Cleveland Indians to become the Cleveland Guardians

soxhop411

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Following years of protests from fans and Native American groups, the Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name, moving away from a moniker that has long been criticized as racist, three people familiar with the decision said Sunday.
The move follows a decision by the Washington Football Team of the N.F.L. in July to stop using a name long considered a racial slur, and is part of a larger national conversation about race that magnified this year amid protests of systemic racism and police violence.
Cleveland could announce its plans as soon as this week, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
It is not immediately clear what Cleveland’s exact steps will be beyond dropping the Indians name. The transition to a new name involves many logistical considerations, including work with uniform manufacturers and companies that produce other team equipment and stadium signage.

One of the people said Cleveland planned to keep the Indians name and uniforms for the 2021 season while working to shift away from it as early as 2022.
One option that the team is considering, two of the people said, is moving forward without a replacement name — similar to how the Washington Football Team proceeded — then coming up with a new name in consultation with the public.

The Cleveland baseball franchise has been known as the Indians since 1915, but Native American groups and others have for decades opposed the use of Indigenous names, mascots and imagery for sports teams, insisting they are demeaning and racist. Cleveland’s name and Washington’s old name were considered among the most high-profile examples and were the targets of widespread campaigns for change.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-baseball-name-change.html

Give me Cleveland Spiders!
 

54thMA

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The Cleveland Baseball Team it is.

If there is a push for sports teams to stop using Native American names and imagery as team names and mascots, then the Braves, Blackhawks, Chiefs, Warriors should change their names as well.
 

soxhop411

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If it’s the Cleveland spiders, the mascot can be a spider that Descends from a giant web into the stadium.
 

DJnVa

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The Cleveland Baseball Team it is.

If there is a push for sports teams to stop using Native American names and imagery as team names and mascots, then the Braves, Blackhawks, Chiefs, Warriors should change their names as well.
The Warriors no longer use any imagery related to Native Americans and the word "warriors" seems like it's worlds apart from the others you listed.
 

nvalvo

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Cleveland Spiders! I know it was the NL Cleveland franchise, not the AL Clevelanders.

The 1899 team is the legendary worst team ever, but the Spiders had some good seasons too: they made one of the early World Series in 1892, and lost to the Boston Beaneaters.

That kind of history is irreplaceable.
 

teddywingman

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Cleveland Spiders! I know it was the NL Cleveland franchise, not the AL Clevelanders.

The 1899 team is the legendary worst team ever, but the Spiders had some good seasons too: they made one of the early World Series in 1892, and lost to the Boston Beaneaters.

That kind of history is irreplaceable.
The Cleveland franchise is the same one that used the Spiders moniker.
 

Sprowl

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The Cleveland Chironomids -- they resemble mosquitoes, and they can be quite annoying, but they do not bite.

 

PseuFighter

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Not going with Cleveland Rocks feels like an enormous missed opportunity. (well, I guess the only blocker could be we already have the Rockies)
 

54thMA

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The Warriors no longer use any imagery related to Native Americans and the word "warriors" seems like it's worlds apart from the others you listed.
I sell Military Miniatures/toy soldiers for a living. One of the brands I carry is called King & Country and one of their most popular ranges is called "The Real West", it depicts the Battle of Little Big Horn and within that range are 7th cavalry figures and indians.

The indians are listed as "Warrior standing firing bow and arror/Warrior advancing with tomahawk/Warrior kneeling firing carbine/Warrior on horse charging", not "native american standing firing bow and arrow/native american advancing with tomahawk/native american kneeling firing carbine/native american on horse charging"

The word "warriors" is not worlds apart from the others.

Get rid of them all.

The country was stolen from native americans; give them back their names and stop using them as nicknames for sports teams.
 

wiffleballhero

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Spiders would be great both because there is the historical legacy and because it totally goes against type for the way teams name themselves recently. It would be awesome.
 

teddywingman

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Huh. That's not what Baseball Reference suggests, but if you're right, then they should absolutely use the name.
Interesting. Maybe there was some break because of ownership/league changes. But I'm pretty sure the name Spiders was the nickname through the 1890's (except during the 1897 season when they were usually referred to as the Indians due to the early season phenomenal play of Louis Sockalexis). Then they became the Naps when Lajoie joined the team.
 

Harry Hooper

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From a quick scan of Cleveland Indians on Wikipedia, looks like the 1892-era Cleveland Spiders were in the National League, and were unofficially nicknamed by the scribes of the day the "Cleveland Indians" given Louis Sockalexis's presence on the club.

One of the founding franchises of the American League was placed in Cleveland. This franchise was not the old Spiders one, but a new one. It was named the Bluebirds. The name was changed to the Naps when Nap Lajoie starred for the team, before becoming the Indians in 1915 after Lajoie's departure.
 
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bsj

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This is now the 2nd team that has had years of notice and still managed to not have a new name researched and ready when they make the announcement. Its pretty stupid.

Kudos for the change, but get your ducks in a row.

Looking at you, Atlanta Braves...
 

teddywingman

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Good info HH. I see now that there was no Cleveland professional team in 1900, and the players from 1899 and 1901 are completely different.

Edit: There was a team in Cleveland in 1900 called The Lake Shores.
 
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staz

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Guessing merchandising value will greatly outweigh historical or geographical significance in the decision-making process. So I can see something like Spiders working, even if the lineage isn't direct.
 

Harry Hooper

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Guessing merchandising value will greatly outweigh historical or geographical significance in the decision-making process. So I can see something like Spiders working, even if the lineage isn't direct.
The Naps. Who doesn't like a nap? Put zzz's across the front of the jersey. Add patches for sheep and a saw cutting through a log.
 

E5 Yaz

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Two names that have surfaced as speculated possibilities might not be available. Both Cleveland Spiders and Cleveland Baseball Team are already the subject of trademark applications filed in July.
A person named Arlen Love from Washington applied for Cleveland Spiders, with the intended use for sports jerseys. The Cleveland Spiders were a National League major league team from 1889-1899, when they finished a record-worst 20-134 and were contracted.

Also in July—the same month Washington announced it would be dropping “Redskins” as its NFL team name—a person from Georgia named Andrew Steen applied for Cleveland Baseball Team, with the intended use for entertainment, sports and other services.


https://www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2020/cleveland-indians-name-change-1234618268/
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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Are you guys fucking for real?

We started calling "Indians", "Native Americans" a long time ago. The term "Indian" itself is derogatory. Chief Wahoo is derogatory.

While the tomahawk bullshit needs to go, there is nothing inherently negative about Braves, Warriors, Blackhawks etc. A warrior is a brave fighter. No different than a Bezerker, and probably less offensive. Braves? Blackhawks? We aren't creating caricatures of those people like the Indians were doing. You know you're allowed to mention other cultures without it being offensive, yeah?

The reason the Mass flag needed to change was because of the racist connotations associated with it. We don't need to whitewash everything.
 

Fred not Lynn

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View attachment 37024

With “Chop On” advertised as written on the handle!

Seriously, fuck these guys.
https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/10/09/braves-remove-foam-tomahawks-from-stadium/
The Braves are quietly phasing out the “official” trappings of endorsing the “Chop”...Easier to do when there’s no actual fans - let’s see what happens now. Cleveland is a big domino to fall.

I think Atlanta, unfortunately, will experience a lot more pushback from their customers about any aspect of “changing their traditions” than Washington and Edmonton football or Cleveland baseball.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
This is now the 2nd team that has had years of notice and still managed to not have a new name researched and ready when they make the announcement. Its pretty stupid.

Kudos for the change, but get your ducks in a row.
To be fair, the team has not made an announcement yet. They may already have something ready to go. I guess we'll find out sometime soon.
 

bsj

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https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/10/09/braves-remove-foam-tomahawks-from-stadium/
The Braves are quietly phasing out the “official” trappings of endorsing the “Chop”...Easier to do when there’s no actual fans - let’s see what happens now. Cleveland is a big domino to fall.

I think Atlanta, unfortunately, will experience a lot more pushback from their customers about any aspect of “changing their traditions” than Washington and Edmonton football or Cleveland baseball.
In fairness...they tend to not use visual depictions of native americans to my knowledge, and the term "brave" represents a native american warrior. If they lose the chop and the chants, they may manage to stick around with the name. Redskins and Indians this aint
 

trs

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The Cleavers. Nice violent imagery to boot.

In some seriousness, I wonder if names that are acceptable to use such as "warrior" or "brave" would be more acceptable? In the posted photo above of the protest in Cleveland, one of the signs says "people not mascots," so I wonder if just collecting a massive swathe of people based on a very broad geographical location is what the issue is. The "New York Europeans" might have imagery issues just like any "Braves" team would, smelting a wide variety of cultures and histories down into a single catch-all term.

It's a difficult question, really, because at first I thought to myself I wouldn't have an issue with a local high school naming themselves after the Mohawk Nation, given there is a specific cultural identity and past that you might be trying to honor, but then do we really do that in any other case? I guess the Canucks? All the other examples I can think off the top of my head usually deal with indigenous peoples.
 

Van Everyman

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https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/10/09/braves-remove-foam-tomahawks-from-stadium/
The Braves are quietly phasing out the “official” trappings of endorsing the “Chop”...Easier to do when there’s no actual fans - let’s see what happens now. Cleveland is a big domino to fall.

I think Atlanta, unfortunately, will experience a lot more pushback from their customers about any aspect of “changing their traditions” than Washington and Edmonton football or Cleveland baseball.
Yet they continue to sell that piece of shit on their store. That piece was October 2019.

I imagine the Chiefs are gonna come under the microscope sooner rather than later – which is going to be harder given that the team is the reigning champion, extremely prominent and has a famous stadium with a Native American name as well.
 

Oppo

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Makes sense. Change sports teams names and don’t give back 100% of the land taken.