Sunday: June 6: Rubber Match vs Indians

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, spiritof66 said:

This sort of thing -- team nicknames -- has interested me since I was a kid. I don't know why, maybe because I grew up in Philadelphia and could never grasp (and still can't) what a Phillie or a Phil or an Athletic or an A is. 

A few weeks ago, when I read some of the terrible suggestions for the Washington football team, I came up with some of my own.

The Cleveland situation is a challenging one. The team wants a name that is distinctive and has ties to Cleveland. When I read that a couple of days ago, I tried to think of things -- positive things -- about Cleveland to tie a name to. All I could come up with were Lake Erie and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (well, also the Cleveland Clinic, but that didn't seem to hep). While there have been no public announcements, the leading contenders are said to be Spiders (the name of Cleveland's American Association and National League team in the 1880s and 90s, which had some success, once winning the post-season Temple Cup play-off against the pennant-winning Orioles), Guardians (there apparently are statues called the Guardians of Traffic at the ends of a bridge near the ballpark), and Avengers (because some of the Avengers film was shot in Cleveland.

I think those are all terrible pretty. Just not as bad as another that's been mentioned, the Foresters. Cleveland's earliest professional team was called Forest City (or the Forest Citys), which was a nickname for Cleveland in the nineteenth century. Presumably that's because the city had lots of tress. Isn't Foresters -- the people who cut down trees -- kind of the opposite?

Anyway here are my suggestions for now: 

Rockers -- for the Hall of Fame
Lakers -- for the lake
Great Lakes -- same
Captains -- same
Whitecaps -- same. The team could wear white hats, as they did in the early 20th century. Lots of simple logo possibilities with a wave and a C.
Pioneers -- Ohio was one of the destinations for settlers who departed the Eastern Seaboard 
Freighters -- back to Lake Erie, and independent of Philip
Steamers -- I don't know what kind of vessels have been important to Cleveland shipping along the Great Lakes and east via the Erie Canal, but this appears to be one of them
Blues or Blue Sox -- the name, for short periods, of two early Cleveland teams, vague tie-in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I think the Indians have always had blue in their uniforms.
Brown Sox -- like the football team

I think I like Cleveland Whitecaps.

 

 

 

I could live with Steamers. Lakers will forever be Los Angeles Just like for some reason “Rangers” always means that stupid New York hockey team and not the guys in Texas, so thumbs down on that. Continuing the waterfront theme, I could live with Pilots, I actually really like the idea of the Cleveland Greys, a nod to the Negro leagues, And a humorous comment on Cleveland weather and their constant Grey Skies.

Anything associated with the blues, should be located in New Orleans, even though that’s more of jazz town, I constantly smile to think of the Utah Jazz. If there is a more miss matched name and town, I’d love to hear about it. It’s like naming a bar “Mormon’s” (actually that would be hilarious.)

But Spiders would be an awful choice.I like spiders, and insects in general, but I know a lot of people who don’t, And I think it would be a lot of negative reaction

[scOtt]

When we were in the 14 game losing streak, even deep in the middle, like 7 games in, it seemed like we'd NEVER win again. EVERYthing going wrong, every day.

Now that we're past it, into a winning stretch, it seems like we'll never lose again! Every break goes our way, it's the opposition that makes all the bonehead plays in the field, every good pitch is a hit for us. Or a bloop that drops in.

 

Crazy game this baseball stuff!

[scOtt]

And Cleveland is a GOOD team. With a very good bullpen.