![]() Manager Terry Francona’s ties to the ballclub run deep. And for people my age and older, most our life is going to be living as an Indian and not as a Guardian.” “But we’re not asking anybody to give up their memories or the history of the franchise that will always be there. “I’m 63 years old, and they’ve been the Indians since I was aware of them, probably since I was 4 or 5 years old, so it will take a long time,” he said. “Frankly, I hadn’t studied them that closely until we started talking about them and I should emphasize, we’re not named after the bridge, but there’s no question that it’s a strong nod to those and what they mean to the community,” he said. It was a tedious process, which included 140 hours of interviews with fans, community leaders, front office personnel and a survey of 40,000 fans.ĭolan has said last summer’s social unrest, touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, spurred his intention to change the name - a move that came a few years after the Indians stopped wearing the Chief Wahoo logo on their game jerseys and caps.Ĭleveland’s new name was inspired by the large landmark stone edifices - referred to as traffic guardians - that flank both ends of the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown to Ohio City.Īs the team moved closer to making a final decision on the name, Dolan said he found himself looking closely at the huge art deco sculptures. See if you know who’s north of Cleveland here.The organization spent most of the past year whittling down a list of potential names that was at nearly 1,200. So we guess the Cleveland Guardians are also guarding statues that guard traffic. He called them monstrosities since they didn’t serve a functional purpose. įun fact about the Guardians of Traffic, they’re 43 feet tall, and were almost torn down in the 1970s because Cuyahoga County engineer Albert Porter wanted to add more lanes to Hope Memorial Bridge. Some accounts hold that the Hope Memorial Bridge’s name commemorates Bob Hope instead of William Henry Hope–while others claim it’s the whole family. He was also Bob Hope’s father, a name you may recognize if you like stand up comedies and films. It was renamed after being closed from 1980-1983 after William Henry Hope a stonemason who worked on the bridge as well as the Guardians of Traffic. The Hope Memorial Bridge was once called the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge and first opened in 1932. The Cleveland Guardians fixated on the idea of progress–except instead of traffic it was the progress of their franchise. Each Guardian holds a different vehicle, symbolizing 8 different eras of automotive progress. The Guardians of Traffic have stood on Hope Memorial Bridge for something in the ballpark of 100 years–each meant to symbolize the technological progress of streamlining traffic. When choosing their new image, the Cleveland Guardians largely fixated on the Hope Memorial Bridge–where the Guardians of Traffic (of which there are 8) are also located. Instead of the statue’s silhouette, the Fastball mimics the helms of each Guardian. This too emulates the Guardians of Traffic (sensing a pattern?). Chiefly, the top angle is meant to emulate the top of each pylon. The Guardians also chose the diamond to emulate the Guardians of Traffic. This was in part a desire to modernize, like how every company logo got really curvy in the 2010s. The Diamond C was considered a natural evolution to the Block C–probably because it had more interesting angles and a curve on it. If you were wondering about the new Diamond C and Fastball logos, the Cleveland Guardians do not disappoint. The Guardians also talk about being resilient fighters who “pick each other right back up and keep fighting,” which might be technically correct but it does kind of shift from the general connotation of being a protector. Looking at one of the first things the Guardians say about their new name it seems like they’re operating pretty close to the dictionary definition they’ll tell you it’s about protecting, keeping watch, and defending. As for the new name, why are they called the Cleveland Guardians? What would they guard anyway their batting records? Defining Guardians Why the name was changed isn’t a difficult question to answer–it was decidedly racist. They will be important later.įor the 2021 baseball season, the Cleveland Indians permanently changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians. (Last Updated On: July 26, 2021) The Guardians of Traffic.
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