Baseball's Newest Team Name: The Guardians

Cleveland is no longer the Indians
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 23, 2021 9:30 AM CDT
Baseball's Newest Team Name: The Guardians
Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie during a July 9 game.   (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Known as the Indians since 1915, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team will now be called the Guardians, per the AP. The ballclub announced the name change Friday with a video on Twitter narrated by "Cleveland fan" Tom Hanks, ending months of internal discussions triggered by a national reckoning by institutions and teams to permanently drop logos and names considered racist. 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. Cleveland.com reports the team will be called the Indians until the season ends, with the new name being ushered in next season.

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 ballclub's name. 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.

(More Cleveland Indians stories.)

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