Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland.

Contents [hide]

1 Profile

2 Introduction

3 Rivalry

3.1 Interleague

3.2 Intradivisional

4 Name and Logo Controversy

5 Related Tags

5.1 Sports Teams Based in Cleveland

5.2 Sports Teams are owned by David Blitzer

5.3 Sports Teams who Using the Native American in their logo or name

Profile

Affiliation	AL Central
Ballpark	Progressive Field
World Series Title	2 (1920 and 1948)
AL Pennants	6

Introduction

The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since 1994, the team has played its home games at Progressive Field. Since their establishment as a Major League franchise in 1901, the team has won 11 Central Division titles, six American League pennants, and two World Series championships (in 1920 and 1948). The team's World Series championship drought since 1948 is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams. The team's name references the Guardians of Traffic, eight monolithic 1932 Art Deco sculptures by Henry Hering on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge, which is adjacent to Progressive Field. The team's mascot is named "Slider". The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona.

The franchise originated in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rippers, a minor league team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that played in the Western League. The team relocated to Cleveland in 1900 and was called the Cleveland Lake Shores. The Western League itself was renamed the American League prior to the 1900 season while continuing its minor league status. When the American League declared itself a major league in 1901, Cleveland was one of its eight charter franchises. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds or Blues, the team was also unofficially called the Cleveland Bronchos in 1902. Beginning in 1903, the team was named the Cleveland Napoleons or Naps, after team captain Nap Lajoie.

Following Lajoie's departure after the 1914 season, club owner Charles Somers requested that baseball writers choose a new name. They chose the name Cleveland Indians, allegedly a tribute of the nickname that fans gave to the Cleveland Spiders while Louis Sockalexis, a Native American, was playing for the team. That name stuck and remained in use for more than a century. Common nicknames for the Indians were "the Tribe" and "the Wahoos", the latter referencing their longtime logo, Chief Wahoo. After the Indians name came under criticism as part of the Native American mascot controversy, the team adopted the Guardians name following the 2021 season.

From August 24 to September 14, 2017, the team won 22 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in American League history, and the second longest winning streak in Major League Baseball history.

As of the end of the 2022 season, the franchise's overall record is 9,684–9,214 (.512).

Rivalry

Interleague

The rivalry with fellow Ohio team the Cincinnati Reds is known as the Battle of Ohio or Buckeye Series and features the Ohio Cup trophy for the winner. Prior to 1997, the winner of the cup was determined by an annual pre-season baseball game, played each year at minor-league Cooper Stadium in the state capital of Columbus, and staged just days before the start of each new Major League Baseball season. A total of eight Ohio Cup games were played, with the Guardians winning six of them. It ended with the start of interleague play in 1997. The winner of the game each year was awarded the Ohio Cup in postgame ceremonies. The Ohio Cup was a favorite among baseball fans in Columbus, with attendances regularly topping 15,000.

Since 1997, the two teams have played each other as part of the regular season, with the exception of 2002. The Ohio Cup was reintroduced in 2008 and is presented to the team who wins the most games in the series that season. Initially, the teams played one three-game series per season, meeting in Cleveland in 1997 and Cincinnati the following year. The teams have played two series per season against each other since 1999, with the exception of 2002, one at each ballpark. A format change in 2013 made each series two games, except in years when the AL and NL Central divisions meet in interleague play, where it is usually extended to three games per series. Through the 2020 meetings, the Guardians lead the series 66–51.

An on-and-off rivalry with the Pittsburgh Pirates stems from the close proximity of the two cities, and features some carryover elements from the longstanding rivalry in the National Football League between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. Because the Guardians' designated interleague rival is the Reds and the Pirates' designated rival is the Tigers, the teams have played periodically. The teams played one three-game series each year from 1997–2001 and periodically between 2002 and 2022, generally only in years in which the AL Central played the NL Central in the former interleague play rotation. The teams played six games in 2020 as MLB instituted an abbreviated schedule focusing on regional match-ups. Beginning in 2023, the teams will play a three-game series each season as a result of the new "balanced" schedule. The Pirates lead the series 21–18.

Intradivisional

As the Guardians play most of their games every year with each of their AL Central competitors (formerly 19 for each team until 2023), several rivalries have developed.

The Guardians have a geographic rivalry with the Detroit Tigers, highlighted in past years by intense battles for the AL Central title. The matchup has some carryover elements from the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, as well as the general historic rivalry between Michigan and Ohio dating back to the Toledo War.

The Chicago White Sox are another rival, dating back to the 1959 season, when the Sox slipped past the Guardians to win the AL pennant. The rivalry intensified when both clubs were moved to the new AL Central in 1994. During that season, the two teams challenged for the division title, with the Guardians one game back of Chicago when the strike began in August. During a game in Chicago, the White Sox confiscated Albert Belle's corked bat, followed by an attempt by Guardians pitcher Jason Grimsley to crawl through the Comiskey Park clubhouse ceiling to retrieve it. Belle later signed with the White Sox in 1997, adding additional intensity to the rivalry.

Name and Logo Controversy

The club name and its cartoon logo have been criticized for perpetuating Native American stereotypes. In 1997 and 1998, protesters were arrested after effigies were burned. Charges were dismissed in the 1997 case, and were not filed in the 1998 case. Protesters arrested in the 1998 incident subsequently fought and lost a lawsuit alleging that their First Amendment rights had been violated.

Bud Selig (then-Commissioner of Baseball) said in 2014 that he had never received a complaint about the logo. He has heard that there are some protesting against the mascots, but individual teams such as the Indians and Atlanta Braves, whose name was also criticized for similar reasons, should make their own decisions. An organized group consisting of Native Americans, which had protested for many years, protested Chief Wahoo on Opening Day 2015, noting that this was the 100th anniversary since the team became the Indians. Owner Paul Dolan, while stating his respect for the critics, said he mainly heard from fans who wanted to keep Chief Wahoo, and had no plans to change.

On January 29, 2018, Major League Baseball announced that Chief Wahoo would be removed from the Indians' uniforms as of the 2019 season, stating that the logo was no longer appropriate for on-field use. The block "C" was promoted to the primary logo; at the time, there were no plans to change the team's name.

In 2020, protests over the murder of George Floyd, a black man, by a Minneapolis police officer, led Dolan to reconsider use of the Indians name. On July 3, 2020, on the heels of the Washington Redskins announcing that they would "undergo a thorough review" of that team's name, the Indians announced that they would "determine the best path forward" regarding the team's name and emphasized the need to "keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice".

On December 13, 2020, it was reported that the Indians name would be dropped after the 2021 season. Although it had been hinted by the team that they may move forward without a replacement name (in similar manner to the Washington Football Team), it was announced via Twitter on July 23, 2021, that the team will be named the Guardians, after the Guardians of Traffic, eight large Art Deco statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge, located close to Progressive Field.

The club, however, found itself amid a trademark dispute with a men's roller derby team called the Cleveland Guardians. The Cleveland Guardians roller derby team has competed in the Men's Roller Derby Association since 2016. In addition, two other entities have attempted to preempt the team's use of the trademark by filing their own registrations with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The roller derby team filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on October 27, 2021, seeking to block the baseball team's name change. On November 16, 2021, the lawsuit was resolved, and both teams were allowed to continue using the Guardians name. The name change from Indians to Guardians became official on November 19, 2021.

Related Tags

MLB

American League

Atlanta Braves: Same as Guardians they had criticized by using the Tomahawk Chop. but unlike the Guardians, Braves still using that logo until today.

Chicago Cubs: Formerly hold the record as The Longest World Series Title drought before the Guardians hold this record (106 Years, before they won the title in 2016 and ironically they defeating the Guardians when the team playing under the Indians name).