60 free Cleveland Guardians trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Cleveland Guardians trivia quiz covers 125 years of the franchise, from the Bluebirds and the Naps through the Indians era to the 2022 rename. There are questions on Nap Lajoie's arrival, Ray Chapman, the 1920 World Series with its unassisted triple play, Bob Feller's Opening Day no-hitter, Bill Veeck's movable fence, Larry Doby and Satchel Paige, the 111-win 1954 team, the Curse of Rocky Colavito, Ten Cent Beer Night, Len Barker's perfect game and the film Major League. The modern era gets its due too: Jacobs Field and the 455 straight sellouts, the 1995 and 1997 pennants, José Mesa and Game 7, the 22-game winning streak of 2017, the 2016 World Series against the Cubs, Kluber and Bieber's Cy Youngs, and why the club is now named after eight Art Deco statues on a bridge. Easy questions suit any Cleveland fan; the hard ones are for people who know which catchers caught baseballs dropped from Terminal Tower. Every answer has been checked against an encyclopaedic source and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Guardians name comes from eight Art Deco sculptures on which Cleveland bridge?
Hope Memorial
Henry Hering's 1932 'Guardians of Traffic' stand right next to the ballpark, and one now appears on the club's City Connect logo holding a bat.
Q 02The Guardians name was first used on the field in which season?
2022
The change was announced on Twitter in July 2021, and the club won its division in its very first season under the new name.
Q 03The baseball club settled a Guardians trademark dispute with a local team in which sport?
Roller derby
The men's roller derby team had used the name since 2016; both sides agreed in November 2021 to share it.
Q 04What is the name of the Guardians' fuzzy mascot?
Slider
He has outlasted the Indians name and now wears the Guardians logo.
Q 05The Cleveland franchise won its two World Series championships in 1948 and which earlier year?
1920
That 1948 title started the longest active championship drought among the 30 current Major League clubs.
Q 06From 1903 to 1914 the club was called the Naps, in honour of which star player-manager?
Nap Lajoie
A newspaper write-in contest picked the name after his arrival drew 10,000 fans to League Park; when he left, the writers chose 'Indians'.
Q 07The franchise began life in 1896 as a minor league club in which city?
Columbus, Ohio
The Columbus Buckeyes swapped cities with Grand Rapids in mid-1899 and moved to Cleveland in 1900 as the Lake Shores.
Q 08When the American League went major in 1901, the Cleveland club was known by what name?
Bluebirds
Players hated it, writers shortened it to Blues because of the all-blue uniforms, and the players' own attempt at 'Bronchos' in 1902 never caught on.
Q 09The 1899 Cleveland Spiders went 20-134 after their owner moved the best players to which club?
St. Louis
Frank Robison renamed the Browns the Perfectos and stripped Cleveland bare; the Spiders drew so few fans they played most games on the road as 'The Wanderers'.
Q 10The Indians name adopted in 1915 recalled a nickname from which Native American player's time with the Spiders?
Louis Sockalexis
Owner Charles Somers asked local baseball writers to pick the new name after the star player-manager was sold back to Philadelphia.
Q 11Which Cleveland shortstop died in 1920 after being hit in the head by a Carl Mays pitch?
Ray Chapman
He remains the only player killed by a pitched ball in Major League history; the team went on to win the pennant that year.
Q 12Which Cleveland second baseman turned the only unassisted triple play in World Series history?
Bill Wambsganss
Game 5 of that Series also produced the first grand slam and the first home run by a pitcher in Series history, all by the home side.
Q 13Cleveland won the 1920 World Series over which National League team?
Brooklyn Robins
Player-manager Tris Speaker hit .388 that year and the club took the best-of-nine Series 5-2.
Q 21Who broke the American League colour barrier with Cleveland in July 1947?
Larry Doby
He signed 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson, debuted in Chicago on July 5, and later became the majors' second Black manager.
Q 22Which Negro leagues legend became MLB's oldest rookie when Cleveland signed him in 1948, officially aged 42?
Satchel Paige
Dismissed as a publicity stunt, the signing produced a 6-1 record with a 2.48 ERA down the stretch of a pennant race.
Q 23Cleveland reached the 1948 World Series by winning the AL's first one-game playoff against whom?
Red Sox
Cleveland won at Fenway and went on to beat the other Boston club, the Braves, in the World Series.
Q 14Bob Feller arrived in Cleveland in 1936 as a 17-year-old from which state?
Iowa
He struck out 17 batters in a game that first season and was so famous the governor met him when he went home for his senior year of high school.
Q 15Bob Feller's 1940 no-hitter remains the only one ever thrown on what occasion?
Opening Day
He no-hit the White Sox in Chicago; he threw two more no-hitters and 12 one-hitters in his career.
Q 16Bob Feller lost four seasons in his prime serving on which U.S. Navy battleship during World War II?
USS Alabama
He enlisted two days after Pearl Harbor and served as a chief petty officer, then came back to throw a no-hitter in 1946.
Q 17In 1938 two Indians catchers set an 'altitude mark' catching baseballs dropped from which Cleveland landmark?
Terminal Tower
Hank Helf and Frank Pytlak fielded balls dropped from 708 feet up.
Q 18The 1940 Indians, who feuded with manager Ossie Vitt, were lampooned by reporters as the Cleveland what?
Crybabies
They finished one game short of the pennant, losing the final game to unknown Detroit pitcher Floyd Giebell, who never won another big-league game.
Q 19Which showman owner bought the Indians in 1946 and installed a movable center-field fence?
Bill Veeck
He shifted the fence as much as 15 feet depending on the opponent, until the league changed the rules after 1947.
Q 20Which Cleveland-raised entertainer was among the investors who bought the Indians in 1946?
Bob Hope
Former Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg was another investor in the reported $1.6M deal.
Q 24Which player-manager won the AL MVP award while leading Cleveland to the 1948 championship?
Lou Boudreau
He was 30 years old, and a statue of him now stands outside Progressive Field.
Q 25Game 5 of the 1948 World Series set a then-record for a baseball crowd, drawing more than how many fans?
84,000
Cavernous Cleveland Municipal Stadium made it possible; the mark stood until the Dodgers drew 92,500 to the LA Coliseum in 1959.
Q 26After elimination in 1949, the Indians' owner staged a ceremony to bury what in center field?
The 1948 pennant
It came at the end of a season in which the players had also been worn out filming 'The Kid From Cleveland'.
Q 27The 1954 Indians set an American League record by winning how many games?
111
Their .721 winning percentage is still an AL record, and they were promptly swept in the World Series by the Giants.
Q 28Whose drive did Willie Mays famously catch over his shoulder in the 1954 World Series?
Vic Wertz
The drive would have been a home run in most parks, but the Polo Grounds' center field was 483 feet away.
Q 29Which third baseman won the 1953 AL MVP unanimously after leading in runs, HRs and RBIs?
Al Rosen
He missed the Triple Crown by a single point of batting average.
Q 30The 1960 trade of a beloved slugger to Detroit for Harvey Kuenn gave rise to a 'curse' named after whom?
Rocky Colavito
GM 'Trader' Frank Lane swapped the AL home run co-champion for the batting champion; Terry Pluto's book made the curse famous.