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Dear Editor:
Hello Cleveland! Thanks for finally doing the right thing by grudgingly ditching your city’s Major League Baseball franchise name “The Indians” at the end of the 2021 MLB season.
Yes, the name “The Indians” was racist as all get-out, and Cleveland’s recently retired team logo “Chief Wahoo” was even more ridiculously reprehensible than the team’s soon-to-be former moniker. But who doesn’t love the possibility of redemption for long-time losers and ultimate underdogs, like Cleveland itself.
If there is one thing that Cleveland’s MLB franchise has been consistent at since the era of World War II – back when all Americans could openly and unapologetically agree that “the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi” – it’s that Cleveland couldn’t win the World Series (except in 1948). Maybe a new team name is just what Cleveland baseball needs.
Cleveland’s new MLB team name “The Guardians” will debut in 2022. Perhaps Atlanta will follow suit and drop their MLB franchise’s name “The Braves” before next season? “The Bandits” would be a much more appropriate choice for the city of Atlanta. (I’m pretty sure Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, and Jackie Gleason would all agree with that.)
East Bound and Down,
Jake Pickering
Arcata, Calif.