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However, Robison still owned the Cleveland franchise, a clear conflict of interest. Robison decided that attendance would be stronger in St. Louis than Cleveland, so he moved all of his star players to St. Louis, including hall of famers Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace. Cleveland's roster was then stocked with unknown minor leaguers and semi-pro players. Other owners actually liked the idea and followed suit. The Brooklyn Dodgers purchased the Baltimore Orioles, and four different teams shared ownership of the New York Giants. Weaker teams suddenly served as farm teams.

Frank Robison moved to St. Louis and ran the Perefecto's. To make sure he wouldn't be distracted by his Cleveland franchise, Robison appointed his brother Stanley to run the Spiders. Stanley immediately angered Cleveland fans by announcing he would run the team "as a sideshow." On opening day the team drew fewer than 500 fans for a doubleheader. The Spiders fittingly lost both games.

After Frank Robison picked over the Spiders roster, the only good player left in Cleveland was third baseman Lave Cross, who also served as Spiders manager. After beginning the season 8-30, Spiders player-manager Cross was "fired" and sent to St. Louis to become the Perfecto's everyday third baseman. At that point Stanley Robison announced the team would play the remaining home games on the road. The team went 12-102 after Cross left, finishing the season by losing 40 of their final 41 games on their way to a 20-134 record.

While St. Louis was in a heated race with Brooklyn for the pennant, the Spiders were being referred to as the Exiles or the Wanderers in newspapers. It got so bad that the Spiders used a 19 year old Cigar store clerk named Eddie Gold as their starting pitcher for the final game of the season. The Spiders lost 19-3 to the Cincinnati Reds. A fitting end to a laughingstock of a season.

After the 1899 season the National League folded the four worst drawing teams, Cleveland, Washington, Baltimore, and Louisville. Syndicate ownership, owning more than one team, was later outlawed. The city of Cleveland would get another team in 1901 when the American League was created and the Cleveland Indians were born.

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