Editing Cleveland Spiders

{{Short description|Baseball team}}
{{For|the minor league team known as the Cleveland Spiders|Cleveland Bearcats}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox baseball team
| founded = {{mlby|1887}}
| folded = {{mlby|1899}}
| location = [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]
| logo = [[File:1892 Cleveland Spiders.jpg|300px]]
| logo_caption = [[1892 Cleveland Spiders season|1892]] team photo at [[League Park]], with the original wooden stands visible in the background
| affiliations = {{ubl|
* [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (1889–1899)
* [[American Association (1882–1891)|American Association]] (1887–1888)
}}
| ballpark = {{ubl|
* [[League Park]] (1891–1899)
* {{nowrap|[[National League Park]] (1887–1890)}}
}}
| colors = {{ubl|
* Black, dark gray, white
* {{color box|#000000}} {{color box|#A9A9A9}} {{color box| 
#FFFFFF}}
}}
| series = [[Temple Cup]]
| series_champs = 1 ([[1895 Cleveland Spiders|1895]])
| former_names = Forest Citys / Cleveland Blues<br>(1887–1888)
| owner = [[Frank Robison]] & [[Stanley Robison]]<br>(1887–1899)
| manager = {{ubl|
* [[Joe Quinn (second baseman)|Joe Quinn]] (1899)
* [[Lave Cross]] (1899)
* [[Patsy Tebeau]] (1891–1898)
* [[Robert Leadley]] (1890–1891)
* [[Gus Schmelz]] (1890)
* [[Tom Loftus]] (1888–1889)
* [[Jimmy Williams (19th-century baseball manager)|Jimmy Williams]] (1887–1888)
}}
}}

The '''Cleveland Spiders''' were an American professional [[baseball]] team based in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]. The team competed at the [[Major League Baseball|major league]] level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct [[American Association (1882–1891)|American Association]] (AA), followed by eleven seasons in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL). Early names for the team included the '''Forest Citys''' and '''Blues'''. The name Spiders itself emerged early in the team's [[1889 Cleveland Spiders season|inaugural NL season]] of 1889, owing to new black-and-gray uniforms and the skinny, long-limbed look of many players (thereby evoking the [[spider]] arachnid). [[National League Park]] served as the team's home for its first four seasons until the opening of [[League Park]] in 1891.

Amid seven straight winning seasons under manager [[Patsy Tebeau]], the team finished second in the National League three times &ndash; in [[1892 Cleveland Spiders season|1892]], [[1895 Cleveland Spiders season|1895]], and [[1896 Cleveland Spiders season|1896]]. While the Spiders never won the [[List of National League pennant winners|National League pennant]], the club did win the 1895 [[Temple Cup]], a two-team league championship playoff [[List of pre-World Series baseball champions|predating the World Series]]. The Spiders beat that year's pennant winner, the [[Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899)|Baltimore Orioles]] (unrelated to the [[Baltimore Orioles|modern franchise]]), four games to one in a best-of-seven game series. Six Spiders players were later inducted into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]], including left fielder [[Jesse Burkett]] and pitcher [[Cy Young]].

In 1899, owners [[Frank Robison|Frank]] and [[Stanley Robison]] purchased a second team &ndash; the bankrupt [[St. Louis Cardinals|St. Louis NL franchise]] &ndash; and sent all of the Spiders' top talent to that club, including future Hall-of-Famers Young, Burkett, and [[Bobby Wallace (baseball)|Bobby Wallace]]. The resulting Spiders roster finished the [[1899 Cleveland Spiders season|1899 season]] 20&ndash;134, a record which remains the [[List of worst Major League Baseball season records|worst for a single season]] in major league history. The Spiders were subsequently one of four teams contracted by the National League [[1899 in baseball|that year]]. Partly in response to the Robison brothers' actions &ndash; which effectively ended the Spiders franchise &ndash; the practice of "[[syndicate]] ownership" was later banned.

Spiders outfielder [[Louis Sockalexis]] played for the team during its final three seasons and is often credited as the first [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] to play major league baseball. The [[Cleveland Guardians]], major league successor to the Spiders in Cleveland, have long cited Sockalexis as the inspiration for their [[Cleveland Indians name and logo controversy|controversial former team name]] &ndash; "Indians" &ndash; though that claim is disputed.<ref>{{cite news |first=Joe |last=Posnanski |author-link=Joe Posnanski |title=The Cleveland Indians, Louis Sockalexis, and The Name |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/the-cleveland-indians-louis-sockalexis-and-the-name |work=NBC Sports |date=March 18, 2014 |access-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref>

==History==
The Spiders were the third professional baseball franchise based in Cleveland. The first team, [[Cleveland Forest Citys|Forest City]], which played from 1870 through 1872, was initially an independent team before joining the [[National Association of Professional Base Ball Players]] for two seasons before disbanding. They were followed in 1879 by the city's first [[National League (baseball)|National League]] team, the [[Cleveland Blues (National League)|Cleveland Blues]], which folded after the 1884 season.<ref name="Fleitz 22">[[#Fleitz|Fleitz]], p. 22. "Brunell suggested, jokingly, that such a gangly, long-limbed collection of ballplayers in their black and gray uniforms should be called Spiders. And so they were. Brunell first used the name Spiders in his ''Plain Dealer'' column on May 12."</ref>

===1887–1888===
After the 1886 season, the [[Pittsburgh Pirates|Pittsburgh Alleghenys]] left the [[American Association (1882–1891)|American Association]] (AA) to join the National League. The AA, then considered a [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|major league]], chose the Cleveland group headed by [[Frank Robison]] as an expansion team to begin play in 1887 over proposals from Kansas City and Detroit. Later, Robison's brother [[Stanley Robison|Stanley]] was added to the ownership group. Initially, the team was known as the Forest Citys, drawing on the city's nickname and the nickname that had been used on the city's two previous professional baseball teams. The nickname Blues was also used again in reference to the team uniforms.<ref name="Fleitz 22"/><ref name=cwru>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Cleveland Spiders |url=http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=CS5 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History |date = 11 May 2018|publisher=[[Case Western Reserve University]] |access-date=July 13, 2020}}</ref> The Forest Citys were a weak team in their early years.

===1889–1898===
[[File:Cy Yoyng 1891.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Cy Young in 1891]]
In {{mlby|1889}}, they moved to the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] and became known as the Spiders, reportedly after comments from a team executive assessing the players.<ref name="Light 205">[[#Light|Light]], p. 205. "... a club executive assessing their shapes supposedly said: 'They look skinny and spindly, just like spiders. Might as well call them Spiders and be done with it.'&nbsp;"</ref> Frank H. Brunell, this team executive who also doubled as sportswriter for ''[[The Plain Dealer]]'', noted the combination of the team's new black-and-gray uniforms together with the sight of several skinny, long-limbed players. He joked the team should be called "Spiders", and the name stuck.<ref name="Fleitz 22"/> The team started to improve in {{mlby|1891}}, largely due to the signing of future [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] pitcher [[Cy Young]].<ref name=cwru/>

The Spiders had their first taste of success in 1892 when they finished 93–56 overall; winning the second half by three games over Boston with a 53–23 record. Other than standout [[second baseman]] [[Cupid Childs]], the Spiders had an unremarkable offense. Their success in 1892 was built on pitching strength; Cy Young was the NL's most dominant hurler, and 22-year-old [[George Cuppy]] had an outstanding [[rookie]] year. Following the season, a "World's Championship Series" exhibition was played between Cleveland and the first-half winner [[Boston Beaneaters]], but the Spiders could only muster one tie in six games.

[[File:Cleveland Spiders team photo (1895).jpg|thumb|275px|1895 Cleveland Spiders team]]
In 1895, the Spiders again finished second, this time to the equally rough-and-tumble [[Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899)|Baltimore Orioles]]. Young again led the league in [[Win (baseball)|wins]], and speedy [[left fielder]] [[Jesse Burkett]] won the [[batting average (baseball)|batting title]] with a .409 average.  The Spiders won the [[Temple Cup]], an 1890s postseason series between the first- and second-place teams in the NL. Amid fan rowdyism and garbage-throwing, the Spiders won four of five games against Baltimore, including two wins for Cy Young.

The 1895 championship was the high-water mark for the franchise. The following season, Baltimore and Cleveland again finished first and second in the NL, but in the battle for the 1896 Temple Cup, the second-place Spiders were swept in four games. In 1897, despite a winning record, the franchise finished fifth, a season highlighted by Young throwing the first of three career [[no-hitter]]s on September 18. The Spiders again finished fifth in 1898.

===1899 season===
{{Main|1899 Cleveland Spiders season}}
In 1899, the Spiders' owners, the Robison brothers, bought the [[St. Louis Cardinals|St. Louis Browns]] out of bankruptcy and changed their name to the Perfectos. However, they kept the Spiders as well—a blatant conflict of interest. Believing the Perfectos would draw greater attendance in more densely populated St. Louis, the Robisons transferred most of the Cleveland stars, including future Baseball Hall of Famers [[Cy Young]], [[Jesse Burkett]], and [[Bobby Wallace (baseball)|Bobby Wallace]], to St. Louis. They also shifted a large number of Cleveland home games to the road (for instance, the original [[Opening Day]] game was shifted to St. Louis).

With a decimated roster, the Spiders made a wretched showing. They finished with a dismal win-loss record of 20–134 (.130), the [[List of worst Major League Baseball season win–loss records|worst in MLB history]], 84 games behind the pennant-winning [[Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn Superbas]] and 35 games behind the next-to-last (11th) place [[Washington Senators (1891–1899)|Washington Senators]]. Their batting records were the worst in the league in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, stolen bases, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLV/1899.shtml|title = 1899 Cleveland Spiders Statistics}}</ref>

The Robisons announced after buying the Perfectos that they intended to run the Spiders as a "sideshow", and Cleveland fans apparently took them at their word. The Spiders' first 16 home games drew a total of 3,179 fans, or an average of 199 fans per game. Due to these meager attendance figures, the other 11 NL teams refused to come to League Park, as their cut of the revenue from ticket sales did not even begin to cover their hotel and travel expenses. The Spiders were thus forced to play 85 of their remaining 93 games on the road. Counting the large number of home games that had been shifted to the road earlier in the season, they only played 42 home games during the season, including only eight after July 1, and finished 9–33 (.214) at home and 11–101 (.098) on the road. Only 6,088 fans paid to attend Spiders home games in 1899, for a pitiful average of a mere 145 spectators per game in 9,000-seat League Park.

The 101 road losses is a major-league record that will never be threatened, as current scheduling practices have teams play a maximum of 81 away games. The team's longest winning streak of the season was two games, which they accomplished once: on May 20–21. Spiders opponents scored ten or more runs 49 times in 154 games. Pitchers Jim Hughey (4–30) and Charlie Knepper (4–22) tied for the team lead in wins.

The 1962 [[New York Mets]], 40–120 (.250), and the 2024 [[Chicago White Sox]], 41–121 (.253), own the modern records in their respective leagues for the most losses, and thus draw frequent comparisons to the 1899 Spiders for futility.

==Legacy==
The Robisons' decision to effectively reduce the Spiders to [[Minor league baseball|minor league]] status, along with other intra-league raiding such as that conducted by the Dodgers and to a lesser extent the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]], unwittingly helped pave the way to the National League's loss of its major league monopoly. The 12th-place Spiders were one of four teams contracted out of the National League at the end of the 1899 season (the others were the 11th-place Senators, the ninth-place [[Louisville Colonels]] and the bankrupt fourth-place [[Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899)|Baltimore Orioles]]). The 1899 fiasco played a role in the major leagues passing a rule which barred one person from owning controlling interest in two clubs.

The Robisons sold the assets of the Spiders team to Charles Somers and John Kilfoyle in 1900.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Frank Robison |url=http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=RFDH |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History |date = 11 May 2018|publisher=[[Case Western Reserve University]] |access-date=July 13, 2020}}</ref> In 1900, the then-minor American League (previously the Western League) fielded a team called the Cleveland Lake Shores. In 1901, after the [[American League]] declared major league status, the team was called the Cleveland Blues, eventually the Cleveland Indians, and now the [[Cleveland Guardians]].

The Cleveland Guardians have long claimed Spiders outfielder [[Louis Sockalexis]] as the inspiration for their [[Cleveland Indians name and logo controversy|controversial former team name]] &ndash; "Indians" &ndash; in use from [[1915 Cleveland Indians season|1915]] to [[2021 Cleveland Indians season|2021]]. Sockalexis played three seasons for the Cleveland Spiders, from 1897 to 1899, and is often credited as the first [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] to play professional baseball at the major league level. During his time with the Spiders, the press often referred to the team as the Indians or "Tebeau's Indians".<ref>{{cite web |title=Louis Sockalexis |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/louis-sockalexis/ |author=Fleitz, David |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |website=SABR.org |access-date=July 13, 2020}}</ref> The Cleveland Guardians claim has been disputed, however, including in a 2012 ''[[Cleveland Scene]]'' essay titled "The Curse of [[Chief Wahoo]]", which argues the organization cited Sockalexis in part to justify use of the "Indians" name.<ref>{{cite web|author=Pattakos, Peter|date=April 25, 2012|title=The Curse of Chief Wahoo|url=http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/the-curse-of-chief-wahoo/Content?oid=2954423&showFullText=true|work=[[Cleveland Scene]]|access-date=January 16, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140117015226/http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/the-curse-of-chief-wahoo/Content?oid=2954423&showFullText=true|archive-date=January 17, 2014}}</ref>

==Baseball Hall of Famers==
{{Baseball hall of fame list 
| Current Team Name = Cleveland Spiders
| All Team Names = 
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| ColorC# = A9A9A9
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| Team Name 1 = '''Cleveland Spiders'''
| List 1.1 =
| List 1.2 = [[Jesse Burkett]] *<br>[[John Clarkson]]
| List 1.3 = [[George Davis (baseball)|George Davis]]<br>[[Buck Ewing]]
| List 1.4 = [[Bobby Wallace (baseball)|Bobby Wallace]]<br>[[Cy Young]] *
| List 1.5 =
| Team Name 2 = 
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| Team Name 3 =
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| Footnote1 = * Cleveland Spiders listed as primary team according to the Hall of Fame
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}}

==See also==
*[[Cleveland Spiders all-time roster]]
*[[List of Cleveland Spiders managers]]
*[[List of Cleveland Spiders Opening Day starting pitchers]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
;Books
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |ref=Fleitz |title=Rowdy Patsy Tebeau and the Cleveland Spiders |author=Fleitz, David L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtzCDgAAQBAJ |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]] |isbn=9780786499472 |date=2017}}
*{{cite book |ref=Hetrick |title=Misfits! The Cleveland Spiders in 1899 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2NNbPwAACAAJ |author=Hetrick, J. Thomas |publisher= McFarland & Company, Inc. |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=9780899506081 |year=1991}}
*{{cite book |ref=Light |title=The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iI0-CgAAQBAJ |author=Light, Jonathan Fraser |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=9781476617442 |year=2016 |edition=2nd}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLV/ Baseball-reference.com: Cleveland Spiders statistics]
*[https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-spiders Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Cleveland Spiders]

{{Cleveland Spiders}}
{{American Association (1882–1891)}}
{{MLBHistory}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1887 establishments in Ohio]]
[[Category:1899 disestablishments in Ohio]]
[[Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1899]]
[[Category:Baseball teams established in 1887]]
[[Category:Cleveland Spiders| ]]
[[Category:American Association (1882–1891) teams]]
[[Category:Defunct Major League Baseball teams]]