Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians were the identity of Cleveland's American League franchise for over a century, from 1915 until the team became the Guardians after the 2021 season. Playing most recently at Progressive Field (long known as Jacobs Field), the Indians were the beating heart of Cleveland baseball — a franchise defined by fierce loyalty, October heartbreak, and some of the most raucous crowds of the 1990s, when the team sold out 455 consecutive games.

As the Indians, Cleveland won World Series titles in 1920 and 1948 — the latter still the franchise's most recent championship — and pennants in 1954, 1995, 1997, and 2016, when they fell one win short in a legendary seven-game World Series against the Cubs. The era produced icons like Bob Feller, Larry Doby — the first Black player in the American League — Lou Boudreau, and 1990s stars Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, and Omar Vizquel. The Indians name was retired after 2021 as the franchise transitioned to the Guardians, closing one of the longest-running chapters in baseball history.