Name drop: Cleveland set to say goodbye to Indians for good

CLEVELAND (AP) — There's no more debate or decisions forthcoming. There's still some anger and disbelief, but also the excitement that comes along with change.

The Cleveland Indians are about to become history.

On Monday, one of the American League's charter members will play its final home game of 2021, and also its last at Progressive Field as the Indians, the team’s name since 1915, when “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was the starting right fielder on opening day.

Much more than the makeup of a rainout against the Kansa City Royals, the home finale will signify the end of one era and beginning of a new chapter for the team, which will be called the Cleveland Guardians next season.

That's going to take some time getting used to. The Indians are all Clevelanders have ever known.

“I’m not a betting man," longtime radio play-by-play broadcaster Tom Hamilton said, pondering what's ahead. “But I have to guess the over-under on how many times we’ll say Indians is one million.”

After the Oct. 3 season finale in Texas and with no postseason for a team that hasn’t won the World Series since 1948, there will be a transition period before Indians — a named deemed racist by some — is dropped and Guardians appears on new uniforms with logos that were unveiled in July to mixed reviews.

At some point, Guardians merchandise will go on sale and the massive script “Indians” logo crowning the ballpark's massive left-field scoreboard will be taken down, a moment many Clevelanders could have never imagined possible.

And while the end of Indians has been known for a while, it still seemed to sneak up on some fans.

“It kind of hit us when we came in," Kathy Wainwright of Elyria, Ohio, said as she and her husband, Mark, grabbed a bite to eat and a couple pregame beers before the Indians hosted...

source https://www.chron.com/news/article/Name-drop-Cleveland-set-to-say-goodbye-to-16483788.php