So Your Baseball Team Might Need A New Nickname

The Cleveland Indians have existed in Major League Baseball since 1915, but as Bob Dylan once crooned, "The times they are a changin'." So with Cleveland considering a change in its moniker, might I present some choices:

Formerly Known As: 

The Indians are not the original nickname for the franchise and perhaps they could revisit some of these other teams. The longest of the old teams was the Cleveland Napoleons, or Naps for short, which existed from 1903-14. This of course was based on former second baseman and manager Nap Lajoie, who was inducted into the second class of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. 

In 1902 they were known as the Broncos, the Bluebirds in 1901, the Lake Shores in 1900, and the Grand Rapids Rustlers from 1894-1899.

The Other Cleveland Baseball Team:

In the superior National League was a team known as the Cleveland Forest Citys/Blues from 1887-88, but in 1889 they changed their names for the better. Enter the Cleveland Spiders who featured six future Hall of Famers and none bigger than Cy Young. 

Surprisingly, Peek-A-Boo Veach was not one of those elite players. Also on this squad for three years was Louis "Chief" Sockalexis, who is considered by some to be the first player of  Native American ancestry and certainly the first in the NL.

Something that might make people reconsider this sweet nickname is how the team ultimately folded in 1899.  Because baseball was super shady in the early days, the owners of the Spiders bought another team and moved all their talented players to the St. Louis Perfectos. With Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace all in the "Show Me State", the Spiders limped to an embarrassing 20-134 record (the worst in MLB history). After finishing 84 games out of first and attracting just 199 fans per game, the Spiders folded.

Defunct Cleveland Sports Teams:

Cleveland Barons (NHL/AHL)

Cleveland Cobras (Soccer) 

Cleveland Crunch (Indoor Soccer) 

Cleveland Force (Indoor Soccer)

Cleveland Crusaders (Hockey)

Cleveland Jaybirds (Slo-pitch softball) 

Cleveland Lumberjacks (Hockey) 

Cleveland Nets (Tennis) 

Cleveland Rockers (WNBA) 

Cleveland Stokers (Soccer) 

Cleveland Thunderbolts (Arena Football) 

Other Ideas:

Cleveland Careys 

Cleveland Clevelands 

Cleveland River Fires 

Cleveland Not Detroiters 

Cleveland Off Nagy's Glove 

Cleveland Blew a 3-1 Lead 

Cleveland Byners 

Cleveland Fellers