Editing Cleveland Guardians (section)

===1946–1949: The Bill Veeck years===
In {{Baseball year|1946}}, [[Bill Veeck]] formed an investment group that purchased the Cleveland Indians from Bradley's group for a reported $1.6&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite book | last =Schneider | first = Russell
 | title = Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia | publisher = Sports Publishing LLC | year = 2001 | pages =56, 346 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9jkqN0qu-fcC | isbn = 1-58261-376-1}}</ref> Among the investors was [[Bob Hope]], who had grown up in Cleveland, and former Tigers slugger, [[Hank Greenberg]].<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Boxerman | first1 = Burton Alan | first2 = Benita W. | last2 = Boxerman | title = Ebbets to Veeck to Busch: Eight Owners Who Shaped Baseball | publisher = McFarland | year = 2003 | page = 128 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YBdRu_j0kcIC&pg=PA128 | isbn = 0-7864-1562-2 | access-date = November 19, 2015 | archive-date = December 14, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214154307/https://books.google.com/books?id=YBdRu_j0kcIC&pg=PA128 | url-status = live }}</ref>
A former owner of a minor league franchise in Milwaukee, Veeck brought to Cleveland a gift for promotion. At one point, Veeck hired rubber-faced<ref>{{cite news |title=Baseball's Clown Prince Dies |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/baseballs-clown-prince-dies/ |work=CBS News |access-date=February 17, 2008 |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104114755/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/10/30/archive/main68511.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Max Patkin]], the "Clown Prince of Baseball" as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box was the sort of promotional stunt that delighted fans but infuriated the American League front office.

Recognizing that he had acquired a solid team, Veeck soon abandoned the aging, small and lightless League Park to take up full-time residence in massive [[Cleveland Municipal Stadium]].<ref name="Borsvold">{{cite book | last = Borsvold | first = David | title = The Cleveland Indians: Cleveland Press Years, 1920–1982 | publisher = Arcadia Publishing | year = 2003 | pages = 37–38 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v0hgrNuScVMC&pg=PA37 | isbn = 0-7385-2325-9 | access-date = November 19, 2015 | archive-date = December 14, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214154338/https://books.google.com/books?id=v0hgrNuScVMC&pg=PA37 | url-status = live }}</ref> The Indians had briefly moved from League Park to Municipal Stadium in mid-1932, but moved back to League Park due to complaints about the cavernous environment. From 1937 onward, however, the Indians began playing an increasing number of games at Municipal, until by 1940 they played most of their home slate there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lowry|first=Phillip|title=Green Cathedrals|url=https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Walker & Company|location=New York City|isbn=0-8027-1562-1}}</ref> League Park was mostly demolished in 1951, but has since been rebuilt as a recreational park.<ref>{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=David|title=League Park may glisten once again|url=http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070806&content_id=2133242&vkey=cle_gameface&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle|publisher=MLB Advanced Media|website=CLEGuardians.com|date=August 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401010151/http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070806&content_id=2133242&vkey=cle_gameface&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle|archive-date=April 1, 2008|access-date=July 4, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Making the most of the cavernous stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as {{convert|15|ft|m|0}} between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season. The massive stadium did, however, permit the Indians to set the then-record for the largest crowd to see a Major League baseball game. On October 10, 1948, Game 5 of the [[1948 World Series|World Series]] against the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] drew over 84,000. The record stood until the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] drew a crowd in excess of 92,500 to watch Game 5 of the [[1959 World Series]] at the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]] against the [[Chicago White Sox]].

Under Veeck's leadership, one of Cleveland's most significant achievements was breaking the [[Baseball color line|color barrier]] in the [[American League]] by signing [[Larry Doby]], formerly a player for the Negro league's [[Newark Eagles]] in {{Baseball year|1947}}, 11 weeks after [[Jackie Robinson]] signed with the [[Brooklyn Dodgers|Dodgers]].<ref name=Borsvold/> Similar to Robinson, Doby battled racism on and off the field but posted a .301 batting average in 1948, his first full season. A power-hitting center fielder, Doby led the American League twice in homers.

In 1948, needing pitching for the stretch run of the pennant race, Veeck turned to the [[Negro leagues]] again and signed pitching great [[Satchel Paige]] amid much controversy.<ref name=Borsvold/> Barred from Major League Baseball during his prime, Veeck's signing of the aging star in 1948 was viewed by many as another publicity stunt. At an official age of 42, Paige became the oldest rookie in Major League baseball history, and the first black pitcher. Paige ended the year with a 6–1 record with a 2.48 ERA, 45 strikeouts and two shutouts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/1948.shtml |title=Satchel Paige 1948 Statistics |access-date=June 28, 2008 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |archive-date=June 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622154225/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/1948.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:LouBoudreau1953bowman.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Lou Boudreau]], 1948 American League MVP]]
In {{MLBy|1948}}, veterans Boudreau, Keltner, and [[Joe Gordon]] had career offensive seasons, while newcomers Doby and [[Gene Bearden]] also had standout seasons. The team went down to the wire with the [[1948 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]], winning a one-game playoff, the first in American League history, to go to the [[1948 World Series|World Series]]. In the series, the Indians defeated the [[Atlanta Braves#History|Boston Braves]] four games to two for their first championship in 28 years. Boudreau won the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|American League MVP Award]].

The Indians appeared in a film the following [[1949 in film|year]] titled ''[[The Kid From Cleveland]]'', in which Veeck had an interest.<ref name=Borsvold/> The film portrayed the team helping out a "troubled teenaged fan"<ref>{{cite web |title=The Kid from Cleveland |date=September 5, 1949 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041545/ |publisher=IMDB.com |access-date=February 17, 2009 |archive-date=March 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301035514/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041545/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and featured many members of the Indians organization. However, filming during the season cost the players valuable rest days leading to fatigue towards the end of the season.<ref name=Borsvold/> That season, Cleveland again contended before falling to third place. On September 23, 1949, Bill Veeck and the Indians buried their 1948 pennant in center field the day after they were mathematically eliminated from the pennant race.<ref name=Borsvold/>

Later in 1949, Veeck's first wife (who had a half-stake in Veeck's share of the team) divorced him. With most of his money tied up in the Indians, Veeck was forced to sell the team<ref>{{cite book | last = Ribowsky | first = Mark | title = Don't Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball | publisher = Da Capo Press | year = 2000 | page = 286 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LT2pirW9nSYC&pg=RA1-PA286 | isbn = 0-306-80963-X }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> to a syndicate headed by insurance magnate Ellis Ryan.