Start My Family Tree Welcome to Geni, home of the world's largest family tree.
Join Geni to explore your genealogy and family history in the World's Largest Family Tree.

Cleveland Indians (MLB)

Project Tags

view all

Profiles

The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, that competes in Major League Baseball. They are organized in the Central Division of the American League. Since 1994, they have played in Progressive Field (formerly known as Jacobs Field). The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. Since their establishment as a Major League franchise in 1901, the Indians have won two World Series championships, in 1920 and 1948.

The name "Indians" originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace "Cleveland Naps" following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season. The name referenced the nickname "Indians" that was applied to the Cleveland Spiders baseball club during the time when Louis Sockalexis, a Native American, played in Cleveland. Common nicknames for the Indians include the "Tribe" and the "Wahoos", the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo, a controversial Native American caricature. The team's mascot is named "Slider."

The Cleveland team originated in 1900 as the Lake Shores, when the American League (AL) was officially a minor league. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the team played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2015 season, they had a regular season franchise record of 9,096–8,768 (.508). The Indians have won seven AL Central titles, the most in the division.