CLEVELAND — It’s official: The next time a baseball game is played at Progressive Field, fans will be cheering on the Cleveland Guardians.
After more than 100 years, the team is retiring the name the Indians, and fans showed out at the last home game loud and proud.
Dusk has set and the lights are off for the era that once was. In Cleveland, rooting for the home team will be new.
“It’s the last time we'll see the Cleveland Indians,” one fan told 3News.
“It's a bittersweet thing,” Jim Curtis said.
“I’m definitely going to miss the Indians,” Adam Powell said.
A roaring in the crowds at the team’s final home game of the season echoed across downtown Cleveland. Memory lane was the course that settled in as fans left Progressive Field with the final win in The Land.
“The Indians’ last game at the old stadium, it kind of felt that way here today,” Duane Sunagel said.
“I didn't really think of it as a goodbye Indians, I thought of more thank you Cleveland,” another fan told 3News.
Cleveland has a storied baseball history, even before the name "The Indians" even became a household name.
According to Case Western Reserve University's encyclopedia, the baseball team was founded in 1901, and was first known as the Blues.
The team would go on to adopt the name the Broncos, then the Naps, before becoming the Cleveland Indians in 1915, honoring the Penobscot Native American baseball player Louis Francis Sockalexis, who played for the Cleveland Spiders in the late 1800s.
The team announced the Cleveland Guardians as its new name in July. Today, the dawn of a new era is at hand in the city.
“It’s the steps to make people in country, in our state and our city feel better about our sports team,” Powell said.
“As long as it's Cleveland, I’m going to be there,” one fan told 3News.
One of the most legendary fans, John Adams, who is famously known for beating his drum at games, told 3News he’s excited for what's ahead.
Due to health issues, Adams hasn't been to a game since 2019, including the last home game of the season.
While watching from home, Adams told 3News “It’s still Cleveland’s team. We are still going to make lots of memories as long as we stay together.”
The team said that it will not be enforcing rules about what jerseys fans wear to home games, and that signage and updates around town will take place in the early off-season before the holidays.
PHOTOS: Fans show off their Indians gear as team plays final game at Progressive Field before becoming Cleveland Guardians
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