From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Cleveland Guardians
are a
Major League Baseball
team based in
Cleveland
,
Ohio
. They are part of the
American League Central Division
. Under the team's former name of Cleveland Indians, the Guardians won two
World Series
championships
in 1920 and 1948. Currently, they hold the longest championship drought in MLB.
The team was founded in 1894 in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, playing in the late-1890s Western League, which became the
American League
in 1900. In that same year, the team moved to Cleveland, taking the name of Lake Shores. The next year, the team became the Cleveland Bluebirds, also known as Blues. Players didn't like that name, and failed in a try to change the name to "Broncos" in 1902. In that same year, the team traded for star player
Nap Lajoie
, who later became player-manager, and it soon became known as the "Naps" in his honor. The team was called the Cleveland Naps until Lajoie left at the end of the 1914 season.
After Lajoie left, the team looked for a new nickname and settled on "Indians" for the 1915 season, partly in honor of the
Boston Braves
who had won the 1914 World Series. In more modern times, their nickname was often thought to be a poor choice. It is considered offensive to name a team for a race or ethnic group. However, there was no serious effort to change the name until the 21st century. After growing criticism, the team started to move away from the nickname in 2018, retiring its controversial "Chief Wahoo" logo of a caricatured Native American. In 2020, team owner Paul Dolan announced that the "Indians" name would be retired after the 2021 season.
[1]
The new nickname of Guardians was announced on July 23, 2021. The name refers to the
Guardians of Traffic
, statues sculpted into pylons of the Hope Memorial Bridge that crosses the
Cuyahoga River
near downtown Cleveland.
[2]
The Cleveland Guardians name took effect on November 19, 2021.
[3]
In the 1990s, the then-Indians were in the postseason several times. They made it to the World Series in 1995 and 1997 but lost to the
Atlanta Braves
and the
Florida Marlins
respectively. They returned to the World Series in 2016, and again they lost, this time to the
Chicago Cubs
in seven games. In 2017, they set an American League record of winning 22 straight games. They won 102 games during the season. However, they lost to the
New York Yankees
in the Division Series.