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131 Seasons of the Cleveland Guardians

 World Series

  Champions

American League

Pennants

A.L. Central    Division Titles

1920
1948

1920  1995
1948  1997
1954  2016

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2001
2007
2016
2017
2018
2022
2024

American League Wild Card

2013
2020

The Cleveland Guardians began in Grand Rapids as a charter member of Ban Johnson's revamped Western League.  They played there from 1894 through 1897, but what they were called isn't clear - sources variously refer to them as the Rustlers, the Rippers, the Gold Bugs and the Bob-O-Links.  After poor showings on the field and even worse showings at the gate, the club relocated for 1898 to St. Joseph, MO, where the played as the Saints.  Bad fortune followed, because it turned out that St. Joseph couldn't support a club any more than Grand Rapids.  They relocated again, mid-season, to Omaha.  Failing there too, they began the 1899 season in Columbus, playing as the Senators. But, coming full circle, they moved back to Grand Rapids mid-season. 

 

For 1900, knowing he planned on taking his newly-christened American League major in 1901, Johnson moved the team to Cleveland to become the Lake Shores.  They went by Blues in 1901, Bronchos (that's the way they spelled it) in 1902, and then adopted the nick-name Naps in 1903 in honor of their star second baseman Napoleon Lajoie. With Lajoie's departure before the 1915 season, team owner Charles Somers asked the local sportswriters to come up with a new name.  They chose Indians; legends about the name being chosen to honor Lou Sockalexis, a Native American who played for the old Cleveland Spiders of the National League in the 1890s were created later, possibly to give the name choice a veneer of legitimacy. 

 

For most of the 20th century, the team was an afterthought in the American League, but was never quite so bad for such long periods to warrant their treatment as a punch line - players weren't "traded" to Cleveland, they were "exiled" there, and so forth.  They won the series in 1920 and again in 1948, but were swept by the Giants in 1954 after compiling 111 wins during the regular season.  Despite powerful teams and a spate of division titles in the mid-to-late '90s. 

The arrival of manager Terry Francona in the new century's second decade and the development of young stars like Corey Kluber, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor (though each would eventually move on) saw the club return to a general period of competitiveness. 

The franchise has endured more than it's share of personal tragedy as well - In 1911, star pitcher Addie Joss succumbed to meningitis, in 1920 shortstop Ray Chapman died shortly after being hit in the face with a pitch, and during spring training in 1993, pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews were killed in a motor boat accident in Florida.  

Over the years, the club occasionally came under fire for continuing to use the name Indians.  Whether or not the name was racist, as some alleged, some of the club's logos certainly had been in their depiction of Native Americans.  In 2022, ownership made the decision many had seen coming for some time - it was time to change the club's name.  The name Guardians was chosen in homage to well-known art deco statues of the same name which had graced the city's Hope Memorial Bridge since the 1930s. 

The main purpose of this page is to illustrate those players, managers and coaches who have been the most prominent in the franchise's history.  Links below will take you to galleries highlighting each, by position.  Generally, an individual is included if he spent at least 2 full seasons (consecutive or cumulative) as a starter, relief pitcher, closer or manager. For coaches, I've generally used 5 years of service as the bar.  None of this is scientific, though, so there are exceptions.  Where possible and practical, I used pictures of actual baseball cards because that it is the medium through which I, and I suppose many others, first discovered the game. Where necessary, I designed my own images.  Images of actual baseball cards were obtained at the Card Cyber Museum, and for my own designs I used photos found at host of different sites, but none moreso than the wonderful forum at Out of the Park Developments.  

 

I claim no rights to, or ownership of, any of the photographic images I've used on these pages.   You are welcome to use them yourself.  All I ask is that that if you use any of my personal creations, you give credit to this site. 

Cy Young Award

Winners

1972 - Gaylord Perry

2007 - C.C. Sabathia

2008 - Cliff Lee

2014 - Corey Kluber

2017 - Corey Kluber

2020 - Shane Bieber

Rookies of the Year

1955 - Herb Score

1971 - Chris Chambliss

1980 - Joe Charbonneau

1990 - Sandy Alomar, Jr.

1985 - Ozzie Guillen

2014 - Jose Abreu

MVP Award

Winners

1948 - Lou Boudreau

1953 - Al Rosen 

Managers of the Year

2007 - Eric Wedge
2013 - Terry Francona
2017 - Terry Francona
2022 - Terry Francona
2024 - Stephen Vogt

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Evans Park, Sioux City, IA

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Portion of an historic map of Grand Rapids, showing the location of Recreation Park (bottom center) where the team played their weekday games. 

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Aerial image showing Alger Park along the banks of Reeds Lake in Grand Rapids, where the team played on weekends.  

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League Park - the Guardians played here regularly from 1900 through 1931.  In 1932 and 1933, they called the new Cleveland Stadium home, but declining receipts and the huge outfield (which players hated) sent them back to League Park in 1934.  They played occasionally, and increasingly, at Cleveland Stadium for the next number of years, before moving there permanently in 1947.  

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Cleveland Municipal Stadiume:  AKA The Mistake by the Lake

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Jacobs Field, 1994  to present (Progressive Field since 2009)

NOTE: Dates are the individual's total years with the club, and not necessarily only the years they were most prominent. 

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The 1894 Grand Rapids club - the beginning of today's Guardians

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Addie Joss - the Naps' star pitcher who died from meningitis on April 14, 1911

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July 24, 1911 - The Naps and the other A.L. clubs play an All Star game in Cleveland to benefit the Joss family  (Ty Cobb, third from right, sports a Cleveland uniform) 

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The Indians, with owner Bill Veeck front and center, parade through Cleveland after defeating the Braves in the 1948 World Series.

8/17/20 - Shortstop Ray Chapman becomes the only MLB player (to date) to die as a result of an on-field incident  - he was hit in the head by a pitch from New York's Carl Mays. 

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Scenes from June 4th, 1974, when the Indians hosted Ten-Cent Beer Night (with no limits).  The result was a riot and a forfeit to Texas. 

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"Go...Joe...Char-Bon-Eau!"  Well...he went. 

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More tragedy - Pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews died in a boating accident during spring training, 1993.  

Pedro Cerano - Star of Cleveland teams that saw a brief return to competitiveness in the late 1980s

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(l to r) - Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle and Carlos Baerga:  Just 3 stars from a star-studded Cleveland line-up which produced 2 pennants in the mid-90s, but couldn't capture a title.

Links to other Team History Pages

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Guardians No-Hitters:

September 18, 1908 - Bob Rhoads, 2-1 over Boston

October 2, 1908 - Addie Joss, 1-0 over Chicago (Perfect Game)

April 20, 1910 - Addie Joss, 1-0 over Chicago

September 10, 1919 - Ray Caldwell, 3-0 over New York

April 29, 1931 - Wes Ferrell, 9-0 over St. Louis

April 16, 1940 - Bob Feller, 1-0 over Chicago

April 30, 1946 - Bob Feller, 1-0 over New York

July 10, 1947 - Don Black, 3-0 over Philadelphia

June 30, 1948 - Bob Lemon, 2-0 over Detroit

July 1, 1951 - Bob Feller, 3-0 over Detroit

June 10, 1966 - Sonny Siebert, 2-0 over Washington

July 19, 1974 - Dick Bosman, 4-0 over Oakland

May 30, 1977 - Dennis Eckersley, 1-0 over California

May 15, 1981 - Len Barker, 3-0 over Toronto (Perfect Game)

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