The history of the Cleveland Indians goes all the way back to the beginning of professional baseball. Cleveland was one of several cities to establish a professional baseball team. Their team’s name was the Forest Citys and they joined the National Association of Professional Baseball Players in 1871. In 1901, the team’s name was changed to the “Bluebirds” and the team was one of the charter members of the American League. As a result of a write-in contest held by a newspaper in 1903, the teams name was changed to the “Naps.” In 1912 the team’s name was again changed to “Cleveland Molly McGuires” after coal miners who were trying to start a union. The name proved to be unpopular and a local newspaper was requested to come up with a new nickname for the team. The paper came up with “Indians", which became the team’s official name in 1915. In 1920, fans purchased Cleveland Indians tickets to see the team win its first World Series. The Cleveland Indians were also one of the first teams to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers, the team signed Larry Doby who had played in the Negro Leagues. They won their second World Series in 1948 defeating the Boston Braves 4-2. The Cleveland Indians are a very popular franchise. The fans who purchased Cleveland Indians tickets for the April 5, 2012 game against the Toronto Blue Jays were part of an Opening day crowd that set an attendance record of 43,190. It was also the longest opening day game ever, lasting 16 innings and taking 5 hours and 14 minutes. Unfortunately the Indians lost the game 7 – 4.
The Cleveland Bluebirds team played in League Park before Cleveland Municipal Stadium was built. Fans could start purchasing Cleveland Indians tickets there starting in 1946. In 1994, the Indians opened the season in their new stadium called Jacobs Field. In 2008 Progressive Insurance Company purchased the naming rights and Jacobs Field became Progressive Field. Enough Cleveland Indians tickets were sold to sell out the stadium for 455 consecutive home games. The demand for Cleveland Indians tickets was so intense that every seat for all 81 home games was sold before Opening Day. Fans who purchased Cleveland Indians tickets to a game in 1974 experienced a Ten Cent Beer night, which resulted in a riot and a forfeit to the Texas Rangers. John Adams is called “The Drummer” since he’s played a bass drum at almost every home game starting in 1973. Each game he’d get two Cleveland Indians tickets; one for him and one for his drum. Recently the team has given him free Cleveland Indians tickets for his contributions to the ballpark experience. For decades the Cleveland Indians struggled. They were displayed in a 1989 movie titled Major League. The story was about a hapless Cleveland team going from last to first by the end of the movie.
6/12/13 - Losers of 8 in a row, the Cleveland Indians are the only second-place team in baseball with a losing record. Playing in a weak division under new manager Terry Francona The Indians will try to break their losing streak against the Texas Rangers this week. Newly acquired Nick Swisher Is hitting 240 with seven homeruns. The young leftfielder Michael Brantley is leading the team in batting average hitting 284.