Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team is jettisoning its “Indians” nickname after years of pressure from Native American activists. Starting next season, the team will be called the “Guardians.”
CNBC explains the new moniker:
The name Guardians is a reference to well-known Art Deco statues located on the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, which spans the Cuyahoga River and connects downtown Cleveland to the city’s trendy Ohio City neighborhood. Those statues are known as the “Guardians of Traffic.”
The team – one of the oldest in the MLB – has been called the “Indians” since 1915. In a video announcing the change, narrated by actor Tom Hanks, a voiceover declares,”You see, it has always been ‘Cleveland’ that’s the best part of our name. And now it’s time to unite as one family, one community, to build the next era for this team and this city. To keep watch, and guard what makes this game the greatest. … Together, we are all Cleveland Guardians.”
ESPN provides more context:
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.
Team owner Paul Dolan said last summer’s social unrest, touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, spurred his intention to change the club’s name.
In 2018, the Indians stopped using the Chief Wahoo logo on their jerseys and caps. The logo depicted a caricature of a red-faced Native American man that many people found offensive.
In the NFL, the Washington franchise dropped its “Redskins” name last year. It’s since been called “The Washington Football Club,” although a new identity is expected to be announced by 2022.
