From Blues to Naps to Indians to Guardians: Over 100 Years of Team Name Changes in Cleveland

Progressive Field at sunset in Cleveland, 2024 (Courtesy of the Cleveland Guardians)

 

After the Cleveland Indians initiated a name change in time for the 2022 season, there were fans who applauded the decision and others who were upset that they were abandoning the identity they had held since 1915. However, this was a club that had already had four different names between its founding in 1901 and 1915. By the 1970s there was very vocal opposition to both the club’s name and its mascot, Chief Wahoo.

This opposition continued for nearly 50 years before the club announced in 2018 that it would no longer use its logo Wahoo starting with the 2019 season. Before the end of 2020 the club announced it would abandon the name Indians and teased an announcement of what the new identity would be. In the middle of the 2021 season, the team announced that the new name was Guardians via a video narrated by actor Tom Hanks. Even though there was a name change, the team held onto some of the aesthetic from the Indians, name particularly the font on “Guardians” on the front of the uniform. The team incorporated an Art Deco theme on the scoreboards and throughout the ballpark to complement its neighbor, the stone “Guardians of Traffic” depicting various forms of transportation, on the Hope Memorial Bridge next to Progressive Field.

Cleveland’s entry into the new American League in 1901 did not have a set nickname; mostly the team was just referred to as “Cleveland” in newspaper articles that first season. The team used Blues for a time, and eventually settled on Naps, named for second baseman-manager Napoleon Lajoie. When Lajoie was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics after the 1914 season, the nickname had to be changed. Club President Charley Somers, after “disposing of his star player to Philadelphia,” asked the baseball writers for Cleveland’s newspapers to select a new nickname that would be “short, expressive and appropriate.”1

On January 15, 1915, the sportswriters announced their choice: Indians.2 They sportswriters chose “Indians.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer asserted that the name had been used for Cleveland’s old National League team years before.3 The writers seemed to imply that perhaps it would be just a temporary placeholder. “The nickname, however, is but temporarily bestowed, as the club may so conduct itself during the present season as to earn some other cognomen which may be more appropriate. The choice of a name that would be significant just now was rather difficult with the club itself anchored in last place.”4 Toledo’s American Association team was moving to Cleveland and planned to share League Park with the American League club. Around the same time, the nickname Spiders was bestowed on the American Association team; the moniker had not been used since the National League franchise left town after the 1899 season.

The next day the Plain Dealer called attention to a Native American “star player” of the old Cleveland Spiders club named Louis Sockalexis “many years ago.” According to the article, he was so skilled and outshined his teammates by so much “that he naturally came to be regarded as the whole team.” The article said “Indians” was “an honorable name,” offering nostalgia for “a time when Cleveland had one of the most popular teams of the United States” as well as a reminder for an excellent player. (Much of the article was focused on Cleveland’s American Association team adopting the name Spiders.5 With such a minor notice of Sockalexis, and one that seemed sparked by the new name creating nostalgia, it did not seem the sole reason for the new name. A scholarly article published in 1998 said the initial announcement that the name might be temporary seemed to suggest that it was not offered specifically to honor someone.6

By 1931 the Plain Dealer’s Gordon Cobbledick tied Sockalexis to the team’s name, but then appeared to debunk it almost immediately. After positing that “so great was (Sockalexis’s) popularity that the team’s name was changed to Indians and has remained Indians ever since,” Cobbledick wrote, “That is fiction, of course. The Cleveland team was called the Naps through the early part of the present century – after Napoleon Lajoie. The name Indians was selected through a newspaper contest when the late James C. Dunn bought the club from Charlie Somers in 1916.”7 There are several clear inaccuracies with that version of events, however. As already noted, the name was chosen “temporarily” by sportswriters in January 1915 while Somers still owned the team. While there were stories about the name being chosen in a fan vote, the Plain Dealer seemed to make it clear that sportswriters selected it. Boston’s National League team had rebranded as the Braves just a few years prior, so they were not the only team to rebrand with a name connected to Native Americans. Staurowsky in her article argued that the Indians leaned on the Sockalexis story by the 1990s to essentially defend its continued use of the name. She wrote that the stories the team used to connect the name “Indians” to Sockalexis in the 1990s did not even include much about the man, other than to note that he was the first Native American to play professional baseball.8

The first high-profile protest to the name “Indians” came on January 18, 1972, when the American Indian Movement filed a $9 million lawsuit against the team and its owner at the time, Vernon B. Stouffer. The legal action was initiated by the Cleveland American Indian Center and its director, Russell C. Means, and specifically wanted the team to stop using the caricature of Chief Wahoo. While the focus of the lawsuit was Wahoo, Means was critical of the team’s name as well, asking if it would be appropriate to have a team named the “Cleveland Negroes” or the “Washington Rednecks.”9 The suit against the Indians was settled out court in 1983 for about $35,000, and the team refused to abandon both the name and Wahoo.10

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of protest against inequality in society and Native American groups wanted to fight back against a federal government that had oppressed them and belittled their culture for more than a century. The fight against degrading team names and symbols became a part of this larger battle. Nationally, the first statement against these names and symbols came in 1968 from the National Congress of American Indians as they “began a campaign to address native stereotypes found in sports and media.”11

During the 1990s there was a sharp uptick in protests about Native American team names and mascots, with a push to eliminate these names once and for all; in Cleveland this included both Chief Wahoo and the name “Indians.” Clyde Bellecourt, the co-founder of the AIM and the spokesman for the newly formed National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media, said in 1992, “It is time to cleanse America’s favorite pastime of these vestiges of racism.” Referring to supporters of racist team names, Bellecourt objected to “suggestions by opponents that the fight against using Indian team names and mascots is coming at the eleventh hour after being in use for decades. … In other words, the offender now tries to dictate to the offended when we can be offended. … We have been trying to deal with this subject for decades.”12

By 2001 the groundswell to remove Native American team names was accelerating. More than 600 high schools and colleges ditched team names and mascots connected to Native Americans, in part thanks to the work of Native anti-defamation groups. The US Commission on Civil Rights officially called upon non-Native schools, colleges, and universities to stop using any names or mascots connected to Native Americans. The commission said that in addition to likely violating antidiscrimination laws, the Native team names could be a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to the commission, these Native names and mascots “can create … a racially hostile education environment that may be intimidating to Indian students.”13

The Cleveland club faced challenges connected to the name and Wahoo. When the team returned to Arizona for spring training in 2009 after 16 years in Florida, Wahoo was nowhere to be found at the team’s complex (other than on items in the team shop). But club owner Paul Dolan said there were no plans to eliminate Wahoo.14 As the Indians prepared to meet the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2016 American League Championship Series, a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of Justice in Toronto sought to bar the club from using Indians and Wahoo during the series. Major League Baseball said it “appreciates the concerns” of people offended by the team’s name and logo, but that these issues should be addressed outside of litigation. MLB cited time constraints and said, “Given the demands for completing the League Championship Series in a timely manner, MLB will defend Cleveland’s right to use their name that has been in existence for more than 100 years.” The court rejected the complaint, and the team used Indians and Wahoo during the series.15

However, Wahoo’s days on Cleveland’s uniforms were severely numbered. In 2018 the club announced that Wahoo would not appear on its jerseys and hats starting the next season, in the lead-up to the city hosting the 2019 All-Star Game. An AIM executive in Cleveland said the group still planned to protest outside of games, focusing on the team’s name. He said, “The racism that happens at the stadium with the red-face and the people dressing up as natives and the whooping and hollering, somehow thinking that they’re honoring us, that doesn’t come because of Wahoo. … Wahoo comes because of that.”16

In the summer of 2020, the Washington Redskins of the NFL announced that it would drop the team’s racist name after years of complaints. Several corporate sponsors and investors had threatened to cut ties with the team if the name remained. The nickname eventually was changed to Commanders.17

In December 2020 the Indians announced that they would change their name. Other prominent professional teams with Native imagery in their names and logos like the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Blackhawks had no plans to make any changes. The club said it planned to do a “thorough review” of the team’s name and consulted with several Native American groups.18

According to the New York Times, the club now believed “the time was right to determine whether the name was still appropriate.”19 The team conducted research and interviews with what it referred to as “stakeholders” – fans, Native American groups, researchers, historians, psychologists, and religious and civic leaders “from a variety of backgrounds.” When the team announced the change in December of 2020, it said it would go by “Indians” for one more season; 2021 would be the team’s last season with a Native American name and imagery.20 In July 2021 the club announced that “Guardians” was selected as the new name out of 1,100 possibilities after more than 100 hours “of brainstorming sessions with fans, community leaders, local influencers, staff and front office.”21

The new name was in part inspired by large Art Deco statues named the Guardians of Transportation that adorn the Hope Memorial Bridge, which sits across from Progressive Field. Opened in 1932 with a span of 5,865 feet across the Cuyahoga River, the bridge has four double-sided, 43-foot-tall pylons or statues dubbed the “Guardians of Transportation” and carved from sandstone from suburban Berea, Ohio. Designed by Frank Walker, with sculpting by Henry Hering and local stonecutters, the bridge Guardians are meant to represent “technological advances made in transit,” while each stands holding a different type of vehicle in its hands. Originally named the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, after a 1983 rehabilitation it was renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge “in honor of actor Bob Hope and his family, English immigrants who came to Cleveland in 1908.” Bob Hope’s father, William Henry Hope, worked on the statues as a stonemason.22

Owner Paul Dolan stressed that the team was not named directly for the Guardians on the Hope Memorial Bridge, “but there’s no question that it’s a strong nod to those and what they mean to the community.” Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto wrote that the new name fit with “Guard The Land,” since sometimes Cleveland was referred to as “The Land.” Shortly after the name was announced, the team faced a lawsuit from a local roller derby club named Guardians, which claimed trademark infringement and “deceptive trade practices.” By November of 2021 the two teams reached an “amicable resolution” that allowed both to continue using “Guardians.” The exact terms involved in the deal were not disclosed, but the resolution meant that the baseball Guardians could finally begin selling merchandise with their new nickname, something that had been on hold while the lawsuit progressed.23

While Native American groups as well as several state and city officials praised the change, some fans objected to the rebranding. The Plain Dealer wrote that it seemed less anger about “Guardians” specifically and more anger at the fact that the team rebranded at all. However, there were fans who supported the change, including one high-profile fan – Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks. He originally came to Cleveland in 1977 to intern at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival and worked for three summers at what is now called the Great Lakes Theater and became a huge Indians fan. Over the years he has publicly expressed fondness for Cleveland and wore Indians gear in television appearances. When it came time to create a video introducing the new name, Hanks agreed to narrate it.24

The Plain Dealer’s Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes pointed to a comment from owner Dolan that “a professional sports team should bring a city together, not divide it,” Instead “this is a way to bring peace to the situation. To give the organization a chance to do good things in the community while not constantly answering questions and defending itself about its own name.”25 He said the team knew the change might be difficult for fans at first, and it wanted to keep some common links between the old and new names. For example, the team colors of navy, red, and white would remain the same and the same font would be used on the team jerseys. “The fact that the last five letters in each name are the same is not an accident,” Hoynes wrote.26

The formal unveiling of the new name was delayed by the offseason lockout imposed by the owners that pushed Opening Day back slightly. When the Guardians finally opened at home against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 2022, Hanks threw out the first pitch. In July of 2025, President Donald Trump attempted to push the team to revert to the “Indians” moniker after more than three years as the Guardians. However, Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations, essentially said there would be no further changes to the name. 27

The Guardians, and the country, have come a long way since the defiant name-change denials of the 1990s; hundreds of secondary and collegiate schools had stopped using names and logos connected to Native Americans by the 2020s. While some teams cling to imagery and names that offend Native Americans, two professional teams and hundreds of high schools and colleges have rebranded. Fans did not appear to abandon the teams due to these changes; in fact, in 2024 Cleveland saw its highest attendance at Progressive Field since 2017, a year in which they won an American League-record 22 consecutive games.28 Some remain upset about the change, as evidenced by complaints on social media and Change.org petitions asking for the team’s name to revert to “Indians,” but overall the rebranding appears to be a success. Perhaps this name change should have come in the 1990s when the team moved from its longtime home of Cleveland Municipal Stadium to the brand-new Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) and in response to the increasing number of protests. While the team cannot rewrite that history, they can start fresh under a new identity that will hopefully serve them well for their next 100 years.

STEPHANIE LISCIO is the author of Integrating Cleveland Baseball: Media Activism, the Integration of the Indians, and the Demise of the Negro League Buckeyes. She is a past president of Cleveland’s Jack Graney Chapter and has contributed to a number of SABR publications. An avid Guardians fan, Stephanie currently works as the Director of Prospect Research for Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio. When she is not watching baseball, she likes spending time with her husband John, and shih tzu Izzy.

 

Notes

1 “Must Select New Name for Naps Now Larry’s Out,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 6, 1915: 11.

2 “Baseball Writers to Rename Naps Today,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 15, 1915: 13.

3 “Baseball Writers Select ‘Indians’ as the Best Name,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 17, 1915: 15.

4 “Baseball Writers Select ‘Indians’ as the Best Name,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 17, 1915: 15.

5 “Looking Backward,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 18, 1915: 8.

6 Ellen J. Staurowsky, “An Act of Honor or Exploitation?: The Cleveland Indians’ Use of the Louis Francis Sockalexis Story,” Sociology of Sport, 1998 (15), 299-316.

7 Gordon Cobbledick, “Half of Tribe to Get Boosts in ’31 Salaries,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 1, 1931: 24.

8 Staurowsky.

9 Amos A. Kermisch, “Sioux After Wahoo, Stouffer Scalps,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 15, 1972: 1.

10 Paul Shepard, “Indians Say Team-Name Issue One of Respect,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 1, 1992: 1B.

11 Jason Edward Black, “The ‘Mascotting’ of Native America: Construction, Commodity, and Assimilation,” American Indian Quarterly, 26(4) Autumn 2002, 605-622.

12 Paul Shepard, “Indian Activist Explains Chief Wahoo’s Offense,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 28, 1992: 3B.

13 “Toward a Groundswell on Mascots,” Indian Country Today, April 25, 2001, 21(45): A4.

14 Paul Hoynes, “MLB Insider: Wahoo in Decline? New Spring Base Latest Sign of De-Emphasis on Old Logo,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 12, 2009 (https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2009/04/mlb_insider_wahoo_in_decline_n.html). Accessed September 5, 2024.

15 Robert Higgs, Canadian Judge Rules Cleveland Indians Can Use Name, Chief Wahoo Logo in Toronto ALCS Games,” Cleveland.com, October 17, 2016. (https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2016/10/canadian_judge_rules_cleveland.html). Accessed September 24, 2024.

16 Kevin Barry, “Cleveland Indians Start Home Opener without Chief Wahoo, but Will Continue to Sell Wahoo Merchandise,” News 5 Cleveland, April 1, 2019 (https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/baseball/indians/cleveland-indians-start-home-opener-without-chief-wahoo-but-will-continue-to-sell-wahoo-merchandise). Accessed September 24, 2024.

17 Jeff Kerr, “Here’s A Timeline Detailing the Origins, Controversies and More,” CBS Sports, July 13, 2020 (https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/washington-redskins-name-change-heres-a-timeline-detailing-the-origins-controversies-and-more/) <Accessed November 20, 2024.

18 David Waldstein and Michael S. Schmidt, “After Years of Protest, Cleveland’s Baseball Team Will Change Its Name,” New York Times, December 14, 2020: 37.

19 Waldstein and Schmidt.

20 David Waldstein, “In Cleveland, a Path to Put the Past Behind,” New York Times, December 15, 2020: B7.

21 Paul Hoynes, “Changing of the Guard,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 24, 2021: 17.

22 Michael Rotman, “Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, Home of the Guardians,” Cleveland Historical, published September 24, 2010, updated September 27, 2023 (https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/73). Accessed November 30, 2024. Sometimes the statues are referred to as the “Guardians of Traffic” as opposed to the “Guardians of Transportation.”

23 “Cleveland Guardians Settle Lawsuit with Local Roller Derby Team over Rights to Name,” ESPN.com, November 16, 2021 (https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32643793/cleveland-guardians-settle-lawsuit-local-roller-derby-team-rights-name). Accessed November 30, 2024.

24 Joey Morona, “Is That … Is That Tom Hanks Narrating?” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 24, 2021: 4; Cameron Fields, “Some Fans Are Not Fans of New Nickname,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 24, 2021: 4.

25 Paul Hoynes, “Changing of the Guard,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 24, 2021: 17.

26 Paul Hoynes, “Changing of the Guard,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 24, 2021: 17.

27 Ryan Lewis, “President Donald Trump calls on Cleveland Guardians to restore former name,” Akron Beacon Journal, July 20, 2025.

28 Terry Pluto, “An Inside Look at How 2 Million Fans Have Embraced the Guardians,” Cleveland.com, September 28, 2024 ) https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2024/09/an-inside-look-at-how-2-million-fans-have-embraced-the-guardians-terry-pluto.html). Accessed November 25, 2024.