If the Baltimore Orioles were the champions of cheat, the Cleveland Spiders were at least the runners-up of cheat. They, much like their Baltimore counterparts, would skip second base, trip, punch, and hold opposing base runners. Also, much like their Baltimore comrades, they were a good team. They captured the 1895 Turner Cup Championship of the NL, and boasted three Hall of Fame players: Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace. They were "Slugging Style" pioneers as well, but they had one advantage over Baltimore: pitching. Baltimore had good pitchers, such as Kid Gleason who would later defeat Cy Young 1-0 in World Series play, but Cleveland had Cy Young in his prime.
Perhaps this team was more memorable for its tragic fate, and its winning ways. In 1899, the last year of the Temple Cup, the Cleveland Spiders were a syndicate team. In other words their owner also owned another team: the St. Louis Browns. Owners Frank and Stanley Robinson moved the good players from Cleveland to St. Louis, leaving the Cleveland team to suffer 134 defeats that season out of 150 games.
THE 1892 CLEVELAND SPIDERS
Even by 1892, most base ball players did not wear mitts. They were more popular with the new, younger players. Only two players on this veteran loaded Spiders team wore mitts (circled in white).
THE CLEVELAND INDIANS GET THEIR NAME
Louis Sockalexis
played outfield for the Cleveland Spiders from 1897-1899. He was a
First American from Maine. The Holy Cross graduate was so loved by
the fans that they began to call the Spiders "Indians" to supposedly
honor Sockalexis' heritage. In 1915, the team voted to officially
change its name to the Cleveland Indians in honor of Sockalexis. The
name has since caused friction between the team ownership and First
American groups.