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Cleveland to change team name
Leading up to this NFL season, big news dropped when Washington’s football team was going to change their team name to, well, the Football Team. Silliness of that specific aspect aside, it was a long time coming that they change from their former moniker, and it served as writing on the wall that Cleveland’s baseball team would have to do it themselves. Cleveland kept the “Indians” name for 2020, but that may have been the last time. On Sunday, it was reported that Cleveland will announce soon, possibly as soon as today, that they will be moving on from their current team name.
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The details of the change are not yet entirely clear, including even when this will take place. The report indicates that a replacement team name has not yet been chosen, which could lead to a Washington-like situation where they go with The Baseball Team or something similar, which leads to some obvious CBT jokes. It also leads to the possibility that they may go with the “Indians” for another year. That seems crazy to me, especially after the ordeal with Washington. How they don’t have another plan already in place is beyond me. I understand the complexities of getting merchandise ready and all that, but Washington seemed to manage it just fine.
Either way, it’s about time they actually go through with this chance, whenever that actual change may happen. Now, the only decision left is the team name. The popular choice is to go back to the Spiders, which was the original Cleveland baseball franchise from the 1800s. I’m actually not wild about the nickname and would like to see something different, but at the same time the general public support is incredibly clear. Baseball and this franchise in particular needs a public relations win, and this seems like a layup. So, knowing baseball, they’ll go with something generic that everyone hates but that they determine will make them exactly $16 more over the course of every year.