# Cleveland Indians considering a name change \[Edit: It's "Guardians"\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [July 4, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323 "2020-07-04T20:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/262 "2020-12-14T03:10:04Z")
The Burnt Umbers. The Taupes. Apparently, beaver is a shade of brown. The _Cleveland Beavers_ actually sounds pretty good. > **[Shades of brown | Beaver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_brown#Beaver)** > > Beaver is a shade of brown representative of the color of a beaver. At a hue of 22, it is classified as an orange-brown. > The first recorded use of beaver as a color name in English was in 1705. > The color "beaver" was formulated as one of the Crayola colors in 1998. > Etymologically, it's believed that the words "brown" and "beaver" ultimately stem from the same root word. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/263 "2020-12-14T03:28:27Z")
How about the Steamers. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/264 "2020-12-14T03:45:55Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The _Cleveland Beavers_ actually sounds pretty good. Sounds like the Beaver Cleavers. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/265 "2020-12-14T03:50:16Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Last news item I saw on the subject said that Washington was considering keeping the “temporary” name. Really? I thought they were going to come up with something. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/266 "2020-12-14T03:51:36Z")
What about the Cleveland Rocks? edit: [Looks like I’m not the first with that idea](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30515643/sources-cleveland-drop-indians-nickname-105-years). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/267 "2020-12-14T03:54:15Z")
I’m guessing it won’t be the Cleveland Injuns. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/268 "2020-12-14T04:00:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > What about the Cleveland Rocks? The Colorado Rockies might object to that. I like spiders. They’re cute. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/269 "2020-12-14T04:02:11Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’ve seen that they may keep in through the 2021 season, but I haven’t seen anyone suggest they’ll keep the current name permanently. [This article](https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/football-team/new-name-washington-football-team-definitely-running-stay) from NBC Sports says the name is in the running to become permanent. > Team president [Jason Wright said in an interview with ESPN](https://www.espn.com/blog/washington/post/_/id/40669/washington-president-jason-wright-on-new-name-culture-nfl-investigation) that the teams’ current Washington Football Team moniker is “definitely in the running” to be the long-term solution for the clubs nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/270 "2020-12-14T04:04:32Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m guessing it won’t be the Cleveland Injuns. I guess Redskins is now available. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/271 "2020-12-14T04:15:29Z")
Just out of curiosity, is anybody objecting to ‘crusaders’ as a name? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/272 "2020-12-14T04:18:48Z")
Cleveland Crusaders. Georgetown Jihadists. It’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/273 "2020-12-14T04:28:08Z")
Should we object to calling informal ticket-sellers “scalpers”? Just trying to keep up on this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/274 "2020-12-14T04:37:57Z")
Hur hur hur ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/275 "2020-12-14T04:48:55Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Just trying to keep up on this stuff. Rest assured, everyone is in awe of your effort. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/276 "2020-12-14T04:52:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > ndians, while problematic, isn’t as blatantly offensive as Redskins. Wasn’t the blatant offensiveness the team mascot/logo and the crowd’s “tomahawk chop”? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/277 "2020-12-14T05:27:23Z")
Here’s old Chief Wahoo, for the curious: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Cleveland\_Indians\_logo.svg/1920px-Cleveland\_Indians\_logo.svg.png](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Cleveland_Indians_logo.svg/1920px-Cleveland_Indians_logo.svg.png) There’s nothing inherently offensive about “Indian,” but it’s probably not a good idea to name your sports team after an ethnic group (or vague ethnic category) in general. It’s just a bad look. But Tha Chief is far more blatantly #problematic as you can see. They got rid of him a couple years ago. I think the tomahawk chop is more of an Atlanta thing. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/278 "2020-12-14T06:09:07Z")
Speaking of the Atlanta Braves, [Here is the Wiki page on their mascots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Noc-A-Homa), Chief Noc-A-Homa and Princess Win-A-Lotta (the former “retired” in 1985, the latter “retired” in 1984). I’ll leave it to you to decide the offensiveness degree and levels. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/279 "2020-12-14T06:34:58Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Chief Noc-A-Homa He was played by a real Native American, so what’s the problem…? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/280 "2020-12-14T06:53:22Z")
Use of stereotypes? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/281 "2020-12-14T06:53:56Z")
I was being sarcastic. I mean… “Noc-A-Homa”? I laughed, but it’s just so cringeworthy that people thought this was okay, even in that era. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323.md?page=15)