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Cleveland Indians mocked for changing name to Cleveland Guardians: 'Hope this backfires'

'Baseball fans will never call you guardians. I hope this backfires and curses the team further,' wrote an angry critic about the name change

The Cleveland Indians Major League Basketball (MLB) team announced they will be changing their name to "Cleveland Guardians". The change is said to go into effect after the 2021 season. But some critics don't seem to be impressed by the announcement and have taken to Twitter to mock the team's new name. Some have gone as far as to say they hope the change backfires and curses the team further. 

The Cleveland Indians have participated in the world series six times in total since the team formed in 1894. They bagged the win in 1920 and again in 1948 and haven't bagged a series win in 73 years. "Baseball fans will never call you guardians. I hope this backfires and curses the team further. Making the streak longer so never win world series for another 100 years," wrote an angry fan. "Official the dumbest name in sports," wrote another. "This was the worst name possible. I was hoping for Spiders!" another tweet read. 

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Why the change to 'Guardians'?

The "Indians" moniker had attracted a lot of criticism for being offensive to Native Americans. An announcement was made in December 2020 that the team's name would be changed. Fast forward to July 23, the team in a 2-minute 11-second video narrated by Tom Hanks revealed that they will now be known as the Guardians. The team saw years of protests regarding their name and their former logo with Chief Wahoo. Critics called them "derogatory" and "racist". Earlier this month, manager Terry Francona had declared it was time for the name change after more than 100 years. 

“I think it’s time to move forward. It’s a very difficult subject. It’s also delicate," Francona said. Team owner and chairperson Paul Dolan said they heard the stories and experiences of Native American people firsthand after which gave the team an understanding of why the name was offensive and needed to be changed. The name Guardians was amongst the top choice amongst other names that were discussed. According to News5Cleveland, the name is a nod to the Guardians of Traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge. The statue helped set the bridge apart from others in the city as well as around the country. 

'Even Tom Hanks can't get me to like this'

"I was a fan of the Cleveland Indians. The Indians are gone. And so is my interest in Major League baseball in Cleveland," a disappointed fan tweeted. "The @Indians have officially decided to erase their own history. But, good luck getting those attendance numbers up. Gonna need it because people will refuse to watch on TV and refuse to buy merchandise, guaranteed!!!" another tweet read. "Fanless Even Tom Hanks can't get me to like this. It's awful and I hate it. The name, logo, everything. Try again. No way," another fan tweeted.