By now, even non-sports fans probably know that the team name for the Major League Baseball franchise here in Cleveland changed to the Guardians to start the 2022 MLB season after 106 years of being referred to as the Indians.
Two full years in, and it is still somewhat of a touchy subject for some Cleveland sports fans to come to terms with for a variety of reasons – some valid, some a little more questionable, and others patently absurd. Nevertheless, the name change has been made and the team is now called the Cleveland Guardians, but unless you are from the Greater Cleveland area, you likely don’t know why this was the ultimate choice settled upon from the short list of options.
Just outside the gates of Progressive Field on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario – where the, now, Cleveland Guardians play ball, is a bridge originally known as the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge which opened in 1932.
It’s still known by that name by some, but since 1983 when it was re-opened after three long years of repairs, it was renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge after native Clevelander and Hollywood actor, Bob Hope, whose father coincidentally worked as a stonesman on four tall pillars (two on each end of the Bridge) called the Guardians of Transportation – sometimes also referred to as the Guardians of Traffic, when the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge was first erected.
Each one of these 43-foot tall sandstone Guardians – four pillars with two on each side totaling eight altogether, are holding a different kind of vehicle in their hands that represent the advances made in transit, while watching over the city.
And, there you have it. This is the historical context for why the Cleveland baseball team is now called the Guardians.
Purchase a print of the Guardians of Transportation to hang in your home or your office:
