Indians: 5 most preferred team names for the Cleveland baseball team

The Cleveland Indians are changing their name after the 2021 season, though a replacement has not been named, these are the five they should consider

The Cleveland Indians will formally change their name after the 2021 season much to the chagrin of some fans. The name change is happening, there is nothing anyone can do to change it. So instead of getting mad over it, embrace the whimsy that comes with a brand change. Let’s see if we can’t improve upon the name, make it better, and something that grabs the attention.

Now four of these have already been talked about in-depth elsewhere in the summer of 2020, so we’re not going to go super long-winded with these, though there is one new one.

The basic gist of these is that the newly named team retains the color scheme of the Indians. The red, white, and blue have no reason to duck out, except for one name choice that will make sense after you read it.

So with that, let’s look at the five best ideas for a new name.

The Rockers

The Rockers is obviously a tip of the cap to the old WNBA team and of course the fact that Cleveland is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While some may not like the fact it used to belong to the Rockers (cus girls got cooties?), it’s a fitting nickname that embraces the history of the sport in the region, as well as the rock and roll roots.

The White Rocks

There was a lie once told that the Indians were named after Louis Sockalexis. That’s not remotely true, at all. What if it were though? Sockalexis was part of the Penobscot tribe, which resided in the area in and around Maine. Their name comes from a mispronunciation of Penawapskewi, which is their name for themselves. That word translates to “the people of where the white rocks extend out”. Hence White Rocks. It also has a double meaning, considering the large amount of salt that the mines under Lake Erie produces are just giant white rocks. So it works on two levels.

The Guardians (Guardians of Erie)

The Guardians nickname is attached to the city by the iconic Guardians of Traffic statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge (Carnegie bridge). These looming giants have been part of Cleveland’s identity for decades, and have even been adorned onto a former Arena Football League team called the Guardians. The term easily fits in with the name of the team being something strong, unique but most of all, marketable.

The Blue Sox

This one is a cheat. While some people on Twitter have suggested it for one reason or another, the reason it’s being placed on the list is that it’s the name of Manny Ramirez’s current team. The Blue Sox are an Australian baseball team that recently signed Ramirez to play for them in their upcoming 2021 season. It’s a catchy name, and fits the Indians color palate pretty easily, so why not?

The Steel

This is the only one that would see a deviation from the color scheme but would also be the least likely. The Steel is a nod to the fact that the iconic DC Comics character, Superman, was created right here in Cleveland, Ohio. The amount the team can get away with in their homage to the iconic character is going to be hard to determine, but if DC and Warner Bros. were to get on board, you could change the white to yellow in the color scheme and embrace the Cleveland-block C logo, while putting inside the Superman shield symbol. That’d be a license to print money.