Renaming The Tribe

Tags

Sports

Author

Spencer Tuckerman

Published

July 18, 2020

The Indians are on the way out. Check that. “Indians” is on the way out. This hasn’t been made official yet, but anyone deft at reading between the lines knows what the team’s July 3rd statement really means. Only a crazy person would “determine the best path forward with regard to [the] team name” only to finally say, “You know what? We’re doubling down.” For all my gripes with the Dolans as owners, they aren’t crazy. The wheels are in motion and there’s a new nickname on the way for the baseball team—my baseball team—at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

The moaning has hit the shores of Lake Erie. A common refrain I’ve seen from certain corners of the city is, “If you change the name, I’m never rooting for this team again!” To that I ask, what have you been cheering for this whole time? I, too, have been deeply invested in a word on the jerseys: Cleveland. Maybe some others have been rooting for a different word.

And, for what it’s worth, “Indians” isn’t even a good nickname, regardless of your stance on whether or not it’s fit to serve as a representation of our city. The assertion that it’s a tribute to the region’s Native American roots is revisionist history at best and an outright lie at worst. We like “Indians” because we’ve been trained to, not because it’s inherently clever or inspiring of pride.

Either way, I’m not going to argue the merits of the decision to rename the team here. People whose research I trust have already done that. Instead, I’m going to wade into the scary waters of what comes next: Finding the new nickname.

And that’s the thing. It is going to be weird and maybe a bit scary to rename something that’s been part of the Cleveland experience for 105 years. If someone tells you this process will be seamless and simple, they probably aren’t as devoted to the team as the rest of us.

I, for one, will make do. Old memories aren’t leaving, and new memories will come. I love baseball, and I love Cleveland. The rest is just set dressing.

I do find it kind of ironic that a team that’s operated like the Indians is now doling out a new nickname. For years, as the team has shipped out its best players, the pitch we’ve been served is: “It’s not about the individual, it’s about the team! It’s about civic pride! It’s about Cleveland! Who cares that the names are different? We’re not going anywhere!” And so yet again, the names will be different but the team will be the same. If there’s a fan base equipped to handle a new look, it’s us. We’ve had practice.

If you’ve been perusing the internet as fans and media have spitballed new nicknames and haven’t found one that hits the spot, you aren’t alone. None of these are home runs, in my eyes. But I’m going to lay out some potential nicknames I’d be okay with.

Cleveland Spiders

Why? I’ll start here because it feels like the odds-on favorite. Cleveland’s baseball club was called the Spiders from 1887 to 1899. They picked up the nickname not because of a connection to the region or in an effort to seem intimidating, but because their players were skinny. I love these types of misdirections. My Bearcats aren’t called the Bearcats in honor of the animal, but because their star player was named Baehr, they were playing the Kentucky Wildcats, and it made a clever cheer.

Pros: It’s got history! Baseball has been in Cleveland a long while, which affords us the rare ability to pull something that existed prior to the 105-year-old Indians name. Plus it just sounds kinda cool, and uniqueness is very high on my priority list in a new nickname. Aside from the University of Richmond, I don’t know of any significant teams named the Spiders.

The Spiders had some success. They acquired baseball legend Cy Young in 1891, and fortunes began to turn the following year when they finished with a 93-56 record, good for second place. The 1895 team finished second again before winning the postseason Temple Cup over National League-champion Baltimore.

Cons: The name is a bit weird. There’s a reason not many teams name themselves after insects and arachnids. The logo mockups I’ve seen have largely been tacky, which I think proves my hunch that it would be difficult to create Cleveland Spiders branding that looks great to picky fans like me while still appealing to the average Cleveland dad. (I’m actually kind of a fan of what Richmond has done, but such a “boring, plain” logo would not be well-received by the average Clevelander.) Not to mention, people don’t even like spiders. Is it dumb to name the hometown team after something universally reviled?

To top it off, after those good seasons I mentioned above, the old Cleveland Spiders were, uh, terrible. The 1899 team, thanks to some classic rich dude grifting, finished the year with a record of 20-134—a ludicrous 84 games behind first-place Brooklyn. It still stands as the worst season in Major League Baseball history. But this wasn’t Cleveland’s fault. Their best players were stolen by a greedy, duplicitous owner. There is some appeal in correcting history and elevating the Spiders name to the glory it was never allowed to reach, but I’m also aware enough to know the “Cleveland names itself after the worst team ever” jokes write themselves.

Cleveland Guardians

Why? The Guardians of Traffic overlook commuters entering and exiting Cleveland on the Hope Memorial Bridge, which terminates across the street from the stadium. The Guardians were designed by sculptor Henry Hering and architect Frank Walker, part of the bridge since its completion in 1932. The bridge, and the Guardians with it, have been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.

Pros: I think the Guardians of Traffic are beautiful, striking pieces of art that are uniquely Cleveland. The sandstone pylons are actually the public pieces of art closest to the team’s home. It’s destiny. The city has largely kept these a local secret, and I think that’s a bit of a shame, but it does create a cool opportunity to take the Guardians mainstream. “Guardians? Why? Oh, that? That’s awesome.”

Plus they’re an easy branding opportunity. There are great visual elements built into the name. Cleveland designer okPANTS put together a concept meant for the Browns, and it’s pretty great. It may be the branding package I’m most willing to adopt right now. If you made me choose right now, I’d probably take okPANTS’ Guardians over whatever other potential pitfalls lie ahead. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, or something.

Cons: While the Guardians of Traffic look awesome, the name doesn’t translate to sports the best. “Guardians” is pretty broad and bland. “You wanna grab a beer and catch the Guardians game?” See? Doesn’t quite have a ring to it, and it doesn’t immediately convey Cleveland. (Again, it’s not like “Indians” did in 1915 either.)

Cleveland Buzzards

Why? It may not seem evident for non-Clevelanders, but I suspect anyone who grew up in Cleveland—especially the older crowd—knows the ‘why’ here. WMMS, Cleveland’s rock radio station, has used a buzzard as its logo since 1974.

Pros: It feels very classically Cleveland and nowhere else. People, some even from the city, are desperate to make a play at the whole rock ‘n’ roll thing. Buzzards allows for that without being as overt as calling the team the Rocks (which is dumb for 100 reasons, not the least of which is that it sounds like the Rockies, a team that already exists in Major League Baseball).

Local graphic designer okPANTS, whom I referenced in my pitch for Guardians, already designed a Buzzards concept. While I don’t like the uniforms (black never looks right in baseball), the graphic elements are totally working for me.

Cons: It’s already a current logo for something else in the city. I have a sense that WMMS might see more value in bequeathing its logo to a major sports franchise and becoming part of history as opposed to keeping it, but it still might be disorienting for some fans to see a logo that used to mean “Lynyrd Skynyrd” suddenly come to mean “Francisco Lindor.”

Plus, I don’t know that buzzards have the best connotation. I love unique names, but this may be a bridge too far.

Cleveland Foresters

Why? One of Cleveland’s nicknames—stretching back to the 1830s—is the Forest City, and baseball teams that called Cleveland home used the name off and on from 1865 to 1881. As far as baseball history goes, it doesn’t get older than that. The name not only predates the MLB, it predates professional baseball entirely. Hell, baseball wasn’t even written as one word when Cleveland clubs started using “Forest City.”

Today, Cleveland is home to the Metroparks, 23,000 acres of gorgeous land parceled around Cleveland. When I left for college, I was surprised to find it was one of the first things about home I truly missed.

(I’ve also seen some mention Lumberjacks as a possible name. I don’t like it as much, but it’s the same vibe.)

Pros: While it does ring a bit MLS, I do love the way it sounds. It’s unique and it doesn’t try hard to be menacing—a mistake which I think leads to sounding like an XFL team. Plus, forget Lake Erie, the Metroparks might be Cleveland’s greatest natural asset.

There’s also something cool about spinning against the grain. Over the years, Clevelanders have grown to embrace the city’s past rather than shy away from it, but it’s also cool to shape the narrative. Cleveland is, in fact, home to beautiful forests, and maybe it’s time to present that to the rest of America.

Cons: While forests are cool, I don’t know that a forester is the best name for an athlete. It invokes images of a park ranger. Cool job. Not exactly badass. While it’s not a sticking point for me, I’d imagine it would be for lots of fans.

Truth be told, I have no issue with the name and it’s grown on me through this research. I don’t find it to be a likely outcome of the team’s renaming process, so I don’t want to get too invested, but it’s a favorite.

Cleveland Blues

Why? When the American League began competition in 1901, Cleveland was one of eight charter members. Today, only Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit are charter members remaining in their original cities. Their name at the time was the Bluebirds, but writers often called them the Blues because of their all-blue uniforms. (In fact, Bluebirds/Blues actually stretches back earlier than the AL’s founding, as early as 1878.)

Pros: The name is simple and cool, blue is already part of the current color scheme, and the team even wore 1902 throwbacks in 2013. (If you’re wondering why that article says Bronchos and not Blues, it’s because names were pretty loose back then. Wikipedia indicates the team was using both names.)

While we’re at it, as much as I think the Block C is a boring logo, it actually originates with the Blues. Maybe the team would find it advantageous to at least keep the logo constant while the name changes.

If you want to stretch for meaning, as any good branding guide likes to do, Blues could also apply to rock ‘n’ roll and Cleveland’s importance to the Union forces during the Civil War.

Cons: In addition to creating a second Cleveland team bearing the name of a color, there’s no way this doesn’t come off looking like a bizarre counter to Ohio’s other MLB team—the Cincinnati Reds. Plus St. Louis’ NHL team already has the name.

Cleveland Flame

Why? Full credit to Matt Schlichting over at Let’s Go Tribe for this idea, which he outlined beautifully in his mock script for the video reveal. You should read his piece, but to summarize the reasoning behind Flame: Streetlights, Standard Oil, industry, and the Cuyahoga River burning. (One Matt didn’t mention: Lighthouses. Lake Erie is littered with them, including a particularly neat-looking one protecting the harbor just off the coast of downtown. Make the new logo a lighthouse.)

Pros: I like a name that’s a little esoteric, and this is it. As I mentioned above, it can have a number of meanings, but it most easily recalls the Cuyahoga River fires, something Cleveland has kinda reclaimed as part of its legacy.

It would also open the door for heavy use of Randy Newman’s “Burn On,” a Cleveland song that is magnitudes better than the more popular “Cleveland Rocks”—and one that ties back to Major League, a movie beloved by Clevelanders. Schlichting also suggests #BurnOn as a team mantra, which is a huge improvement over #RollTribe.

The pros of this name are fantastic. However…

Cons: There are a number of issues I foresee.

For one, I think the singular “Flame” sounds best because it works as a broad representation of the city’s passion in addition to being actual fire or light. However, mandating “Flame” rather than “Flames” would be a battle, and “Flames” is corny, already in use by Calgary’s NHL team, and evokes hell. Which… yeah. And while I think most have moved past the Cuyahoga River fires, I know some haven’t and would bristle at calling attention to a history we’ve progressed beyond.

It’s also just a bit weird for me, maybe even weirder than “Guardians.” I don’t care how cool the meaning is, “I got tickets to the Flame game” is absolutely goofy.

Cleveland Cuyahogas

Why? We’re playing on the fringes now. The Cuyahoga River runs through (next to?) Downtown Cleveland, and it’s actually the reason Moses Cleaveland chose the location for his settlement in 1796. (Furthermore, Cleveland is located in Cuyahoga County, which was named for the river.)

Pros: It’s a way to properly pay homage to Cleveland’s Native American roots. From Wikipedia: “The name Cuyahoga is believed to mean ‘crooked river’ from the Mohawk Indian name Cayagaga, although the Senecas called it Cuyohaga, or ‘place of the jawbone’.”

It’s also, not unlike the Guardians and Buzzards, something that’s uniquely Cleveland. For locals at least, I think it has a ring to it. However…

Cons: It’s hard to pronounce, and it has that weird, annoying thing where locals pronounce it a specific way—maybe even incorrectly. This issue once made it to NPR’s All Things Considered.

I feel like I typically hear kye-uh-HOG-uh, not kye-uh-HOE-guh.

It’s a dumb argument either way, and I don’t look forward to watching the inevitable, silly war play out if the name is chosen.

Getting weird with it…

Cleveland Midges because, in true Cleveland fashion, the Indians once got a bug-assisted playoff win. Fit for a Hollywood script, it seemed like the mighty Yankees were incredibly bothered by the swarms, while the plucky Cleveland kids used it as an opportunity to stage a comeback. It’s one of the fondest memories of my childhood. At least one opponent from that night likes the idea.

Cleveland Wild Things after Major League character Rick Vaughn, a loose-cannon pitcher for the fictional Indians. I could see people rallying around this one, but it’s a little too Mighty Ducks for me, and I would have to suffer through that horrible “Wild Thing” song far too often.

Cleveland Drummers as a nod to the city’s rock ‘n’ roll roots, the previous team name, and John Adams’ status as a local legend. It’s a name I’d like but wouldn’t do backflips over.

Cleveland Commodores after Commodore Perry’s Lake Erie victory in the War of 1812. Great Lakes Brewing nabbed it first. I like a name with meaning and history, but “Commodores” doesn’t necessarily telegraph that history as much as I’d like.

Cleveland Ironmen after the city’s manufacturing past. Ironmen also has a baseball connotation. This almost feels like a filler choice in that nobody would feel strongly about it one way or the other. There are better options out there.

One last thing…

Cleveland Baseball Club totally bucks the notion of a team nickname completely. Lots of soccer teams do this, making this a trendy Indians name replacement in certain circles.

I’m not sure if major American sports are equipped for a nameless team, but I like it. If I were to power-rank my favorites, this is near the top.

I think it may take some convincing (or explaining), but there’s definitely something cool about being the MLB pioneer of “We don’t need a nickname.” We’re just Cleveland.