After decades of shame about rooting for a baseball team with a racist logo, the people of Cleveland have finally seen the skies part and had their burden lifted. Starting in 2019, the Cleveland Indians will be Chief Wahoo-less. This is a giant step toward a future where the city doesn't become a national embarrassment every time it plays on national TV. But here's the thing, it's only a step. Now that the logo is leaving, it's time for the Indians to be smart. For one thing, having a group of marginalized people serve as your team name is just insulting. For another, keeping the name would mean that any visual representation of "Indians" will (understandably) be seen as offensive at this point. The solution is a new name and a new identity. Here are some contenders that people toss around:
Buckeyes
Though some would be quick to pooh-pooh it due to Ohio State's branding, there's no reason why the Cleveland Baseball Club couldn't also be the buckeyes. It's not like any one team owns the name "Wildcats" or "Lions" or "Giants," and there is actually a great historic reason to name the team "Buckeyes." Cleveland's Negro League team was known as the Buckeyes, and they won the 1946 "Negro World Series." It would be a tremendous change of pace to go from having a racially insensitive logo and team identity that insultingly claims to honor a group of people to having a non-controversial name that actually does.
Guardians
No, not "of the Galaxy." This isn't a Toronto-choosing-"Raptors"-because–Jurassic Park-was-popular situation. Along the Hope Memorial Bridge that ends right across the street from Progressive Jacobs Field stand the giant "Guardians of Transportation." They're large Art Deco statues of beings protecting various types of vehicles. Does it sound dumb? Maybe. Are they cool-looking? Absolutely. I mean, just look at one of them:
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Tribe
"The team is already often referred to as the Tribe, so why not just make it official?" That's what proponents of this name posit, and I get the appeal, but if you were to go through the trouble of changing the name, you should probably avoid anything Native American–related. Calling the team "The Tribe" and having a feather on the cap or something doesn't really help things, does it?
Spiders
Okay, all those other names? Forget them. The Cleveland Indians should become the Cleveland Spiders, and they should do it yesterday. For one thing, the name has historic connections to the city as the Cleveland Spiders were a National League team from 1887 to 1899, before the Cleveland Indians (who were established in 1901 as the Bluebirds) even existed. For another, it's a cool name that no other major professional sports team has, and the design possibilities are awesome. I love this idea so much that I have taken to calling the Cleveland Indians the Spiders whenever I can, and even ordered custom-made fitted hats for my friends featuring a potential logo that incorporates the current block-C logo. Every time I wear it out in Cleveland, someone stops and asks me where I bought it.
You can't possibly tell me that people wouldn't love Spiders gear. Spiders are scary, they're killers, and they make web (gems). It's such a perfect fit, I find it insulting that this is even a conversation.
It's time for the Dolans to get smart and get the Cleveland Spiders going as soon as possible. That way I can stop ordering these hats to give away. It's getting expensive.