Cleveland Indians to become Cleveland Guardians
CLEVELAND – Starting in the 2022 season, the Cleveland Indians will be the Cleveland Guardians.
The baseball team announced the new name in a video, posted on Friday. The video is narrated by Tom Hanks and has music from Akron-formed The Black Keys.
The baseball team has used the Indians name since 1915. The Indians name has been criticized in recent years, with some calling it offensive to Native Americans. In response to this, in December 2020, the team announced that they would be changing their name.
The font for the fully written out name (above) is similar to the current font for the Indians. Two more logos were also released. One is similar to the block C but with different font. The other is a G with wings around a baseball.
The announcement was followed by both praise and criticism.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a news conference on Friday that President Joe Biden supports the decision to change the name.
Former President Donald Trump released a statement saying, “Can anybody believe that the Cleveland Indians, a storied and cherished baseball franchise since taking the name in 1915, are changing their name to the Guardians? Such a disgrace, and I guarantee that the people who are most angry about it are the many Indians of our Country. Wouldn’t it be an honor to have a team named the Cleveland Indians, and wouldn’t it be disrespectful to rip that name and logo off of those jerseys? The people of Cleveland cannot be thrilled and I, as a FORMER baseball fan, cannot believe things such as this are happening. A small group of people, with absolutely crazy ideas and policies, is forcing these changes to destroy our culture and heritage. At some point, the people will not take it anymore!”
“Cleveland” was trending on Twitter following the announcement.
Cleveland-born YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul tweeted, “Been a fan of the CLEVELAND Indians and of course going to be just as big of a fan of the CLEVELAND Guardians… you can change the name but the ingredients are always going to be Cleveland.”
Another Twitter user, Tim Steinbach, said, “I didn’t like the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Quite frankly, I’m offended by the new name in Cleveland.”
Owner Larry Dolan said at a news conference at the ballpark, “I know some people disagree, but if anything, I’ve gotten more and more comfortable that we’re headed in the right direction.”