The statement follows an offseason in which Manfred told ESPN and other outlets that he wanted to talk to Paul and Larry Dolan about the logo, which once again became a national discussion after the Tribe’s march to the World Series last season.
In January, at a press conference to announce that the Indians had been awarded the 2019 All Star Game, Manfred told reporters that he had in fact discussed the issue with the team but there was nothing new to report.
“I think we’ll produce a result that will be good for the Indians and good for baseball,” Manfred said at the time. “What exactly that is, I don’t want to speculate.”
There’s still only speculation now, and not much new to report, but Manfred at least has made his preference clear.
“We have specific steps in an identified process and are making progress,’’ an MLB spokesperson told the Times. “We are confident that a positive resolution will be reached that will be good for the game and the club.’’
When that will happen isn’t crystalized yet, mainly because a large faction of the team’s fanbase retains inflamed passions about the logo. The Indians are very aware of that, and during a season in which they’ve sold more tickets than they have at this point in years, it’s a delicate situation. Even though it shouldn’t be and they know it.
Bob DiBiasio, the Indians’ senior vice president for public affairs, said during Tuesday’s home opener that the club understood the passion on both sides of the issue and that in some ways the team was caught in the middle, trying to find an amicable solution.“We certainly understand the sensitivities of the logo, those who find it insensitive and also those fans who have a longstanding attachment to its place in the history of the team,” he said.
DiBiasio called the continuing talks productive between Manfred and Paul Dolan, the Indians’ chairman and chief executive. With their sights set on a return to the World Series, the Indians would prefer to address Chief Wahoo after the season to avoid any distractions that could alienate a large swath of fans while games are being played.
“Our primary focus right now is on the team,’’ he said.
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2017.
Is your staff really this lazy? There are real problems in the streets of Cleveland, OH that quietly threaten and destroy lives, yet you choose to focus on a cartoon character? Year after year you publish the same story. Some people are sad because this cartoon makes them that way and others really like the cartoon. WE GET IT. Until said cartoon can be seen to have any real effect on any single person in any way, other than they feel it’s “insensitive,” can we please please focus on problems that hurt people? There’s issues of homelessness, unwanted children, urban decay, drugs, overly militarized police, aging infrastructure, and more. Let’s not get mired down by this cartoon character, who has no realistic ties to any human being on Earth, and focus on what matters. Let us please work big to small.
de-chief!
The stories chronicling the submissions for a new nickname, logo and uniform seem to be the best start……the artwork was better than the junk PR firms drag out of the vault for pro and college teams to peruse. Commissioner Manfred should receive an email with the contest wrap-up as an attachment — with the request for comment.
As a lifelong Clevelander I have never understood the affection for Chief Wahoo. As a child I’d see him as we drove by the stadium and I thought he looked ugly and angry. I still think it’s an ugly caricature as well as racist, demeaning and insulting. It’s time to get rid of Chief Wahoo.
To Charles Xavier —
Maybe working on small things like getting rid of Wahoo — and helping teach those who stand by it how it’s racist and marginalizes indigenous Americans — is a step to working on the larger divisions in America? Rome wasn’t built in a day, sucka, and ya gotta start somewhere.
If it’s April, it must be time to drag out that Samhoo (Sambo + Wahoo) image yet again, and continue to beat the drum (sorry) and also beat this dead-horse issue into dog food and glue yet another time… same story, different year. Every time a local TV station runs a survey, thousands respond, and it’s always the same result…3 to 1 or 4 to1 or even 9 to 1 in favor of keeping The Chief. The die-hards and the stubborn geezers are not going to throw away their well-worn gear, or make them look like something a wino would wear.
Bottom line…unless the organization is willing to ban Wahoo from the premises, the way Disney does with “offensive” clothing in its parks…and unless the wearing of Wahoo in public is made illegal and subjects violators to possible arrest…you will continue to see people (like me) wearing that grinning face for AT LEAST another two decades, no matter what MLB thinks of it, or thinks of defiant Clevelanders who will openly flaunt it even more.
Or until the last of the hard-core Wahoo supporters are all…finally… dead.
So get used to it, and deal with it. Wahoo is not going to disappear any time soon. Ask any Southerner about symbolism. . The colder the north wind, the tighter the traveler holds on to his hat. And jacket, And jersey.
Hell, yeah, people are getting crazier every day in this town, and the streets are more and more dangerous, and the odds of being a crime victim or facing bodily harm or a bullet in the head get greater each year. Cleveland has a LONG list of problems…and depending on how much time you’ve got, I can start ticking them off. Here’s a little heads-up: Wahoo isn’t one of them.
Chuckles the Clown
^Are you actually saying that it should be made ILLEGAL to wear the wahoo? I really hope I’m just not reading into your sarcasm correctly.
Yes, I am being sarcastic about Wahoo becoming illegal…that would probably never stand up in a court of law…just as it is LEGAL to wear the Confederate flag patch or the Nazi swastika. But the powers-that-be can make things difficult for those who chose to wear such symbols, and Wahoo could easily become one of them.
What is NOT so funny is that it’s quite possible that the ball club could easily decide to ban Wahoo from being worn in the stands in the future, the way Disney bans “objectionable” clothing. Read the Tribe’s Fan Guide…there’s probably a clause in that booklet which would allow them to ban the Chief…or make “guests” turn their clothing inside-out. Gotta tell ya, though…my tongue-in-cheek “Chicago Jews” shirt (I am both) has never been a problem.
Being a lifelong Cub fan, I travel to Pittsburgh every season. The “A-to-Z Guide” put out every year by the Pirates (whose PNC Park is a jewel and only two hours away…I recommend it highly) has a “Guest Conduct” page that lists the kinds of conduct that is “inconsistent with a safe and enjoyable atmosphere at PNC Park”…including (pardon the legalese, please):
“Wearing clothing which, in the judgment of the Pirates, is indecent or otherwise detracts from the “experience” {(roll eyes here] of other guests.”
So no more fun shirts like YUCK THE FANKEES or CUBS BLOW DEAD DONKEYS or even TRY NOT TO SUCK. Indecency is in the eye of the franchise holder, not the ticketholder. Their house, their rules. MLB leans on the organization enough, any and all Wahoo gear is banned from the premises. No exceptions, no-how (and no, that is not a Native American pun). Maybe “THE TRIBE” will even be forced to undergo a name change down the road, although the Redskins, kicking and screaming, will probably have to go first.
Oh, and in smaller italics at the bottom of the PNC list: Violators may be subject to ejection AND/OR POSSIBLE ARREST.
This is the new, great America. It can easily happen. Here. In Cleveland. Will I be shocked? Yes? Surprised? Hell, no.
Chuckles the Clown
Give the Dolan’s a Billion dollars, and I’m sure the Wahoo goes away…