Hello, Cleveland! Five things to know about the Guardians:
1. The Guardians, who were founded in 1901, are playing their first season under a new name after having been the Indians from 1915-2021. They were previously the Blues, Bronchos and Naps (after the team’s star player, future Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie). The renaming to Guardians came in response to years of criticism and included a change of its logo, an offensive caricature of a Native American.
2. The franchise’s 73-year championship drought is the longest active streak in baseball. Cleveland last won a World Series in 1948, beating the Boston Braves in six games behind a pitching staff that included future Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Bob Lemon. Its only other title came in 1920 against the Brooklyn Robins, who became the Dodgers in 1932.
3. This will be the sixth time Cleveland has faced the Yankees in the postseason, all since 1997. The Yankees won three times: the 2020 wild-card game, the 2017 ALDS and the 1998 ALCS. Cleveland was the only team to beat the Yankees in the postseason between 1996 and 2000, doing so in the 1997 ALDS. It also beat the Yankees in the same round in 2007, a series that famously included Joba Chamberlain being swarmed by midges during a Game 2 loss.
4. The Guardians have eight retired numbers, not including Jackie Robinson’s 42: 3 (Earl Averill), 5 (Lou Boudreau), 14 (Larry Doby), 18 (Mel Harder), 19 (Bob Feller), 20 (Frank Robinson), 21 (Bob Lemon) and 25 (Jim Thome). The number 455 is also honored in the ballpark for a streak of sellout games that lasted from 1995-2001.
5. Guardians radio announcer Tom Hamilton has been in the role since 1990 and is widely associated with the team. Prior to getting the job in Cleveland, he called games for what was then the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers.