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1899 Cleveland Spiders | |
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League | National League |
Ballpark | League Park |
City | Cleveland, Ohio |
Record | 20–134 (.130) |
Owners | Frank Robison |
Managers | Lave Cross Joe Quinn |
The 1899 Cleveland Spiders season was the team's 13th and final season in Major League Baseball (MLB), and their 11th season in the National League (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 (.130). The team allowed 1,252 runs while only scoring 529, a run differential of −723 for the season, the worst in MLB history.[1]