A Change on the Horizon for the Indians Team Logo

It was announced on Monday that the Cleveland Indians will have a new logo come 2019. It'll be the first time since 1948 that the Indians will have a different logo other than the "Chief Wahoo" logo, a cartoonish caricature of a Native American that has assumed several forms over the many years as the symbol of the team.

According to Major League Baseball, the popular logo, was no longer appropriate for on-field use by the Cleveland Indians.

The conversation has been ongoing over the years whether or not the Indians Chief Wahoo logo should be considered offensive or racist.

In a statement released on Monday by team owner Paul Dolan, he detailed how/why the decision was reached:

"Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. announced today that the Cleveland Indians will remove the "Chief Wahoo" logo from their uniforms, effective with the 2019 season. The announcement comes following thoughtful and productive discussions between Major League Baseball and the Indians.

"Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game," said Commissioner Manfred. "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. Nonetheless, the club ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball, and I appreciate Mr. Dolan's acknowledgement that removing it from the on-field uniform by the start of the 2019 season is the right course."

"We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion," said Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan. "While we recognize many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, I'm ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred's desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019.""

For those of you who do love the Chief Wahoo logo don't worry, the logo won't be going away entirely as the team will continue to keep the rights to the logo.

The Chief Wahoo logo gained its popularity with fans when the baseball movie, Major League hit theaters in 1989. The movie was centered around a lowly bunch of misfit baseball players on what was supposed to be a bad Cleveland Indians team. If you haven't seen it, you've got to check it out! Here's the trailer to check out, the quality of the movie is much better than this I can assure you:

For all my sports posts and to hear my inner sports thoughts, make sure to keep up with me on Twitter and Facebook.