The Grand Rapids Rustlers were founded in Michigan in 1894 and were part of the Western League. In 1900 the team moved to Cleveland and was renamed the Cleveland Lake Shores. In 1901 team was renamed the Cleveland Bluebirds and became one of eight charter members of the American League.
In the 1920 World Series against Brooklyn, player-manager Tris Speaker Speaker hit an RBI triple in the deciding game, which the Indians won 3-0.
In 1912, legendary outfielder "Shoeless Joe" Jackson hit 26 triples for the Indians (then the Cleveland Naps). He would later be banned from baseball for his part in the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. Jackson, who led both teams in several statistical categories and set a World Series record with 12 base hits, spent the last 30 years of his life proclaiming his innocence.
The "Mistake by the Lake" was just south of Lake Erie and was known for biting cold wind and, on hot summer nights, swarms of midges and mayflies.
Kouzmanoff is the third of only four players in history to hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat, along with Bill Duggleby (1898), Jeremy Hermida (2005), and Daniel Nava (2010). Both Kouzmanoff and Nava accomplished this feat on the first pitch they saw.
In Major League, a former Las Vegas showgirl inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband and tries to relocate the team to Miami.
Lou Boudreau's 1948 season has to be considered among the best of any in MLB history. He posted a 10.4 WAR for Cleveland. He hit .355 and got on base more than 45 percent of the time. He batted in the middle of the order and hit a career-high 18 home runs. He walked 98 times and he struck out only nine times all season. He was also the best defensive shortstop in the league. Oh, and the 30-year-old Boudreau also served as Cleveland's manager, leading the team to its second World Series championship.
After the 1936 season, "Bullet Bob" Feller went back to Van Meter, Iowa, to finish his senior year of high school.
In 1960, Cleveland traded their most popular player, slugger Rocky Colavito, to detroit for a washed-up Harvey Kuehn. Colavito made three All-Star teams for Detroit and Kansas City, while Kuenn played only one season for the Indians. After being one of the better AL teams in the 1950s, the Indians wouldn't sniff another playoff birth for more than 30 years.
SHARE THIS PAGE!