When baseball teams go through interminably long periods of losing, fans tend to soothe their distressed psyches by ascribing the poor play or lack of luck to paranormal curses ("Curse of the Bambino" in Boston, the "Billy Goat Curse" in Chicago). Not in Cleveland. Having seen only two consistently competitive teams (the late 1940's and late 1990's), losing has been too much a regular way of life for Indians' fans to blame it on something supernatural.
Cleveland was a charted member of the American League, winning its first home game 4-3 over Milwaukee on April 29, 1901. They were originally dubbed the Blues, a name once used by Cleveland's National League entry in the 1880's.
The Indians first star was Napoleon Lajoie, one of the greatest hitters in history. Lajoie came to the Indians in 1902 from Philadelphia, and although he hit a robust .368, it represented a fifty-four point drop in his batting average from the previous season, when he hit an American League record .422.
The Indians contested for only one pennant (unsuccessfully) in the Lajoie era, but the second baseman was so popular, the team changed its name to the Naps in his honor. After he departed in 1914, a newspaper contest led to fans renaming the team "Indians" in honor of the "Miracle" run that Boston's Braves made to that year's World Championship.
The Tribe made it to the top in 1920, even with the stunning on-field death of their sparkplug shortstop Ray Chapman. He took a direct hit in the head on a fast ball launched by New York's Carl Mays on August 16. Chapman collapsed at home plate, never regained consciousness and died the following morning.
If the shocked Indians stumbled after Chapman's death, the rival White Sox, toppled like Humpty Dumpty. Revelations about the Sox intentionally losing the 1919 World Series exploded in August and eight White Sox players were immediately suspended. The Indians squeaked by the Sox to win their first pennant by two games and then beat Brooklyn in the World Series.
The Indians got a new home in 1932 with the opening of the 70,000 seat Municipal Stadium. For the next fifteen years, the Indians split their home schedule between this new park on the shores of Lake Erie and their original home, ancient League Park built in 1891.
Cleveland Indians History
