Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team did more than spotlight a piece of local history when it changed its name to the Guardians after the 2021 season. The renaming also shined light on a point of pride for the area’s Italian American community.

The Guardians’ name is taken from the “Guardians of Traffic,” eight massive Art Deco sculptures that stand on four sandstone pylons, a “Fungo” hit from Progressive Field on the Hope Memorial Bridge.