# 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:** 18
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/342 "2021-07-24T13:26:37Z")
So do they move the Guardian statues to the stadium now and replace them with some rock-n-roll guitar statues on the bridge? Do certain British newspapers receive royalties and/or start providing coverage of the team? Will rival teams derogatorily refer to them as the Gardasils? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/343 "2021-07-24T17:35:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that you would want to be very careful about naming a team for Atlanta’s role in the Civil War. There is already an Atlanta Phoenix sports team, so clearly it’s not a problem. That’s why I suggested Firebirds. > **[Atlanta Phoenix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Phoenix)** > > The Atlanta Phoenix is a women’s tackle football team of the Women's National Football Conference that began play in 2012. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the team plays its home games at Decatur High Stadium in Downtown Decatur, GA. > > > > This article about a sports team in the US state of Georgia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. It has absolutely nothing to do with their role in the war. It only represents the rebuilding of the city afterward. It’s not a Confederate monument or anything. Quite the opposite; if anything it is a reminder of the price for their part in the war. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/344 "2021-07-24T17:54:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It has absolutely nothing to do with their role in the war. It only represents the rebuilding of the city afterward. It’s not a Confederate monument or anything. Quite the opposite; if anything it is a reminder of the price for their part in the war. This is true and you can lecture people about it all you want, it’s still bad optics and an especially bad idea when you are changing a name for its associations. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/345 "2021-07-24T18:02:00Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > it’s still bad optics The city of Atlanta clearly disagrees with that. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/346 "2021-07-24T18:05:55Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The city of Atlanta clearly disagrees with that. A huge percentage of them clearly think that the Braves name should stay. If this was about the city of Atlanta alone, there wouldn’t be a name change in the first place. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/347 "2021-07-24T18:07:17Z")
Fair enough. Still I think it’s a bit silly that people will object to a city celebrating its ability to rebuild itself. I guess we’ll just have to disagree about that. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/348 "2021-07-24T19:22:46Z")
I am fully confident that someone, somewhere will be mortally offended by the name Guardians. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/349 "2021-07-24T23:05:39Z")
The [superior in a Franciscan monastery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custos_(Franciscans)) is sometimes called a “Guardian”, so people might object on religious grounds maybe? (Just spit-balling.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/350 "2021-07-25T01:33:38Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think that, as nouns, both “Braves” and “Chiefs” are more tightly bound to Native Americans (at least in U.S. parlance) than “Warriors” is, and I could easily see an attempt by either team to keep the name while changing their logos coming across as whitewashing the original inspiration, and not ending well. FWIW, over at the NFL, the owners of the Washington (DC) Football Team announced earlier in the month that they would _ **not** _ be going with the fan-popular “Warriors” alternative, and in fact will be [seeking to avoid any even indirect Native American allusions or references](https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/07/12/new-washington-football-team-name-will-not-be-warriors/). ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/351 "2021-07-25T03:32:55Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > > [@Atamasama](#): > > > > The city of Atlanta clearly disagrees with that. > > A huge percentage of them clearly think that the Braves name should stay. If this was about the city of Atlanta alone, there wouldn’t be a name change in the first place. The city of Atlanta leans heavily Democratic. John Lewis was the Congressman representating most of the city for years after all. And in decades of Democratic rule no one has suggested replacing phoenix iconography which happens to also be on the seal of the city: [https://dlg.usg.edu/record/geh\_athpc\_2148](https://dlg.usg.edu/record/geh_athpc_2148) Of course the baseball team doesn’t play within city limits anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/352 "2021-07-25T12:33:13Z")
> [@NetTrekker](#): > > So do they move the Guardian statues to the stadium now and replace them with some rock-n-roll guitar statues on the bridge? The near end of the bridge is already about as close to the stadium as you can get, without losing street lanes or something to make room. And I can’t even imagine how you could move the statues-- The closest you could come would be demolishing them and re-building them from scratch. Here’s a street view, from which you can see both the statues and the stadium: https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211s6MTxN4uFacr1KKB4GRZyQw%212m2%211d41.4945691%212d-81.6851543%213f273.25%214f9.642%215f0.75 EDIT: The view from the other direction, which would be seen by anyone on the west side on their way to the stadium: https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211sD4RYZc00eKq1VQd3QTn1cA%212m2%211d41.4927797%212d-81.6882384%213f31.96%214f9.78%215f0.75 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/353 "2021-07-27T13:50:33Z")
Well, _this_ guy doesn’t like the name change: [https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/07/26/portage-county-sheriff-used-official-letterhead-to-whine-about-guardians-name-change?utm\_source=widget&utm\_medium=articleblog&utm\_campaign=rightrail&utm\_content=TabbedPopularity](https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/07/26/portage-county-sheriff-used-official-letterhead-to-whine-about-guardians-name-change?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=articleblog&utm_campaign=rightrail&utm_content=TabbedPopularity) ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/354 "2021-07-27T14:20:41Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > To be the people saying “The name could be worse”, how can it be worse? It could literally be named after the color of the teams socks, like two baseball teams already are. It could refer to something that doesn’t even exist in the city the team is currently in (Utah Jazz, LA Lakers…) We only think these names are good (if we do…) because they are old and familiar. There is a zero percent chance that if Utah got an expansion basketball team they would come up with Jazz as the team name. > [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > It could have been “Rockers” or something else trying to connect to the Rock N Roll HoF. Rockers would actually have been OK, IMO, except that the Colorado Rockies already exist. Too similar. I think Spiders might have been better, but I like that Guardians has a connection to the city (that image of the statues with the stadium in the background is cool) and is a timeless and flexible word. Spiders locks you into a pretty specific motif. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/355 "2021-07-27T14:24:03Z")
Rockers would have been okay? To resurrect our fond memories of that closer we picked up from the Braves in the late 90s? He was a real gem, as I recall. Cleveland has nothing to do with rock and roll. Hell, for the name reveal video, they got a band from Akron. The only musical group that anyone has heard of from Cleveland is Bone Thugz N Harmony: not really a rock group. I could name five American cities more closely aligned with Rock and Roll in the US than Cleveland, and one of them is even on the same lake as us. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/356 "2021-07-27T14:28:36Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > I think Spiders might have been better, but I like that Guardians has a connection to the city (that image of the statues with the stadium in the background is cool) and is a timeless and flexible word. Spiders locks you into a pretty specific motif. Another issue with the “spiders” name is that it may, perhaps, be too closely associated with the trademarked Spiderman character? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/357 "2021-07-27T14:30:09Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Cleveland has nothing to do with rock and roll. Other than Alan Freed and the very first major rock concert. > **[Alan Freed | WJW Cleveland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Freed#WJW_Cleveland)** > > In the late 1940s, while working at WAKR, Freed met Cleveland record store owner Leo Mintz. Record Rendezvous, one of Cleveland's largest record stores, had begun selling rhythm and blues records. Mintz told Freed that he had noticed increased interest in the records at his store, and encouraged him to play them on the radio. > In 1951, having already joined television station WXEL (channel 9, now WJW channel 8) in the middle of 1950 as an announcer, Freed moved to Cleveland, which at 39 mi Mintz p... ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/358 "2021-07-27T14:41:59Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Other than Alan Freed and the very first major rock concert. And, which is part of the reason why the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland. That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the idea of the Rockers name, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/359 "2021-07-27T14:42:59Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > It could literally be named after the color of the teams socks, like two baseball teams already are. THREE teams - the Reds, too. Also the Cardinals, who apparently get the name from the color, not the bird, but I’ll give them a pass because it’s pretty strongly associated with the bird now. A lot of baseball team nicknames are dumb, to be honest. PHILLIES, for God’s sake. Padres. No one would use “Dodgers” now; we’re just used to it, that’s all. Cubs? Come on. Nationals is a ridiculous name. “Mets” aren’t even a thing. Athletics. Guardians is no worse than any of those and better than a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/360 "2021-07-27T14:59:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > A lot of baseball team nicknames are dumb, to be honest. PHILLIES, for God’s sake. Padres. No one would use “Dodgers” now; we’re just used to it, that’s all. Cubs? Come on. Nationals is a ridiculous name. “Mets” aren’t even a thing. Athletics. Guardians is no worse than any of those and better than a lot of them. See, I actually like most of those names. I like the punning of Phillies (whether intentional or not and the sheer silliness of the name.) Mets is cool with me. Athletics is a bit boring, I admit, but I like the shortened “A’s.” Cubs is at least a different type of animal, going for the cutesy offspring rather than the big mighty Bear or Wolf or Lion or Wildcat. Padres is unusual in a good way (and reflects the founding of San Diego.) I like all those. I would have liked “Spiders” for the same reason. It’s kinda goofy in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323/361 "2021-07-27T15:14:03Z")
“Rockers” would have been _way_ too cutesy. If the team wanted something that referenced the city’s musical heritage, “the Buzzards” would have been good - a nod to the iconic rock station WMMS, Home of the Buzzard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleveland-indians-considering-a-name-change-edit-its-guardians/914323.md?page=19)