Cleveland Spiders Redux?

[SFspidur]

As the Cleveland Indians are joining the Redskins in re-examining the appropriateness of their nickname, some are proposing that the Cleveland Spiders name be revived, as a previous incarnation of the city's team was known from 1887 to 1899 in the days of Cy Young.

Notably, the 1899 Spiders still hold the record for worst record in MLB history at 20-134, after the owners purchased the St. Louis franchise and shipped most Cleveland's stars there. (The 1899 Spiders played in front of an average home attendance of 145.)

Anyway, we've long appreciated the uniqueness of our Spiders nickname, so I feel like Cleveland readopting the name would be a detriment to us, but maybe it would help elevate visibility for us in some small way.

I don't expect the Indians will go the "Spiders" route if they pursue renaming the team, but curious what others are thinking about the possibility.

 

[Eight Legger]

They better not, or else we should sue.

(Only joking, although since we managed to be intimidated by a lawsuit filed by a company with a) a different name and b) a different logo – and which c) started a hell of a lot more recently than we did, I would think we'd have a great chance at taking them for all they're worth!)

 

[urmite]

As the Cleveland Indians are joining the Redskins in re-examining the appropriateness of their nickname, some are proposing that the Cleveland Spiders name be revived, as a previous incarnation of the city's team was known from 1887 to 1899 in the days of Cy Young.

Notably, the 1899 Spiders still hold the record for worst record in MLB history at 20-134, after the owners purchased the St. Louis franchise and shipped most Cleveland's stars there. (The 1899 Spiders played in front of an average home attendance of 145.)

Anyway, we've long appreciated the uniqueness of our Spiders nickname, so I feel like Cleveland readopting the name would be a detriment to us, but maybe it would help elevate visibility for us in some small way.

I don't expect the Indians will go the "Spiders" route if they pursue renaming the team, but curious what others are thinking about the possibility.

Was Major League based on the following year?