Indians to change name to Guardians
Known as the Indians since 1915, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team will be called the Guardians.
The ballclub announced the name change Friday — effective at the end of the 2021 season — with a video on Twitter narrated by actor and team fan Tom Hanks. The decision ends months of internal discussions triggered by a national reckoning by institutions and teams to drop logos and names considered racist.
The choice of Guardians will undoubtedly be criticized by many of the club’s diehard fans, some of whom quickly went on social media to vent.
The organization spent most of the past year whittling down a list of potential names that was at nearly 1,200 just over a month ago. The process included 140 hours of interviews with fans, community leaders, front office personnel and a survey of 40,000 fans.
Mets trade for Hill: The Mets acquired lefthander Rich Hill from the Rays for righthander Tommy Hunter and minorleague catcher Matt Dyer.
Hill, 41, is 64 with a 3.89 ERA in 19 starts for the contending Rays. New York started the day with a fourgame division lead over Philadelphia and Atlanta despite a bangedup rotation.
Mets rotation members Jacob deGrom and David Peterson are on the injured list. Starters Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco haven’t pitched this year while recovering from injuries.
Bauer in court: Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer is contesting a restraining order request filed against him in Los Angeles Superior Court, triggering a hearing to evaluate statements made by a woman accusing him of sexual assault.
Attorneys on both sides agreed to a continuance and the hearing is scheduled to resume for three days Aug. 2, 3 and 19.
Major League Baseball put Bauer on paid leave on July 2 under the joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy adopted by MLB and the players’ union in 2015. The leave has been extended through Tuesday, and given Friday’s continuance, is likely to be extended again.
Briefly: Reds right fielder Nicholas Castellanos was placed on the 10day injured list because of a microfracture in his right wrist . ... The Cubs activated former Giants third baseman Matt Duffy from the IL and former A’s infielder Eric Sogard was designated for assignment.