After more than a century as the Indians, Cleveland's baseball club announced a new name Friday as it rebrands following an unceremonious bowing to a woke everything-is-racist mob of online social justice warriors.
In December 2020, the baseball team formerly known as the Indians announced they would be dropping their "offensive" moniker after "an extensive process to learn how our team name affected different constituencies and whether it aligned with our organizational values."
The team's owner, Paul Dolan, said at the time that "hearing firsthand the stories and experiences of Native American people, we gained a deep understanding of how tribal communities feel about the team name and the detrimental effects it has on them."
After much self-flagellation, the team landed on a name that, rather than following in the footsteps of the generic placeholder Washington Football Team, is an actual name.
Introducing the Cleveland Guardians!
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2021
The name will go into effect after the 2021 season. pic.twitter.com/ggCFyIRD2y
According to the team, leadership "heard this name often from our fans as a top contender because of it's[sic] connection to the iconic Cleveland landmark - The Hope Memorial Bridge that stands just outside of our ballpark where the Guardians of Traffic have become a symbol of the city's resiliency."
The Guardians name was arrived at after 140 hours of interviews with community leaders and front office personnel and surveys completed by 40,000 fans, according to the team.
"The new Diamond C is an evolution of our classic Block C, and respects the tradition and heritage of Cleveland baseball," explains a guide to the rebrand. "The C stands tall – just as the Guardians of Traffic stand watch over our ballpark and city - and draws from the ascending diamond motifs at the top of each Guardian pylon" and "the weight of the C is bold and its tapered shape is inspired by the letterforms from the 1920 and 1948 World Series champions."
Curiously still tweeting from the @Indians Twitter handle, the team released a video narrated by Tom Hanks to hype their rebranding.
Together, we are all... pic.twitter.com/R5FnT4kv1I
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 23, 2021
They shouldn't have changed their name in the first place, but if the Guardians are looking for a pat on the back, they didn't get it.
It is a massive social media fail that their @ is still @indians. https://t.co/ftNqp0Y1Ta
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) July 23, 2021
Fortunately it's Cleveland so we will never have to discuss this team again after today because "Guardians" is terrible.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 23, 2021
Why does MLB hate Indians? https://t.co/0kQDMbDBsW
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 23, 2021
Cleveland Guardians is a garbage name for a garbage team from a garbage town
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) July 23, 2021
You guys caved to the social media libs who aren’t the majority at all. They’re just loud and obnoxious. You could have ignored them. Instead, you let them scalp you. Unforgivable move here. https://t.co/pzJeHWBFyl
— Matt Vespa (@mVespa1) July 23, 2021
John Beckwith: And then of course you can challenge the Klingons for interstellar domination. https://t.co/8Xh9pomGya pic.twitter.com/6gVKpBhv7X
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 23, 2021
The Cleveland (Traffic) Guardians? I can't think of a dumber name for a baseball team. The PR company that came up with this silly name is laughing all the way to the bank. If anyone needs me I'll be out buying up all the remaining Chief Wahoo gear. https://t.co/CkkF0x8pnh
— Paula Bolyard (@pbolyard) July 23, 2021
Even the Left's wokescolds are unimpressed with Cleveland's new logo.
when the Cleveland Guardians drop a logo that's terrible but not racist pic.twitter.com/zK819QQ2cE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2021
Join the conversation as a VIP Member