The Cleveland Indians Are Now The Cleveland Guardians

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians are now the Cleveland Guardians, giving the 120-year-old Ohio baseball team a new name in an era where society is more sensitive to names in sports perceived as racist or insensitive.

The baseball team announced its new name with a video on Twitter. Narrated by Tom Hanks — a diehard Cleveland baseball fan — and featuring footage of both Cleveland and Progressive Field, the video gradually reveals the new name.

"Together, we are all Cleveland Guardians," Hanks says over footage of the baseball team celebrating a victory.

An official date for the name change implementation has not yet been announced, but the new name will be used next season, the franchise said on its website.

The new name is inspired by the Guardians of Transportation sculptures on the Lorain-Carnegie bridge. Each sandstone guardian is 43-feet tall and holds different vehicles representing advances in transportation, the Cleveland Historical Society noted.

Cleveland first announced it was considering a name change in summer 2020. Executives began meeting with community members and native American groups to discuss possibilities. In December 2020, the franchise announced it would drop the Indians moniker and seek a new nickname.

Over the next seven months, Northeast Ohioans and baseball executives mulled several possible names for the franchise, including the Rockers, the Spiders, the Buzzards, and more. More than 40,000 fans were surveyed and 4,000 people took part in conversations on the future name of the franchise.

Ultimately, the Guardians won out.

Cleveland's baseball team was called the Indians for more than a century. However, as society became more attuned to racial insensitivity and discrimination, a movement developed to drop the Indians moniker, and its associated imagery, and adopt a more accepting image for the franchise.

Before the team name was changed, the squad dropped longtime mascot Chief Wahoo, a caricature seen as racist towards native Americans. In its place, the team adopted a block "C" to represent Cleveland.

Cleveland isn't the only city rechristening one of its franchises. The Washington Football Team embarked on a name change after officials reviewed their moniker, which had been deemed offensive by native American groups. Corporate partners to the franchise called for a name change, mirroring a larger societal movement for more inclusive sports team names.