Editing Cleveland Guardians (section)

==Early Cleveland baseball teams==
[[File:Guardian of Traffic (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|The team is named after the eight ''Guardians of Traffic'' statues displayed on the [[Hope Memorial Bridge]] next to their home field.]]
According to one historian of baseball, "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."<ref>[[#Harold60|Harold 1960]]: 4</ref>

===1865–1872 Forest Citys of Cleveland===
From 1865 to 1868 Forest Citys was an amateur ball club. During the [[1869 in baseball|1869 season]], Cleveland was among several cities that established professional baseball teams following the success of the 1869 [[Cincinnati Red Stockings]], the first fully professional team.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/04/the-first-professional-baseball-team-was-the-1869-cincinnati-red-stockings/|title=The First Professional Baseball Team Was the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings|date=April 4, 2011|work=Today I Found Out|access-date=October 13, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=October 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014034356/http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/04/the-first-professional-baseball-team-was-the-1869-cincinnati-red-stockings/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZyJHkplESoC&q=the+success+of+the+1869+Cincinnati+Red+Stockings%2C+the+first+fully+professional+team&pg=PA36|title=Ohio, the Buckeye State|last=Martin|first=Michael A.|date=2001|publisher=Gareth Stevens|isbn=9780836851243|language=en|access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-date=December 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214154319/https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZyJHkplESoC&q=the+success+of+the+1869+Cincinnati+Red+Stockings%2C+the+first+fully+professional+team&pg=PA36|url-status=live}}</ref> In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was often called the [[Cleveland Forest Citys|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 [[1871 Great Chicago Fire|Chicago Fire]] left that city's [[Chicago Cubs|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 its full schedule to July 19 followed by two games versus Boston in mid-August and disbanded at the end of the season.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 1872 Cleveland Forest Citys |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1872/TCL101872.htm |publisher=retrosheet.org |access-date=February 17, 2009 |archive-date=February 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205091816/http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1872/TCL101872.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

===1879–1884 Cleveland Forest Citys and Blues===
In 1876, the [[National League (baseball)|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. A new Cleveland Forest Citys were recreated, but by 1882 were known as the [[Cleveland Blues (NL)|Cleveland Blues]], because the National League required distinct colors for that season. The Blues had mediocre records 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 (pitcher)|Jim McCormick]]) jumped to the UA after being offered higher salaries. The Cleveland Blues merged with the St. Louis Maroons UA team in 1885.

===1887–1899 Cleveland Spiders (nicknamed "Blues")===
[[File:T205 Cy Young.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Cy Young]] on a 1911 baseball card]]
Cleveland went without major league baseball for two seasons until gaining a team in the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] (AA) in 1887. After the AA's [[Pittsburgh Alleghenys]] jumped to the NL, Cleveland followed suit in 1889, as the AA began to crumble. The Cleveland ball club, called the [[Cleveland Spiders|Spiders]] (supposedly inspired by their "skinny and spindly" players), slowly became a power in the league.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Russell |title=Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia |publisher=Sports Publishing LLC |year=2001 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jkqN0qu-fcC |isbn=1-58261-376-1}}</ref> In 1891, 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, playing in the [[Temple Cup]] Series (that era's World Series) twice and winning it in 1895. The team began to fade after this success, and was dealt a severe blow under the ownership of the [[Robison Field|Robison brothers]].

Prior to the {{baseball year|1899}} season, Frank Robison, the Spiders' owner, bought the [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]], thus owning two clubs at the same time. The Browns were renamed the "Perfectos", and restocked with Cleveland talent. Just weeks before the season opener, most of the better Spiders were transferred to St. Louis, including three future Hall of Famers: Cy Young, [[Jesse Burkett]] and [[Bobby Wallace (baseball)|Bobby Wallace]].<ref name="perfectos">{{cite web|url=http://www.wcnet.org/~dlfleitz/cleve.htm |title=The 1899 Cleveland Spiders |access-date=July 27, 2008 |work=David Fleitz |publisher=wcnet.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501205105/http://www.wcnet.org/~dlfleitz/cleve.htm |archive-date=May 1, 2008}}</ref> The roster maneuvers failed to create a powerhouse Perfectos team, as St. Louis finished fifth in both 1899 and {{baseball year|1900}}. The Spiders were left with essentially a minor league lineup, and began to lose games at a record pace. Drawing almost no fans at home, they ended up playing most of their season on the road, and became known as "The Wanderers".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hittner |first=Arthur |title=Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's Flying Dutchman |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2003 |isbn=0-7864-1811-7}}</ref> The team ended the season in 12th place, 84 games out of first place, with an all-time worst record of 20–134 (.130 winning percentage).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016661.html|title=Bob Diskin, Special to ESPN.com, ''A pitcher worthy of a trophy''|access-date=September 14, 2014|archive-date=June 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628103521/http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016661.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the 1899 season, the National League disbanded four teams, including the Spiders franchise. The disastrous 1899 season would actually be a step toward a new future for Cleveland fans the next year.

===1890 Cleveland Infants (nickname "Babes")===
The Cleveland Infants competed in the [[Players' League]], which was well-attended in some cities, but club owners lacked the confidence to continue beyond the one season. The Cleveland Infants finished with 55 wins and 75 losses, playing their home games at [[Brotherhood Park]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.projectballpark.org/history/pl/brotherhood.html|title=Project Ballpark|access-date=September 14, 2014|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220544/http://www.projectballpark.org/history/pl/brotherhood.html|url-status=live}}</ref>