CLEVELAND (AP) — Known as the Indians since 1915, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team will be called Guardians.
The ballclub announced the name change Friday — effective at the end of the 2021 season — with a video on Twitter narrated by actor and team fan Tom Hanks. The decision ends months of internal discussions triggered by a national reckoning by institutions and teams to permanently drop logos and names considered racist.
The choice of Guardians will undoubtedly be criticized by many of the club’s die-hard fans.
Together, we are all… pic.twitter.com/R5FnT4kv1I
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 23, 2021
The organization spent most of the past year whittling down a list of potential names that was at nearly 1,200 just over a month ago. But the process quickly accelerated and the club landed on Guardians.
Dolan said last summer’s social unrest, touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, spurred his intention to change the name.
Dolan is expected to provide more details on the choice and background on the change at a news conference at Progressive Field before the Indians host the Tampa Bay Rays.
Dolan said the new name mirrors the city and its people.
“Cleveland has and always will be the most important part of our identity,” he said in a statement. “Therefore, we wanted a name that strongly represents the pride, resiliency and loyalty of Clevelanders. ‘Guardians’ reflects those attributes that define us.”
“It brings to life the pride Clevelanders take in our city and the way we fight together for all who choose to be part of the Cleveland baseball family. While ‘Indians’ will always be a part of our history, our new name will help unify our fans and city as we are all Cleveland Guardians.”
Not far from the downtown ballpark, there are two large landmark stone edifices — referred to as guardians — on the Hope Memorial Bridge over the Cuyahoga River. Cleveland’s team colors will remain the same, and the new Guardians’ new logos will incorporate some of the architectural features of the bridge.
In 2018, the Indians stopped wearing the contentious Chief Wahoo logo on their jerseys and caps. However, the team continues to sell merchandise bearing the smiling, red-faced caricature that was protested for decades by Native American groups.
The name change has sparked lively debate among the city’s passionate sports fans. Other names, including the Spiders, which is what the team was called before 1900, were pushed by supporters on social media platforms.
But Guardians does seem to fit the team’s objective to find a name that embodies Cleveland’s hard-working, loyal, Midwestern-valued ethos while preserving the team’s history and uniting the community.
Guardians is the fifth name in franchise history joining the Blues (1901), Bronchos (1902), Naps (1903-1914) and Indians (1915-2021).
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More stupidity by the MLB, will it ever end. Native American Indians should be honored , and that one Indian that opposed should check with the other Tribes first.
My opinion what a stupid name for a Baseball team
You are correct! I was hoping for that reason that they would have chosem “Sioux!” or “Comanches!”
“Redskins” was also available and would have made a lot of the USA indigenous tribes REALLY happy! Any of those choices would have allowed them to keep the very popular mascot Chief Wahoo.
Bob Feller or Lou Boudreau would have been disappointed in changing the Indians name and likely would have tried to get them to use one of the names I suggessted.
One final thought: “Asleeps!”
“Known as the Indians since 1915, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team will be called Guardians.”
“The choice of Guardians will undoubtedly be criticized by many of the club’s die-hard fans.”
The best way to criticize the WOKE forced name change is to stop going to their games or supporting this Democrat Con.
History repeats itself:
Do you think leftists are the slightest bit troubled by the public’s overwhelming opposition to their crusade to force the Washington Redskins to change their name?
Despite leftists’ ongoing effort to convince Native Americans and the rest of us that Native Americans must be offended by the long-standing name, the polls don’t seem to be moving in their direction. But that hardly deters them. They are the final arbiters of who may be offended.
In the end, this liberal Democrat Party’s crusade has little to do with protecting the sensitivities of Native Americans and everything to do with liberals setting themselves up as their guardians. Their practice of patronizing groups cannot yield to the facts. Their cause transcends reality. For the cause is not defending the oppressed or the downtrodden but about making themselves, the Democrat Party look wonderful with their latest political Con.
AND TILL they start seeing businesses EN MASS going broke, cause of this, they will never STOP with their push..
ltuser
The Democrat Party does not care, the Democrat Party wants to destroy our economy.
To fully advance the Demonic, Dishonorable Socialist Democrat Party’s destructive agendas of socialism, dividing our citizens with hate, open borders, gun control, radical feminism, abortion-on-demand, the LGBTQ lifestyle, unfettered sexual identity, transgender “gay marriage” and the like, the pagan Liberal left Democrats must do away with our Constitution, GOD, common sense, morality, Christian values and free religious exercise altogether.
Under the guise of “anti-discrimination.”
“Known as the Indians since 1915, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team will be called Guardians.” And now, all of a sudden, somebody is supposedly offended by the original name—or its racist—or its politically incorrect because it denigrates an ethnicity—or . . .its yet another publicity stunt by a bunch of airheads who want to be lauded for their social justice actions and go down in history as champions of some great cause.
These sports teams and recording artists changing their names is crass ignorance. Pro sports has lost me as a fan anyway since they combined their political game with their sports game. All foul balls here, Cleveland—really bad move.
And this is another Reason I don’t Watch or keep Track of AMY Major League Sports. I have not watch a a MLB , NFL , NHL , SOCCER for over TEN years and where little BOY Kaenicker bent his knee against the Greatest FLAG and Country
in the World I said No more that’s it they can ALL go to HELL !
I’ve never liked watching golf, and rarely watch nascar.. BUT WITH ALL the other damn sports, going for me, the way of the dodo, it seems i won’t be having ANY SPORT to watch anymore…
The only sport I watch now is bowling.
“Together we are all…”? Really? All fools. That’s the appropriate finish!
Just like that it goes from an offensive team to a defensive team.
Yea! Guardians! Nope! Not feeling it. Glad I was never a fan.
I’d love it if their entire fan base, CEASED BUYING A SINGLE DAMN PRODUCT of the team, and stopped going to ANY game…
” a national reckoning by institutions and teams to permanently drop logos and names considered racist”. So I am part of the national reckoning that there is systemic racism in our Country. Take your “national reckoning” and put it where the sun doesn’t shine
AND exactly who determins what is or isnt a ‘racist logo/name’?
A single complainant gets to decide what statues must come down, what logos must be re-written, what insects must be re-named – the most thin-skinned person in the room.
And who CARES what the majority want…. THE rights of the one, clearly seem to take precedence these days. Hence why i call it we are living in the TYRANNY of the minority!
No, ‘Together’ we are IDIOTS unwilling to stand for what we believe in. More than happy to cave to every ‘Woke’ complaint rather than challenging the insanity that will never be assuaged. You can’t satisfy these people. They will simply move on to another cause just as senseless as this one. They will continue until we are no longer who we are, or who we should be. We will lose everything, and they will still be just as unhappy. It’s a form of voluntary suicide.
Woke BS! No more “professional” sports in my life! And I will not buy any goods or services from their sponsors, ever!
Did Hanks record his narration in Greece?
Wonder if the new logo will have a character that looks suspiciously a lot like an Indian.
It will probably look like some kind of GUTTER TRASH just like they are.
Maybe they’ll change it to the pic of the local gangbangers…
The only thing pro sports teams are guardians of is their wallets. No conservative should be giving his hard-earned dollars to organizations that use them to spread left wing propaganda like the NFL, NBA and now MLB capitulating to People of Color and thin skins.
AMEN minaka.
THAT IS WHY we need to do MORE, to hurt the hell OUT of that wallet. NOT just by boycotting the team itself, but EVERY COMPANY THAT SPONSORS or otherwise aids that team!
So glad I don’t follow baseballless.
Me too !
Even as a kid, i never liked it.. TOO BORing.. Much like cricket.
Brilliant summary – base-balless, basket-balless, foot-balless, all pro sports have lost their balls.
ALONG with their collective minds!
When will “Cracker Barrel” have to change their name because it degenerates White people?
Oh, that’s right, if it’s against White people, no big deal….
This stupidity really shows how badly old Abe Lincoln screwed this country when he changed his mind about sending all the “freed” slaves and all their off springs back to whatever country or island they originally came from. Just think how much better this country would have turned out to be.
Abe didn’t change his mind and some former slaves did go back to Africa and form the country of Liberia But look what kind of a raw sewage hole that place has turned into. That’s what BLM/Antifa wants to turn this country into. It was John Wilks Booth, a dummycrat, who stopped the free boat ride back to Africa.
Racism towards whites, is not just OK, but highly encouraged.. didn’t you get the memo sent out by king obama??
Cleveland folded like a cheap lawn chair. What is next? Why not come for the name of a state called Indiana and its capital city?
I wonder if the Catholic Church has a problem with the San Diego Padres?
Doubt it, but the ANTIGOD LEFTISTS do.
There was NOTHING wrong with the “Cleveland Indians” name ! I am SO sick and tired of the “woke” crowd changing just about EVERYTHING in this great country. The name Guardians is a NOTHING name to me. When the Washington Redskins changed their name, they were not even concerned about the fact that the NATIVE AMERICANS actually LIKED that name, and wanted them to keep it. It is the WOKE crowd that wants to change everything because THEY want the change, and that is plain SELFISH, INCONSIDERATE, and MEANSPIRITED!
The Cleveland Indians need not Change their Name. ALL this **** about WOKE , CANCEL CULTURE is nothing more than a Bunch Of Radical Racists and Worthless Bigots thinks they are the LORD and SAVIOR of the Country and the World. I ask B___ S___ ! Get over U A__ C____ s.o.b !
What a load of ****! It’s way past time to tell these left wing liberal loonies that we don’t really give a damn if they happen to get offended by something in this country. That’s no more than the “ minorities” do with the rest of us. We are allowing the woke element of our population to dictate what the rest of us can say, do, or even think. It’s time for the majority to take this country back and get back on the right track.
What will be the first pro sports team to change its name to “The Woke”? Truth in advertising, right? Whatever they do on the field is secondary to their kneeling, anti-patriotism, singing their personal anthem, propaganda about blacks, crime and police. The cheerleaders should be ugly women or men, trans would be both, dressed in sweats, chanting give me a W! Give me an O etc. Fans can hardly wait!
“PC Guardians” would have been more descriptive. Or how about the “Cleveland Cucks”?
Another aspect of America being lost. This move is a serious blow to the continuity of the great game… don’t worry we are not done yet
All teams whose names have religious connotations, like the Padres, Angels and Saints need to be changed to satisfy atheistic and marxists sensibilities
Change the names of all religiously founded cities including San Francisco. And st Louis, etc… and Corpus Christi…. Name them after rappers, criminals et al
My fellow Americans we are fast losing our country (that belongs to all of us, black, white et al) to a small group of elitists who want to rule and dominate our lives. These ******** are the product of our society and culture… THEY HAVE HAD EASY LIVES and are mostly whites. Their problem is a deep hatred of themselves
Let’s wake up before it truly becomes too late. To my Black friends, it is not the BS “white supremacy” of my grandma and my uncle José that will get you… it is the white supremacy of the white elitists, our version of the Bolsheviks…. I predict that in this scenario, American Blacks will expendable and cast aside once used for the evil goals of these elite….
LEARN FROM HISTORY MY BROTHERS
Baseball has always been a boring game to me anyway. Hardly ever watched it before and even less since politics got involved. This change is nothing but a political move and will not make me watch it any more or less.
COMMENTWell I guess I’ll be selling all my Cleveland shirts. I’m not a fan anymore.
Sell your Cleveland shirts? Why not burn them in protest? Bet no one will be allowed on the team’s premises with shirts with the verboten name and logo.
I agree. BURN THEM..
Has any one noticed how the politically correct crowd and now their ‘woke’ counterparts are having REMOVED from the public conscience what they consider stereotypes or demeaning portrayals in sports, in advertising, wherever they look. They have removed black icons such as Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima and the Native American girl from Land-O-Lakes, basically making them non entities as if their being is offensive. Sports teams have been worse yet the real reason is never clear. How did using a name or likeness conceived as a POSITIVE image for who or what it stands for suddenly receive negative connotations? We don’t choose names and logos of things we detest or hate to demean them, they;re chosen for the postive qualities they possess or project to those around them. Uncle Ben was a real person and Aunt Jemima was portrayed by several real women over the years yet their wishes were ignored. This seems to be the same agenda that now seeks to tear down every positive image of both our country and the religious beliefs (no matter what type) held by many.
Good old Tom, anything to get himself back into the graces of his Hollywood Woke buddies. I guess he thought he was doing an intro for Saving Private Ryan, instead of a stupid team name change that makes no sense…. Guardans, of who or what? Are they relating the name to the movie …”Guardians of the Universe”? or Guardians of their paychecks?
Well, hanks is now joining the very long list of actors i will no longer CARE TO WATCH…
gotta love that they used left wing yo-yo- hanks as their spokesperson-
if the team name was racist–it was more obtrusive having a commie loving
low life-biased -zero–tell us what racist is when he is not smart enough to
know the destruction of america is at hand from the left–or maybe he is just
as criminal as the democrats
I guess I cannot watch Major League any more since I would be racist. LOL So when do we change the name America?? That is such a racist name for a country. I am not ashamed of myself or my country, I am ashamed we have those in “charge” that are not patriots
There is much more entertainment in the movie than on MLB.
I just did a re-watch of both of those films last week.. STILL prefer watching them to ANY REAL MLB game.