Jim Thome doesn't want Chief Wahoo logo on his Hall of Fame plaque
There wasn’t much drama surrounding which team’s logo Jim Thome would wear on his cap in his Hall of Fame plaque. After spending 13 seasons with and hitting 337 of his 612 career home runs for the Cleveland Indians, there was no other choice that would make sense for the 2018 inductee.
There was, however, some question over which Indians logo would appear on that cap in wake of Major League Baseball and the Indians decision to discontinue the controversial Chief Wahoo logo in 2019.
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With Thome’s induction coming this summer, well before that mandate goes into place, the door would presumably be open for Thome to pick the Chief Wahoo logo if he felt inclined to do so. However, he revealed on Friday that his preference would be to wear the block-C logo.
Here’s Jim Thome, on whether his Hall-of-Fame plaque will have a C or Chief Wahoo logo on his hat… pic.twitter.com/E5MEHlV2YE
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 2, 2018
That’s notable because if Thome’s preference is honored, his plaque would be represented by a logo the Indians didn’t use during the bulk of his time with the team. From 1991-2002, Wahoo was Cleveland’s primary logo, with a script-I mixed in on occasion. In 2011, when Thome returned for 22 games, the block-C was used regularly.
It’s also worth noting that the Jim Thome statue that sits outside Progressive Field does have the Chief Wahoo logo on his batting helmet.
Jim Thome's statue ceremony is live on our Facebook. Click here to watch and share your favorite number 25 memories –> https://t.co/9fMcgIIN7E pic.twitter.com/59cnNjrSTF
— SportsTime Ohio (@SportsTimeOhio) January 25, 2018
You can click on the above image to get a better look at the helmet.
The Chief Wahoo debate was definitely on-going when the statue was sculpted and unveiled in 2014. It just didn’t have the momentum it would later gain towards the logo being eliminated. We’re guessing Thome didn’t have any say on the logo then since the statue was entirely set up by the Indians. He’ll have a little more say now, but the final say always go to the Hall of Fame.
With that in mind, Thome should get his way based on this piece of history.
Jim Thome is the 13th player with Indians as their primary team voted into the HOF. Of the previous 12, only Early Wynn has a version of Chief Wahoo on his plaque. The rest are blank or C logos. pic.twitter.com/7CAQPqDTpm
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 2, 2018
In other words, the Hall of Fame has always been happy to bypass the Chief Wahoo logo.
Whether Thome gets his block-C or the Hall of Fame suggests something else, Chief Wahoo isn’t likely to be the final answer.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
