CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It all began on April 29, 1901, at a charming ball yard called League Park, where the Cleveland Indians, a brand-new team in a brand-new organization called the American League, beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3.

That was the Indians' first opening day -- a day that is an unofficial holiday in Cleveland.

Cleveland has had home openers every year since. Except for 2007, when weather severe even for Cleveland forced the "home" opener to the domed stadium in Milwaukee. (Hey, it worked -- the Indians beat the Angels, 7-6.)

The games have been played in three ballparks -- League Park, Municipal Stadium and Jacobs/Progressive Field. They've played through rain and snow and in brilliant sunshine. They've started at home with high expectations -- like this season, as Sports Illustrated's pick to win the World Series. And they've started at home with no expectations -- for generations of fans from the late 1960s into the '90s, that had started to feel like every opener.

The 2015 home opener beckons, Friday against the Detroit Tigers, in a revamped Progressive Field. In honor of that, we're taking a series of looks at home openers, with decades-old vintage photos, with a look at the past 10 years and with THE home opener -- 1994, when the Indians opened Jacobs Field and opened a new era of success.

We begin with these vintage photos. Come back later today for our other galleries.

You'll see the players have changed, the uniforms have changed and the ballparks have changed. But one thing hasn't changed: It's still our unofficial holiday.