Cleveland confirms they will retain “Indians” name for one more year

The club has confirmed they will have a new name in 2022, but they haven’t said much else

Confirming a New York Times report last night, the Cleveland Indians have informed the Associated Press that they will retain their “Indians” name for the 2021 season before moving on in 2022.

There will be no “Cleveland Baseball Club” for the time being, and they are not making an immediate change. They are just ... letting you know that they are definitely super going to change it this time next year for real guys.

It also appears that Paul Dolan actually considered moving to the name “Tribe” — even met with Native American leaders to ask about the idea! — but had to be informed that, actually, no, it’s not that different. Displaying an impressive detachment from reality, Dolan tells AP that he would have “loved to pivot to” it.

“We are not going to take a half-step away from the Indians,” he said. “The new name, and I do not know what it is, will not be a name that has Native American themes or connotations to it. Frankly, that (Tribe) would have been a name that I would have loved to pivot to.

Unsurprisingly, it was a bad idea.

“But in talking to these groups, they made it very clear that the issues that are attached to the Indians don’t go away with Tribe, particularly since Tribe has been tied to the experience of our team for many many decades,” he said.

The team’s official account reiterated that they are in fact searching for a “non-Native American name” moving forward, but provided little other new information.