Cleveland Indians To Debut Wahoo-less Uniforms

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians are debuting Chief Wahoo-less uniforms on Monday. The divisive caricature has been a polarizing staple of team uniforms for some seven decades.

Wahoo will replaced by the block "C" logo that has come to dominate team hats and jerseys. The plan to phase out the old logo has been enacted over several years.

Limited quantities of Wahoo merchandise will still be sold through the team shop at Progressive Field. A trademark agreement will allow the franchise to continue selling the branded items, but the team will no longer wear Wahoo on the field.

The team will debut its new uniforms at 10 a.m., Fox 8 reported.

"Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in January when it was announced the Indians would phase out Wahoo by 2019. "Over the past year, we encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization about the club's use of the Chief Wahoo logo. During our constructive conversations, Paul Dolan made clear that there are fans who have a longstanding attachment to the logo and its place in the history of the team."

Northeast Ohioans are well aware that there are annual protests by Native American groups at the Cleveland Indians home opener. However, it was the Tribe's recent run of success that spurred the removal of Wahoo.

The Indians' 2016 World Series campaign may have galvanized Major League Baseball leadership, the AP reported last year. The team's presence in a highly-rated Fall Classic (opposite the Chicago Cubs) irked Manfred, who decided the team should eradicate the logo moving forward.

During the 2016 season, there was even a lawsuit filed in Canada to ban references to Chief Wahoo on Canadian television.

The Washington Redskins, of the NFL, have come under similar fire for their team name and logo, which have been deemed racist by some. A Native American group has been lobbying for the team to change its name to the Washington Redhawks.

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Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch