Report: Cleveland Indians to Drop Name

[Bill0813 369]

Mods, if you want to lock this to replies also....

[SmackNCheese 386]

If nothing else, this is a great opportunity to replace one of the most dull identities in baseball. I see it as a win-win.

[SCL 505]

Plus a team with historical names to draw on, it looks like Spiders is #1 according to the odds makers. They can maintain the block C while adding an alternate logo with spider. I've always liked the Richmond identity and this could be similar.

[GriffinM6 1,462]

Spiders or Guardians are my picks. 

[MJWalker45 6,013]

Earl's (Earl Averill)

Lumberjacks (Forest City nickname)

Blues

Napoleons (Nap LaJoie)

Buckeyes (Negro League team)

Rapids (Bob Feller)

 

Buckeyes probably won't happen due to the success of Ohio State teams, but I like Earls or Lumberjacks. I don't like Spiders but I have a feeling they'll be what's picked if a name change happens. 

[-Akronite- 1,723]

Commodores

Blues

Spiders

 

Those are my tops, with "Rocks" or simply "Cleveland Baseball Club" also feeling acceptable. Not into "Guardians" or "Baseball Browns"

 

Hope they follow through. This could be an opportunity to breathe life into a dulling brand and, hopefully, bring some much needed new colors into the MLB.

 

[_DietDrPepper_ 4,371]

I would hope Spiders is what's chosen, despite its pitiful history, it would make for one of the more interesting brands in sports hopefully

[SFGiants58 14,557]

In order of my preference:

 

Spiders

Dobys (for Larry Doby, the most important player in team history - the first African-American in the AL who is so unfairly ignored)

Forests

Commodores

Guardians

Rocks/Rockers

Barons (the old NHL name, just ask the Sharks or Stars or the NHL for the trademark)

Owls (just because it'd be nice for one Big Four team to have that name)

Founders (for being a founding franchise of the American League)

 

[SCL 505]

24 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

In order of my preference:

 

Spiders

Dobys (for Larry Doby, the most important player in team history - the first African-American in the AL who is so unfairly ignored)

Forests

Commodores

Guardians

Rocks/Rockers

Barons (the old NHL name, just ask the Sharks or Stars or the NHL for the trademark)

Owls (just because it'd be nice for one Big Four team to have that name)

Founders (for being a founding franchise of the American League)

 

Good callout, Dobys would be a great choice as well. 

[Ridleylash 4,207]

Spiders is the obvious choice, here, but I do actually think the name "Blues" is a good shout as a nod to the long history the rhythm and blues genre has with Cleveland, and a nod to the city's past in the MLB; plus, a musically-themed identity is something no other MLB team has. The only quibble might by if St. Louis over in the NHL would play hardball.

[TenaciousG 906]

I’ve always appreciated how tight of a relationship the Spokane Indians have with the Spokane tribe... if the Cleveland Indians partner with a local tribe in the same way I don’t see an issue with the name. It’s insane to me how long Chief Wahoo lasted... clearly a caricature and I’m not sure why some people were playing the history card when the team is historically quite bad and possibly even cursed (blown two WS Game 7s).

[ghost316 68]

36 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

In order of my preference:

 

Spiders

Dobys (for Larry Doby, the most important player in team history - the first African-American in the AL who is so unfairly ignored)

Forests

Commodores

Guardians

Rocks/Rockers

Barons (the old NHL name, just ask the Sharks or Stars or the NHL for the trademark)

Owls (just because it'd be nice for one Big Four team to have that name)

Founders (for being a founding franchise of the American League)

 

I bet designers/brand developers would love to get their hooks into the Rockers/Rocks.

[officeglenn 2,525]

Again, I appreciate the civility of this conversation so far. But as with the Washington NFL franchise, we can have a thread if and when a change is made. Otherwise, the forum rule stands of no discussion of indigenous team naming controversies.

[beachperroAZ 365]

On 11/7/2020 at 2:25 PM, SFGiants58 said:

 

 

I'm so pleased!

I don't think its this hard to have something in by 2021.  All they gotta do is rebrand as the spiders with a color scheme that makes sense.  

[walkerws 547]

11 minutes ago, beachperroAZ said:

I don't think its this hard to have something in by 2021.  All they gotta do is rebrand as the spiders with a color scheme that makes sense.  

If there was an approved design in house now, yeah it would be easy. Then you go start cutting material and sewing and maybe if you work around the clock the # of uniforms could be presented and actual players in the uniform could be shown. Without an approved logo set, it’s easier to just roll with what you have and the ownership and MLB would need to make a dedicated schedule for the replacement name and logos. When you think about it, maybe that 2 year process isn’t so extended. 

[beachperroAZ 365]

1 minute ago, walkerws said:

If there was an approved design in house now, yeah it would be easy. Then you go start cutting material and sewing and maybe if you work around the clock the # of uniforms could be presented and actual players in the uniform could be shown. Without an approved logo set, it’s easier to just roll with what you have and the ownership and MLB would need to make a dedicated schedule for the replacement name and logos. When you think about it, maybe that 2 year process isn’t so extended. 

If the Indians had smart ownership this would have been started at the moment they decided Indians was not appropriate.  But since they dragged their feet on whether or not they wanted to change the name they lost more time.  They could also do a Pilot/Brewer for a year and slap on a spiders woodmark on the front of the current jerseys for a year as a placeholder.   

[SFGiants58 14,557]

There’s an easy stopgap - just slap the “Cleveland” wordmark on the home uniform (red outlined in navy) and the red jersey. The block C alone is too Cincinnati for them.

[walkerws 547]

On 12/11/2020 at 12:33 PM, SFGiants58 said:

There’s an easy stopgap - just slap the “Cleveland” wordmark on the home uniform (red outlined in navy) and the red jersey. The block C alone is too Cincinnati for them.

 

I agree. I would use the cursive Cleveland script just because it isn't so bland. Maybe even use throwback Cleveland scripts to mix it up. 

[McCall 1,442]

On 12/11/2020 at 11:05 AM, beachperroAZ said:

If the Indians had smart ownership this would have been started at the moment they decided Indians was not appropriate.  But since they dragged their feet on whether or not they wanted to change the name they lost more time.  They could also do a Pilot/Brewer for a year and slap on a spiders woodmark on the front of the current jerseys for a year as a placeholder.   

Notification of intent to change for the following season has to be in to MLB by March 31st and those changes submitted by May 31st (I believe it's the 31st in both situations, not the 1st but I could be wrong). They were well past both of those deadlines at the time any potential change was being discussed. Other than dropping "Indians" and going simply by "Cleveland" ala the Washington Football Team, they couldn't have changed the name and/or uniforms in advance of 2021. Not to mention, why would you wanna rush a complete identity change? You're not just changing for the next season, but rather, the intent is forever. From a branding standpoint, you want to make sure you have everything right as best as possible.

[GelatinousLimes 11]

Cleveland Baseball Club.

 

Simple.