Screengrab via FOX
Honestly, who thought this was a good call? The Cleveland Indians successfully turned a quaint little story—only living member from the last Indians team to win the World Series on hand for possible clinching game—into a colossal fuck-up. Eddie Robinson is 95 years old, and a spry 95 at that, by the way. He played and lived a big chunk of his life in a different era, so, yeah, maybe the wildly racist logo on both the jacket and hat that Robinson wore at Game 6 Tuesday night could be explained away as relics from a more insensitive time. Or maybe it could be brushed off as a tip of the racist cap to the uniform he played in: this particular Chief Wahoo was the logo from 1946 to 1950.But here's the thing: that is not a jacket and hat from back when Robinson played. The hat has a New Era logo on it, for crying out loud. The jacket looks like it's in pristine condition. And just last week, Robinson sounded pretty salty with the team for not having invited him sooner. These are not heirlooms he's been holding on to. It's more than likely he just got them yesterday. And then he sat in a suite, hosted by the Cleveland Indians. How does someone not say, Ehh, maybe we could just put you in a jacket and cap with the more modern, slightly less racist mascot? Because everyone and their mother knew that Eddie Robinson was going to show up on the FOX broadcast once that story was circulated yesterday. That is the whole point of telling the world that you invited him, so that you could show him there and say, See, look at the cool thing we did.Almost.The Indians have really fucked upthis whole logo thing six ways to Sunday. The season began with an announcement that the Chief Wahoo logo has been relegated to a secondary logo and that the organization was moving ahead with the block "C" has their primary logo. Everyone gave the Indians kudos for finally getting their act together and life moved on. Then Cleveland got hot this fall and have worn the Wahoo uniforms in every single postseason game. They are just one series removed from a situation where they, Major League Baseball, and Rogers Communications were literally sued to try to prevent showing the current red-faced Wahoo during the games in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Fans have shown up to the World Series in redface. Nevertheless, the organization remains almost defiant in the face of growing public outcry that hey, maybe give the racist logo a rest? Last night, letting Eddie Robinson go on TV in that hat and jacket was just the latest, and most public organizational rubber stamp for the obviously racist caricature.Game 7 is tonight, where Cleveland hopes to avoid losing a 3-1 series lead.[FOX]
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