The Origin of The Cleveland Blues

The Original Cleveland Blues team began in 1878 as an amateur club.  In 1879 they became part of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs.  The team played at Kennard Street Park (also know as National League Park), which is currently East 46th Street & Cedar Ave. During their 6 seasons in the NL, they never finished above 3rd place.  However, they did have some notable players on the team, such as Hall of Famer Ned Hanlon who played for the Blues in 1880.  Hugh "One Arm" Dailey threw a no hitter for the Blues on September 13, 1883.  Dailey was nick-named "one arm" because he had only one arm.  Even with this setback, he recorded 19 strikeouts in one game (July 7, 1884), a major league record for over 100 years  until 1986 when Roger Clemens broke the record by recording 20 strikeouts in a game.  In recognition of this great player, September 13th is now "Cleveland Blues Day".

During the 1880 Season, the first ever perfect game was pitched against the Blues by J. Lee Richmond of Geneva, Ohio, while playing for the Worchester Club.

The club folded after the 1884 season after finishing in 7th place.  They sold all of their players to the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, which later became the modern day L.A. Dodgers!

This was a strange time for the Cleveland Blues.  They went through 4 name changes until finally settling with the name Indians in 1915.  They also became charter members of the modern day American League in 1901.  The original name of the team in 1900 was the "Bluebirds" which the team members hated.  They shortened it to "Blues".  From 1903-04, they called themselves the Bronchos, and after the acquisition of superstar Napolean "Nap" Lajoie changed their name yet again to the "Naps".  After trading Nap prior to the 1915 season, they settled on the name "Indians".