Name Cleveland’s baseball team the Naps

Home Opinion Homepage - Opinion Name Cleveland’s baseball team the Naps
Name Cleveland’s baseball team the Naps
Before becoming the Indians in 1915, Cleveland’s baseball team was called the Naps from 1903 to 1915 after their star second baseman and manager Napoleon Lajoie, pictured below. | Flickr

When the 2022 baseball season opens a year from now, the Cleveland Indians will be history and the city’s baseball team will have a new name.

Many traditionalist fans are disappointed. Cleveland’s baseball team has been the Indians for 105 years. For all the people praising the decision across social media, many fans had a difficult time moving on from the name that has seen the team through its two World Series wins and decades of mediocrity and suffering. 

The renaming is especially difficult for a city like Cleveland. Because there hasn’t always been much winning in Cleveland, the history of the team has a special significance. History and tradition are the most important and sometimes only reasons to cheer for the team. 

But the decision is made and fans should let the owners know that they would make a great choice if they renamed the team the Cleveland Naps.

While no option is better than the Naps, Cleveland is a city with a lot of history and has multiple good replacement options as a result. 

A few of the top choices include:

 

  1. Spiders: Early on, many fans favored renaming the team the Spiders, a nod to the baseball team who played in Cleveland from 1887-1899. The team had stars such as Cy Young and Jesse Burkett and won one league championship. Unfortunately, the Spiders’ owners, Frank and Stanley Robinson, bought another club and sent all the Spiders’ good players to it. The starless Spiders of 1899 finished their last season 20-124, 84 games out of first place. The problem with the “Spiders” is that most people find spiders gross and disgusting. Many fans may not want to cheer for the “Spiders” or buy gear with an arthropod on it. 
  2. Guardians: Another popular choice is the Guardians, after the famous statues that have flanked the sides of the Hope Memorial Bridge in Cleveland since the early 1930s. Though the name is unique and honors a special part of Cleveland, the name makes the team sound like Marvel superheroes and not athletes. 
  3. Buckeyes: Others have suggested the Buckeyes, the name of Cleveland’s Negro Leagues team from 1942-1950. The Buckeyes won one World Series and two league championships. The Indians honored the Buckeyes in 2006, 2015, and 2017 by wearing commemorative jerseys for regular-season games. Though Buckeyes is a good name that references something unique to both Ohio and Cleveland, the Ohio State Buckeyes already run the state. Having two Buckeyes teams in the state would be too much.
  4. Commodores: Another idea is the Cleveland Commodores after Commodore Olivar Hazard Perry who won the famous Battle of Lake Erie against the British Navy in the War of 1812. The name has alliteration, would sell great merchandise, and references a better part of American history than its treatment of Native Americans. 

 

Although many of these names would work and could gain fans’ approval, the best option is a return to the days of the Cleveland Naps. Before becoming the Indians in 1915, the team was called the Naps from 1903 to 1915 after their star second baseman and manager Napoleon Lajoie.

The name Naps ties directly to the club’s long history and honors the team’s best player in terms of career Wins Above Replacement. The name also parallels the Cleveland Browns, who are named after their founder and coach Paul Brown. Further, the name is unique and rolls off the tongue well. 

Of course, the objections write themselves. The Naps: the sleepiest team in baseball. But Cleveland fans are used to it. Their city has been called the “mistake on the lake” and the Browns have been the butt of jokes for years. Cleveland fans don’t care.  

Cleveland is the sort of team that fans cheer for because their parents and grandparents did too. It’s important that the team and league get the renaming right. The name Naps moves on from the Indians without moving on from Cleveland baseball history.

 

John Maier is a senior at Hillsdale High School and dual-enrolled at Hillsdale College.