[fhomess]

As future owner of the Cleveland Indians, here's a teaser of what I'm working on for the team's history page: a short write up of every season they've played. It's taking a long time (I'm up to about 1920), as the main thing I'm going off of are Matt's posts in this thread. Comments are welcome! One thing I will say, is that it was slightly unclear to me what years the team changed nicknames.

The First Decade:
1901
The Cleveland franchise commences as the Cleveland Blues, and are proud to be one of the original teams in baseball. One of the first things they do is sign catcher Whiskey Allen straight out of highschool. Allen is expected to become one of the league's first great players. He's immediately placed in the starting lineup, batting first versus righties, and third versus lefties. The Blues got off to a slow start in April, but heated up in May. Unfortunately, Allen is the only player of note on the Blues roster, and the team finishes in last place. Allen finishes 2nd in the league in batting.

1902
The Blues look to build off of their poor performance in 1901. Whiskey Allen fans are irate after he fails to win the Rookie of the Year, and Allen vows to show those voters a thing or two, as he's moved full time to the third spot in the order. The Blues never got off the ground in spite of Allen's league leading hitting, as they once again finished dead last. In spite of setting an AL record with a .371 average, Whiskey is denied any awards at season's end. Whiskey is furious and announces his refusal to talk to the press ever again.

1903
Fueled by high hopes from a strong farm system, the Blues change their name to the Broncos. The season starts off well, and the story, instead of being Whiskey Allen, is first baseman Maxwell Casper who wins the April Batter of the Month. Allen hit well that month, too, and rumors swirl that the press is angry at Allen's shenanigans. The season is up-and-down. A decent April was followed by a horrid May in which the team dropped back to the cellar. Allen's performance suffered during the Beer Brewers Union strike. The team reasserts itself in June, but again falters in July. Allen manages only 3 RBI in that month and complains bitterly about the lack of a supporting cast. In August, the Broncos surge again on the performance of starter Ken Pautler's 6-1 record, which earned him Cleveland's first Pitcher of the Month award. The team manages to stand pat in September, resulting in a 5th place finish. Allen comes up just short in the Batter of the Year voting.

1904
With some of the younger players starting to make their big league debut, and coming off a season of marked improvement, Cleveland fans are hopeful as ever that the Broncos will once again take a step forward. The team doesn't disappoint in April, and finish the month in 2nd place just a half game back. In May the Broncoes move into first place, with Batter of the Month Maxwell Casper once again leading the way. Second baseman Jeff Young and left fielder Tee Carver start to show signs of future greatness. The Broncos battle the St. Louis Browns for first place all through June, July, and August, but at the end of August they lose starting second baseman Willie Verdos to a shoulder injury for the rest of the season. September proved to be too much for the young team, and after a mid month 5 game losing streak, the team went on to lose 9 of their last 12, dropping them all the way to 3rd place. In a bigger blow than losing Verdos, Whiskey Allen went down with broken hip, and the rest of the team couldn't recover. An exciting season with much hope that ended in much grief. The new 154 game season helps Jarret Treppel set the new AL mark for runs scored in a season, with 98.

1905
The Broncos return with high hopes. After a tough season, the team expects to contend for the AL pennant once again. It remains to be seen how Allen will respond to his hip injury, and he isn't ready for the opener. He makes his debut on April 22nd, but the Broncos are in last place at the end of the month. Allen shows that he can still run, but the Broncos can't seem to accomplish anything. The team manages to move out of last place in July, but in August fell right back in. While the team has some promising rookies on the way, Allen breaks his vow of silence and tells reporters he wants out of Cleveland. He then redeclares his intent to stay silent after being criticized in the papers. Nonetheless, the request falls on mute ears, and the Broncos finish in last place for the 3rd time in 5 years. Allen wins Batter of the Month in the AL for September in a fruitless effort.

1906
Cleveland fans are unsure what to make of a team that finished in 3rd two years ago, and last the previous year. April builds excitement, though, as right fielder Tee Carver wins AL Batter of the Month, helping the team to 2nd place in the standings. Near the end of the month, the Broncos work out a deal with the New York Highlanders for 1905 Rookie of the Year Chief Netsky, who immediately becomes the team's #2 starter. Pitcher Kieran Noah was also acquired with Netsky for second baseman Jeff Young. The Broncos struggle through May as Netsky adjusts to his new team, but still manage to move up to first. In June, disaster strikes as Allen goes down for two months with a torn achilles tendon. With him out of the lineup, the Broncos fall to 6th. The team rebounds to just 2.5 games back in July, but Netsky goes down with back problems and is forced to retire. Whiskey's return in August isn't enough, and the Broncos end the year in 4th place. Whiskey breaks his silence during the offseason just long enough to once again declare his desire to leave Cleveland.

1907
Hopeful that they can weather the loss of Chief Netsky, the Broncos are cautiously optimistic heading into 1907. The team opens strong and sit in 2nd at the end of the month. Whiskey wins April Batter of the Month. In May, the team charted a course for 14 straight wins, putting them squarely on top in the AL. Allen is on a tear at bat and on the bases, stealing 16 bags during the month. 2B Willie Verdos wins AL Batter of the Month in June, and Cleveland extends their league lead to 6 games over the Highlanders. Allen, who has no love for his city or even his teammates, decries that he was snubbed for Batter of the Month. July sees the Broncos continue their strong play to maintain their 6 game lead on New York. Allen's whining helps, as he wins his second Batter of the Month for the season: voters can't ignore his .425 average in July. In August it was 1B Patrick Seifried's turn to win Batter of the Month for the Broncos. The Broncos finished strong and became the first team to win 100 games in a season, en route to their first AL Pennant. #1 starter Patrick DeLeon tied the major league record with 29 wins, but was lost to an elbow injury in the middle of September. Despite being heavy favorites to win the World Series, Cleveland is swept in four games by the New York Giants. Poor pitching, sloppy defense, and an inability to get timely hits doomed the Broncos each game of the series. A bitter ending to an amazing season. "Frenchie" Frounier set new AL records with 108 runs scored and 66 steals. Allen was 2nd in both of those categories, and also led all hitters in average. He finally wins the Batter of the Year he's been craving, and despite his injury, DeLeon wins Pitcher of the Year. Allen also set a new AL record with 200 hits in a season.

1908
Fresh off their first AL Pennant, the Broncos are poised to win it all in 1908. The Highlanders are expected to contend as well, as those teams had the best two records in baseball the previous year. Whiskey vows he'll win it all. The Broncos play well in April, and finish the month one game up on the St. Louis Browns. The team struggles in May, and it becomes a 4 team race. Allen is unable to live up to his lofty play of the year before. In June, the Highlanders and Broncos start to pull away a little. New York is led by an All-World pitching staff, while Cleveland leads the league in almost every offensive category. 2B Willie Verdos and SS Clyde Kreisle are 1-2 in batting at the start of July. Whiskey is under .300 for the first time in his career. 1B Patrick Seifried wins the July Batter of the Month, but the Broncos lose ground on New York as the team's pitching struggles to match the offense. Whiskey finally has a good month at the plate. Despite RF Tee Carver winning the August Batter of the Month, another bad month for Whiskey and the pitching staff leaves the Broncos 10 games back with just a few weeks to play. The Highlanders are clearly the better team, and finish the season with a new record 102 wins. The Broncos finish in 2nd place, 11 games back. Whiskey finished with just a .316 average, the lowest of his career. 1B Patrick Seifried wins the AL Batter of the Year, making it two years in a row for Cleveland players. He finished with a .349 avg, 5 HR, 83 RBI, and 103 R. "Frenchie" Fourner breaks his own mark by scoring 117 runs.

1909
The start of the 1909 season has most pundits predicting the Highlanders to win it all again. The Broncos are expected to contend, but don't have the pitching staff to match their offensive output. The team struggles out of the gate, and after two months are just 26-25. Whiskey started slow but begins to heat up as the season progresses, leading the team into 2nd place by the end of June. Whiskey pours it on in July, winning AL Batter of the Month courtesy of his whopping .473 average. He declares he expects to hit .400 this season. The Broncos can't capitalize on their outspoken star's performance, and struggle in the final two months, ending up in a disappointing 3rd place. Allen's vow to win it all goes for naught, and he only manages a .381 average, but the voters are impressed nonetheless, and he once again wins Batter of the Year. Then promptly calls for a trade once again! In a fitting display of the Broncos poor pitching, starter Ervin Smith sets a new AL record with 155 walks.

1910
Cleveland fans are accustomed to having one of the better teams in the league, but with the pitching they've gotten, they can't be sure they'll have enough to win it all. The offense is expected to lead the team again. Whiskey Allen is, as usual, unable to keep his mouth shut. At the start of the year he declares his goals to be: Hit .400; Pass Woodson for career AVG; Pass Voisin for career steals; and to "Get out of Cleveland!". As the season gets underway, the Broncos come racing out of the gate. 3B "Frenchie" Fournier and SP Patrick DeLeon win AL Batter and Pitcher of the Month in April, as the team gets up 2.5 games on the rest of the league. In May, Fournier goes down with a torn thigh muscle which will sideline him till July. Whiskey comes through, though, and wins Batter of the Month as the Broncos increase their lead to 4 games. New York narrowed the gap to 2.5 games by the end of June, but 1B Patrick Seifried wins Cleveland's 3rd straight Batter of the Month. Seifried then goes out and does it again in July, as the Highlanders start to fade, and are now 8.5 games back. Philadelphia sits in 3rd place, 22.5 games out. St. Louis' Pat Folyard finally breaks the Cleveland stranglehold on AL Batter of the Month, although Whiskey made a strong case as well. The big news in the AL is that Allen heads into September with a .406 average, and a real shot at becoming the first player to hit over .400. The Broncos finish on a tear, winning 107 games on the year (a new record). Allen hits just .365 in September, but that's enough to keep his average at an even .400 on the year. Facing off against the underdog Boston Doves, the Broncos play like it will be easy. The Doves beat Cleveland in 5 games. In their one win, Cleveland scores 8 runs, in their 4 losses, they score just 7 runs combined. Allen manages to hit just .263 with 1 RBI and 2 R. The press, which has always enjoyed pouncing on Whiskey at every opportunity, calls him a selfish choker. AL Batter of the Year goes to 1B Patrick Seifried, in what is considered a direct slight to Allen in spite of Seifried's record 103 RBI. Allen sets a new mark with 213 hits.