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New Name for Cleveland Indians???

Started by Henry, June 08, 2021, 11:43:38 AM

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Henry

As you should know by now, the MLB team in Cleveland is in the process of ditching its 106-year old name for an entirely new identity next season, as other teams are purging themselves from racially offensive nicknames like the Washington Football Team (formerly known as the Redskins) did last year. As for the new name, it is unknown at this point, but there certainly is no shortage of great suggestions. Leading the pack are:


  • Spiders: Apparently, this is the most popular choice, and it would be a revival of the old NL team that played in the late 19th century. But the downside is, it would be a painful reminder of how the last edition fared (20-134 in 1899, a record that still is unmatched).
  • Naps: Before the Indians came to be, Nap Lajoie was a legend for the team. He was player-manager for the then-Bronchos, which changed their name to honor him. After his departure, the current name was introduced. Really, though, would we want to name a team something that's sleep-inducing? And also, we already have the Washington Nats, which sound too close to it.
  • Rocks/Rockers: Not only would this name draw on Cleveland's role in rock & roll music (with its namesake Hall of Fame located there), it would also be a revival of an old WNBA team name. I'm not too keen on this idea either, as it would invoke images of rocking chairs.
  • Cleveland Baseball Team: Washington did it, so why not this one? I'm pretty sure Rob Manfred wouldn't allow that, though.
  • Guardians: Now that's a pretty cool name, if I ever did see one. The bridge over the Cuyahoga River is adorned with guardian statues, and this would be a fitting tribute.
  • Buckeyes: Meh. Ohio State already has that name, and I don't think they'd want to share it.
  • Great Lakes/Lakers: Never mind that LeBron James plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, that name is ingrained into basketball history, even if it doesn't make sense where it is.
  • Municipals: Yawn. Municipal Stadium opened in 1931 and closed in 1995 (when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens); the Indians left in 1993.
  • Wild Things: Now this is the most interesting nickname ever! Charlie Sheen's character in the Major League movies was nicknamed Wild Thing, and the name would be a perfect homage to it.
  • Blues: Considering the overall state of the team through the years, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to give them this name, but then again, St. Louis won the Stanley Cup in 2019. And there's also the old Cleveland Blues team that predated the Spiders. Perhaps it would actually be a good backup name for Rocks and Rockers, as the blues begat rock & roll back in the 50s, which was also the last great era for the Indians until their 90s resurgence.

What would be your choice for the new name? Personally, I like the Spiders.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!


Max Rockatansky

Spiders seems like a obvious choice. 

D-Dey65

Guess the people who forced them to ditch the name overlook the fact that the name was honoring a Native American player.

As for the former Washington Redskins, perhaps they should adopt the name Washington Senators.



zzcarp

As a lifelong fan, Spiders is my preference. The 1899 season was a fluke (the owner also owned the St. Louis club and transferred all the Spiders' great players, including Cy Young, to the St. Louis club and ran the Cleveland club as  a sideshow).

Re the suggestion of Rock/Rockers, the name is too close to the Colorado Rockies, so hopefully that's a nonstarter.

One thing on the Buckeyes name: it was the name of the Cleveland Negro League team in the 1940s and could be a fitting moniker for the club that integrated the American League.
So many miles and so many roads

OCGuy81

Spiders probably has my vote as well, seconded by Guardians.

JoePCool14

Guardians sounds the best, though I feel it's not that relevant to Cleveland.

:) Needs more... :sombrero: Not quite... :bigass: Perfect.
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OCGuy81

How about Cleveland Baseball Team?  :-D

hotdogPi

If they're in a suburb:
Parma Hams
Avon Cosmetics
Euclid Mathematicians
Highland Heights Hills
Independence Halls
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

Big John

I like Spiders the best

Rocks/Rockers is too close to Colorado Rockies.

jmacswimmer

Quote from: 1 on June 08, 2021, 01:04:48 PM
If they're in a suburb:
Parma Hams
Avon Cosmetics
Euclid Mathematicians
Highland Heights Hills
Independence Halls

Mentor Trubiskys
"Now, what if da Bearss were to enter the Indianapolis 5-hunnert?"
"How would they compete?"
"Let's say they rode together in a big buss."
"Is Ditka driving?"
"Of course!"
"Then I like da Bear buss."
"DA BEARSSS BUSSSS"

Stephane Dumas

How about the Cleveland Fords? As a nod to the Cleveland Ford engine plant and where the Ford 351 Cleveland came from.

Roadgeekteen

I don't think that Indians is offensive at all but I like Spiders the best.
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hbelkins

Cleveland Flames. Or Cleveland Fire.

Paying homage to a certain burning river.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

kphoger

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Alps

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 08, 2021, 02:56:42 PM
I don't think that Indians is offensive at all but I like Spiders the best.
It's only inoffensive if you're referring to people from India.

Bruce

Quote from: D-Dey65 on June 08, 2021, 11:52:50 AM
Guess the people who forced them to ditch the name overlook the fact that the name was honoring a Native American player.

This has been debunked.

QuoteAn oft-repeated legend is that the name "Indians" was chosen because it was one of the nicknames previously applied to the old Cleveland Spiders baseball club during the time when Louis Sockalexis, a Native American, played in Cleveland.[7] The attribution of the new name as being in honor of Sockalexis, a member of the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, is generally discredited given the discriminatory treatment of Native Americans in general, and Sockalexis in particular during that era.[8] The news stories published to announce the selection in 1915 make no mention of Sockalexis, but do make many racist and insulting references to Native Americans.[9]

If they wanted to honor Native Americans, the team should've dropped their crude and racist mascot sooner and reach out to local tribes. If the Spokane Indians could do it, then so can a major league team.

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: jmacswimmer on June 08, 2021, 01:31:48 PM
Quote from: 1 on June 08, 2021, 01:04:48 PM
If they're in a suburb:
Parma Hams
Avon Cosmetics
Euclid Mathematicians
Highland Heights Hills
Independence Halls

Mentor Trubiskys

Westlake Spartans.  And then you could hire these two:
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: Alps on June 08, 2021, 05:09:35 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 08, 2021, 02:56:42 PM
I don't think that Indians is offensive at all but I like Spiders the best.
It's only inoffensive if you're referring to people from India.
Eh many natives actually prefer the term Indian.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

jakeroot

I was given a "Certificate of Indian Blood" from my tribe. As far as I know, "Indian" is still the official term to describe those with native ancestry. My local tribe is still the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

I'm not in the least bit perturbed by it, but "Indian" as a term is just silly. We all know that it doesn't make any sense. I'm not personally aware of any native Americans who prefer "Indian" as much as they just tolerate it. "Native American" and recently "indigenous" are far more popular. "Indigenous" is a much better term, in my opinion.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: jakeroot on June 08, 2021, 06:03:16 PM
I was given a "Certificate of Indian Blood" from my tribe. As far as I know, "Indian" is still the official term to describe those with native ancestry. My local tribe is still the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

I'm not in the least bit perturbed by it, but "Indian" as a term is just silly. We all know that it doesn't make any sense. I'm not personally aware of any native Americans who prefer "Indian" as much as they just tolerate it. "Native American" and recently "indigenous" are far more popular. "Indigenous" is a much better term, in my opinion.
The name is a bit strange, but it has so much history that it will feel strange having an MLB without them.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

jakeroot

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 08, 2021, 06:05:57 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on June 08, 2021, 06:03:16 PM
I was given a "Certificate of Indian Blood" from my tribe. As far as I know, "Indian" is still the official term to describe those with native ancestry. My local tribe is still the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

I'm not in the least bit perturbed by it, but "Indian" as a term is just silly. We all know that it doesn't make any sense. I'm not personally aware of any native Americans who prefer "Indian" as much as they just tolerate it. "Native American" and recently "indigenous" are far more popular. "Indigenous" is a much better term, in my opinion.

The name is a bit strange, but it has so much history that it will feel strange having an MLB without them.

Well sure, but so? We all eventually die off, and soon there'll be no one left who even knew of the Cleveland Indians.

Steve Jobs, when scoffing at the thought of hand-writing superseding typing as a note-taking method since not enough people could type effectively, said it pretty well: "death takes care of it".

OCGuy81

Kind of a tangent on this, but does anyone know if Washington plans to rename their team?  I thought Football Team was just meant to be an interim thing while they figured out the new branding.

sprjus4


1995hoo

Quote from: OCGuy81 on June 08, 2021, 06:27:13 PM
Kind of a tangent on this, but does anyone know if Washington plans to rename their team?  I thought Football Team was just meant to be an interim thing while they figured out the new branding.

Supposed to be for 2022. The process is not straightforward.

Regarding Cleveland, I suppose another name in their sports history is Barons, which was the name of their NHL team, but that team only lasted two seasons. I believe the WHA team was called the Crusaders. Cleveland Crusaders has a nice ring to it, but I'd wager some people would object to it if it calls to mind the religious wars known as the Crusades. Not that it matters, I haven't heard either of those mentioned anywhere in connection with the Indians.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
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commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Stephane Dumas

#24
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 08, 2021, 06:32:48 PM
Regarding Cleveland, I suppose another name in their sports history is Barons, which was the name of their NHL team, but that team only lasted two seasons. I believe the WHA team was called the Crusaders. Cleveland Crusaders has a nice ring to it, but I'd wager some people would object to it if it calls to mind the religious wars known as the Crusades. Not that it matters, I haven't heard either of those mentioned anywhere in connection with the Indians.

And the Barons NHL team was named as a tribute of a team of the same name who existed from 1937 to 1973 and Fred Glover was one of the main stars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Barons_(1937—1973)
http://redwingslegends.blogspot.com/2011/03/fred-glover.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27JAnz-1JBQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHh_gdAtGuI



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