If you weren’t aware, the Major League Baseball Team that plays in Cleveland, Ohio, has decided to completely strip themselves of their old, outdated, and racist name.

That’s great.

They are late.

Excuse me if I’m not celebrating this announcement as vehemently as some. For me, it’s simple. Cleveland was the last team standing with an egregiously offensive name. That’s not a good look. For the longest time, with the NFL playing host to a Washington Team with an equally terrible and offensive mascot and logo, the Baseball Team in Cleveland wasn’t alone.

There’s strength in numbers, even if those numbers represent cowardice.

So of course, after the 2020 season was over, the team decides to change their name. That was always going to happen. Do you want to know why I knew that? Because we wrote about this happening last summer.

In fact, if there’s one story we’ve covered more than any other on this site, it’s the Cleveland Naming Issues.

In 2020: The Baseball Team in Cleveland is Out of Time

The Baseball Team in Cleveland is Out of Time

With the football team in Washington changing their name, the baseball team in Cleveland has run out of time, both literally and figuratively.

In 2018: Let’s Talk About The Cleveland Indians Logo Announcement

Let’s Talk About The Cleveland Indians Logo Announcement

Estimated Reading Time: 5 MinutesIf you haven’t heard the news, the Cleveland Indians have announced that their infamous Chief Wahoo logo will be removed from their uniforms following the 2018 MLB Season.Good. Great. I’ve seen a lot of people sharing this news on Facebook and Twitter saying things like “Good. Now change the name” or […]

In 2016: Walking Away from Wahoo

Walking Away from Wahoo

Let’s talk about the second most controversial logo in Sports, Cleveland’s Chief Wahoo, and how the team is taking small steps to remove him from their uniforms.

Time and time again, this has been an issue that the Cleveland Front Office was aware of, but really who was it harming? Besides the specific group of people who find the name to be incredibly demeaning and offensive.

Angelica Richie, in her incredible piece surrounding the Washington Football Team name change, said this and I think it still holds weight.

“Changing can mean admitting we’re wrong. It also means admitting we’re learning. The gift in revisiting this controversy today, right in this very moment, is that learning is very much on-trend.

There is no better time to admit you were misguided but you’re trying. That you were stubborn but you’re growing. That you weren’t listening, but now you repeat the call.”

Washington admitted fault, acknowledged the issues, and made a change. It’s not a decision made in the name of championing what’s right, it’s one made in the name of righting a wrong. Washington was always in the wrong for the name they emblazoned on sweatshirts, hats, helmets and jerseys.

Cleveland, on the other hand, didn’t feel the pressing need to make a change until it was a good time for them.

Every offseason, the Cleveland Organization makes an attempt to bring up a new change they’re instituting in regards to Chief Wahoo merchandise, or the logo placement on their jerseys, or the team name being removed from their chests. And every year we all buy into it. “That’s a good change,” we all nod in agreement. “I think this is a step in the right direction.”

That’s the problem right there.

The step in the right direction is a half-measure. At best. After Cleveland wore their Chief Wahoo hats in the 2016 World Series, a step in the right direction wasn’t enough.

Instead it took Nike getting the jersey contract, and the Washington Football Team beating them to the naming change punch, to enact change. This move is not about what is right and wrong. It was made with money in mind.

So please, forgive me if I’m not over the moon about Cleveland’s latest announcement that they’re finally dropping their monicker after 105 years of insensitivity. It’s 2020. The time for celebrating and patting enablers on the back is over. I refuse to say great job to the same people who dragged their feet in doing something noble.

Please excuse me while I don’t celebrate the Cleveland name change, because frankly, what we’re really celebrating is the fact they managed to hold off for so long.