Cleveland Guardians Mascot

The Cleveland Guardians, formerly known as The Cleveland Indians have established themselves as an important part of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, United States, the Guardians are a two-time winner of the World Series title. Moreover, they have also been the AL Central Division champions 12 times and have won the AL pennants 6 times so far. Notably, they are serious interleague rivals of the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. The team also shares a divisional rivalry with the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers.

The Cleveland Guardians had a good run throughout the 2023 MLB season under their manager Terry Francona. The team ranked #1 in AL Central and earned a win-loss-draw record of 92-69-0 in the 2024 MLB season. Moreover, the team plays their home games at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and is led by Mike Chernoff and Stephan Vogt as of October 2024.

Who is the mascot for the Cleveland Guardians?

Slider is the official mascot for the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB) as per the MLB official site. He is notable for being a large furry creature with shaggy yellow eyebrows and a large yellow nose as per Sportsmascot Wikia. He also wears a Cleveland Guardians jersey.

Slider’s History

Slider, the mascot for the Cleveland Guardians, was introduced to the fans on July 29, 1990, as per the MLB official site. He is a furry creature who resembles the Phillie Phanatic of the Philadelphia Phillies. The only difference is that he is purple and pink in color and he wears a white Cleveland Guardians jersey.

As per MLB's official website, the concept for this mascot goes to Dennis Lehman, who was the executive vice president of the Cleveland Indians. He had earlier spent two decades with the Philadelphia Phillies and had noticed how successful the Phillie Phanatic was. Therefore, on joining the Cleveland Indians, he decided to create a mascot for the team, which resulted in the introduction of Slider. Lehman has described his creation as a “big fat furball.” Dan Kilday is notable for performing the role of Slider since his inception.

He is often regarded as one of the oldest mascots in MLB and became a Mascot Hall of Famer in 2008 as per Mascot Hall of Fame. Additionally, Slider wants the Cleveland Guardians to win the World Series and go to Disney in addition to his love for the fans. Here are some very important information about Slider that the fans should remember as per the MLB official site:

Slider’s Funny Incidents

The first funny incident regarding Slider happened on March 29, 2016, the Cleveland Indians had invited Slider to Spring Training as per Medium. There he helped solve the problems of Jose Ramirez and Joba Chamberlain. Unfortunately, he had an accident with Terry Francona’s scooter for which he got hilariously busted.

On August 5, 2022, Slider appeared on WKYC Channel 3 as part of his birthday, where he participated in weather forecasting as per WKYC Studios. There he performed funny antics alongside his dance while also forecasting the weather. He also participated with the news anchors in a live Instagram session.

During the ALCS Game 4 on October 14, 1995, Slider hilariously fell off the stands while Carlos Baerga scored a single in the 6th inning as per MLB on YouTube. He immediately stood back up and hilariously hobbled back to the bullpen. However, the performer had suffered serious injuries from the incident.