The 1899

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...

season was the team's 13th and final season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB), and their 11th season in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL). The Spiders' team owners, the Robison family, also owned the St. Louis Perfectos. To strengthen the Perfectos, they transferred the Spiders' best players to St. Louis before the season, leaving Cleveland with a severely depleted roster. As the Spiders played poorly and continued to lose that season, people stopped attending their home games, and other teams refused to travel to Cleveland to play road games against the Spiders. This resulted in the Spiders being forced to play most of their games on the road. The Spiders finished in 12th place, last in the NL, with a record of 20–134. This remains the worst single-season record for an MLB team in terms of

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

(.130). The team allowed 1,252 runs while only scoring 529, a

run differential In baseball, run differential is a cumulative team statistic that combines offensive and defensive scoring. Run differential is calculated by subtracting runs allowed from runs scored. Run differential is positive when a team scores more runs th ...

of −723 for the season, the worst in MLB history.

Offseason

In early 1899, the owners of the Spiders, the Robison brothers, Frank and

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

, bought the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

baseball club from Chris von der Ahe, renaming it the

Perfectos Perfectos was a radio device used by Royal Air Force's night fighters during the Second World War to detect German aircraft. It worked by triggering '' Luftwaffe's'' FuG 25a Erstling identification friend or foe (IFF) system and then using the r ...

. However, they continued to retain ownership of the Cleveland club, an obvious conflict of interest that was later prohibited by Major League Baseball. The Robisons decided that a good team in St. Louis would draw more fans, so they transferred most of the Cleveland stars, including future

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered t ...

Jesse Burkett Jesse Cail Burkett (December 4, 1868 – May 27, 1953), nicknamed "Crab", was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1890 to 1905 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Per ...

and Bobby Wallace, as well as manager

Patsy Tebeau Oliver Wendell "Patsy" Tebeau (December 5, 1864 – May 16, 1918) was an American first baseman, third baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball.

, to St. Louis. Most of the players Cleveland received were non-entities.

Jack Clements John J. Clements (July 24, 1864 – May 23, 1941) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for 17 seasons. Despite being left-handed, Clements caught 1,076 games, almost four times as many as ...

(known to history as one of MLB's few left-handed throwing catchers) and Joe Quinn were at the end of successful careers, and player-manager

Lave Cross Lafayette Napoleon Cross (born Vratislav Kriz, May 12, 1866 – September 6, 1927) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from to . Cross played most of his 21-year career with Phila ...

was traded back to St. Louis after the Spiders got off to an 8–30 start. According to various individual pages at Baseball-Reference.com, most of this activity took place on March 29, 1899, just 17 days before the beginning of the new season: ;Pitchers :

Frank Bates Creed Napoleon "Frank" Bates (September 28, 1876 – after 1918) was an American professional pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1899. He played for the Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Perfectos. Bates was tall and we ...

George Cuppy George Joseph "Nig" Cuppy (July 3, 1869 – July 27, 1922) was an American professional baseball pitcher. In his 10-year major league career, he played mostly for the Cleveland Spiders, compiling a win–loss record of 163–98. Biography Cupp ...

Cowboy Jones Albert Edward "Cowboy" "Bronco" Jones (August 23, 1874 – February 9, 1958) was a professional baseball pitcher. He pitched one full season and parts of three others in Major League Baseball from 1898 until 1901 for the Cleveland Spiders and St. ...

Pete McBride Peter William McBride (July 9, 1875 – July 3, 1944) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in one game for the Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The te ...

, Jack Powell,

Zeke Wilson Frank Ealton "Zeke" Wilson (December 24, 1869 – April 26, 1928) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played five seasons in Major League Baseball from 1895 to 1899, for the Boston Beaneaters, Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders wer ...

to St. Louis :

Kid Carsey Wilfred "Kid" Carsey (October 22, 1870 – March 29, 1960), was an American professional baseball player who was a pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1891 to 1901. He played for the Washington Statesmen, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals ...

Jim Hughey James Ulysses Hughey (March 8, 1869 – March 29, 1945), born in Wakeshma, Michigan, was a pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers (1891), Chicago Colts (1893), Pittsburgh Pirates (1896–97), St. Louis Browns/St. Louis Cardinals (1898 and 1900) and C ...

Harry Maupin Harry Carr Maupin (July 11, 1872 – August 25, 1952) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons. He pitched in two games for the St. Louis Browns during the 1898 season and five games for the Cleveland Spiders ...

, Willie Sudhoff to Cleveland ;Catchers :

Lou Criger Louis Criger (February 3, 1872 – May 14, 1934) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1896 to 1912 for the Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfectos / Cardinals, Boston Americans / Red Sox, ...

, Jack O'Connor to St. Louis :

Joe Sugden Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Frazer Hines. He first appeared on-screen during the soap's first episode broadcast 16 October 1972 and remained in the programme until ...

to Cleveland ;Infielders : Jimmy Burke,

Cupid Childs Clarence Lemuel "Cupid" Childs (August 8, 1867 – November 8, 1912) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball with a 13-season career from 1888, 1890–1901, playing for the Philadelphia Quakers, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Pe ...

, Ed McKean,

Ossee Schreckengost Ossee Freeman Schreckengost (April 11, 1875 – July 9, 1914), born F. Osee Schrecongost, was an American professional baseball catcher and first baseman. He played for seven Major League Baseball (MLB) teams between 1897 and 1908. Between 19 ...

, Bobby Wallace to St. Louis :

Patsy Tebeau Oliver Wendell "Patsy" Tebeau (December 5, 1864 – May 16, 1918) was an American first baseman, third baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball.

to St. Louis (to be manager) : Joe Quinn, Suter Sullivan, Tommy Tucker to Cleveland :

to Cleveland (to be player-manager) ;Outfielders :

Harry Blake Harry Cooper Blake (June 16, 1874 – October 14, 1919), sometimes known by the nickname "Dude", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played in the late 19th century. He played for the Cleveland Spiders (1894–1898) and for ...

Emmet Heidrick R. Emmet "Snags" Heidrick (July 29, 1876 – January 20, 1916) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Cardinals, and St. Louis Browns between 1898 and 1908, pri ...

to St. Louis : Tommy Dowd,

Dick Harley Richard Joseph Harley (September 25, 1872 – April 3, 1952) was an American baseball outfielder, manager, and coach. A native of Philadelphia, Harley played baseball and American football at Georgetown University. He then played professional b ...

to Cleveland They also transferred numerous home games to the road—including the original

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

game to St. Louis. As a result, the Spiders did not play their first home game until May 1. In early April, the Spiders started training in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

. Because of the cold weather, the team had to practice inside a gymnasium.

Regular season

With a decimated roster, it was apparent almost from the start that the Spiders would make a wretched showing. After their first game, in which they were beaten by the Perfectos, 10–1, the headline of the April 16 edition of ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' proved to be prescient: "THE FARCE HAS BEGUN." After a poor start on the road, the Spiders played a home-opening doubleheader on May 1 in front of 100 fans. They split the two games, moving up to 11th place. However, they were back in last before long. On June 2, the Spiders led the Brooklyn Superbas, 10–0, in the sixth inning, but they blew the lead and ended up losing, 11–10. On June 11, the Spiders lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 10–1, behind

' poor pitching. It was the Spiders' 11th straight loss on that road trip. The following day, the Spiders returned home and lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 58 fans. The team kept losing games, and losses came more and more frequently as the season went on. On August 16, with Bates pitching, the Spiders lost to the Superbas, 13–2. This led to criticism from the ''Cleveland Plain Dealer''. On August 18, the first-place Superbas completed their sweep of the Spiders, outscoring them, 43–8, in four games. The Spiders notched their 100th loss of the season on August 31, falling to the Superbas, 9–3. Two days later, the Spiders played a local amateur team in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

, and lost, 7–5. On September 12, the Spiders lost both games of a doubleheader to the Philadelphia Phillies. At that point, they were 19–114 and had broken the MLB single-season record for losses, which had been 113. On October 15, the Spiders ended their season by losing both games of a doubleheader to the Cincinnati Reds, by scores of 16–1 and 19–3.Hetrick, pp. 149-150. The Spiders finished in 12th place, last in the NL. After losing 40 of their last 41 games, they had a record of 20–134 (.130). Their record is still the worst in Major League Baseball history. They trailed the pennant-winning

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

by 84 games, and finished 35 games behind the 11th place Washington Senators. For comparison, this would project to 21–141 under the current schedule, and Pythagorean expectation based on the Spiders' results and the current 162-game schedule would translate to a record of 25–137. The 1899 Spiders were 9–33 (.214) at home and 11–101 (.098) on the road. The team's longest winning streak of the season was two games, which they accomplished once: on May 20 against the

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

and May 21 against the

Colonels Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in char ...

. They also accumulated the second-longest losing streak in league history, at 24 games from August 26 to September 16, trailing only the 26-game losing streak set by the 1889 Louisville Colonels. The Spiders were winless against two teams:

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Spiders opponents scored ten or more runs 49 times in 154 games. Pitchers

(4–30) and

Charlie Knepper Charles Knepper (February 18, 1871 – February 6, 1946) was an American professional baseball player who played as a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He threw and batted right-handed. Knepper spent just one season in the majors, pitching for ...

(4–22) tied for the team lead in wins. The pitching staff allowed a record 1,252 runs in 154 games. The Spiders batters combined to hit 12 home runs, matching former Spiders star Bobby Wallace, who hit 12 home runs for St. Louis. The 1899 Spiders did lead the league in one statistic—games played. Cleveland was the only team in the league to finish all of its games in the then-154 game schedule of the 1899 season, a rather unusual occurrence in that era. In terms of absolute numbers, the record for futility of 20 wins in any official MLB season stood until the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

shortened the 2020 season to only 60 games; even then, 29 of the then-30 teams managed to win more than 20 games with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, who finished 19–41, winning one less game than the 1899 Spiders. Due to poor attendance, the Spiders played 112 road games, as a result of 35 of their planned home games being moved. The only time this number has ever been threatened was in when the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

were made to play the remainder of their season on the road due to ceiling damage to the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

in late July of that season, which would have broken the record with 118 road games before the

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

cut the season short with the Mariners having played only 68 of those road games.

Attendance

In early 1899, team owner Stanley Robison publicly announced his intention to run the Spiders "as a sideshow", and fans took him at his word: after the first 16 home games, Cleveland's total attendance was 3,179, for a trifling average of 199 people per game. As a result, other NL teams refused to travel to Cleveland's

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough, Cleveland, Hough neighborhood. It was buil ...

, since their cut of the ticket revenue would not even come close to covering their travel and hotel expenses. As a result, the Spiders only played 26 more home games for the rest of the season, including only eight after July 1. Their record of 101 road losses will likely never be threatened: it is currently unbreakable under MLB's current scheduling practices, where a team plays a maximum of 81 road games. Sportswriters of the day began referring to the team as the "Exiles" and "Wanderers." A mere 6,088 fans paid for Spiders home games in 1899, an average of 145 people per game. By comparison, St. Louis drew 373,909 fans for their home season, including 15,000 for one game (their home opener against the Spiders).

Aftermath

The dismal 1899 season was the end for the Spiders, and for National League baseball in Cleveland. The Spiders were disbanded, along with the original Baltimore Orioles, the Louisville Colonels (Louisville has not had a major league team since), and the original Washington Senators, as the National League contracted from 12 teams to 8. The departure of baseball from Cleveland left an opening for the upstart

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, which opened for business in 1901 as a second major league and included among its charter members a new team, the Cleveland Blues. The Blues still exist today as the

Cleveland Guardians 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 , the team has played its home gam ...

. Currently, the 2024 Chicago White Sox (121) has the post-1900 AL and MLB records for most losses in a season. After the Spiders folded, a National League team would not play in Cleveland again until the Brooklyn Robins visited the Cleveland Indians in the

1920 World Series The 1920 World Series was the championship series for Major League Baseball's 1920 season. The series was a best-of-nine format played between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Brookly ...

. Meanwhile, in St. Louis, the Perfectos were renamed the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900, which they are still called today.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

*June 5, 1899: Some of the March 29 activity was undone. Willie Sudhoff and Lave Cross were sent by the Spiders back to the Perfectos, with Frank Bates and Ossee Schreckengost coming back to Cleveland.

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers