The team announced its decision on Monday, ending a process that began even before owner Paul Dolan's announcement in July — hours after the NFL's Washington team dropped its controversial name — and said the club would do a thorough review of its name.
Dolan told the Associated Press in an interview that the team will remain Indians through at least the 2021 season, and that it would not adopt an interim name until a new one is chosen. Dolan also told AP that Tribe, the team's popular nickname and a favorite by many fans as the new name, is not an option going forward and the club is stepping completely away from anything with a Native American connotation.
However, that doesn't mean the team will disassociate itself with its history.
“That’s not the idea behind this,” Francona said. "I just think by simply saying, ’Hey, we’ve always done it this way, so we’ll just continue to.' Shoot, if we did that, Jackie Robinson may have never played in the game of baseball.
“Nobody was ever trying to be disrespectful, but that wasn’t a good enough answer anymore.”
Francona understands it may take time for some people to embrace the change.
“What’s important for people to understand is what we’re really proud of is the first name of our team, which is ‘Cleveland,’” he said. “I hope you’ll never hear a player say something that’s contrary to that. And maybe in the next year or so, the fans and people can have some fun with something moving forward.”
Like many, Francona said the social movement across the country this summer helped him better understand the need for change.
“This year was probably an epiphany for a lot of people,” he said. “When you see some of the things that were happening, I think it made a lot of people step back and re-think some things that maybe we took for granted or we shouldn’t take for granted.”
Francona has received “a lot of mail” concerning the name change. For the most part, he said people have expressed compassion and thoughtfulness on the subject.
Others, still are struggling to accept the decision.
“I just don’t ever want it to get lost, we’re not trying to be disrespectful to anybody, believe me,” he said. "We’re trying to be the opposite, and that’s being respectful.”
Francona missed most the abbreviated 2020 season due to health issues, but said he's dropped some weight, is feeling better and raring to go.
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Terry Francona: Dropping Cleveland's nickname is 'correct' call for franchise - The Boston Globe
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