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RetroSeasons

RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.

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Cleveland Spiders
Seasons 1887-1899 (13 seasons)

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Teams Cleveland Spiders History Seasons

Recap

The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed by eleven seasons in the National League (NL). Early names for the team included the Forest Citys and Blues. The name Spiders itself emerged early in the team's 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 – in 1892, 1895, and 1896. While the Spiders never won the National League pennant, the club did win the 1895 Temple Cup, a two-team league championship playoff predating the World Series. The Spiders beat that year's pennant winner, the Baltimore Orioles (unrelated to the 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, including left fielder Jesse Burkett and pitcher Cy Young.

In 1899, owners Frank and Stanley Robison purchased a second team – the bankrupt St. Louis NL franchise – and sent all of the Spiders' top talent to that club, including future Hall-of-Famers Young, Burkett, and Bobby Wallace. The resulting Spiders roster finished the 1899 season 20–134, a record which remains the worst for a single season in major league history. The Spiders were subsequently one of four teams contracted by the National League that year. Partly in response to the Robison brothers' actions – which effectively ended the Spiders franchise – 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 American to play professional baseball. The Cleveland Indians, major league successor to the Spiders in Cleveland, have long cited Sockalexis as inspiration for their team name, though that claim is disputed.

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Year	Season	League	Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Standings	Playoffs	Manager	Attendance	Stadium	Berth	Champ
1899	1899	NL	Cleveland Spiders	20	134	.130		12th	Missed Postseason	Lave Cross (8-30) Joe Quinn (12-104)	6088	League Park I
1898	1898	NL	Cleveland Spiders	81	68	.544		5th	Missed Postseason	Patsy Tebeau	70496	League Park I
1897	1897	NL	Cleveland Spiders	69	62	.527		5th	Missed Postseason	Patsy Tebeau	115250	League Park I
1896	1896	NL	Cleveland Spiders	80	48	.625		2nd	Lost Temple Cup	Patsy Tebeau	152000	League Park I	-3	-1
1895	1895	NL	Cleveland Spiders	84	46	.646		2nd	Won Temple Cup	Patsy Tebeau	143000	League Park I	-3	1
1894	1894	NL	Cleveland Spiders	68	61	.527		6th	Missed Postseason	Patsy Tebeau	82000	League Park I
1893	1893	NL	Cleveland Spiders	73	55	.570		3rd	Missed Postseason	Patsy Tebeau	130000	League Park I
1892	1892	NL	Cleveland Spiders	93	56	.624		2nd	Lost Championship Series	Patsy Tebeau	139928	League Park I	-3	-1
1891	1891	NL	Cleveland Spiders	65	74	.468		5th	Missed Postseason	Bob Leadley (34-34) Patsy Tebeau (31-40)	132000	League Park I
1890	1890	NL	Cleveland Spiders	44	88	.333		7th	Missed Postseason	Gus Schmelz (21-55) Bob Leadley (23-33)	47478	National League Park
1889	1889	NL	Cleveland Spiders	61	72	.459		6th	Missed Postseason	Tom Loftus		National League Park
1888	1888	AA	Cleveland Blues	50	82	.379		6th	Missed Postseason	Jimmy Williams (20-44) Tom Loftus (30-38)		National League Park II
1887	1887	AA	Cleveland Blues	39	92	.298		8th	Missed Postseason	Jimmy Williams		National League Park II

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Spiders History

Franchise Overview
Seasons
Team Stats
Franchise Leaders
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Ballpark History
Logo History
Audio & Video Clips
Articles & Photos
Baseball Card History
Collectibles on eBay
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