The Cleveland baseball team has been called the Indians since 1915, but now has officially changed to the Guardians. The decision took some time and will officially be in effect by the end of the 2021 season. Here are the highlights:

• The ballclub officially announced it Friday and Tom Hanks narrated the video. 
• The reason behind the decision was due to the racial epithet behind it. Many clubs and teams with derogatory logos and names have changed or are in the process of changing to a more suitable theme. 
• Of course, the name change will have some backlash by die-hard fans of the team. 
• Interestingly enough, the organization spent the last year going through 1,200 possible names but accelerated this process within the last month to wind it down to the Guardians name.
• Team owner Paul Dolan said last summer’s social unrest (capped off by the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis) inspired him to change the name immediately. 
• Dolan is expected to talk more about the change and the inspiration behind it at a news conference at Progressive Field before the Indians host the Tampa Bay Rays.
• While fans were settling on the possible Spiders name, the Cleveland organization feel Guardians would more appropriately fit their ethos. 
• Also, not too far from the ballpark are two large landmark stone edifices, which are referred to as guardians. There’s a certain synergy with the name.