Royals 6, Indians 2: Big Game James dominates Wahoos
September 11, 2013While We’re Waiting… Wild Card’s factor in MLB attendance
September 12, 2013Following a second straight loss and another pitiful attendance figure this afternoon of 12,085, Indians outfielder Michael Bourn spoke out about the small crowds when asked.
“We would like to be supported a little bit more if we could. We’re two games out at the most (in the wild-card race). We’re fighting for the second wild card. … Last year they didn’t make it to this point.
The extra man (fans) is a good thing to have. It gets your blood flowing a little bit.
I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t believe in us. This is a totally different team, totally different atmosphere in the clubhouse. I think we deserve it. I think we deserve that chance until the last day of the season is over.
Hopefully, they come out and support us during the week or the weekend. We know the Browns play on Sunday. We’ll give them their time on Sunday morning. All the other days, they’re at practice.
Come on out and watch us play. That’s all we want.”
The Indians are 28th in the majors in attendance, drawing just under 1.43 million fans through 73 home dates, an average of 19,535 or 45% of stadium capacity. They drew two sub-10k crowds in the homestand, all-time lows at Progressive Field in the month of September. The Indians currently sit two games out in the race for the second Wild Card slot with 17 games to play.
“We’re just asking for them to come out and support us … that’s it. We’ll try to give them a good show every time they come out. The last four games have been kind of disappointing to us in here.
We’re still going to play, no doubt about it. But you want that atmosphere to be rocking like they had in the 1990s. I know they were the team at that time, but we’re trying to work to be a good team.”
68 Comments
Not to get all political…..but we have been a 1 party town for over 60 years. The attitude has been anto-business. “you are a rich business, so why should we give you a tax break?” However, reality is that if we don’t, some other city will. I am aware of may incidents where a spin off from the Clinic in biotech gets a start here, and then Raleigh or some other pro business city entices the new enterprise to move with the promise of a tax break. Until our leaders take the long term approach – employment of our citizens will more than offset any tax breaks – we will continue our economic slide. We need to partner with our creative business folks, not drive them away.
Well, I think asking a reporter to comment on one player’s performance is different than asking a player to comment on attendance at his games. A better analogy might be asking Bastian if he thinks more people should read the great pieces he writes. (Sidenote: I like Bastian’s work a lot, even if he is a Sparty).
But regardless, I guess it’s an agree to disagree thing.
I just think Bourn handled it in a nice way. He deserves at least a nod for not Perezing up a delicate topic.
I have been known to fight for the rights of every man.
True. I was shooting from the hip and too busy to do my usual quick B-R.com research. Point being, we didn’t just get rid of Victor all willy-nilly. It was a logical, sane move considering our situation at the time.
You’re right on the 29 of 30 teams. My 65% was just a made up number trying to illustrate that while the Yankees/Red Sox/Tigers of the world can overpay for hometown heroes, most of baseball does not have that luxury. (And now with the luxury tax thanks to the new CBA, the other imaginary 35% really don’t either.)
I’m just trying to pin down what “consistent” means, as its too vague on its own to be worth anything.
Now lets compare the attendance of the other teams that fit your criteria of 90+ losses in 3/5 years. At the end of 2013, there will be 10 other teams to fit that criteria, with Colorado just sneaking it out by one game in 2011. Of those teams (including Colorado), not one has a lower attendance than Cleveland.
So, sure, we’ve established why the Indians shouldn’t have great attendance marks. Now, why are their attendance marks lower than all the teams in the same situation as them?
Why is it that no one in Cleveland knows how to find affordable parking? I read cleveland.com, and this comes up every time there’s an attendance related article. There are two garages on Short Vincent where parking is $5. There’s also almost always free parking available around there. It’s less than a five minute walk to the ballpark.
I don’t even live in Ohio, and I’m aware of this. I went to a Cavs game over Christmas and an Indians game in May, and it cost us $5 total to park for the two events.
Now you’re down to $165. If you can’t figure out how to spend less than $40 on food by, oh, possibly eating before going to the game, you’re beyond additional assistance.
How realistic is it to go to a game and spend $0 inside with kids and a SO?
Uhmmm… About twice as many people live in Denver as opposed to Cleveland????
Why are you trying this? Honestly? Is your last name Dolan?
Because if you admit that Cleveland is too small/poor to support the Indians, you’re basically arguing for relocation of the team.
Where did I say you should spend $0? I’m saying that if cutting costs is such a big concern, its easily doable.
You’ve still got ten more to go.
Why are you trying to defend the fans?
I’d say it’s completely realistic. There’s no one forcing you to buy anything in the ballpark. Many people are not accustomed to doing so, but it IS possible!
Also, there’s a big difference between $10/person for food and spending $10 for the kids to share a bag of cotton candy and peanuts if they ask for it.
yes, though I would say it’s an Ohio problem as much or more than just a Cuyahoga County problem. alot of the laws were put in place with good reason 60-70yrs ago. The problem is that they are antiquated with the times and the poliitical bodies are not retracting them.
there’s a reason that Toyota, Honda, etc. chose to build their auto-plants in the South despite the experienced workforce being in the “rust belt”. the same thing happened with the Tech industry and will likely happen again with the next big employer boom.
And they get moved where? And why do they get moved when Kansas City, who hasn’t drawn 2 million fans, doesn’t? Or Tampa Bay? Or Pittsburgh? Where’s the market with the baseball ready stadium just waiting to play the role of the Washington Generals for the Red Sox and Yankees on a yearly basis as this ownership group is content to do? Where’s the talk of MLB expansion? Using this relocation bogeyman to shame people into going is just sad. There’s no market for this product, including in Cleveland. But by all means, continue to blame the customer rather than the company. That’s a winning strategy every time.
And now we might finish second or third six years later! Why aren’t you cheapskates coming out to support this burgeoning dynasty? Come on.
What’s “hilariously true” is that this front office has managed one playoff appearance in the last 11 years. So they can be as “highly respected” as they want, as long as that’s synonymous with “not being very good at producing playoff teams”. Other markets have worse attendance (Tampa) or lower payrolls (Minnesota) and have acheived much more than this one in that time frame. People can rightly criticize the Browns incompetence, but they clean house from time to time. This ownership group is satisfied with a substandard front office that has yet to produce back to back winning seasons in over a decade, and that has convinced a large number of fans that they’re unserious about serious contention for a world championship. One 86 win, second or third place finish in 6 years isn’t going to be remotely enough to change that.
I am just speaking of the reality of being one of the lower attended teams year-in,year-out.
Pitt just built a ballpark, so they are not moving.
I have mentioned TB as the #1 relocation candidate.
KC is likely #2 or #3 with the Indians the other one. I have mentioned this as well.
Oakland is already tabbed to go to San Jose once the commish gets his head out of his rear (or we get a new commish, more likely).
That leaves Portland, San Antonio/Austin, Raleigh, Orlando (likely TB relo), and Riverside as some of the possiblities. All of these cities are growing and have some major $$$ that comes along with them.
And then trounced Chicago the next day. Baseball isn’t typically a game of huge winning steaks. Winning 3 of every 5 games is all you’re really going for, ever.