Anyone that has followed this blog over the years may remember that a few years ago, I talked about the Cleveland Indians being my favorite baseball team. I know it may seem strange growing up in Oklahoma that my favorite team would be the Cleveland Indians.
The story of why my favorite team is the Indians can be found in the archives of this blog and even though it’s a spellbinding story and holds a lot of memories for me, today it just goes down as a part of history. Today, the Cleveland Indians are no more — the team name has been changed to the Cleveland Guardians.
I’ve been reminded many times that I don’t like change. That’s true, but I realize that change is inevitable and constant and often it’s necessary or for a good reason. I’m not questioning that there may be a good reason for ditching the Indians as the team name.
Society in general, and sports teams in particular, recognize that team names often offend “minority” groups… in the case of the Indians — Native Americans.
I’m not sure why “Indians” was chosen for the team mascot in 1915, but I never took it as a slur against anyone. I was born and raised in Oklahoma — known as Indian Territory before statehood —and have some Native American heritage, but it never occurred to me that the Cleveland Indians were derogatory or disrespectful in any way. I grew up playing Cowboys and Indians and the majority of people in Maysville. Oklahoma were not cowboys or Indians.
I guess the change was inevitable — call it a sign of the times. And I can’t say that it wasn’t socially and probably morally the right thing to do. The Cleveland Indians weren’t always the Cleveland Indians — the team had three names before they became the Indians: Blues, Bronchos and Naps. But I alway knew them as the Indians.
When I first heard the team was to be call the guardians, I immediately thought of someone who looks after and is legally responsible for someone unable to manage their own affairs, like an incompetent or disabled person or a child.
Of course, I didn’t grow up in Cleveland and “guardian” didn’t have any special meaning to me. Clevelanders have a special relationship with the term. Guardian was chosen to “honor” the statues named “The Guardians of Traffic” that adorn the Hope Memorial Bridge that is very near the ballpark.
As far s I know, those statues are unique to Cleveland, so I suspect the new name will prove to be fairly popular.
But it’s just hard for me to imagine being an eight year old kid in Oklahoma, tuning in his crystal radio every night to listen to the Cleveland Guardians. What’s in a name? Sometimes a lot — and sometimes it’s a lot more than a lot….
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