The original Buckeyes played throughout the 1940s and even won the Negro League World Series in 1945. CLEVELAND — Historical connections have been referenced a lot in the search for the Indians’ new name. “Spiders” certainly has a good resume in that category, as does “Municipals” (albeit in a different sense). However, there is one option that has a deep attachment to Cleveland’s baseball lore, and it’s one that sometimes gets overlooked. From the late 1880s until 1947, Major League Baseball specifically excluded Black players from its ranks, a disgraceful chapter in America’s sad legacy of racial segregation. Some of the game’s most talented stars would never suit up for the Indians or Yankees or Giants, but to stay on the field, they decided to form their own league in 1920, known today as the “Negro Leagues.” Cleveland’s team was known as the “Buckeyes,” established in 1943 following a single…
Continue Reading: 'Cleveland Buckeyes': Possible Indians name option could pay homage to city's storied Negro League history
