This article was published in the Team Ownership History Project. Cleveland would go on to win the championship in six games, and the franchise is still looking for its first World Series title since. Cleveland had a history of major-league franchises long before the American League club now known as the Guardians was moved there in The Cleveland Forest Citys were one of the original teams in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in , though the club folded after the season.
While not a part of the original National League, the Cleveland franchise was established in when the league expanded. The Blues were to last six years in the NL, folding after the season. A new franchise was established in the American Association in , lasting two seasons and departing only two years before the Association itself ended.
In , two new franchises emerged in the Forest City, the Spiders name returning as a National League entry and the Infants representing the ill-fated Players League. The latter team, along with the league, lasted only one season. The Spiders were one of the better teams in the what now was a team National League, finishing second three times and almost always ending up in the first division β until In possession of two NL franchises, the Spiders owners decided to strengthen the St.
Louis team at the expense of Cleveland, causing the weakened club to finish with a record β the worst in major-league baseball history. Not surprisingly, the team was one of four eliminated in the National League before the start of the season.
Johnson renamed his minor-league circuit the American League. That same year, he relocated his St. Paul franchise to Chicago, striking a deal with the owners of the NL Chicago club. A year later, he moved into four major Eastern markets and officially declared the Americans a major league, directly taking on its National counterpart.
