Uncancelled Cleveland Indians Baseball Company, Inc. stock certificate issued in 1998. Image of Jacobs field on face of certificate. Printed signature of Richard Jacobs, as Chairman.
The Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians) are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since 1994, the team has played its home games at Progressive Field. Since their establishment as a Major League franchise in 1901, the team has won 11 Central Division titles, six American League pennants, and two World Series championships (in 1920 and 1948). The team's World Series championship drought since 1948 is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams.[1] The team's name references the Guardians of Traffic, eight monolithic 1932 Art Deco sculptures by Henry Hering on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge, which is adjacent to Progressive Field. The team's mascot is named "Slider". The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona.
The franchise originated in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, a minor league team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that played in the Western League. The team relocated to Cleveland in 1900 and was called the Cleveland Lake Shores.[7] The Western League itself was renamed the American League prior to the 1900 season while continuing its minor league status. When the American League declared itself a major league in 1901, Cleveland was one of its eight charter franchises. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds or Blues, the team was also unofficially called the Cleveland Bronchos in 1902. Beginning in 1903, the team was named the Cleveland Napoleons or Naps, after team captain Nap Lajoie.
Lajoie left after the 1914 season and club owner Charles Somers requested that baseball writers choose a new name. They chose the name Cleveland Indians. That name stuck and remained in use for more than a century. Common nicknames for the Indians were "the Tribe" and "the Wahoos", the latter referencing their longtime logo, Chief Wahoo. After the Indians name came under criticism as part of the Native American mascot controversy, the team adopted the Guardians name following the 2021 season.
From August 24 to September 14, 2017, the team won 22 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in American League history, and the second longest winning streak in Major League Baseball history.
As of the end of the 2023 season, the franchise's overall record is 9,760–9,300
Richard E. "Dick" Jacobs (June 16, 1925 – June 5, 2009) was an American businessman and real estate developer who co-founded the Jacobs Entertainment, Inc., Richard E. Jacobs Group, and owner of the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 1999.
Along with his brother, Jacobs was also well known for owning the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 1999. The Jacobs built and opened Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1994. The ballpark bore his family name from its opening in April 1994 until January 2008. Jacobs' tenure as Indians owner marked one of the team's most successful periods in franchise history the team went 1119-1080 during the regular season, and 25-22 during the postseason, reaching the World Series on two occasions (1995, and 1997), and winning American League Central Division championships in five consecutive seasons (1995-1999). Under Jacobs ownership the Indians also hosted the 1997 All-Star Game
History form RM Smythe and Wikipedia.
