March 15, 2008...4:23 pm
The Devil’s In The Details: Tampa’s Name Change
First time I heard about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays dropping the Devil from their name was last week, in the aftermath of the rumble with the Yankees down in Florida. Which just goes to show that what’s in a name isn’t always descriptive: a Devil by any other name can still raise hell a-plenty. You can see the whole skirmish here—it shows the fight while a talking head supplies the background of who did what to whom and when. In the wake of the battle, players from both teams got suspensions to be enforced at the start of the season. I’m wondering what an incident like this before the season even starts might mean for Joe Girardi’s management, not to mention Steinbrenner Junior’s custodianship of the Yanks. We’ll have to wait to find out–but meanwhile, 
the Rays’ name change should not go unnoticed.
My first thought was that some Christian fundamentalists had pressured the team to stop glorifying the forces of evil, but my research turned up nothing in this vein; however, the Church of Satan did weigh in.
Although the true reason behind the name change remains unclear, the head of the Church of Satan, Magnus Peter H. Gilmore, believes the team made the move to spite the church.”We were in the midst of negotiations for the souls of some of their players when the
organization low-balled us and we had no choice but to walk out.”
For a minute I thought I’d stumbled onto the website of The Onion, but in fact this was real reportage on a blog called The Serious Tip.
Tampa Bay claims they gave the Devil his due in the hopes of reinventing the team and climbing out of the cellar this season. Whatever their reason, Tampa Bay, or The Rays as they’re now called, have proven that changing a team’s name isn’t a major trauma with monumental logistical problems. As owner Stuart Sternberg put it, “We were tied to the past, and the past wasn’t necessarily something we wanted to be known for.”
That said, I am taking this golden opportunity to raise, yet again, one of my ongoing baseball issues: the powers that be in Major League Baseball should ask, or encourage, or even demand, that the Cleveland Indians trash their outdated, racist name, and their offensive logo along with it. I’m not saying they should call themselves Native Americans—just something, anything, that isn’t an insult to the indigenous people of this country. If the Devil can be ousted, then surely a symbol of ignorance and racism can be quietly retired.
2 Comments
March 15, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I remember when the Devil Rays were just talk in the Florida area. Even then there was much talk about the controversial name that they picked. I believe that they even changed it once before going to the official name of the Devil Rays. Its unbelievable to me how much a name can bother people.
Mike Wilson
http://ibaseballtube.com
April 29, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Here’s some good discussion on the matter of the Indians. They may not have been named after Lou Sockalexis, but they were inspired: http://webpages.charter.net/joekuras/wahoo2.htm
But “what’s in a name?” I personally like the Louis Sockalexis story and that he made it to the bigs, despite cultural barriers. I think Cleveland should somehow keep or alter its name to honor his legacy. He broke the technical color barrier and dealt with enormous racism. I will agree with you the logo of Wahoo (circa 1952) appears extremely racist. That should go, no question.
In our bankrupt culture, I’d like to try and celebrate the Native Americans. (I remember) even when growing up as a little boy, they fascinated and were revered by everyone–rugged people that lived off the land in harmony with nature, spiritually deep. In a world of spiralling gas prices and near total spiritual loss, we could learn a thing or two from the Native Americans, I think. And since we hold sports in America practically on a par with religion, you could make a case that having a nickname for a team dedicated to you is perhaps the highest honor we can bestow in our weird world.
Are “Braves” “Chiefs” and “Seminoles” racist? Maybe “Chiefs,” because I think it’s such a common cliche … But I don’t think there’s anything inherently racist about the others. Maybe naming the Indians after a local tribe would be less offensive. Or hey, maybe America should just be forced to wear “Indians” as a badge of ironic shame as our cultural IQ improves over time. I mean, a white guy got lost and thought he was in India.
Randy–Thanks so much for that pointer–that website is very interesting. I moved it to the top of your comment hoping people will go visit it.
I agree with you that the name isn’t quite as bad as the logo, and that’s what has to go. But I don’t see it happening any time soon. I’ve thought of all the names you suggest too. By the way, the Braves already exist (Atlanta). Thanks for all your input.–MS
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