Five new name ideas for the Cleveland Indians

Under pressure, the Cleveland Indians are reportedly poised for a name change

The mounting pressure on the Cleveland Indians to change their team name now appears certain to come to fruition either this coming season or the following one. Numerous media sources are reporting that Indians club officials have decided for marketing reasons to announce their commitment to a change as early as this week.

While the Indians have been under pressure for decades to drop the Indians nickname, a few years ago took what they hoped was a conciliatory step of removing Chief Wahoo as their image. When the NFL team previously known as the Washington Redskins announced its commitment to a name change last season, the pressure on the Indians intensified.

The issue now becomes: What should a new nickname be? A case could be made for several approaches.

Cleveland Indians management could opt to do what teams have occasionally done in similar circumstances – run a fan contest. In fact, that’s how the Indians supposedly got their name more than 100 years ago. Back in 1915, when star infielder Napoleon Lajoie retired, the local newspaper supposedly ran a contest in which the name “Indians” was chosen to honor Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian and former star for the team.

Some have since questioned the legitimacy of that rationale for selecting “Indians” as the new name of the team that to that point had been known as the “Naps” in honor of the departed Lajoie.

Team officials could also reach even deeper into their city’s culture or baseball history. That approach would provide several options, which will be explored in greater detail below.

Cleveland Buckeyes

The Cleveland Indians could be renamed the Cleveland Buckeyes in homage both to the designation of Ohio as the ‘Buckeye State’ and to the Cleveland Buckeyes, who represented the city in the Negro League in the 1940s.

The Buckeyes won both the 1945 and 1947 Negro League championships. Buckeyes stars included several prominent Negro Leaguers, among them Al Smith, Chet Brewer, Sam Jethroe, Quincy Trouppe, and Sam Bankhead. Smith and Jethroe both later played in the majors, Smith taking part in the 1954 and 1959 World Series.

But there are potential downsides to naming the team “Buckeyes.” The argument could be made that, especially in Ohio, that name is the full property of Ohio State University, and should not be encroached upon by a professional team.

Thinking long-term, it is also possible that adopting the name of a Negro League team might draw activist criticism as a form of cultural appropriation. Backers of the idea would be quick to note that the name would be adopted as a gesture of honor, but that’s the same argument backers of the “Indians” name have made regarding Sockalexis for years with decreasing effectiveness.

Having fought and seemingly lost that same battle, Cleveland Indians team owners and managers may not be in the mood to risk inviting more criticism.

Cleveland Forest Citys

If the Cleveland Indians owners really want to go “old school” and pick a unique name, they could call the club the Forest Citys.

That name change would be a homage to the historical designation given the city itself, a label that was widely in use a century ago and retains some popularity today.

The Cleveland Forest Citys operated in the National Association, a precursor of the National League, back in baseball’s formative days. Created in 1870 as an independent team, the Forest Citys were part of the original NA in 1871, finishing seventh of nine teams with a 10-19 record. The team also competed in 1872 before leaving the NA for independent play.

The term “Forest City” as a designator of Cleveland is less widely used these days. But it remains common in and around Cleveland itself. The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History recently identified nearly two dozen Cleveland-based firms that carry the name of “Forest City.”

Adopting that name would have several advantages. First and possibly most importantly, it would be utterly non-controversial; nobody objects to trees.

Beyond that, it would underscore the franchisee’s commitment to local history, and not merely in a baseball sense.

Finally, creating a logo for a team known as the “Forest Citys” would be both a marketer’s and merchandiser’s dream.

Cleveland Rocks

Adopting this nickname would play off the fame of the best-known current Cleveland institution, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The advantages are obvious. Principally they involve the familiarity of the term with the city itself. People around the country associate Cleveland as the home to the Rock and Roll and Roll hall, and beyond that as the supposed birthplace of Rock and Roll itself.

Downsides? There are a couple. First, what exactly is the benefit to the baseball team adopting a name that tacitly makes it a sideshow to another Cleveland institution? Does the team really want to brand itself as a subsidiary institution in its own city?

Beyond that is the question of the degree to which attaching itself to the rock Hall advances the ability of the baseball team to brand itself with potential fans. What is the extent of overlap between fans of baseball and fans of the Rock and Roll? If the brand doesn’t advance the team’s own visibility, what good is it? It would be a hard case to make that fans generally associate rock and roll with baseball.

Overall, then, calling yourself the “Cleveland Rocks” carries with it risks with respect to promoting the one institution you have a real financial interest in promoting.

The Cleveland Baseball Team

If Cleveland Indians owners really want to get original, they could borrow a riff from the Washington NFL club. When that team announced its plans to change names, it adopted an interim designation for 2020 as “the Washington Football Team,” with plans to settle on a more permanent change after the conclusion of the current season.

If owners of the Indians really want to be original – and also guarantee never to offend anybody – they could lift the approach taken in Washington but make it permanent. Simply rename the club “The Cleveland Baseball Team.” That would eliminate the use of a nickname altogether.

Why do that? First, it would be impossible for anybody to be offended. But more importantly, it would be unique. No team in major professional North American sports takes the field without some kind of commonly recognized nickname.

That means the team faces an opportunity to do something both utterly unique and fully attention-getting. Taking such an approach would, in a strange way, be the most novel thing the Indians could possibly do.

Such an action might be viewed as challenging for marketers and merchandisers. But it would be a challenge with unique solutions. Imagine the talk that would ensue with the unveiling of a logo featuring a blank space.