Indians Baseball Tickets

In a Cleveland Naps uniform, Addie Joss throws 74 times in a perfect game. Just a few years later he died, but still is considered one of the best players from Cleveland's franchise. Contrary to popular belief, the Cleveland Naps did not use a racist term in their name, but the name of a player, Nap Lajoie, who was the first player ever to hit 3,000 times. In 1915 the team used an old club name and switched to the Cleveland Indians. Their first World Series win was in 1920 after a shutout. Game five of that series was when Elmer Smith got the first ever World Series grand slam, Jim Bagby was the first pitcher to get a homer in the WS, and Bill Wambsganss, after catching a line drive, tagging base, and tagging a player remains the only player to get an unassisted triple play in the fall classic.

The Cleveland Indians have a couple more winning seasons, but fail to make the World Series and slip to mediocrity for most of the 1920's, 1930's, but make it again in 1948; led in offense by Lou Boudreau, Dale Mitchell, and Joe Gordon; with Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, and Gene Bearden pitching; and defense from Gordon and Boudreau the team won that series. Lemon and Feller were also part of the 1954 pitching staff that set AL records in wins and winning percentage with 111 and .721. In 1959 Rocky Colavito becomes a local star after hitting four round trips in one game and league leading with 42. oddly, he is traded in the next season for the league's best hitter. Early Wynn, who pitched for the 1954 team, became the first Cleveland Indians pitcher to get 300 wins in 1963, one of the dozen losing season during the 1960's and 1970's.

After downing 27 batters, Lenny Barker becomes the first Cleveland Indians player since Addie Joss to record a perfect game in the strike ridden 1981 season. The team continues to lose most of its games through the 1980's and into the 1990's before they snap up the standings in 1994 and have a hundred wins plus the ALCS win in 1995, fueled by hitting and fielding from Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, controversial Albert Belle, and a deep pitching staff. It was much the same from 1997 through 1998 with the team going to the playoffs, but only one ALCS victory in that time. In 1999 they continued to win, but did not make the playoffs, then set fielding records with Roberto Alomar, Omar Vizquel, and Travis Fryman heading them. Cleveland Indians were again in the division series in 2001, but lost. While the Cleveland Indians have had a couple bad seasons, they came close to .500 in 2004 and have high hopes for youngsters Victor Martinez, Travis  Hafner, Jake Westbrook, and Coco Crisp.

The Cleveland Indians have a long line of great hitters. Names that have appeared in many games for them are Tris Speaker, Earl Averill, Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, Joe Jackson, Nap Lajoie, and Albert Belle. Most stats key for starting pitchers read Feller, Mel Harder, then Lemon with Addie Joss having the best stats for so few games. A good argument can be made that the best fielders the Cleveland Indians have ever seen are Lajoie, Thome, and Boudreau.