This morning it was announced that Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians will undergo a name change and that beginning next year, they will be known as the Cleveland Guardians. The name change was something many have been asking for as it was felt that using a name and logo inspired by Native Americans, and a largely disused name at that, was inappropriate. As such, the name change is being met with cheers from many corners, including from director James Gunn-- who has a fantastic idea for a new team logo.
The fact that the new team is called the Guardians was not lost on fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Fans are creating their own brand new logo for the team, using everybody from Groot to Star Lord. However, James Gunn has his own idea for a logo, or perhaps a team mascot. And honestly, this sounds like the greatest idea ever.
I mean, regardless of the sport or the team name, I feel like any professional sports organization would be better if their logo included a raccoon with a machine gun. But of course, when your team name name is now the Guardians, it makes a bit more sense. I mean, now I just wish the team had named itself the Cleveland Raccoons With Machine Guns.
Unfortunately, while I'm sure there will be many unofficial Guardians logos that include Rocket, the official Cleveland Guardians logos are a bit more traditional. I'm not saying they're bad, but there is a distinct lack of machine guns. Also no raccoons.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we won't see some sort of connection between the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Cleveland Guardians. Baseball teams frequently have special nights with different themes as a way to try to attract people, so we could certainly see a Guardians of the Galaxy night in Cleveland at some point. Maybe they'll talk Zoe Saldana into throwing out the first pitch at the first home game the team plays with its new name.
We could even see promotional tie-ins between Major League Baseball and Marvel Studios. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to open in May of 2023, which means the baseball season will be underway and the new name will be in use. Maybe they can get special uniforms to wear the weekend the movie comes out that do include James Gunn's logo idea. It's a long shot, to be sure, but I can bet they'd fill the stadium with Marvel fans who want to see that, and they'd sell a lot of hats.
