If the name fits

 Well. I guess they could have been the "Cleveland Rocks."

Or the "Cleveland Flaming Rivermen."

Or the "Cleveland Mighty Midges."

Remember that? 

But as Cleveland as it might be to re-name its baseball team after annoying tiny bugs, Cleveland went in a different direction. Jettisoning "Indians" and the glaringly racist Chief Wahoo imagery that came with it, the franchise unveiled a name Friday that actually has some historical and symbolic context, which very rarely happens in these matters.

They went with Guardians. The Cleveland Guardians.

And of course you hate it, because that is the first rule of team names. Here in Fort Wayne, everyone hated "Wizards," and then they didn't, and then they hated "TinCaps." Now you can't throw an official Midwest League baseball anywhere in town without hitting someone in TinCaps gear.

So, yes, everyone's making fun of "Guardians." Of course, if you go back to 1915, when the Indians became the Indians, you'd likely find a bunch of snarly get-off-my-lawn types who hated the new name, wondering what the heck was wrong with "Naps.".

Now their descendants, some of them, are moaning about ditching "Indians," saying it's political correctness and cancel culture and all the usual nonsense. But "Guardians" is more firmly tied to local culture than "Indians," considering the origin story of "Indians" -- that the name was meant to honor a Penobscot ballplayer named Louis Sockalexis -- has been dismissed in some circles as apocryphal.

And anyway, everyone in Cleveland knows to what "Guardians" refers.

That would be the massive art deco sculptures -- known locally as, yes, the Traffic Guardians -- that flank both ends of the Hope Memorial Bridge into downtown. As Cleveland landmarks go, they're as distinctive as the Terminal Tower. 

So "Guardians" has history, it has tradition, it has all those elements baseball once treasured. Plus, the logo is pretty cool.

Which means, as usual, the very people griping about/making fun of "Guardians" will soon be rocking the gear. Team name rule No. 2.