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Cleveland Indians
"The Tribe"
Cleveland Indians ; "The Tribe"
[[2025 Cleveland Indians ; "The Tribe" season]]
File:Indians logo.png	File:IndiansIcon.PNG
Logo	Cap insignia
	Established in 1901;
Major league affiliations
	American League (1901–present) Central Division (1994–present); ; ;
Current uniform
	File:Al 2005 cleveland 01.gif
Retired numbers	3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 21, 42, 455
Name
	Cleveland Indians ; "The Tribe" (1915–present); Cleveland Naps (1905-1914) Cleveland Bronchos (1902-1904); Cleveland Blues (1901);
Ballpark
	Jacobs Field (1994–present); Cleveland Stadium (1932-1993)* a.k.a. Cleveland Municipal Stadium (1932-1974); ; League Park (1901-1946) a.k.a. Dunn Field (1916-1927); ; (*Played only night and weekend games here until 1946)
Major league titles
World Series titles (2)	1948 • 1920
AL Pennants (5)	1997 • 1995 • 1954 • 1948; 1920
Central Division titles (6) [1]	2001 • 1999 • 1998 • 1997; 1996 • 1995
Wild card berths (0)	None
	[1] - In 1994, a players' strike wiped out the last eight weeks of the season and all post-season. Cleveland was one game out of first place in the Central Division behind Chicago when play was stopped. No official titles were awarded in 1994.
Front office
Principal owner(s)	Larry Dolan
General manager	Mark Shapiro
Manager	Eric Wedge

Cleveland Indians
"The Tribe"
Cleveland Indians ; "The Tribe"
[[2025 Cleveland Indians ; "The Tribe" season]]
File:Indians logo.png	File:IndiansIcon.PNG
Logo	Cap insignia
	Established in 1901;
Major league affiliations
	American League (1901–present) Central Division (1994–present); ; ;
Current uniform
	File:Al 2005 cleveland 01.gif
Retired numbers	3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 21, 42, 455
Name
	Cleveland Indians ; "The Tribe" (1915–present); Cleveland Naps (1905-1914) Cleveland Bronchos (1902-1904); Cleveland Blues (1901);
Ballpark
	Jacobs Field (1994–present); Cleveland Stadium (1932-1993)* a.k.a. Cleveland Municipal Stadium (1932-1974); ; League Park (1901-1946) a.k.a. Dunn Field (1916-1927); ; (*Played only night and weekend games here until 1946)
Major league titles
World Series titles (2)	1948 • 1920
AL Pennants (5)	1997 • 1995 • 1954 • 1948; 1920
Central Division titles (6) [1]	2001 • 1999 • 1998 • 1997; 1996 • 1995
Wild card berths (0)	None
	[1] - In 1994, a players' strike wiped out the last eight weeks of the season and all post-season. Cleveland was one game out of first place in the Central Division behind Chicago when play was stopped. No official titles were awarded in 1994.
Front office
Principal owner(s)	Larry Dolan
General manager	Mark Shapiro
Manager	Eric Wedge

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Revision as of 19:02, 2 June 2007

The Cleveland Indians (nicknamed The Tribe) are a Major League Baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They currently are in first place of the Central Division of the American League.

Franchise history

The Indians Nickname

Legend has it that the team honored Louis Sockalexis when it assumed its current name in 1915. The spectacular Sockalexis, a Native American, had played in Cleveland 1897-1899.

On the contrary, when the "Naps" sent longtime leader Napoleon Lajoie to the Philadelphia Athletics at the end of the 1914 season, owner Charles Somers asked the local newspapers to come up with a new name for the team. They chose "Indians" as 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.

In any case, the name stuck. And 34 years later, the Indians went on to defeat that same Braves franchise, 4 games to 2, in the 1948 World Series -- after first winning a one game playoff against Boston's other team, the Red Sox. The victory over the Braves was the franchise's second of two World Series titles; the Tribe had also won the 1920 World Series, defeating the Brooklyn Robins 5 games to 2. (Pluto, 1999)

The club nickname and its cartoon logo have been criticized for perpetuating Native American stereotypes, and protests have arisen from time to time. In 1997, during the team's most recent World Series, three American Indian protesters were arrested, but later acquitted.^[1]

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. That leading Cleveland baseball club was the 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 of Cleveland joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the first professional league, as did the Forest Citys of Rockford, Illinois. For brevity some authors have termed them "FCCleveland" and "FCRockford", two baseball clubs alone among thousands of soccer football clubs named "FC". 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 NA, whose nine-city circuit was made up by four western clubs and eastern rivals in Washington, Troy, and Boston. That didn't last: 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 in turn, playing a full schedule to July 19 followed only by two games versus Boston in mid-August.[1]

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 some new entries and the city returned to a major circuit. The Cleveland Blues played mainly in the middle of the pack for six seasons but it 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. That franchise only lasted a couple of years, but another St. Louis franchise would deal a devastating blow to another Cleveland team some 15 years later.

Cleveland went without major league ball for only two seasons, before 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 expired after 1891, and the National League acquired four of its franchises to swell to 12 teams.) The Cleveland team slowly built up to becoming a power in the league. They acquired the unique nickname Spiders, a tag supposedly inspired by their long-limbed players.

The Spiders survived a challenge from 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, although well back of first place. Meanwhile, 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 slinking home in 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 very next year.

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. 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.

1901-1946: Early to middle history of the franchise

File:OldClevelandIndiansLogo.jpg

Old Cleveland Indians logo

The new team was originally owned by Charles W. Somers and Jack Kilfoy. Somers generously lent money to other team owners, including Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's, to keep them afloat. With the new league competing for fans, the American League began raiding the older League for players. One of the players that jumped was Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, a Philadelphia Phillies star who signed with the Philadelphia Athletics. When the Phillies got an injunction against the A's, the American League and Mack agreed to move Lajoie to Cleveland early in the 1902 season. The team had previously been known as the Bronchos or the Blues. In honor of its popular new star Cleveland soon acquired the nickname Naps.

Early on, Cleveland finished in the middle of the pack before contending for the championship in 1908, but the retirement of Cy Young, who returned to Cleveland as part of its American League franchise in 1908, and the untimely death of Addie Joss was a harbinger of things to come for Cleveland. Poor pitching was on tap for several years. Despite the strong hitting of Tris Speaker and Shoeless Joe Jackson, the Naps failed to rise above third place for most of the next decade, and jokes about "Naps" as a synonym for "sleeps" began to circulate. In 1916 Somers sold the team to a syndicate headed by James C. "Jack" Dunn. Dunn hired a new manager, Lee Fohl, and brought in two young pitchers, future Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski and Jim Bagby. Behind their strong arms, the Indians would rise back into contention at the end of the decade.

Tris Speaker took over the reins as player-manager in 1919 and the team started the 1920s strong. With Speaker hitting .388, Jim Bagby's 30 victories and solid performances from Steve O'Neill and Stan Coveleski, the team went on to win the pennant and defeat the Brooklyn Robins 5-2 in the World Series for their first title. However, the season was soured by tragedy. That August, shortstop Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch to the head from Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. It was the only fatal play in baseball history.

Shortly afterward, in September 1920, the 1919 Black Sox scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players were charged with throwing the 1919 World Series had begun to unravel. Cleveland and Brooklyn played the 1920 World Series under a cloud of public suspicion. Cleveland won the series 5 games to 2 after shutting out Brooklyn 3-0 at League Park (then called Dunn Field).

Following the 1920 championship, the team did not reach the heights they had achieved in 1920 in the rest of the decade. 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, sold the team to a syndicate headed by Alva Bradley.

The Tribe, as the Indians are affectionately referred to by Clevelanders, were a middling team by the 1930s, finishing third or fourth most years. In 1936, Cleveland introduced a 17-year old named Bob Feller, a pitcher with a dominating fastball. Feller struck out 17 batters in his first game. By 1940, Feller, along with Ken Keltner, Mel Harder and Lou Boudreau led the Indians to within one game of the pennant. The team was wracked with dissension, with some players (including Feller) going so far as to request that owner Alva 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 Floyd Giebell of the Detroit Tigers. Giebell never won another major league game.

With a young team, Cleveland was poised for a solid decade. Their much-despised manager Vitt was replaced by Roger Peckinpaugh in 1941. Unfortunately, the nation entered World War II and Feller went to serve in the Navy, delaying the Tribe's success.

1947-1959

In 1946 Bill Veeck formed an investment group that purchased the Cleveland Indians from Bradley's group. A former owner of a minor league franchise in Milwaukee, Veeck brought to Cleveland a gift for promotion. At Cleveland he began the innovative Major League career that would bring him fame among many and infamy to others.

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 Stadium. Prior to 1947 the Indians played most of their games at League Park, and occasionally played several weekend games at Municipal Stadium. Veeck agreed to move the club out of League Park and into Municipal Stadium permanently.

Making the most of the field itself in 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 15 feet 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.

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 by Bill Veeck that delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.

Under Veeck's leadership, Cleveland's most significant achievement was breaking the color barrier in the American League by signing Larry Doby, formerly a player for the Negro League's Newark Eagles in 1947, eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers. Similar to Robinson, Doby battled racism on and off the field but posting 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 Leagues 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 1948, 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 Tribe defeated the Boston Braves four games to two for their first championship in 28 years.

In 1949 Cleveland again contended before falling to third place. On September 23, 1949, Bill Veeck and the Indians buried their 1948 pennant in center field before a game, the day after they were mathematically eliminated from the pennant race.

In 1949 Veeck was forced to sell the Indians to a syndicate headed by William Daley during a difficult divorce, but left behind a competitive team that continued to contend through the early 1950s, featuring: Doby, Feller, Minnie Miñoso, Larry Doby, Luke Easter, Bobby Avila, Al Rosen, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and Mike Garcia. However, Cleveland only won a single pennant in the decade, finishing second to the New York Yankees five times.

In 1954, Cleveland won a then-record 111 games and returned to the World Series against the New York Giants. The team was upset by the Giants in a sweep which became famous for Willie Mays amazing over-the-shoulder catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in Game 1.

1960-1993: The curse of Rocky Colavito

File:Indian uprising.jpg

The infamous 1987 Sports Illustrated "Indian Uprising" cover

From 1959 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. Frank 'Trader' Lane was an early culprit in the construction of what became a running joke in baseball for three decades. The team's ill-advised trades under a number of general managers would haunt fans for years to come. A 30+ year slump began for the Indians with the club's most infamous trade; which involved slugging right fielder and fan favorite, Rocky Colavito.

Just before opening day in 1960 Colavito was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. Akron Beacon Journal columnist Terry Pluto documented the decades of woe that followed the trade in his book The Curse of Rocky Colavito. In the 1960s, the team also sent Tommy John, Luis Tiant, and Lou Piniella packing, receiving little in return.

The 1970s were little better as the team traded away players Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Dennis Eckersley and Buddy Bell again for very little. Without any strength in their farm system to nurture, the team was unable to move out of the cellar with losing seasons between 1969 and 1975. The nadir was the ill-conceived Ten Cent Beer Night promotion at a 1974 game against the Rangers which ended in a riot and forfeit. In 1975, the team did make baseball history when they hired Frank Robinson as MLB's first African American manager. However the team failed to improve and Robinson was fired in 1977.

There were bright spots in the 1980's. The colorful Joe Charbonneau won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1980 and Len Barker pitched a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981. Unfortunately, Charbonneau was out of baseball by 1982 after he fell victim to injuries. The Tribe then suffered the Sports Illustrated cover jinx in 1987. After a winning season in 1986, Sports Illustrated predicted the Tribe to win the American League East in 1987, only to see the team lose 101 games and finish last.

In 1989, the Indians were ridiculed in the movie Major League, which depicted a hapless Cleveland ballclub going from worst to first by the end of the film.

The team suffered a tragedy during the spring training of 1993, 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 the rest of the season, and would retire the following season). [2]

Constant ownership changes did not help the Indians. In 1966, Daley's syndicate sold the team to frozen food millionaire Vernon Stouffer [3] of Stouffer Foods. Prior to Stouffer's purchase the team was rumoured 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. Stouffer sold the team in 1972 to a group led by impresario Nick Mileti [4].

Only five years later, Mileti's group sold out 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. But O'Neill's death in 1983 led to the team going on the market once more. Partick O'Neill did not find a buyer until the Jacobs brothers, Richard and David, bought the team in 1986.

1994-2001: A new beginning

Indians General Manager John Hart and team owner Richard Jacobs managed to turn the teams fourtunes 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.

1995: A first since 1954

Having fought for a championship in the aborted 1994 season, Cleveland sprinted to a 100-44 record in 1995 winning its first ever divisional title, leading the league in team batting average as well as team ERA. After defeating the Boston Red Sox in the Divisional Series and the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, Cleveland reach the World Series for the first time since 1954. The World Series ended in disappointment with the Indians falling in six games to the Atlanta Braves. In June, the Indians began a streak of sellouts that would run 455 games through the 2001 season.

1996

The Tribe took the AL Central Crown again in 1996, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles (three games to one) in the Divisional Series.

1997: Two Outs Away

In 1997 Cleveland started slow but finished with an 86-75 record. Taking their third consecutive AL Central title, the Tribe defeated the heavily-favored New York Yankees in the Divisional Series (3-2). After defeating the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, the Tribe went on to face the Florida Marlins in the World Series which featured one of the coldest games in World Series history. However, the Tribe could not bring home the title. The Indians went into the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead, but Jose Mesa allowed the Marlins to tie the game. In the eleventh inning, Edgar Renteria drove in the winning run giving the Marlins their first baseball championship.

With the loss, 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 directly blamed Jose Mesa for the loss, which led to a feud between the players. [5]

1998-2001

In 1998, the Indians were unable to return to the World Series, losing to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

In 1999, the team held a 2-0 advantage over the Red Sox in the Divisional Series but were eliminated, losing the next three games. An injury to starter Dave Burba in game three forced Hargrove to go to his bullpen early. Unfortunately, four pitchers, including starter Jaret Wright surrendered nine runs in the loss. As a result of Wright's appearance, both Bartolo Colon and Charles Nagy worked on only three days rest. The Indians lost game four 23-7 and gave five 12-8 after Troy O'Leary hit two home runs, including a grand slam.

In 2000, the Indians got off to a mediocre start, going 44-42 at the break. They soon caught fire 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. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as 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 the departure of [[Manny Ramirez after the season.

The season was notable in that the Indians set a Major League record for most pitchers used in a single season. Colon, Burba, and Finley posted strong seasons and the bullpen was solid. However, 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 $323 million from Richard Jacobs, who, along with his late brother David, had paid $35 million for the club in 1986.

2001 saw a return to the playoffs. After the departures of Manny Ramirez and Sandy Alomar, Jr., the Tribe signed former-MVP Juan Gonzalez, who helped the Indians win the Central division with a 91-71 record. One of the highlights of the season was the Impossible Return, when Cleveland came back from a 12-run deficit to defeat the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners, however, exacted their revenge by eliminating the Indians in the playoffs.

2001-present: The Shapiro years

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. As a result, the Indians struggled through 2002 and 2003, posting losing records both years.

In 2002, Shapiro traded fan favorite pitching ace Bartolo Colon for prospects Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore, acquired Travis Hafner from the Rangers for Ryan Drese and picked up Coco Crisp from the St. Louis Cardinals for aging starter Chuck Finley.

The Indians young team posted strong offensive numbers in 2004 but still struggled with a bullpen that blew more than 20 saves. A highlight of the season was a 22-0 victory over the New York Yankees. ^[2].

In early 2005, 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 heartbreaking 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.

In 2006 the Indians made major roster changes. In the offseason, they were involved in a three-team trade with Coco Crisp, David Riske and Josh Bard going to Boston and Arthur Rhodes going to Philadelphia. The Indians received third base prospect Andy Marté, catcher Kelly Shoppach and outfielder Jason Michaels. They also signed Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson to replace Kevin Millwood and Scott Elarton. Once the Indians fell out of playoff contention, Shapiro dealt veterans Eduardo Perez, Bob Wickman, Ben Broussard, and Ronnie Belliard for younger players. Both Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore had career seasons, but the bullpen struggles continued with 18 blown saves.

Trivia

The Indians' non-competitiveness during the 1960s through the 1980s became a subject for humor. A standard joke of the time had a judge asking a child in a parental custody battle which parent he preferred to live with. The child says neither one, they both beat me — the judge then asks who does he want to live with and the answer is "the Cleveland Indians, they don't beat anybody." (This joke also works for the Chicago Cubs, or, for any sport, it can be used against a rival, especially a rival that hasn't done well) A local amusement park named Cedar Point, located in Sandusky, Ohio, featured a paddlewheel boat that went around an 18th century setting that included robotic and apparently hostile Indians. The narrator would frequently say, "Don't be scared, folks. They're not dangerous. They're Cleveland Indians."

In April 1962, the Indians sold Harry Chiti to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. In June 1962, after playing just 15 games for the Mets, Chiti was named by the Mets as the player to be named later.

Richie Scheinblum, an outfielder who played with the Indians from 1965 to 1969, joked, "Maybe we should change our name to the Cleveland Utility Company. All we have are utility players," meaning players who were kept on the roster because they played several positions, but none of them particularly well.

In 1981, Lon Simmons, then broadcasting for the Oakland Athletics, told his listeners, "The A's leave after this game for Cleveland. It was only by a 13 to 12 vote that they decided to go." The suggestion was that, despite being in a pennant race that would eventually see them win their division, the A's would rather forfeit all the games in the series than actually go to Cleveland; not that they were afraid of the Indians, then having a typically terrible season, but that the city would be terribly unpleasant.

That same season, Graig Nettles, a New York Yankees third baseman who played with the Indians prior to being traded to the Yankees (he began his Major League career with the Minnesota Twins), took the intercom of the team's charter flight, and said, "We will soon be landing in Cleveland. Please set your watches back 42 minutes."

Bob Hope held a small share of stock in the Indians and took part in the ceremonies when the Indians played their last home games at Cleveland Stadium in 1993.

Carlos Baerga was the first of two players to have ever hit one home run from both sides of the plate in the same inning. He did so on April 8, 1993 against the New York Yankees pitchers Steve Howe and Steve Farr in the game's 7th Inning.

Cleveland hometown hero/comedian Drew Carey poked fun at the rest of baseball while he promoted his new sitcom The Drew Carey Show in 1995. In the promos he often uttered the now-famous line:

Finally, it's your team that sucks!

On August 5, 2001, The Indians completed the biggest comeback in MLB History. Being down to the Seattle Mariners, 12-0 in the 4th, and 14-2 in the 6th, the Indians rallied to win, 15-14 in 11 innings. Thus, it became known by baseball fans as The Impossible Return.

On August 31, 2004, The Indians beat the New York Yankees 22-0. This was the worst defeat in NYY history. Omar Vizquel got 6 hits in the game, tying the MLB record for hits in a 9-inning game. It was the largest loss the Yankees have suffered since they fell to the Indians on July 29, 1928, 24-6.[6]

On July 4, 2006, The Indians beat the New York Yankees 19-1. This was Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's birthday. Pitcher Jake Westbrook started both of the blowout games against New York. This was the second most lopsided defeat in Yankees history, next to the Indians 22-0 shutout in 2004.

On September 2, 2006, infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff became the third player to hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat and the first player to do so on his first major league pitch.

On December 21, 2006, it was announced that the Indians would move their spring training facility from Winter Haven, Florida to Goodyear, Arizona (a West Valley suburb of Phoenix) and re-join the Cactus League in February 2009, after a 15 year absence.

On April 9, 2007, it was announced that the Indians will play a "home" series in Milwaukee versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim due to heavy snow in the Cleveland area. The 4-game home opening series against Seattle had been snowed out. The Indians took two out of the three games at Miller Park winning the first and third games. When Joe Borowski would come on in the ninth innings of the games the Indians won in Milwaukee the song "Wild Thing" would blare from the PA system in a nod to the movie "Major League" which was about the Indians but was filmed at the old County Stadium.

Baseball Hall of Famers

Elected mainly on basis of performance with the Indians

Other Hall-of-Famers associated with Indians, however briefly

Retired numbers

The Fans - Retired 2001	Bob Feller SP, Coach Retired 1957	Earl Averill CF Retired 1975	Larry Doby CF, Coach Retired 1994	Bob Lemon 3B, SP, Coach Retired 1998
	Lou Boudreau SS, M Retired 1970	Mel Harder SP, Coach Retired 1990	Jackie Robinson 2B Retired 1997

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. (An MLB record.)

Current roster

The Cleveland Indians (nicknamed The Tribe) are a Major League Baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They currently are in first place of the Central Division of the American League.