Written by Andrew V.
“The Best Great Lakes Team not in the Great Lakes,” as the rooters of Bozeman Municipal Park might jaw at an out-of-towner when a Chicago or Detroit team come to play.
Nestled near the shores of Lake Eerie, the tall, elegant ballpark looms large against the dockyards that convey trade across the windswept Great Lakes.
Baseball has a long tradition in Cleveland–even before the Legacy Baseball League, the parks and alleyways of the Forest City have lived within the sound of baseball.
With the disassociation of the National League in 1894, an aging politician who made a fortune incorporating Montana Territory into the United States sold his properties in the western capital of Helena and moved east, taking the first train he could from his father’s namesake city of Bozeman, Montana–first to Minneapolis, then Chicago, then Detroit. At last, Jacob Bozeman arrived in Cleveland, where he found a city league that had not yet been converted and applied to the LBL, and bought it as quickly as he could.
So the Cleveland Athletics were born. Utilizing political connections in Washington, Bozeman purchased a lot of warehouses on the shores of Lake Eerie and converted it into Bozeman Municipal Park over the next year.
Making four playoff appearances in their first six years, Cleveland quickly became known as a temple of no-nonsense pitching, featuring 2-time Pitcher of the Year Matthew Holiday and Samuel “Warhorse” Altman. Three-time golden bat Mike Sherrod garnished a case full of Western League batting trophies, yet the mighty Athletics, despite four playoff appearances, have yet to make it to the Legacy Cup. The franchise has one Western League Cup from 1898, but they fell to the Philadelphia Brewers in 8 games.
The Cleveland star seems on the rise again, but the fans know too well to trust to luck. As the dominant force in the WL Frontier begins to age, the team must look to new heroes to keep the legacy of baseball in Cleveland alive.