I’m not even sure where to start with this cap, but I do
know what I want to talk about when I look at it. Since 2007 there has been a
rumor floating around that the Cleveland Indians have been trying to phase out
the iconic, but racist logo that has been a staple of the team since 1947. The
reason why I can only use the word theory is because there is no concrete
evidence to support it, only speculation and conspiracy theories… or so we’re
led to believe. Sportswriters have periodically alleged that the Cleveland
Indians are gradually phasing out the logo. A sportswriter for the New York
Times suggested this in 2007, noting that Chief Wahoo enjoyed a
much-diminished presence in Cleveland's
home stadium. Sportswriter Craig Calcaterra wrote about his suspicions of a
phase-out when he observed that the team used an alternate logo on their
scoreboard, and the Journal News of New York has alleged the team is "so
embarrassed by their grinning Indian logo that they've all but banished it from
Jacobs Field". Changes to the batting helmets in 2013 led to renewed
speculation of a phase-out. Sportswriters have speculated that a slow phase-out
allows the team to avoid a negative short-term reaction; however, Indians
president Mark Shapiro and other team spokespeople have said there are no plans
for a phase-out. No matter what your opinion of this matter is, here are a few
facts which may persuade you that the phase out is all… well, I don’t know
really.
One thing that I can attest for is that I am a huge fan of
this logo from merely an artistic perspective. Yes, I will admit that it’s
pretty racist; however, the connotations have a much more innocent background.
Legend has it that the team honored Louis Sockalexis when it assumed its
current name in 1915. Sockalexis, a Native American, had played in Cleveland 1897–99.
Research indicates that this legend is mostly untrue, and that the new name was
a play on the name of the Boston Braves, then known as the "Miracle
Braves" after going from last place on July 4th to a sweep in the 1914
World Series. Proponents of the name acknowledged that the Cleveland Spiders of
the National League had sometimes been informally called the
"Indians" during Sockalexis' short career there, a fact which merely
reinforced the new name. As time wore on the name just stuck.
Changing it now would be a bit of an issue, kind of like with what happened
when the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington,
D.C. and became the Nationals.
It’s just weird. But, for arguments sake, if I had a vote on choosing a team
name I highly suggest going back to the Spiders. Because honestly, it’s an
underutilized and badass mascot name.
So now that the history of the name has been established we
have to go into detail about the logo. In 1947, Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck
hired the J.F. Novak Company, designers of the patches worn by Cleveland’s police and firefighters, to
create a new logo for his team. 17-year-old draftsman Walter
Goldbach, an employee of the Novak Company, was asked to perform the job. Tasked
with creating a mascot that "would convey a spirit of pure joy and
unbridled enthusiasm", he created a smiling Indian face with yellow skin
and a prominent nose. This one.
Goldbach has said that he had difficulty "figuring out
how to make an Indian look like a cartoon", and that he was probably
influenced by the cartoon style that was popular at the time. Sportswriters
would eventually take to calling the unnamed character "Chief Wahoo".
Goldbach has said that the logo's moniker is inaccurate. Quoting a child he met
while talking at a school, Goldbach explained in a 2008 interview, "He’s
not a chief, he’s a brave. He only has one feather. Chiefs have full
headdresses.” A valid point.
In 1951, the mascot was redesigned with a smaller nose and
red skin instead of yellow skin. This logo has remained in use ever
since, with only minor changes to the design. In the 1950s, the logo had black
outlines and red skin; today the logo has blue lines and red skin.
After its introduction, the face of the 1951 logo was incorporated
into other, full-body depictions of the character, which is the style I decided
to roll with for my tattoo.
Ohio
sportswriter Terry Pluto has described comics of Chief Wahoo that would run on
the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the 1950s, with the character's
depiction signifying the outcome of yesterday's game. Wins were illustrated by
Chief Wahoo holding a lantern in one hand and extending the index finger on his
other. Losses were illustrated by a "battered" Chief Wahoo, complete
with black eye, missing teeth, and crumpled feathers, because artists who do
caricatures in sports and politics are borderline racist themselves. Kidding of
course.
From then until the end of the 1985 season the Chief Wahoo
logo was only featured on jerseys, memorabilia, jackets, posters and other
novelties but it had yet to be put on a hat until the 1986 season. Prior to
1986 the caps all featured a variation of the “C” logo, but as soon as the
Chief Wahoo logo was introduced as the cap logo, sales of the cap exploded. All
throughout the late 1980s and into the early 2000s Indians caps were some of
the best selling Major League Baseball caps on the market. Aside from them
having a cool look it also helped that the Indians were World Series contenders
for the majority of the stretch until the end of 2007, plus there was also that
movie made about the Indians which people have come to know and love.
Spaceballs?
But what happened in 2007 to cause the rumor about a phase
out? In 2007, Shapiro signed veteran help for the bullpen and outfield in the
offseason. Veterans Aaron Fultz, and Joe Borowski joined Rafael Betancourt in
the Indians bullpen. The Indians improved significantly over the prior year and
went into the All-Star break in second place. The team brought back Kenny
Lofton for his third stint with the team in late July. The Indians finished
with a 96–66 record tied with the Red Sox for best in baseball, their seventh
Central Division title in 13 years and their first postseason trip since 2001.
The Indians began their playoff run by defeating the New
York Yankees in the American League Division Series three games to one. This
series will be most remembered for the swarm of bugs that overtook the field in
the later innings of Game Two. They also jumped out to a three-games-to-one
lead over the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series; however, the
season ended in disappointment when Boston
swept the final three games to advance to the 2007 World Series. Despite the
loss, Cleveland
players took home a number of awards. Grady Sizemore, who had a .995 fielding
percentage and only two errors in 405 chances, won the Gold Glove award,
Cleveland's first since 2001. Indians Pitcher CC Sabathia won the second Cy
Young Award in team history with a 19–7 record, a 3.21 ERA and an MLB-leading
241 innings pitched. Eric Wedge was awarded the first Manager of the Year Award
in team history. Shapiro was named to his second Executive of the Year in 2007.
Now, I’m no fancy big city business tycoon, but from everything I just listed I
would hardly say there’s any reason to shout conspiracy theories about a logo
getting phased out, especially while a team is too busy winning. What is most
interesting about the logo phase out theory are the hats that would introduced
the following season, the one I’m wearing above.
I have yet to find or yet to hear any reasonable explanation
as to why the Indians elected to shrink the size of the logo as dramatically as
they did, but there is certainly one point chalked to the phase out theory. At
the same time though, shrinking or making a slight modification to a log is
also a really good way to boost merchandise sales. Take me, and other cap
collectors for example. We all have the bigger logoed hats, so why not get the
smaller logo as well? Some of you who aren’t keen on Indians caps might also
not know that from 2003-2007 the Indians had brought out new caps in which the
only change they made was a silver outline around the logo. I’m still looking
for both of them.
I guess the only other thing to address is the theory that
the Indians are using “alternate” logos on the scoreboard and around
Progressive Field (The Jake!). Well, I was there last August, what do you
think?
Even the employees still wear the Chief Wahoo logo on their
shirts.
Can you spot me doing "The Shark?"
From everything I have researched, put together and seen in
person I don’t see any evidence that the Indians are trying to phase it out.
Yes, they certainly have introduced new hats which would also lead people to
believe the theory, but they still use caps like this one as their road cap
since 2008, and now as their alternate road cap since 2011. Wait a minute…
alternate road cap!? They’re trying to phase it out! Damn you!!! ;)
In keeping with this oddity theme I am happy to say that I
marked this cap up accordingly. Actually, prior to donning this cap in the
photo I still had all of the stickers on it. Not even sure how I pulled that
one off. Weird.
#48- Travis Hafner is one of the few people to make it to
the big leagues having been born in the great state of North Dakota. Seriously, only 15 players,
including Hafner, have come from The Flickertail State and the only other one
you may have heard of is Rick Helling. Hafner attended college at Cowley County
Community College in Arkansas City, Kansas (the town’s name doesn’t make sense
to me either) where he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 31st round of
the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. He hit his first career home run August
11, 2002 while playing for the Rangers against the Indians. In addition to the
home run, he had two doubles and a single in five at-bats, driving in three
runs and scoring two. He nearly hit for the cycle in this game, but was thrown
out at third base while attempting the triple. Greedy!
In the winter of 2002, the Rangers traded Hafner to the
Indians along with Aaron Myette for catcher Einar Diaz and right-handed pitcher
Ryan Drese. Hafner enjoyed moderate success with the Indians in 2003, splitting
time between first base and designated hitter. On August 14, he hit for the
cycle in Minnesota,
the first Indian to accomplish the feat since Andre Thornton in 1978. In 2004,
Hafner had a breakout offensive season. As the primary DH he finished the
season in the top-10 in the league in on-base percentage (.410, 3rd), slugging
percentage (.583, 4th), doubles (41, 6th), extra base hits (72, 7th), RBI (109,
9th) and batting average (.311, 10th). He also hit 28 home runs (16th in the AL) and scored 96 runs (20th in the AL). He topped the .300 mark in batting
average each month of the season except August–when he hit a respectable
.274–and was particularly hot in July, hitting .360 with 8 home runs and 28
RBI. He hit his first career grand slam in the Indians' home opener on April 12
against Kyle Lohse of the Minnesota Twins.
At the beginning of the 2005 season, the Indians signed
Hafner to a three-year contract through 2007 with a club option for 2008. He
responded by exceeding his offensive production of 2004. He was again among the
league-leaders in on-base percentage (3rd, .408), slugging percentage (3rd,
.595), doubles (5th, 42), walks (7th, 79), extra base hits (8th, 75), batting
average (9th, .305), home runs (9th, 33) and RBI (9th, 108). He also scored 94
runs. The American League named him Player of the Month for June, when he posted
a .345 batting average with 10 doubles, 8 home runs, and 29 RBI in 24 games.
In the first full week of July he was named Player of the
Week after hitting .480 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI in 8 games. On July 16, he
was hit in the face by a pitch thrown by the Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle
and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 26. After returning from the
DL on August 4, he hit .296 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI over the remaining 54
games of the season. To end the season, he hit home runs in six straight games
from September 18–24, the second longest such streak in Cleveland history. After the season, the Cleveland chapter of the Baseball
Writers Association of America (BBWAA) named him Indians Man of the Year and he
finished fifth in the AL Most Valuable Player voting.
For the third straight season, in 2006, Hafner posted
MVP-caliber numbers while anchoring the middle of one of the most potent
offenses in baseball. On September 1, he was hit on the hand by Rangers’
pitcher C.J. Wilson. The Indians placed him on the disabled list for the rest
of the season on September 9 after X-rays revealed a broken bone in his right
hand. At the time of the injury, he led the league in slugging percentage
(.659) and walks (100); was second in home runs (42), RBI (117), total bases
(299), on-base percentage (.439) and extra-base hits (74); and was third in
runs scored (100). He also batted over .300 (.308) for the third consecutive
season. He finished 8th in the league MVP voting by the BBWAA.
On June 7, a section in the right field mezzanine at Jacobs
Field was officially opened as "Pronkville." His nickname, "Pronk",
was given to him by former teammate Bill Selby during spring training of 2001
when people sometimes referred to him as "The Project" and other
times "Donkey" for the way he looked when running the bases. On July
7, Hafner became the first player in Major League history to hit five grand
slams before the All-Star break and passed Al Rosen in the team's season record
book when he homered off Kris Benson of the Baltimore Orioles. He joined
Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks of the 1955 Chicago Cubs, Jim Gentile of the 1961
Orioles and Don Mattingly of the 1987 Yankees as the only players to hit at
least five grand slams in a season. A little more than a month later, on August
13, Hafner tied Mattingly's single-season record when he hit his sixth grand
slam of the season off Luke Hudson of the Kansas City Royals. His
league-leading 13 home runs and 30 RBI combined with his .361 average in the
month of August earned him AL Player of the Month—the second time he has been
honored as such in his career.
In 2007, Hafner had a down year as he batted .266 for the
season, compared to .308 in 2006 and .305 in 2005. He hit 24 home runs and 100
runs batted in, his 4th straight season of 100+ RBI. Some critics point to
Hafner's disappointing performance being due to unfinished contract
negotiations, but Hafner denied this. The Indians signed Hafner to a four-year,
$57 million contract extension during the All-Star break, keeping him in Cleveland through the
2012 season. Then the injuries came. From 2008-2012 Hafner played in 429 total
games, only playing for over 100 games once in 2010 (118). He never hit for
more than 16 home runs during this time, nor did he bat in more than 57 runs
(2011). On April 5, 2012, Hafner became only the 12th player in Cleveland
Indians history to make at least 10 starts on Opening Day in a Cleveland
Indians uniform. On April 15, 2012, Hafner hit a home run off of Kansas City
Royals starting pitcher Luis Mendoza that was estimated at 456 feet. It was the
longest homer hit at Kauffman Stadium since 2001. When Hafner was placed on the
injured list in May for surgery to repair an injured right knee, it was his
sixth appearance on the list in the last five seasons. Against the Detroit
Tigers on August 5, Hafner a solo home run in the 10th inning, his 200th home
run of his career. He was again placed on the disabled list in August with
lower back inflammation. On November 1, the Indians declined on his option,
making him a free agent.
#55- Signed by the Indians as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic
in 2000, Fausto Carmona was the original name given by Roberto Hernandez, a
sinker specialist who spent seven years in the minor leagues before making his
MLB debut on April 15, 2006. His first season was terrible, 1-10 with a 5.42
ERA; however, his sophomore season was Cy Young worthy. In 2007, his best year,
Hernandez went 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA and 137 strikeouts which was good enough
for a fourth place finish for the AL Cy Young and 23rd place for the
AL MVP. His teammate Sabathia took home the AL Cy Young that season.
In the years to follow Hernandez posted mediocre, bad and
then solid numbers. In 2010 Hernandez went 13-14 with a 3.77 ERA and 124
strikeouts. That season he made the only All-Star Game appearance of his career
thus far. In January 2012, Dominican police arrested Hernandez after he left
the U.S. Consulate, accusing him of using a false identity to obtain a visa.
Police reported his real name as Roberto Heredia Hernandez, and that he
is three years older than he reported. The Indians placed Hernandez on the
restricted list. Officials in both countries received assistance in the case by
a woman in the Dominican
Republic who claimed she falsified a birth
certificate for Hernandez in exchange for $26,000, but when Hernandez's father
failed to pay her, she contacted the authorities. The Indians brought Hernandez
back for the 2012 season in which he lasted on three games, going 0-3 with a 7.53
ERA.
No comments:
Post a Comment