sports with a foray into politics in his hometown of Youngstown. During the summer of 1895, McAleer was promoted in the local media as a mayoral candidate, first as a Republican, and then as an independent. In 1898, when the Spiders' owners purchased the St. Louis Browns franchise, McAleer opted to stay in Cleveland, taking a brief hiatus from baseball until the Cleveland Blues franchise joined the newly formed American League (AL). During his two-year absence, the Spiders lost many of their more experienced players. In 1899, the team won 20 games and lost 134, which is still percentage-wise the worst season record in Major League history. As baseball historian Bill James noted, the Spiders were forced to cancel home games due to poor attendance and "turned the last two months of the season into a long road trip". After a full year out of baseball in 1899, McAleer was back in a Cleveland uniform in 1900, in a new league, as player-manager of the Cleveland Lake Shores of the fledgling American League, then a minor league. McAleer's subsequent career as a major league manager (1901–11) overlapped with his playing career (1882–1907). Although he did not play professionally between 1903 and 1906, McAleer played in his last Major League game on July 8, 1907. Managing career Cleveland Lake Shores/Blues In 1900, McAleer became player-manager of the Cleveland Lake Shores (a predecessor of the Cleveland Indians) and continued with the franchise in 1901, when the American League became a major league and the club was renamed as the Blues, a name borrowed from a team that had participated in the National League during the 1870s and 1880s. The Blues made their major league debut on April 24, 1901, with an 8–2 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Two other league games were canceled due to inclement weather, and the contest between the Blues and White Sox served as the inaugural game of the AL. In July of that year, McAleer presided over the Blues' upset 6–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Although the Tigers' manager, Tommy Burns, agreed to forfeit the game for fear that the umpire, Joe Cantillon, would be injured by an angry crowd, McAleer agreed to play the Tigers using a reserve umpire. The Blues eventually closed the season with a 54–82 record, placing seventh in the eight-team American League. McAleer, however, contributed little to this outcome. In