Progressive Field, home field of the Guardians since the 1994 season.
The Cleveland Guardians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They were a founding member of the American League in 1901 as the Cleveland Bluebirds or Blues. They were given the unofficial name the Cleveland Bronchos in 1902 before being renamed the Cleveland Napoleons or Naps in 1903, and then being renamed the Cleveland Indians in 1915. The team remained as the Cleveland Indians for over a century, until the team was renamed the Cleveland Guardians in 2021, after decades of controversy surrounding the "Indians" name.[1][2][3] officially becoming the Guardians on November 19, 2021.[4][5]
The team made its first World Series appearance in 1920 and won the first of their two World Series titles. Since then, the Indians have had three periods of success. The first was from 1947 to 1956, when they had winning records in every season, including a 111–43 record in 1954, which remains the best Major League Baseball regular season record since the 1909 Pirates, and won their only other World Series in 1948. In 1954, they appeared in the World Series, and lost. Cleveland's second highly successful period was from 1994 to 2001, when they had eight consecutive winning seasons, six AL Central division titles, and two World Series appearances in 1995 and 1997, but lost both of these World Series. The third extended period of success began in 2013 under manager Terry Francona, during which they had eight consecutive winning seasons from 2013 to 2020, five playoff appearances, and one World Series appearance in 2016.
Cleveland has also experienced failure in their history. From the split of the American League into two divisions in 1969 until 1993, the Indians did not make a single postseason appearance and played only four winning seasons. They posted 100 losses four times during the era.
The following table describes the Guardians' regular season win–loss record by decades.
Records are current through the 2023 season.
Decade
Wins
Losses
Win%
1900s
697
632
.524
1910s
742
747
.498
1920s
786
749
.512
1930s
824
708
.538
1940s
800
731
.523
1950s
904
634
.588
1960s
783
826
.487
1970s
737
866
.460
1980s
710
849
.455
1990s
823
728
.531
2000s
816
804
.504
2010s
855
763
.528
2020s
283
263
.518
All-time
9,760
9,300
.512
These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com's Cleveland Indians History & Encyclopedia,[17] except where noted, and are current as of October 1, 2023.
Postseason record by year
The Guardians have made the postseason 16 times in their history, with their first being in 1920 and the most recent being in 2022.
↑ The Indians finished the 1941 season tied with the Detroit Tigers for 4th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ The Indians finished the 1944 season tied with the Philadelphia Athletics for 5th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ The Indians finished the 1948 season tied with the Boston Red Sox for first place in the American League. The Indians defeated the Red Sox 8–3 in a tie-breaker game to win the AL pennant
↑ The Indians finished the 1963 season tied with the Detroit Tigers for 5th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ The Indians finished the 1964 season tied with the Minnesota Twins for 6th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ The 1981 season was split into two halves as a result of the 1981 players strike. The top line represents the results of the first half and the bottom line represents the results of the second half.
↑ The Indians finished the 1982 season tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for 6th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ The Indians finished the 1992 season tied with the New York Yankees for 4th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ The 1994 season was cut short as a result of the 1994 players strike. The Indians were in the lead for the wild card spot and one game out of first place in the AL Central at the time of the strike.
↑ The Indians finished the 2009 season tied with the Kansas City Royals for 4th place. MLB does not officially break ties except those involving playoff spots.
↑ Due to the shortened season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoffs were expanded to include the top two teams from each division, and two wild card teams from each league.
Established in 1894 Former names (all in Cleveland unless noted) - Grand Rapids Rustlers, Lake Shores, Bluebirds, Bronchos, Naps, and Indians Based in Cleveland, Ohio
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since 1994, the team has played its home games at Progressive Field. Since their establishment as a Major League franchise in 1901, the team has won 11 Central Division titles, six American League pennants, and two World Series championships. The team's World Series championship drought since 1948 is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams. The team's name references the Guardians of Traffic, eight monolithic 1932 Art Deco sculptures by Henry Hering on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge, which is adjacent to Progressive Field. The team's mascot is named "Slider". The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona.
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League.
Dudley Michael Hargrove is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. He is currently employed as an advisor with the Cleveland Guardians. Hargrove batted and threw left-handed. He played for the Texas Rangers (1974–78), San Diego Padres (1979), and Cleveland Indians (1979–85). After retiring, he went on to manage the Indians, Baltimore Orioles, and Seattle Mariners.
Terrence Jon Francona, nicknamed "Tito", is an American former baseball manager and player who was the manager of the Cleveland Indians/Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eleven seasons. Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox for eight seasons, whom he led to two World Series titles, ending the franchise's 86-year championship drought.
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The American League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed in the realignment of 1994 by moving three teams from the American League West and two teams from the American League East. Its teams are all located in the Midwestern United States. Along with the National League East, the AL Central is one of two divisions in the Major Leagues in which all of its members have won a World Series title. In fact, each team has captured at least two World Series championships. The Kansas City Royals were the most recent team from the division to win the World Series.
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A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a post-season tournament. Such a playoff is either a single game or a short series of games.
The Ohio Cup, also known as the Battle of Ohio and the Buckeye Series, is an annual interleague rivalry series between the two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from the U.S. state of Ohio: the Cincinnati Reds of the National League (NL) and the Cleveland Guardians of the American League (AL). The series name comes from the trophy the teams play for, which was first introduced in 1989 for an annual pre-season exhibition game between the two teams, and later reintroduced in 2008. The cup is awarded to the team that wins the most games against the other in a particular season. In the event of a tie, the team holding the trophy from the previous season retains it.
The Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason is the annual playoff tournament held to determine the champion of MLB in the United States and Canada. Starting in 2022, the playoffs for each league—American and National—consist of two best-of-three wild-card playoffs contested by the lowest-seeded division winner and the three wild card teams, two best-of-five Division Series (LDS) featuring the wild-card winners and the two highest-seeded division winners, and finally the best-of-seven League Championship Series (LCS). The winners of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS) play each other in the best-of-seven World Series. Under this system, the postseason comprises 32 to 53 games. The postseason tournament takes place after the conclusion of MLB's regular season and takes approximately one month to complete.
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