the front of the jersey, also with a blue and white outline. Like the home uniform, the Chief Wahoo logo is located on the left sleeve. The road cap is entirely navy with the Chief Wahoo logo on the front.
The alternate home uniform is new for the 2008 season. It is cream in color with "Indians" across the front in red block lettering with a dark navy outline. The Chief Wahoo logo is located on the left sleeve. This jersey is the only Indians jersey to not have the players' names on the back. The alternate home cap is dark navy with a red block "C" on the front. This uniform is worn during weekend and holiday home games.
The alternate road jersey is blue with white piping around the neck and down either side of the buttons on the front of the jersey; the white piping is also located around each sleeve. Script "Indians" is located across the front of the jersey in the same fashion as the home uniform; the Chief Wahoo logo is on the left sleeve. The alternate road cap is navy with a script "I" on the front. The blue jersey is also worn during selected home games with the standard home cap.
Fan support
Sellout streak
On June 12, 1995, the Indians began a record-breaking 455-game home sellout streak that did not end until April 4, 2001, almost six years later. The streak would span parts of seven MLB seasons, extend over 2,100 days, and would draw a total of 19,324,248 fans to Jacobs (now Progressive) Field. The demand for tickets was so great that all 81 home games were sold out before Opening Day on at least three separate occasions. The 455 straight home game sellouts remained a Major League Baseball record, until broken by the Boston Red Sox on September 8, 2008. The team's success during the late 1990s would even lead comedian and Cleveland native Drew Carey to quip, "Finally it's your team that sucks!" As a thank-you to their fans, the Indians honored them with a retired number – 455, signifying the length of the streak.
Celebrity fans
- Drew Carey, actor, comedian
- Jay Crawford, ESPN sportscaster
- Tom Hanks, actor, director, producer
- Jim Jarmusch, director
- Jerry Lawler, wrestler, color commentator of WWE Raw
- Martin Mull, actor/comedian/native Clevelander;
- Chris Rose, sportscaster, host of the Best Damn Sports Show Period
- Fred Willard, actor, comedian
Nickname and Logo Controversy
The club nickname and its cartoon logo have been criticized for perpetuating Indian stereotypes. In 1997, during the team's most recent World Series appearance, three Indian protesters were arrested, but later acquitted.
Radio and television
The Indians' flagship radio station is WTAM, a news/talk station located at 1100 AM. Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan are the radio announcers, with Jim Rosenhaus serving as pregame host, producer/engineer, and fill-in whenever Hamilton or Hegan take time off. Select games can be heard on backup station WMMS 100.7 FM when there is a conflict with Cleveland Cavaliers basketball games, which also air on WTAM. If the Cavaliers are in the playoffs, all conflicted Indians games go to WMMS.
The television rights are held by SportsTime Ohio (STO), a network launched in by the Indians. Matt Underwood and Rick Manning form the announcing team for the telecasts for 138 games, with Al Palowski as the pregame and postgame host and update anchor during the game. Twenty games a year are shown on over the air TV, originating on NBC affiliate WKYC Channel 3, with sports director Jim Donovan joining Manning in the broadcast booth (STO will also air the WKYC games via simulcast). Broadcast games are also carried on WWHO 53, Columbus; WLIO 35 Lima; WICU-TV 12 (or WSEE-TV 35) Erie, PA; WNGS 67, Buffalo, NY; MY-YTV (WYTV-DT) 33.2, Youngstown; and BCSN Toledo.
Past Indians broadcasters include Tom Manning, Jack Graney (the first ex-baseball player to become a play-by-play announcer), Jack Corrigan (now with the Colorado Rockies), Jimmy Dudley who received the Ford Frick Award in 1997, Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione, Van Patrick, Joe Tait, Bruce Drennan, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Harry Jones, Rocky Colavito and Herb Score, who called Indians' baseball for 34 seasons.
Baseball Hall of Famers
- Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
- Names in bold inducted as Indians
- * Has no insignia on his cap due to playing at a time when caps bore no insignia
Retired numbers
Jackie Robinson's number 42 is retired throughout Major League Baseball.
The number 455 was honored after the Indians sold out 455 consecutive games between 1995 and 2001, which was an MLB record until it was surpassed by the Boston Red Sox on September 8, 2008.
Current roster
Minor league affiliations
See also
External links
- , the last filed with the SEC
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