Next Year, Go Guardians!

Last Friday, the announcement finally came.

After the Major League Baseball season concludes, the Cleveland Indians will no longer exist, and the team will now be known as the Cleveland Guardians.

We understand this is difficult to accept for a great many fans of the team, folks that thought of the name “Indians” not as a racial slur, but rather the name of their favorite baseball team. There was no malice on the part of most of those people, it was a name they grew up with, the team they cherished as they aged.

These are different times though, and the name was no longer appropriate. The moniker will still be part of the history of the franchise though, and the memories of the players who were Cleveland Indians will always be part of the supporters of the team.

The negative reaction from fans at Progressive Field, booing when the Tom Hanks narrated video was played, could be because of the change or it could also be a reaction to the ownership that made the change. There is no doubt about the disconnect that exists being the public and the Dolan ownership, and frankly, we don’t know if that can ever be repaired.

As for the new name, it’s kind of generic to us. When the new name was announced, it was noted that Guardians reflect the pride, resiliency, and loyalty of people in northeast Ohio. Does it? We don’t know, but we do know it could have been handled better.

Why not make the fans part of the process? Why not pick four or five choices and let the ticket buying public vote on the new name?

That it wasn’t tells us perhaps it was going to be Guardians all along, there was no extensive research done.

As we said, we wouldn’t have went with anything Rock ‘n’ Roll themed either, that has become the only thing our area has become identified with recently, but why not an homage to the past by going with Blues, Blue Sox, or Grays, or even Commodores, since we sit on Lake Erie.

We would have even preferred Spiders, the old National League team name from the late 1800’s, to Guardians.

It also didn’t help that the logo unveiled on Friday looks like a grade school art project. We are sure the team paid a great deal of money to some consultant from out of town to design it, but that can still be changed, and we bet it will be sooner than later.

It could be that even if the current ownership announced the coolest nickname that has ever been chosen, it would be met with negativity. That’s where the majority of this fan base is with the Dolan family. There is a huge disconnect.

Perhaps there isn’t room for a Bill Veeck anymore in today’s game, but we think fans want the owner to be invested in the team, and not just monetarily. They want them to hurt when the team loses, and celebrate when they win.

Instead, they are too corporate. We get that they have to be, but it would be alright to act like you identify with what the fans are going through.

The name change was inevitable, and people who still don’t understand why it had to change aren’t being honest with themselves. As usual though for this ownership, it could have been handled better.

So, Guardians it is. If you are a true fan, this will not make you give that up. And don’t hold the name change against the ownership either. It was a matter of time.