A few minutes before the newly renamed Cleveland Guardians entered the field to begin their Major League Baseball (MLB) playoff run on Friday, Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan cheered on the club – under their old, now-politically incorrect title.
“The journey to the World Series starts today.” Indians, go! “#ForTheLand,” Rep. Jordan tweeted shortly before noon on Tuesday, as the American League Central champion Guardians prepared to face the wild-card Tampa Bay Rays in the first round of the playoffs.
Cleveland had been known as the “Indians” for more than a century (1915-2021), before renaming the team the “Guardians” for the 2022 season in response to left-wing activists who claimed that the name “Indians” was racist.
Prior to adopting the name “Indians,” Cleveland’s MLB team went by four different names. According to ESPN, the new name “Guardians” is a reference to statues that mark an Ohio bridge:
“Guardians will be the franchise’s fifth name, following Blues (1901), Bronchos (1902), Naps (1903-14), and Indians (1915-2021).”
“The large landmark stone edifices known as traffic guardians that flank both ends of the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown to Ohio City, inspired Cleveland’s new name.”
The Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland’s first-round playoff opponent, have also changed their name in the twenty-first century. When the MLB expanded in 1998, the team became the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After a decade, the team dropped the word “Devil” from its name.
According to MLB.com, the team’s name was changed due to concerns about the word “devil,” but it actually referred to a type of large marine vertebrate: the Giant Devil Ray:
“While the ‘Devil’ part of the name was inspired by the rays found in the Tampa Bay area, some people were offended by the word in the team’s name.” After nearly a decade as the Devil Rays, and numerous phone calls pleading with the team to change the name, the team’s new ownership, led by current owner Stuart Sternberg, decided that the name should be changed to the Tampa Bay Rays. That occurred following the 2007 season.”
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