Cleveland Fans Could Root-Root-Root for Three Indians Teams in 1931

Pitcher Wes Ferrell was depicted in an illustration by Charles P. Lanning that appeared in the May, 3, 1931, issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. (Author’s Collection)

 

The Cleveland baseball club rechristened itself the Guardians in 2022 after playing 107 seasons as the Indians, a name that had fallen out of favor. But in 1931, the Indians name was so popular it was used by all three of Cleveland’s professional sports franchises—baseball, football, and hockey. It was the only year there was a trio of Tribes in the city.

ORIGIN OF THE “INDIANS” NAME

Cleveland was a National League town from 1889 through 1899 and was represented by the Spiders. When Native American phenom Louis Sockalexis signed with the club in 1897, newspapers in all 12 of the NL cities began calling the team the Indians even though the franchise was still nicknamed the Spiders.1

Before the season began, Sporting Life’s Cleveland correspondent, Elmer E. Bates, wrote, “They’re Indians Now. There is no feature of the signing of Sockalexis more gratifying than the fact that his presence on the team will result in relegating to obscurity the title of ‘Spiders,’ by which the team has been handicapped for several season(s), to give place to the more significant name ‘Indians.’”2

Both Sockalexis and the Spiders were gone after the 1899 season, and Cleveland became a member of the American League in 1900. Known as the Lake Shores, Blues, Bluebirds, and Bronchos in its first three years, the franchise was called the “Napoleons” in 1903 after a vote of the fans conducted by the Cleveland Press.3, 4 The choice was in honor of the team’s star player and future Hall of Famer, Napoleon Lajoie.

When “Nap” was dealt to the Philadelphia Athletics on January 5, 1915, the club had to change its name again.5 Team president C.W. Somers called for a meeting of the local baseball writers on January 15 to make the decision.6 “The title of Indians was their choice,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, “it having been one of the names applied to the old National league club of Cleveland many years ago.” The announcement went on to say that the Indians name was temporary until the club came up with “some other cognomen which may be more appropriate.”7

OTHER SAME-NAMED FRANCHISES

Cleveland wasn’t the only city where three pro teams with the same name played in the same calendar year. Baseball’s New York Yankees had identically named counterparts in the American Football League and American Basketball League in 1937.8 Across the state in Buffalo, fans cheered for the 1929 Bisons of the NFL, International Hockey League, and baseball’s International League.9

There were many places with same-named franchises in two different sports. Cities that had both a NFL club and either an AL or NL team that played simultaneously were Boston (Braves), Brooklyn (Dodgers), Cincinnati (Reds), Cleveland (Indians), Detroit (Tigers), New York (Giants, Yankees), Pittsburgh (Pirates), St. Louis (Cardinals), and Washington (Senators).10 Additionally, Philadelphia had Athletics and Phillies teams in the NFL of 1902, which was not related to the current NFL.11

INDIANS OF THE DIAMOND

The 1931 baseball Indians were the best known of the three same-name teams. They played their games at League Park on Cleveland’s east side and were managed by Roger Peckinpaugh. The Tribe got off to a fast start, finishing the month of April in first place with a 9-4 record. The ninth win was a 9-0 no-hitter by Wes Ferrell against the St. Louis Browns on April 29. The staff’s ace helped his own cause that day by driving in four runs with a home run and a double. His older brother, Browns’ catcher Rick Ferrell, almost ruined the no-hit bid in the eighth inning when he reached first base on a wide throw that was ruled an error.12

The good times didn’t last, as the club would soon set the record for the longest losing streak in franchise history. Starting on May 7, the Indians lost 12 straight, all but the first game at home. They dropped from the top spot to second-to-last place in 16 days. But the never-say-die Tribe also began a 10-game winning streak before the month and the homestand were over. During that run the team settled into fourth place, where it would remain for the rest of the season.13

Wes Ferrell ended the year with a 22-12 record, his third straight campaign with 20-plus wins.14 Future Hall of Famer Earl Averill played center field and led the team with 32 home runs and 143 RBIs. He finished right behind the Yankees’ Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the majors’ top honors in both of those categories.15

Other notables on the 1931 Indians’ roster were pitcher Mel Harder, who spent his entire 20-season major-league playing career with Cleveland, and catcher Luke Sewell, who was with the Tribe for 13 seasons. First baseman Ed Morgan led the club’s hitters with a .351 batting average (third in the AL), while home-grown rookie outfielder Joe Vosmik led the team in triples (14) and doubles (36, tied with Averill).16 Johnny Hodapp, the defending AL hits leader, also swung a hot bat, as did utility infielder Johnny Burnett, best known for smashing nine hits in an 18-inning game on July 10, 1932, a record that still stands.17

Lew Fonseca, the 1929 AL batting champ, began the year with Cleveland but was traded to the White Sox on May 16 despite having a .370 average. The Tribe received the league’s best defensive third baseman, Willie Kamm, in return. Indians’ general manager Billy Evans said he made the even-up deal to improve the “sieve-like” condition of the infield.18 Kamm batted .295 that first season with the team.

The Indians were supposed to move to newly built Municipal Stadium on July 26, but couldn’t reach a rent agreement with the city.19 It would be a full year before they played their first game at the lakefront site and another 16 years before they moved there permanently.20

Although the Tribe didn’t play a game at the Stadium in 1931, the players did attend the venue’s inaugural sporting event on July 3 as guests of team owner Alva Bradley. They watched world heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling defend his title against challenger W.L. “Young” Stribling Jr.21

Cleveland salvaged a winning record when it beat Detroit in the final four games of the year to finish 78-76-1, 30 games behind the pennant-winning Athletics. After the season’s last game, the Indians and Tigers squared off in a field day competition. Events included a 100-yard dash, distance throw, fungo hitting, bunt-and-run, circling the bases, and accurate throwing for catchers. Even though Vosmik prevailed in the fungo challenge and catcher Glenn Myatt took the accurate throwing honors, the Motor City players won the contest 22-11 for a “split” on the day.22

The Indians ended the 1931 season with a .296 team batting average, just one point behind the Yankees’ majors-leading .297. They also finished in second place behind New York in hits (1,667 to 1,615), runs (1,067 to 885), and RBIs (990 to 812).23

 

INDIANS OF THE GRIDIRON

The 1931 National Football League Indians were together for just one season and played most of their games on the road. It was the first professional football team to appear at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, making its debut there a year before the baseball Indians did.

Leading the squad was player-coach Al Cornsweet, a former Brown University athlete. Fellow Brown alum Dave Mishel handled quarterbacking duties along with one-time Ohio State passer Hoge Workman, who had pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 1924. In the backfield were former college stars Otto Vokaty (Heidelberg) and Algy Clark (Ohio State).24 Vokaty went on to lead the 1931 Indians in scoring with four of the team’s seven touchdowns. Longtime NFL veteran Al Nesser, who preferred playing without headgear and pads, also signed with the organization.25

The Tribe gridders’ first game at the two-month-old Stadium was a nighttime exhibition on September 9 against the Pennzoils, a local semipro team. The Indians triumphed, 10-0, in front of 35,135, a record crowd for a professional sports event in Cleveland at the time.26

The team made its NFL regular season debut on September 13 with a road game at Green Bay to take on the defending league champion Packers.27 Five days later the players traveled to Chicago to face the Bears. Cleveland was shut out on both trips.28

The Indians adopted Ohio State’s colors, scarlet and gray, and debuted their new uniforms at the home opener on September 26.29 The game was played on a Saturday night, with the Tribe grinding out a rain-soaked 6-0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers before a crowd of 8,000, far less than the 35,000-plus that attended the exhibition. The game’s only score occurred in the third quarter when Doc Elliott made a one-yard plunge for the first official NFL touchdown at the Stadium.30 Cleveland earned only one more regular season victory that year, a 13-6 road win vs. the Providence Steam Roller.31

The second and final Stadium battle on November 8 attracted 10,000 rooters, but the locals lost to the Chicago Cardinals, 14-6.32 The next scheduled home game, against the Portsmouth Spartans, was transferred to Cincinnati.33 Team manager Jerry Corcoran also announced that the Indians would be moving permanently to the Cincinnati after the season.34 The Tribe lost to Portsmouth, 14-6, and player-coach Cornsweet was released outright.35 Workman took over the coaching duties for the remainder of the year.36

The road-weary Clevelanders played back-to-back games on November 21 and 22, losing to Providence on Saturday and to the Staten Island Stapletons on Sunday.37, 38 A week later they dropped the season finale to the Cardinals, 21-0, in front of 1,500 at Wrigley Field.39 The 1931 football Indians finished in eighth place with a 2-8 record during their one season in the 10-team NFL.40

 

 

INDIANS OF THE ICE RINK

The Cleveland hockey club was the most successful of the three Indians teams in 1931. The icers were the defending champs of the IHL, a title they won in their inaugural season the previous year, also the IHL’s inaugural season. The Tribe played its home games at the Elysium, an arena at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 107th Street.41 Former National Hockey League goaltender Harry “Hap” Holmes, who’d been part of four Stanley Cup-winning teams, owned and managed the club.42

The Indians’ 24-18-6 record was good enough for third place in the seven-team IHL and qualified them for the postseason.43 A crowd of 3,700, the largest in the Elysium’s history, packed the arena on April 4 to see the reigning champs take on the Buffalo Bisons in the decisive playoff game. The big turnout didn’t help as the home team lost, 6-4, and was eliminated after going 3-2-1 in the round-robin championship series.44

The Tribe scored 131 goals that season, second best in the league.45 The standout players were two former NHL veterans, Ken Doraty (25 goals, 24 assists) and team captain Alex Gray (29 goals, eight assists).46 Others on the 1931 squad included Ernie Williams, Gordon McFarlane, Archie Briden, Mike Brophy, and Gordon “Sonny Boy” Baxter.47

The team played as the Indians for five seasons, from 1929 to 1934. It changed its name to the Falcons in 1934, and to the Barons in 1937 after the organization had transferred to the International-American Hockey League.48 The I-AHL was renamed the American Hockey League in 1940.49 As the Barons, the club won the AHL’s championship trophy, the Calder Cup, nine times from 1939 to 1964.50 The franchise relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1973 after Cleveland was awarded a major-league team in the World Hockey Association.51

Cleveland’s hockey and football Indians are both long gone, making the baseball club the last of the Mohicans, so to speak. Although the Indians name is no longer used, the baseball franchise and its rich history live on as the Guardians, the team’s seventh name since it was established in 1900. 

TERRY GALLAGHER is a freelance writer based in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to writing about baseball history, he has published stories on high school football, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. The SABR member is a lifelong Cleveland Indians/Guardians fan and has root-root-rooted at more than 150 major-and minor-league baseball parks.

 

Notes

1. Newspapers in each NL city that called the Cleveland Spiders the Indians in 1897: Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Brooklyn Eagle, Cincinnati Post, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Leader, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Press, Louisville Courier-Journal New York Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Sporting Life, The Sporting News, and Washington Post.

2. Elmer E. Bates, “They’re Indians Now,” Sporting Life, Cleveland Chatter, March 27, 1897, 3.

3. The Cleveland newspapers (Leader, Plain Dealer and Press) were not always consistent with the club’s nicknames, sometimes using two different names on the same page. The team was called the Blues, Bluebirds, and Bronchos in 1902.

4. “Napoleons. That’s The New Official Nickname Of The Former Bronchos—Many Votes Cast,” Cleveland Press, April 6, 1903, 8.

5. “Must Select New Name For Naps Now Larry’s Out,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 6, 1915, 11.

6. “Baseball Writers To Rename Naps Today,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 15, 1915, 13.

7. “Baseball Writers Select ‘Indians’ as the Best Name to Apply to the Former Naps,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 17, 1915, 1C (15).

8. Sample coverage of the three different 1937 New York Yankees teams: Jack Smith, “Yanks Beat Giants, 4-2; Win World Series 4-1,” New York Daily News, October 11, 1937, 64; Bob Bohne, “Yankees Score Every Possible Way In Defeating Bengals,” Cincinnati Enquirer, November 8, 1937, 16; “Celtics, Yankees To Meet at Hipp,” New York Daily News, December 5, 1937, 104.

9. Sample coverage of the three different 1929 Buffalo Bisons teams: “Bisons Lead In Hits For Week; Tie In Scoring,” Buffalo Courier-Express, September 2, 1929, 22; “Ryan Takes Kickoff for Touchdown, Bisons Score Surprise Win Over Bears,” Buffalo Courier-Express, November 25, 1929, 14; “Windsor Bulldogs Will Face Bisons at Arena Tonight,” Buffalo Courier-Express, November 30, 1929, 13.

10. “National Football League Franchise Histories.” Pro Football Hall of Fame. https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/national-football-league-franchise-histories/. Accessed March 10, 2026.

11. “1902—The First World Series of Pro Football is Played.” Pro Football Hall of Fame. https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1869-1939/1902/. Accessed March 10, 2026.

12. Gordon Cobbledick, “Ferrell Pitches No-Hit Victory, 9-0, Indian Star Hits Homer And Double,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 30, 1931, 1.

13. Baseball Reference, “1931 Cleveland Indians Schedule. Team Game-by-Game Schedule.” Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/1931-schedule-scores.shtml. Accessed March 10, 2026.

14. Baseball Reference. “Wes Ferrell. Standard Pitching.” https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/ferrewe01.shtml. Accessed March 10, 2026.

15. Baseball Reference. “1931 Major League Batting Leaders.” https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1931-batting-leaders.shtml. Accessed March 10, 2026.

16. Baseball Reference. “1931 Cleveland Indians Statistics. Standard Batting.” https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/1931.shtml. Accessed March 10, 2026.

17. Sam Otis, “Burnett Belts 9 Hits; Big League Record,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 11, 1932, 15.

18. Gordon Cobbledick, “Indians Get Willie Kamm For Fonseca,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 17, 1931, 1.

19. “Tribe Stays In Own Ball Yard,” Cleveland Press, July 14, 1931, 1.

20. “Indians Officially Move Into Stadium,” Cleveland Press, April 3, 1947, 18.

21. “Indians to See Fight as Bradley’s Guests,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 3, 1931, 20.

22. Gordon Cobbledick, “Indians Take Final Game of Season 8 to 5, but Tigers, Led by Fleet Walker Brothers, Show Way to Tribe in Field Meet,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 28, 1931, 20.

23. Baseball Reference. “1931 Major League Standard Batting. Team Standard Batting.” https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1931-standard-batting.shtml. Accessed March 10, 2026.

24. “Cornsweet, Vokaty and Novotny on Pro Team Here,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 26, 1931, 19.

25. “No Pads For This Fellow,” Cleveland Press, November 7, 1931, 9.

26. Gordon Cobbledick, “First Night Grid Game at Stadium Sets Sport Record Here; 35,000 Pay,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 10, 1931, 1.

27. “Packers Beat Indians In Grid Opener, 26-0,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 14, 1931, 16.

28. “Grange Raids Indians’ Line, Leads Bears to 21-0 Victory,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 19, 1931, 19.

29. “Indians Dress Up for Grid Opener,” Cleveland Press, September 23, 1931, 22.

30. Alex Zirin, “Indians Gridders Nip Dodgers, 6-0,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 27, 1931, 1B (19).

31. “Indians Whip Providence In Pro Grid Battle, 13-6,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 19, 1931, 21.

32. Alex Zirin, “Nevers’ Brilliant Play Beats Cleveland, 14 to 6; 10,000 Watch Vokaty Star for Indians,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 9, 1931, 18.

33. “Indians Play at Cincy,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 11, 1931, 22.

34. “Corcoran Plans to Transfer Pro Grid Franchise to Cincy,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 14, 1931, 21.

35. “Passes Give Spartans 14-6 Win Over Indians,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 16, 1931, 20.

36. “Cornsweet Is Released,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 17, 1931, 21.

37. “Providence Trips Indians, 13 to 7,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 22, 1931, 17.

38. “Vokaty Stars But Cleveland Pros Lose, 16-7,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 23, 1931, 18.

39. “Cards Conquer Cleveland, 21-0, In Charity Game,” Chicago Tribune, November 29, 1931, Part 2, 4 (26).

40. Pro Football Reference, “1931 NFL Standings & Team Stats.” Pro Football Statistics and History. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1931/index.htm. Accessed March 10, 2026.

41. “Cleveland Faces London In Pro Hockey Debut Tonight; 3,000 Expected to See Elysium Battle,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 16, 1929, 24.

42. “Happy Holmes Stands Out in Ranks of Pro Hockey,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 22, 1929, 8C (39).

43. “Hockey Standings,” Windsor (Ontario) Star, March 25, 1931, 14.

44. John Dietrich, “Bisons Storm Into 4 To 0 Lead In First Period,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 5, 1931, 31.

45. “Hockey Standings,” Windsor Star, March 25, 1931, 14.

46. “International League Scoring, Windsor Star, April 4, 1931, 21.

47. “Cleveland Hockey Club Roster,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 1931, 4B (24).

48. “Cleveland Barons,” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University. https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-barons. Accessed March 10, 2026.

49. “History of the American Hockey League,” TheAHL.com. http://theahl.com/history. Accessed March 10, 2026.

50. “Calder Cup Champions—Teams,” TheAHL.com. http://theahl.com/championship-teams. Accessed March 10, 2026.

51. “Cleveland Barons,” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.