Comments on Tribe Drawing Fans

We were discussing the state of the Cleveland Indians a few days ago, and of course, the subject of eliminating seats, bars in right field, and dynamic ticket pricing came up.

As long time followers of the Tribe, since the late 60’s (yes, we remember Sam McDowell, and when Ken Harrelson played for Cleveland and wasn’t the obnoxious voice of the White Sox), we realized that fans of our age group are not in the Indians’ demographic anymore.

They want young people, who sit around in a bar, and occasionally check outside to see what is going on with the ball game.

We are speaking generally of course, there are many young fans, and many women, who follow the game very closely, and love to watch games at Progressive Field.

So, most of the changes that the front office have made to spruce up the now 22 year old building have been along the lines of making the ballpark an entertainment place, not a sports venue, at least in our opinion.

The problem for the Indians is that it’s not working. Attendance has declined, not for the last three years (using the wild card berth as a starting point), but rather over the past five seasons, starting with drawing 1.84 million in 2011.

That’s our issue with the organization, they are slow to change. So, with all of these renovations and such, less and less people continue to show up to Indians’ games.

The people who do go will tell you they have a good experience. The food is good, the atmosphere excellent, and actually The Corner is a great place to meet with friends before or during the game.

The challenge is getting more people into the park, and the organization doesn’t seem willing to try different things.

Local sports talker Les Levine consistently says the team should discount tickets for the second and third games of the season, and it should ask fans buying (or trying to buy) tickets for Opening Day on the site. That makes total sense.

Why not?

We advocated last season, allowing fans who had tickets to the NBA Finals, when the games started at 9 PM, to stop into the Tribe game for $5. Let those fans eat and drink at the ballpark before going over to The Q.

Of course, this week, the Indians changed their High Achiever program for students. To be fair, they replaced it with another program, but limited it to 40 schools.

Our question is do they not realize those students usually bring a parent or two, and those people have to buy tickets?

Really, a team who has problems getting people to the stadium is limiting a program designed at giving kids free tickets?

We have been around long enough to realize the best way to draw fans in Cleveland is to win, no gimmicks, no promotions.

Yes, the Indians have had three consecutive winning seasons, but outside of the end of the 2013 season, they haven’t had that exciting period that gets fans talking about the team.

That’s why a good start to the season is necessary. That 2011 season where 1.8 million saw the Tribe? They started 30-15, but couldn’t sustain it.

That’s what is needed the most, get off to a quick start, it doesn’t have to be 30-15, and keep it going.

Show fans you are going to be right in the thick of it all season.

But early on, give people some deals to come and see this team. Let them get to know Francisco Lindor. Promote when Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco are going to pitch.

The Tribe needs to market their players and winning baseball. Promoting the non-baseball stuff, although it is nice, just isn’t working.

Should Cavs Shut Down Kyrie?

For a city that hasn’t won a professional sports title in almost 60 years, Cleveland sports fans are a relatively patient group. When their teams are mediocre and floundering, they understand that rebuilding is needed and usually they can accept it.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a good example.

After the shock of losing LeBron James to the Miami Heat, Cavs’ fans realized that it would take more than one year to get back to the playoffs. After watching a team which suffered through a 26 game losing streak the following season, supporters of the wine and gold rejoiced when Cleveland won the draft lottery and picked Kyrie Irving.

Irving was better than expected, winning rookie of the year honors, and the Cavaliers win total jumped from 18 wins in 2010-11 to 21 the next year in a lockout shortened season. They have matched that total so far this season in 61 contests, mostly by winning 12 of their last 21 contests.

Finally, Cavs’ basketball is worth watching again.

Irving is now an all-star, and many experts feel he will be one of the NBA’s ten best players in a year or two.

Then yesterday comes the news that the front office may shut Irving down for the rest of the season because he has a sore knee.

Maybe the former Dukie’s knee may be damaged worse than the public has been led to believe, but watching his performance in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win over Utah, it looks like he’s pretty healthy.

If his knee is bad, he should be held out of games until it is ready to go, but if he can play on it without risking further damage, he should be out on the court and helping this team learn how to win again.

A possible decision to hold the reigning Rookie of the Year out of games smacks of tanking, a tactic other NBA teams, including the Cavs have used in the past.

It’s just not a good decision for the 2012-13 Cavaliers.

First of all, since the Memphis trade which brought Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington to Cleveland, the wine and gold are playing well. They are learning how to win and they shouldn’t be looking to take a step backwards now. Especially because of the next point.

There is no consensus #1 pick in this year’s NBA draft. College basketball expert Jay Bilas, who also works on the draft coverage (talking about wingspan) recently said that Michigan’s Trey Burke is probably the player of the year in college this year, but the first selection in the draft will depend on that particular team’s need.

The point is that GM Chris Grant is going to have one pick in the top ten and another (assuming the Lakers can make the playoffs) in the mid teens, and there isn’t a franchise maker available this season. The Cavs will get good players, but not a slam dunk all-star.

So, it comes down to what is more important to the future of the franchise, winning games now and developing a winning mentality, or moving up a couple of spots in a weaker draft.

With Irving in tow, and Dion Waiters showing improvement every month, the Cavs need to learn how to win, to get used to the feeling. If you don’t think that’s important, then you haven’t been watching this basketball team since Speights and Ellington arrived.

They came from a winning atmosphere in Memphis and it has rubbed off on their new teammates.

No one is asking Kyrie Irving to play if he is injured, he is too valuable to the franchise for that. But holding him out of games to improve draft position isn’t what the Cleveland Cavaliers need right now if they want to start winning as soon as next season.

Tribe Gives Fans an Early Gift in Swisher

The Indians front office must have anticipated a Browns’ beatdown in Denver, so they brightened the season for all Cleveland sports fans by announcing they inked free agent OF/1B Nick Swisher to a four-year contract.

The Tribe offense is now better than it was last season with the addition of perhaps the second best hitter on the free agent market.

Swisher isn’t a superstar, but he is a productive, consistent, durable switch-hitter who fits nicely into the 2013 Indians’ batting order.

Since becoming a regular in 2005 with the Oakland A’s, the former Ohio State player has hit at least 21 HR and knocked in 69 runs in every season since. He does strike out a lot, but he also walks, drawing at least 77 free passes in six of the last seven years, and he has a lifetime on-base percentage of .361.

In fact, the best place for Swisher in the Indians’ batting order might just be the #2 spot, where he can draw walks and drive the ball to get rallies going.

As mentioned, he’s a switch-hitter and along with the acquisitions of Mark Reynolds and Drew Stubbs, the Indians have ended their experiment to have an all left-handed batting order.

The offense should be better next season because GM Chris Antonetti has improved three positions in the lineup. Although we have reservations about Reynolds and his strikeouts and ability to hit outside of Arizona, he is an upgrade over Casey Kotchman with the bat. Also, Lonnie Chisenhall should improve upon Jack Hannahan’s batting numbers at third base.

And Stubbs, even though he had a terrible season at the plate for the Reds in 2012, is better than the mishmash the Tribe played in LF last year. And he adds speed and improved defense.

Swisher at the least will make up for Shin-Soo Choo’s numbers in RF, and he will be better than Choo against left-handed pitchers. Here’s the lineup as we see it:

LF Michael Brantley
RF Nick Swisher
2B Jason Kipnis
C Carlos Santana
SS Asdrubal Cabrera
DH
1B Mark Reynolds
3B Lonnie Chisenhall
CF Drew Stubbs

Because of the amount of strikeouts for Reynolds and Stubbs, they would be best served hitting in the bottom third of the order. And we have always thought Cabrera would be better suited for the fifth spot in the order. Also, the guess here is new skipper Terry Francona will have a wonderful effect on the shortstop’s career.

And don’t forget, the GM added a solid bat for the bench in utility man Mike Aviles, who can be very productive in a limited role, say around 350-400 at bats per season.

Now, Antonetti needs to work on the pitching staff, which was the worst in the AL last season. He added a potential top of the rotation guy in Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco will also return following Tommy John surgery. Still, no team wants to depend on a bounce back season by Justin Masterson, a rookie, and a guy coming back from an injury to anchor the starting rotation.

That means another reliable starter is needed, and perhaps closer Chris Perez will be the bait.

Getting another arm would move Ubaldo Jimenez into the fifth spot in the rotation, and don’t forget about Zack McAllister, who might have been the Indians’ most reliable arm at the end of the season.

In fact, Jimenez might even be moved so Cleveland can get out from under the almost $6 million owed to him next season.

After a couple of years of relative inactivity, you have to give props to Antonetti for finally going out and improving this baseball team. While there is some work to do, getting Swisher and Bauer give Tribe fans a good foundation for hope when spring training starts in about six weeks.

Tribe Fans Want Fight From Organization

Cleveland isn’t known for the success of its sports teams, but most fans want nothing more than to rise up and win against all odds.

Football is probably the most equal playing field for smaller markets with teams like Green Bay and New Orleans winning recent Super Bowls, yet even in that socialistic of sports, Cleveland can seem to put a legitimate contender on the field, which shows how poor the management has been since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999.

The NBA has had one smaller market team have success in the last 20 years. The San Antonio Spurs have won four titles in that span, and Oklahoma City seems poised to take over the mantle of small market contender.

The Spurs success has been tied to superstar Tim Duncan staying with the franchise, and the Thunder hope Kevin Durant does the same thing.

In that league, most of the bigger name players want to be in larger markets, the better to make their “brand” more popular. Cavalier fans are very familiar with that idea.

The Indians need to embrace the role of underdog and become a feisty pit-bull of a franchise, instead of one always talking about its problems. Former Browns’ GM Phil Savage must have had the Tribe management in mind when he spoke about the “woe is me” complex Cleveland sports fans have.

A little over a week ago, Indians’ president Mark Shapiro had a town hall meeting in which he spoke to a group of fans. He talked about trying to win this season, but of course, had to bring up the point that the franchise will lose money this season, a comment the organization seems to include no matter what public statements it makes.

First of all, the fans don’t care if the Indians lose money. They want to see a winning team.

It’s time to stop the negativism and become an organization that will fight, scratch, and claw to beat the big boys of the American League. It’s basically the same philosophy the Tampa Bay Rays have taken on since Joe Maddon became manager.

It’s why Jack Hannahan of all people, has become a fan favorite. He doesn’t take crap from anyone.

This change would mean trying to win every game, and jumping on problems immediately, not waiting a month to take care of them.

The Rays are always tinkering with their roster, mostly the last few spots of it, trying to pick up a hot hand, someone who may just be able to make one game’s difference in the standings. They aren’t the only team that does this, bigger market teams do the same thing.

On the other hand, the Indians have an outfielder on their roster that has just 4 hits in his last 42 at bats, and he’s been on the team the entire season.

The Cleveland bullpen has struggled lately as well, save for mainstays Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano, and Joe Smith. No changes have been made there, either.

However, over the weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals, the defending World Series champions, switched three members of its’ relief corps. If the World Champs can do it, why can’t the Tribe?

Manny Acta fits right in with this attitude. After the horrible call made by Mike DiMuro on Wednesday night in Yankee Stadium, in which his starting third baseman was ejected, Acta defended the umpire’s blown call! Something about having a tough angle and a lot of fans in the way.

That’s just sad, and Tribe fans were justifiably angry with the lack of emotion from the manager.

This isn’t to say the fiery skippers have a better winning percentage, but for a franchise looking for some support from its fan base, a manager who acts like I don’t care the deck is stacked against me, we’re going to win anyhow, would be much more accepted by the ticket buying public.

After the incident, GM Chris Antonetti, and VP of Communications Bob DiBiasio were all over the airwaves trying to spin the skippers’ inaction and also deflect criticism for a team that has lost 20 of 32 games before winning the last two in Baltimore.

The GM just spouting more of the catch phrases the front office is famous for: “Core talent”, talking about the inequities of “the system”, etc.

The Indians front office should take this tact. Sure, it’s going to be tough to do, but when we win, we can stick it in the face of all of the disbelievers. Unless the organization gets a cleaning over the winter, that’s not going to happen, which is sad.