Glory Days T he American League AL played its first season in 1901 Cleveland was one of the eight cities that got a team in the new league The club was called the Blues In 1902 they changed their name to the Bronchoes A year later they changed names again this time to the Naps They would not become the Indians for another 12 seasons The Naps were named in honor of Napoleon Lajoie their best player Lajoie was the AL’s most popular star in those early years His teammates included Joe Jackson Cy Young Addie Joss Elmer Flick and Bill Bradley In 1908 the Naps fell one victory short of winning the pennant 6
The Indians rose to the top of the AL in 1920 under player manager Tris Speaker The team had a great pitching staff that included Stan Coveleski Jim Bagby Slim Caldwell and George Uhle Cleveland won the World Series that fall and seemed to be headed for great things But baseball was changing and sluggers would soon rule the game Cleveland could not find the power hitters it needed to challenge baseball’s best teams Still many more stars wore the Cleveland uniform during the 1920s and 1930s Hal Trosky Earl Averill Joe Sewell and Charlie Jamieson were among the AL’s best hitters Mel Harder Willis Hudlin and Bob Feller were among the top pitchers No one in baseball had a fastball as good as Feller’s He arrived in Cleveland as a teenager and became the city’s most popular player The Indians finally returned to the World Series in 1948 That team starred Feller and player-manager Lou Boudreau They joined forces with Ken Keltner Joe Gordon Gene Bearden Bob Lemon and others to win the pennant in a thrilling playoff with the Boston LEFT Napoleon Lajoie poses for photographers ABOVE Bob Feller tends to his mitt on the dugout steps 7
Red Sox One of Cleveland’s best hitters was Larry Doby the first African-American to play for an AL club The Indians had their greatest regular season in 1954 when they won 111 games Lemon Mike Garcia and Early Wynn led the pitching staff Doby Al Rosen and Al Smith powered the offense Unfortunately the Indians lost the World Series that fall Still Cleveland fans believed another championship would come soon Bad luck and bad trades haunted the Indians in the years that followed In fact it would be more than four decades before the fans got to celebrate another pennant During that time they cheered for stars such as Rocky Colavito Sam McDowell Luis Tiant Buddy Bell Andre Thornton Julio Franco and Joe Carter But none of these players could lead Cleveland back to the World Series In the 1990s the Indians finally put together a group of young stars ready to capture the pennant Albert Belle Jim Thome LEFT Larry Doby warms up before a game ABOVE Jim Thome watches a high fly ball leave his bat 9
