Editing Cleveland Guardians (section)

===1887–1899 Cleveland Spiders (nicknamed "Blues")===
[[File:T205 Cy Young.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Cy Young]] on a 1911 baseball card]]
Cleveland went without major league baseball for two seasons until gaining a team in the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] (AA) in 1887. After the AA's [[Pittsburgh Alleghenys]] jumped to the NL, Cleveland followed suit in 1889, as the AA began to crumble. The Cleveland ball club, called the [[Cleveland Spiders|Spiders]] (supposedly inspired by their "skinny and spindly" players), slowly became a power in the league.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Russell |title=Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia |publisher=Sports Publishing LLC |year=2001 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jkqN0qu-fcC |isbn=1-58261-376-1}}</ref> In 1891, the Spiders moved into [[League Park]], which would serve as the home of Cleveland professional baseball for the next 55 years. Led by native Ohioan [[Cy Young]], the Spiders became a contender in the mid-1890s, playing in the [[Temple Cup]] Series (that era's World Series) twice and winning it in 1895. The team began to fade after this success, and was dealt a severe blow under the ownership of the [[Robison Field|Robison brothers]].

Prior to the {{baseball year|1899}} season, Frank Robison, the Spiders' owner, bought the [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]], thus owning two clubs at the same time. The Browns were renamed the "Perfectos", and restocked with Cleveland talent. Just weeks before the season opener, most of the better Spiders were transferred to St. Louis, including three future Hall of Famers: Cy Young, [[Jesse Burkett]] and [[Bobby Wallace (baseball)|Bobby Wallace]].<ref name="perfectos">{{cite web|url=http://www.wcnet.org/~dlfleitz/cleve.htm |title=The 1899 Cleveland Spiders |access-date=July 27, 2008 |work=David Fleitz |publisher=wcnet.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501205105/http://www.wcnet.org/~dlfleitz/cleve.htm |archive-date=May 1, 2008}}</ref> The roster maneuvers failed to create a powerhouse Perfectos team, as St. Louis finished fifth in both 1899 and {{baseball year|1900}}. The Spiders were left with essentially a minor league lineup, and began to lose games at a record pace. Drawing almost no fans at home, they ended up playing most of their season on the road, and became known as "The Wanderers".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hittner |first=Arthur |title=Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's Flying Dutchman |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2003 |isbn=0-7864-1811-7}}</ref> The team ended the season in 12th place, 84 games out of first place, with an all-time worst record of 20–134 (.130 winning percentage).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016661.html|title=Bob Diskin, Special to ESPN.com, ''A pitcher worthy of a trophy''|access-date=September 14, 2014|archive-date=June 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628103521/http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016661.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the 1899 season, the National League disbanded four teams, including the Spiders franchise. The disastrous 1899 season would actually be a step toward a new future for Cleveland fans the next year.