Cleveland Sports Chatter

[twonabomber]

Dolan is notoriously cheap. anyone in Chardon will tell you that.

last Sunday there was a half marathon in the morning, the Browns game, and then the Indians game at night...the PD did a story on people that were going to all three. enthusiam is pretty high, the Browns fans always have high hopes (at least until Halloween) and most of the writers are being very complimentary of the Cavs' moves. the Barons are somewhat lost in all this, there were rumors of their departure last year, so we'll see how that turns out.

this week a lot of the buzz was about Dan Gilbert/Quicken Loans bringing 300 "high paying" jobs downtown, and the Gund Arena name change to Quicken Loans Arena, or "The Q." Gilbert bused in a lot of his veteran employees for the weekend, they had a private party/concert at the Gund on Saturday and did a lot of sightseeing on Friday. he's really getting a lot of positive ink lately.

[POJO_Risin]

It's really fucking funny how different the Dolan brothers are. His brother is a spending machine.

As is Gilbert. It's funny how different the perception of Gilbert is since he unleashed on a money run.

The funny thing about it is that Gilbert actually has a marketable player in James.

As good as the players are in Cleveland, I don't know that there is a guy there right now that you can market...in all that youth. Peralta and Sizemore are fantastic, as is Martinez...but none of them have that marketable piece...lmfao...that they'll ultimately find with another club...

[POJO_Risin]

hehehehehhe...

the hottest team in baseball wins again...

15 back on August 1st...

2 1/2 back on September 19th...after beating the horrible White Sox tonight...

a sweep...and we are 1/2 game out...

and we keep the 1 1/2 lead on the Yanks...who picked up another game on the Sox...

[POJO_Risin]

Hafner is a hitting machine...

3 for 3 tonight...

and coincidentally...he came off the DL...

you guessed it...

August 1st...

This team is going to be good for 4 more years...until the Sox and the fucking Spanks...buy all their players...

the whores...

[POJO_Risin]

Call him clutch: Boone helps Indians get within 2 1/2 games of ChiSox
Sep. 19, 2005


CHICAGO -- Aaron Boone's clutch hit sent the surging Cleveland Indians to another victory and one game closer to the sliding Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.

Boone delivered a two-run, two-out single in the eighth inning Monday night, and the Indians cut the White Sox's one-time huge lead to 2½ games by rallying for a 7-5 victory.

Boone, who homered earlier to help the Indians build a 4-0 lead they couldn't hold, worked his way out of an 0-2 hole and lined a single up the middle off Bobby Jenks to silence an electric crowd of 35,748 at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Indians trailed the White Sox by 15 games after Chicago swept a four-game series at Jacobs Field from July 14-17, and were still 14 behind in early August.

But they've won 13 of their last 14, including six straight, while the White Sox have lost eight of 11 in what is turning into a colossal collapse.

Cleveland also maintained its 1½-game lead for the AL wild card over the Yankees, who beat Baltimore 3-2 Monday night.

Carl Everett homered in the seventh off Rafael Betancourt (4-3) to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead. Paul Konerko's two-run, two-out double had capped a four-run fifth off Kevin Millwood -- three of the runs were unearned - to tie the game.

The teams play twice more at U.S. Cellular Field before closing the season with three at Jacobs Field.

Down 5-4, the Indians rallied against Damaso Marte, who relieved with out in the eighth, walked Travis Hafner and gave up a double to Victor Martinez. Marte (3-4) then fanned Ben Broussard for the second out and was replaced by rookie Jenks, whose fastball is nearly 100 mph.

Boone got the count back to 2-2 before hitting a liner to center just past Chicago shortstop Juan Uribe.

Chicago threatened in the bottom half when pinch-hitter Pablo Ozuna led off with a double, but former White Sox reliever Bobby Howry got the next three batters.

Hafner hit a run-scoring double in the ninth to make it 7-5 and finished 3-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs.

Bob Wickman pitched the ninth, getting Konerko to pop to second with two men on to earn his 44th save in 49 chances, including 15 straight.

Playing against Chicago for the first time since he was hit in the mouth by Mark Buehrle's pitch on July 16, Hafner hit an RBI double in the first and his 27th homer in the fifth to make it 4-0. Boone added a solo shot in the second and Broussard had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the third off Chicago starter Freddy Garcia.

Chicago finally broke through for four runs in the fifth against Millwood, who entered the game with the AL's lowest ERA at 3.02.

Right fielder Casey Blake dropped Aaron Rowand's leadoff liner for a two-base error and Joe Crede, who just missed a home run in his previous at-bat, hit an RBI single to center. Scott Podsednik followed with a single to make it first-and-third before Tadahito Iguchi delivered an RBI single and advanced to second on the throw.

Millwood got Everett on a popup, but Konerko hit a long liner that a leaping Grady Sizemore just missed in center for a two-run double to tie the game.

Coco Crisp drove a pitch from Neal Cotts to deep left in the seventh, but Podsednik leaped against the fence to pull it down.

Garcia, with one win in his last nine starts, lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs. Millwood went six, surrendering eight hits and four runs.

Notes
The White Sox lead the season series 10-4. ... Indians 2B Ronnie Belliard missed his fourth straight game with an abdominal injury.

[POJO_Risin]

Cleveland currently has the 3rd best record in baseball...and would be ahead of the Sox in the East...

[POJO_Risin]

Chi. White Sox (9) 91 61 .599 -
Cleveland 90 63 .588 1½

[POJO_Risin]

The Tribe

1 1/2 games back

[POJO_Risin]

The Tribe 2 out of three against the Sox...should have been 3 of 3...

[POJO_Risin]

The Tribe blasts Kansas City tonight...

[POJO_Risin]

The Tribe will be in first place by Sunday...

game...

set...

match...

[twonabomber]

Indians plan more promotions, bet wins now mean fans later

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Cleveland Indians have jumped into the spotlight with their wild and surprisingly successful finish to the season, grabbing the attention of their division rivals and the national media.

The hometown faithful, however, are another story.

Fans have been slow to join the bandwagon and support the team the way they did in the 1990s. The most recent weekend homestand -- a crucial three-game set against the Kansas City Royals -- averaged 25,674 tickets sold, 59 percent of Jacobs Field's capacity.

Despite the sluggish attendance -- Cleveland is 24th in home attendance among the league's 30 teams, according to ESPN.com -- Indians officials are optimistic about next season.

The team is freezing season-ticket prices at this year's rates for fans who renew by Oct. 14. And the Indians are giving playoff ticket priority to fans who deposit $200 toward a new 2006 season-ticket package.

Next year's home calendar also will be the most expansive in terms of special events and promotions in the franchise's history, team spokesman Bob DiBiasio said.

The number of home dates including a special event or promotion -- fireworks or bobblehead giveaways, for example -- will jump from 36 this season to 50 in 2006.

"Our TV ratings are up, our radio ratings are up and the connection between this team and the city grows stronger every day," DiBiasio said. "We will realize that at the gate next year, no question about it."

Scott O'Connell, director of ticket sales for the Minnesota Twins, expressed surprise that the Indians didn't draw more fans as they closed in on and then took over the wild-card lead. But he agreed it's typical of fans to show more support the season after a playoff run.

The Twins won the World Series in 1987, but attendance was lukewarm that season, O'Connell said.

The team didn't make the playoffs the next year but still drew about 3 million fans, almost a million more than in 1987.

"There's a cyclical nature to this business, and for most teams the promise of future success gives them a lot of marketing ammunition," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

Winning, however, doesn't cure all attendance ills, Swangard said. Most families would be willing to concede a few wins for more affordable tickets, he said.

The Indians have 81 home dates next season; 76 will include discounted ticket opportunities, up four from this season.

Why discounts after a winning season? Success on the field typically only draws the more dedicated baseball fans. Families or casual fans must be enticed in other ways.

"Winning is what drives the engine," DiBiasio said, "but we'd better be prepared to entertain the fans."

Besides ticket prices, the marketing staff keeps an eye on food and beverage options, customer service, peripheral entertainment like fireworks and the condition of the park.

But ticket prices are always an issue. In the late 1990s and into 2000, Indians ticket prices climbed consistently, particularly the moderate and high-end tickets. Single-game upper box tickets went from $14 in 1996 to $19 in 2000. Single-game upper reserve tickets - among the cheaper seats - were $10 from 1996 to 1999 before jumping to $12 in 2000.

This season, single-game upper box tickets cost $18, and upper reserves are still $10.

It's no coincidence that prices leveled off as the team slashed payroll and won fewer games. "As we announced the fact we were going through a rebuilding process, we held tight to our price structure," DiBiasio said.

That rebuilding seems to be paying off. The Indians were leading the American League wild-card race for a playoff spot as of Wednesday morning, and had won 13 of their last 15 games. But from 1995 to 2001, when the team made the playoffs six times in seven years, it also had six seasons with more than 3 million in attendance and a record streak of 455 consecutive sellouts at Jacobs Field.

The Cleveland sports scene is a different place now, and expecting a sellout every night is unrealistic, DiBiasio said. When the Indians were ruling the American League Central Division in the 1990s, other factors created what DiBiasio calls "the perfect storm."

Around that time, there was no professional football team in town, Jacobs Field was new, and downtown Cleveland was enjoying a revitalization.

Such a set of circumstances probably won't occur again, DiBiasio said, but that doesn't have to happen for the Indians to be financially sound. An average home crowd of 30,000 - capacity is about 43,000 - and a yearly total attendance of 2.4 million would be satisfactory.

This season, the team hoped attendance would reach 1.95 million. As of Monday, the total was 1.93 million, including pre-sold tickets for the last six home games.

Manager Eric Wedge has no hard feelings toward fans. "We can't control what kind of crowds we have," he said. "One thing that we do feel, though: The people that are here, you feel the energy and you feel that climate and you feel that support and how loud it gets."

[POJO_Risin]

No excuse why they aren't getting a sell out here or there...

I went when the owners sucked ass...

and would make no exception in this case. Pre Dick Jacobs...they NEVER had a fucking owner that was worth a shit...and it never stopped me from going...

of course...you could buy a 1$ bleacher seat...and end up right behind the dugout...lmfao...

[POJO_Risin]

Tribe wins again...

so did the shit heal socks, spankees...and redcondoms...

[POJO_Risin]

Hafner is on fucking fire...another dinger tonight...7 in six games I think...

Whoever took over the Kilborne show is talking about a baseball game in Cleveland he went to...and Stadium Mustard...

damn...I miss the fucking stadium mustard...