July 23, 2021: The Cleveland Indians Become the Cleveland Guardians

July 23, 2021: The Cleveland Indians announce that, after 107 seasons, they are changing their name to the Cleveland Guardians.

The franchise began in the American League in 1901, as the Cleveland Blues. They became the Cleveland Bronchos -- pronounced like "Broncos" -- in 1902. That season, they acquired Napoleon Lajoie, one of the greatest all-around players of the era, eventually a member of the 3,000 Hits Club, and a great fielder, too, to be their 2nd baseman and manager. They were renamed the Cleveland Naps in his honor in 1903. He left after the 1914 season, and they were renamed the Indians.

Legend had it that they were named the Indians in honor of Louis Sockalexis, the 1st major league player to identify as a Native American, who had played for the National League's Cleveland Spiders from 1897 to 1899. Another story said they were named the Indians in honor of the Native tribes that lived on the shore of Lake Erie before the white man came.

Neither story was true. Terry Pluto, the longtime Cleveland newspaper columnist who's written several books about the team and its history, and knows more about them than anyone, decisively determined that Lajoie's departure coincided with the Boston Braves winning the World Series, and so, trying to match the Braves' luck, the Cleveland team renamed itself the Indians.

Some "luck": Between them, these 2 teams won only 6 Pennants between 1915 and 1990. And 2 of those 6 were against each other, in 1948. By that point, the Indians had adopted a character known as Chief Wahoo as their mascot. Pluto would later describe the Chief as a "grinning idiot."  

The Chief at Cleveland Municipal Stadium

For years, fans were divided between those who clung to the Chief as a symbol of team "heritage" -- much like people who say that about the Confederate flag -- and those who thought it was disgustingly racist. The Indians moved from Municipal Stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994 (it was renamed Progessive Field in 2007), and won Pennants in 1995, 1997 and 2016, and were more often than not Playoff contenders since the stadium switch.

Nevertheless, after the 2019 season, the Indians removed all references to the Chief, including from their caps, replacing him with a block letter C for Cleveland. In 2020, the NFL's Washington Redskins finally did what they said they would never do, and dropped their Native American name. They played 2 years as "The Washington Football Team" while they selected a new name. On February 2, 2022, they became the Washington Commanders.

With that in mind, Indians management decided it was time to consider alternatives. On July 23, 2021, they announced that, starting with the 2022 season, they would be the Cleveland Guardians. It was exactly 1 year to the day after the Washington Football Team dropped "Redskins."

The team's name references "the Guardians of Traffic," 8 monolithic 1932 Art Deco sculptures by Henry Hering on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge, which is adjacent to Progressive Field.

One of the Guardians of Traffic,

with Progressive Field in the background

A minority of fans was furious, throwing out stupid labels like "politics" and "woke." The truth is, not only was the change long overdue, but changing from "Indians" to "Guardians" really didn't even change half the name: It still ended in "-dians."

The 1st game under the name "Cleveland Indians" was on April 14, 1915, a 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field (eventually named Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. The last game under the name was on October 3, 2021, a 6-0 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. And the 1st game under the name "Cleveland Guardians" was on April 7, 2022, a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

For those still upset over the change: "Indians" wasn't the team's original name, either. In fact, of the 16 teams that Major League Baseball had prior to 1961, only the Detroit Tigers are still using their original name. Only 7 of the 30 current teams are using their original names: The Tigers, the Royals, the New York Mets, the San Diego Padres, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

*

July 23, 2021 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The name change didn't help the Cleveland franchise that day: They lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-5 at Progressive Field. Since they are the team in question, I have deviated from my usual path of starting with the New York teams, and then going from North to South, East to West, which I now resume:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox used an "opener game," and were able to defeat Yankee ace Gerrit Cole. Rafael Devers hit 2 home runs.

* The New York Mets beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0 at Citi Field. How many Met pitchers does it take to pitch a 3-hit shutout? This time, 4: Tylor Megill (6 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, winning pitcher), Seth Lugo (7th inning, 1 hit), Trevor May (a perfect 8th inning) and Edwin Díaz (a perfect 9th, save).

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat their neighbors, the Washington Nationals, 6-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins, 5-2 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

* The Houston Astros beat their cross-State rivals, the Texas Rangers, 7-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-4 in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 in Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-6 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Rockies scored 3 runs in the top of the 10th inning, including a home run by Charlie Blackmon.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-4 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.