Cleveland Indians altering identify to Guardians for 2022 season

The Cleveland Indians have a brand new identify — the Guardians.

The staff made the announcement on Twitter Friday morning.

The staff will proceed to make use of the Indians’ identify for the rest of the 2021 season and rebrand forward of the 2022 season.

The Cleveland Indians started the method of adjusting their identify after years of protests calling the staff identify and former Chief Wahoo brand “derogatory,” “racist,” and “offensive.”

Supervisor Terry Francona mentioned in July that he believed the time had come for the staff to vary its identify after greater than 100 years.

“I feel it’s time to maneuver ahead,” Francona mentioned. “It’s a really tough topic. It’s additionally delicate.”

Crew Proprietor and Chairman Paul Dolan mentioned listening to firsthand the tales and experiences of Native American folks. The staff gained a deep understanding of how tribal communities really feel in regards to the staff identify and its detrimental results on them.

“We’re excited to usher within the subsequent period of the deep historical past of baseball in Cleveland,” staff proprietor and chairman Paul Dolan mentioned in keeping with a press launch. “Cleveland has and all the time shall be an important a part of our id. Due to this fact, we needed a reputation that strongly represents the satisfaction, resiliency, and loyalty of Clevelanders.”

The staff had used “Indians” as its nickname since 1915, in keeping with Sports activities Illustrated.

“‘Guardians’ displays these attributes that outline us whereas drawing on the enduring Guardians of Site visitors simply exterior the ballpark on the Hope Memorial Bridge,” Dolan continued. “It brings to life the satisfaction Clevelanders absorb our metropolis and the way in which we struggle collectively for all who select to be a part of the Cleveland baseball household. Whereas ‘Indians’ will all the time be part of our historical past, our new identify will assist unify our followers and metropolis as we’re all Cleveland Guardians.”

In 2019, Cleveland stopped carrying the Chief Wahoo brand on their jerseys and caps.

Kaylyn Hlavaty initially revealed this story for Scripps station WEWS in Cleveland.

Leave a reply