Name change gives Cleveland Indians a distraction and chance to begin anew: Paul Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Indians will officially announce that they are changing their name sometime this week. They have been called the Indians since 1915.

The announcement is not a surprise. When the team said in July it was considering a name change, it was a done deal. But it sounded like it was going to take a while, maybe a year or two.

So the timing of the announcement, after the New York Times broke the story on Sunday night, is a surprise. Then again maybe it’s not.

Baseball’s virtual winter meetings have been extended into this week. The original meetings scheduled to take place in Dallas were cancelled because of the pandemic.

Teams will put their managers on Zoom calls. Indians manager Terry Francona will talk on Monday. Agent Scott Boras will hold his annual winter meeting press conference on Tuesday by Zoom as well. The only thing missing will be a herd of reporters swarming around him in some swanky hotel lobby.

The winter meetings are about trades and free agent signings. The Indians will have little to do with free agent signings and any trades they make will not be the popular kind.

Basically, they have no money to spend on improving their roster after taking a big hit in the 60-game sprint because the pandemic prevented fans from coming to the park. Not only are they in the process of of turning their payroll into a dot on the horizon, but at some point this winter they’re going to trade the face of the franchise (Francisco Lindor) and, perhaps, fan favorite Carlos Carrasco.

A team like that could use a distraction. Something to change the subject.

That’s not to make light of the organization’s decision to change the name. It has been a long time coming and it is being driven by positive forces.

After they dropped the Chief Wahoo logo following the 2018 season, the name was going to be next. It’s something that needed to be done if the Indians were going to be an institution dedicated to seeking tolerance and acceptance of all races among its fans and the citizens of Cleveland.

It is hard for an organization to reach out to the community it lives in with the goal of promoting social justice when it is nicknamed after a Native American population that has been marginalized for centuries. Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, talked about that in June following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota and the Washington Redskins’ subsequent decision to change their name.

“We can do better as an organization and as a sport to help address this systemic racism and social injustice that continues to exist,” Antonetti told cleveland.com. “There are opportunities for us all to do better, starting with me.”

Last week, as part of the Players Alliance “Pull Up Neighbor” Tour, Antonetti and other members of the Indians handed out baseball equipment, COVID-19 prevention supplies, cold weather clothing and team merchandise at E. 79th and Superior. The Players Alliance is a group of over 150 active and retired players trying to bring more Black youth into the game.

The Indians record on social justice is checkered. Larry Doby the first Black player in the American League and Frank Robinson, the first Black manager in the big leagues, broke barriers as members of the Indians. But the team wore Chief Wahoo, in one form or another, on their uniforms for the better part of 70 years.

“We can’t shy away from it,” said Antonetti. “We have a complicated history with race in our organization. It’s part of our dialogue. It’s something we need to own and think about it. We can’t necessarily go back and unwind what has happened. Nor should we because we’ve also been at the forefront of some very good things in race issues, but there have been others where we’ve lagged behind.

“Our focus is what can we do from this point forward.”

The Indians will be called the Indians through the 2021. Then the name will be changed. What the new name will be and how it will be chosen has yet to be revealed. But it will mark a new beginning and hopefully a positive one.

A variety of Cleveland Indians face masks available online today. (Fanatics.com)

New Indians face masks for sale: Here’s where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity.

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