The Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians is a United States professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competes in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is a member club of the American League (AL) Central division.

Since they became a Major league franchise in 1901, the Cleveland Guardians has won the 1920 and 1948 World Series championship, six American League pennants, and ten Central division titles. As they have won no World Series championship since 1948, they are on the longest World Series champ drought of any of the 30 current Major League teams.

The Cleveland Guardians have the record for the longest winning streak in American League history, and the second-longest winning streak in Major League Baseball history. From August 24 to September 14, 2017, the team won 22 games in a row.

Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland has been their home ballpark since 1994. The name Guardians alludes to the Guardians of Traffic – eight monolithic 1932 Art Deco sculptures on Hope Memorial Bridge, adjacent to Progressive Field.

Established in 1894, the team got the name Cleveland Indians in 1915. As a result of the larger Native American mascot controversy, the team changed name to the Cleveland Guardians after the 2021 season.

Short facts about the Cleveland Guardians

Established: In 1894, as the Grand Rapids Rippers

Colours: Navy blue – Red – White

Retired numbers: 3, 5, 14,18,19, 20, 21, 25, 42, 455

Major league affiliations

  • American League (1901–present)
    • Central Division (1994–present)
    • East Division (1969–1993)
  • Western League (1894–1900)

Team names

  • Cleveland Guardians (2022–present)
  • Cleveland Indians (1915–2021)
  • Cleveland Napoleons/Naps (1903–1914)
  • Cleveland Bronchos (1902)
  • Cleveland Bluebirds/Blues (1901–1902)
  • Cleveland Lake Shores (1900)
  • Grand Rapids Rippers (1894–1899)

Ballpark

  • Progressive Field (1994–present)
  • Cleveland Stadium (1932–1933, 1937–1993)
  • League Park (1901–1932, 1934–1946)

World Series titles

1920

1948

AL Pennants

  • 1920
  • 1948
  • 1954
  • 1995
  • 1997
  • 2016

AL Central Division titles

1995

  • 1996
  • 1997
  • 1998
  • 1999
  • 2001
  • 2007
  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018

Wild card berths

  • 2013
  • 2020

Slider

Since 1990, the mascot for the Cleveland Guardians is a large, furry fuchsia-coloured creature named Slider, who sports a big yellow nose and shaggy yellow eyebrows.

Slider has been in the Mascot Hall of Fame since 2008.

Team origins

The franchise has its roots in the Grand Rapids Rippers, a minor league team established in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1894, and who played in the Western League. In 1900, the team relocated to Cleveland and was renamed the Cleveland Lake Shores. At that point, the Western League had already been renamed the American League, but remained a minor league.

The Cleveland Lake Shores was one of the eight charter franchises when the American League declared itself a major league in 1901. During this era, the team was known under several different names and nicknames, including the Cleveland Nap (or Napoleons) since they team captain was Napoleon “Nap” Lajoie.

When Lajoie departed after the 1914 season, club owner Charles Somers requested that baseball writers selected a new name, and they picked the Cleveland Indians. This was a revival of the nickname that fans used for the team Cleveland Spiders during the period when the Native American Louis Sockalexis was a part of the team. The name Cleveland Indians was used for over a century, and is the sources of several nicknames for the team, including The Tribe and the Wahoos.

Popular culture

The 1989 movie Major League is centred around a fictionalized version of the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians). The squeal Major League II was released in 1994.

Another example of a movie featuring the Cleveland´s is “The Kid from Cleveland”, which premièred in 1949 and includes then-owner Bill Veeck and several players from the team.