Indios was the first professional baseball team in Colombia, founded in March 1948 by Juan González Cornet and sponsored by Cigarillos Piel Roja (lit. Redskin Cigarettes); it gained its name from Pielroja's mascot, a stereotypical North American Indian. Indios was crowned champion of the inaugural 1948 season.[1] During this era, Indios was the "criollo" team, made up of all-Colombian players, as opposed to other teams including its crosstown rival Torices that used foreign players.[2] The team won three more titles in the so-called first era of Colombian baseball, the last in 1955–56, before the league ceased operations in 1958.
When Colombian professional baseball started again in 1979, Indios returned and immediately won two championships back to back, in 1980 and 1981. During this period, it was headlined by "Los Ñatos" (The Snub-Nosed Ones), shortstops Orlando Ramírez and Carlos Velázquez.[3] Indios won their last title in the 1987–88 season, though that would be the last season of professional baseball until the mid-1990s.
After the professional league was reformed, several teams briefly assumed the Indios name, starting the 1996–97 season and going until 2001–02 season. Jolbert and Orlando Cabrera bought the Tigres de Cartagena team and briefly renamed them the Indios in 2007–08, but the franchise would return to the Tigres name the following year. Tigres changed their name to Indios again for the 2016–17 season, maintaining the same management and players, but again reversed the decision after one season.
