[UKBaseballfan]

An image of the 1879 Cleveland baseball team from David Nemec's 19th century baseball encyclopedia, identified as the Cleveland Blues. The team has the same nickname applied in Baseball Reference.

Craig Brown on his pioneering site depicting 19th baseball uniforms identifies the 1879 team's uniform to be white and red. Note the cap on Charlie Eden's left thigh, sitting extreme left (allbeit in black and white). This poses the question as to why they were called the Blues. It is unlikely to be a legacy from previous years as 1879 was the team's first year in the National League. Also despite the noteworthy legacy to music within the city any connection with the city's musical heritage would seem to be inappropriate.

The answer lies in Lyle Spatz's, " Historical Dictionary of Baseball who quotes :-

"The Cleveland Blues were a team that played in the National League from 1879 to 1884. The Blues were originally called the Cleveland Forest Citys, the name used by the Cleveland club in the National Association in 1871 and 1872. Beginning in 1882, they began being called the Cleveland Blues because of their blue uniforms."

This would seem to indicate that only from 1882 should the team be known as the Blues and from 1879-1881 be more accurately known as the Cleveland Forest Citys.