Cleveland Indians
2013 Cleveland Indians season
Established	1894
Team logo Cap insignia
Major league affiliations
American League (1901–present) Central Division (1994–present)
Current uniform
Retired numbers	3 · 5 · 14 · 18 ·19 · 21 · 42 · 455
Colors
Navy, Red, White
Name
Cleveland Indians (1915–present)
Cleveland Naps (1903–1914) Cleveland Broncos (1902) Cleveland Bluebirds (1901) Cleveland Lake Shores (1900) (WL) Grand Rapids Rustlers (1894–1899) (WL)
Other nicknames
The Tribe, The Wahoos
Ballpark
Progressive Field (1994–present) a.k.a. Jacobs Field (1994–2007) Cleveland Stadium (1934–1993) nights and weekends (1934-1946) League Park (1900–1946) a.k.a. Dunn Field (1916–1927)
Major league titles
World Series titles (2)	1948 · 1920
AL Pennants (5)	1997 · 1995 ·1954 · 1948 · 1920
Central Division titles(7)	2007 · 2001 ·1999 · 1998 ·1997 · 1996 · 1995
Wild card berths (0)
Front office
Owner(s)	Larry Dolan
Manager	Terry Francona
General Manager	Chris Antonetti

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 1994, they have played in what is now Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona.[1] Since their establishment as a Major League franchise 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 on a new name, following the 1914 season. In reference to the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves), the media chose "the Indians". Common nicknames for the Indians include the "Tribe" and the "Wahoos", the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo. The mascot is called Slider.

The Cleveland team originated in 1900 as the Lake Shores, when the American League (AL) was officially a minor league. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the team played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2012 season, they had a regular season franchise record of 8,838–8,543 (.508). The Indians have won seven AL Central titles, the most in the division.

Cleveland baseball prior to the Indians franchise
"In 1857 baseball games were a daily spectacle in Cleveland's Public Squares. City authorities tried to find an ordinance forbidding it, to the joy of the crowd, they were unsuccessful. - Harold Seymour" [2]

1865–1868 Forest Citys of Cleveland (Minor League)
1869–1872 Forest Citys of Cleveland
From 1865 to 1868 Forest Citys was an amateur club ball club. During the 1869 season, Cleveland was among several cities which established professional baseball teams following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. 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.

In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), the first professional league. Ultimately, two of the league's 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 westernmost outpost in 1872, the year the club folded.

Cleveland played their full schedule to July 19 followed by two games versus Boston in mid-August and disbanded at the end of the season.[3]

1879–1881 Cleveland Forest Citys
1882–1884 Cleveland Blues
In 1876, the National League (NL) supplanted the NA 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 gained an NL team. The Cleveland Forest Citys baseball team was then re-created. The National League required distinct colors for the 1882 season, so the Cleveland Forest Citys became the Cleveland Blues. They then had a mediocre record for six seasons and were ruined by a trade war with the Union Association (UA) in 1884, when its three best players (Fred Dunlap, Jack Glasscock, and Jim McCormick) jumped to the UA after being offered higher salaries. Cleveland Blues merged with the St. Louis Maroons UA team in1885.

1887–1899 Cleveland Spiders — nickname "Blues"
Cleveland went without major league baseball for two seasons until gaining a team in the American Association (AA) in 1887. After the AA's Allegheny club jumped to the NL Cleveland followed suit in 1889, as the AA began to crumble. The Cleveland ball club, named the Spiders (supposedly inspired by their "skinny and spindly" players) slowly became a power in the league.[4] The next year the Spiders moved into League Park, which would serve as the home of Cleveland professional baseball 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 this success, and was dealt a severe blow under the ownership of the Robison brothers.