(See lineups below and not about Kipnis and other roster changes)
This is the season of discontent for Indians fans. The tease of spring hopes have been followed with the reality of summer swoons — June or July, take your pick.
Too many of us foolishly think large men wearing orange helmets can restore civic pride. We baseball fans know they will get nothing but violence, a zillion beer commercials and a winter that seems colder every year.
So we soldier on, listening to Tom Hamilton (it’s interesting how our player tracker directs you to an old-time ballplayer, not the announcer. I do not know how to disable it) and figuring a summer night has joy even if it does not hold any hope for victory or baseball in October.
No matter how much we try to put on a happy face, there are questions:
If this season is lost, have we at least made our prospects better for next season?
Will we ever convince other Ohioans that there is no boring baseball, just boring people and football fans? Sure, we enjoy football, but don’t call us fools for following a team after it falls hopelessly behind. This game is fascinating, even at its worst.
Is it true that players suddenly come alive when traded from Cleveland?
Is it fair for us to expect the Indians owners to invest in better players when so many fans start staying home in June when the smallest disappointments arise?
Most important, are we part of the problem? I just watched Terry Collins talk about how the Mets players have been inspired by the energy of New York crowds that suddenly see a chance for a winning team. Would the Indians be better if more of us suspended reality and acted like our team actually had a chance?
These questions are too troubling to be worth much time. Instead, we are better off enjoying this beautiful game, even if it means staying up late for a game we probably will not win. We are not football fans who ponder slitting their wrists after one early-season loss. We are baseball fans who see the pastoral beauty of a game that is worth watching and enjoying after hope has departed.
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Jason Kipnis is on the disabled list, retroactive to Sunday, and Jose Ramirez is back with the club and starting at second base.
Kipnis has a sore shoulder and was sent to Cleveland for rehabilitation. Surgery is not expected.
The Indians also promoted Kyle Crockett and sent Michael Roth to Columbus. They are lefty relievers.
| Indians | Rays | ||
|
2B
|
Jose Ramirez |
LF
|
David DeJesus |
|
SS
|
Francisco Lindor |
RF
|
Kole Calhoun |
|
LF
|
Michael Brantley |
CF
|
Mike Trout |
|
1B
|
Carlos Santana |
DH
|
David Murphy |
|
C
|
Yan Gomes |
3B
|
Conor Gillaspie |
|
RF
|
Lonnie Chisenhall |
1B
|
C.J. Cron |
|
LF
|
Jerry Sands |
2B
|
Johnny Giavotella |
|
CF
|
Michael Bourn |
C
|
Carlos Perez |
|
3B
|
Giovanny Urshela |
C
|
Jason Castro |
|
SP
|
Corey Kluber |
SP
|
Garrett Richards |
“Is it fair for us to expect the Indians owners to invest in better
players when so many fans start staying home in June when the smallest
disappointments arise?”
i have been saying this for years. when we started off with several duds at home near the beginning of the season, anyone who pays attention knew that was going to mean attendance would be even spottier than normal. the people abandoning the team 30 games in are the same clowns most likely to take to comment boards to whine about the dolans being cheap.
The 90s teams created bandwagon fans by the boatloads, and the mediocre to awful teams of the 60s, 70s and 80s helped create a relatively small amount of hard-core Indians fans.
I think it is more of a cumulative thing. It’s years of almost but not quite. If the team were competitive for a couple of years in a row, I think the fans would buy in. Lets face it, it’s not cheap to take the family and you would like the expectation of a good competitive game. That has been hard to find this year. 1-0 games can be very exciting, but not when it is missed opportunity after opportunity or errors.
Can anyone honestly say that this team moved forward this year? IMO, it has not. If we could see improvement from year to year of the team, not an individual, then the fans would be excited.
Many of the the players have not lived up to expectations. Are they under performing or has management over valued them? To have the starting pitching we have and yet be so bad. Who knew?
The Indians pitching (as of yesterday) was ranked 7th (of 15) in the American League, and surprise surprise! the Tribe is ranked 5th in team fielding percentage. Both are slightly better than league average.
They are scoring 3.8 runs a game. No one expected them to resemble the ’27 Yankees, but if the Tribe could have averaged something like a half run more a game, they’d be legit playoff contenders.
Kipnis and Brantley have had solid to very good seasons offensively. The team overall has a solid on base %. Fringe/platoon guys like Murphy, Raburn and until the last month or so Aviles have done a solid job in their roles, if not better.
The primary reason the Indians have tanked this year has been the “run producers”, the middle-of-the-lineup guys of Carlos Santana, Brandon Moss and Yan Gomes have been dreadful with runners on base.
Couldn’t agree more! And you left out Bourn. He was horrible up until the last couple of weeks. Hey, the tribe may get 9 hits in a game, but 1 per inning means nothing. How may time was it 2nd and 3rd with no outs and no runs got in? Not even a sac fly could be found.
Your point about the man on 3rd base and less than 2 outs being stranded is very on-point Peter. The Indians inability to play “small-ball” is maddening, and situations like above are why I at times snicker at the saber guys and their “a strikeout is no different than a groundout or a flyout” mentality.