Since 1915, baseball fans in Cleveland have rooted for an American League franchise in their city known as the “Indians”. While recent years and decades have left the fan-base among the most cursed in the sport, with a World Series championship drought that dates back to 1948, those fans will now be getting used to a team with a new look and identity starting in 2022.
In the franchise’s final home game as the Cleveland “Indians”, a crowd of 13,121 gathered at Progressive Field on Monday afternoon to watch their beloved “Tribe” beat the visiting Kansas City Royals, 8-3. Following the game, players returned to the field to salute their fanbase.
In the wake of national reckoning to the use of racist names and symbols in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2022, the Indians announced their intentions to take their name in early 2021, with an announcement coming over the summer that the team will be called the Guardians after the conclusion of the current season.
Amed Rosario hit a homer as part of a four-hit game in Cleveland’s home finale, while Cal Quantrill improved to 8-3 with six strong innings. Jackson Kowar took the loss for Kansas City, falling to 0-5 in his rookie season. MVP candidate Salvador Perez had two RBI’s for the Royals. Bradley Zimmer of the Indians homered off his brother, Royals reliever Kyle Zimmer, in the eighth inning.
Monday’s afternoon tilt was a make-up game from a rainout last week. Kansas City has six games, all at Kauffman Stadium, remaining in the 2021 season, as the Indians and Royals both headed out to KC to start a three-game series against one another on Tuesday night, with the Minnesota Twins playing three games at Kauffman this weekend.
Other MLB scores from Monday, September 27, 2021 were:
Chicago (AL) 8, Detroit 7
Seattle 13, Oakland 4
Cincinnati 13, Pittsburgh 1
Washington 5, Colorado 4