The

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), followed ...

were a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team that played in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. They played in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

when it was considered a major league from 1887 through 1888 and in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

from 1889 through 1899. From 1887 through 1888 the team was named the Cleveland Blues. During their time as a Major League team, the Spiders employed 7

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

s. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. The Spiders' first manager was Jimmy Williams, who managed the team as the Cleveland Blues in 1887 and the beginning of the 1888 season. Williams managed a total of 197 games for the team, winning just 59 against 136 losses for a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage 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 total number of match ...

of .303. This low winning percentage would prove one of the best in team history. After

Tom Loftus Thomas Joseph Loftus (November 15, 1856 – April 16, 1910) was a manager in the American Association, the National League, and the American League. His playing career began in 1877 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the National League ...

Gus Schmelz Gustavus Heinrich Schmelz (September 26, 1850 – October 14, 1925) was an American manager in Major League Baseball for the Columbus Buckeyes (1884), Cincinnati Red Stockings (1887–89), and Columbus Solons (1890–91) of the American Associati ...

and

Robert Leadley Robert H. Leadley (November 11, 1858 – May 19, 1936) was an American professional baseball manager, administrator, and team owner whose career spanned from 1884 to 1897. He was a manager in Major League Baseball for the last portion of the ...

handled the managerial duties from the middle of the 1888 season through the middle of the 1891 season,

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

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.

became the Spiders' player-manager 69 games into the 1891 season. Tebeau would manage the Spiders through the end of the 1898 season. Tebeau holds the Spiders' records for most games managed, with 1040, most wins as manager, with 579, most losses as manager, with 436, and highest winning percentage, with .570. Tebeau is in fact the only Spiders' manager to have won more games than he lost. In 1894 and 1895, Tebeau had the distinction of managing his brother George Tebeau, who played

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

and first base for the team. In 1899,

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

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 Philad ...

became the Spiders' player-manager. The Spiders won just 8 of 38 games under Cross, for a winning percentage of just .211, before Cross was replaced as player-manager by second baseman Joe Quinn. The Spiders performed even more poorly under Quinn, winning just 12 games and losing 104, for a winning percentage of .103. The Spiders' 1899 record of 20 wins and 134 losses under Cross and Quinn is the worst in professional baseball history, and the team was dropped from the Major Leagues after the season.

Table key

Managers

References

{{Cleveland Spiders

Spiders managers

Cleveland Spiders managers Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U. ...