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Co-Owners

Stephanie Liscio is the author of Integrating Cleveland Baseball: Media Activism, the Integration of the Indians, and the Demise of the Negro League Buckeyes; the book won first place in non-fiction history from the Ohio Professional Writers and second place nationally in the National Federation of Press Women’s annual competition in 2011.  A Ph.D. student in history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, Stephanie is also the president of the Cleveland chapter of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and is on the board of SABR’s Negro League research committee.  She received her B.A. in history and English writing/journalism from the University of Pittsburgh in 2001 and an M.A. in applied history from Shippensburg University in 2007.  A life-long, die-hard Indians fan, Stephanie lives in the Cleveland area with her husband John and shih tzu Torrey.  She’s also on Twitter and Facebook, and sometimes even remembers to update both!

Susan Petrone formerly worked as the Publicity Manager for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). She has been obsessed with the Indians since she was nine and once spent a summer hawking beer and hot dogs at the old Municipal Stadium just so she could see games for free. When she isn’t writing about baseball, she is a frequent contributor to CoolCleveland.com and writes fiction. Her first novel, A Body at Rest, came out in 2009. If you follow her on Twitter, she might say something amusing.

At right are Stephanie (left) holding Buddy (aka Budcalf Grant) and Susan holding Chocolate Moo (aka Moo Boudreau) in front of Nap Lajoie’s Hall of Fame plaque at Progressive Field’s Heritage Park.

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Authors

Chris Burnham is likely the only Indians fan who lives in the General Toronto Area. Born and raised in Alliance, Ohio, he’s lived the bad years, the glory years, the occasionally good years, and the usually disappointing years that don’t necessarily have anything to do with players leaving. He still blames Eric Gregg for having a strike zone wider than his waist in the 1995 World Series. He also blames Tony Fernandez and Jose Mesa for whatever it was that made them melt down in ’97. He struck Joel Skinner off of the Christmas Card list with an equally curious brain cramp that involved holding Kenny Lofton at third base for no good reason other than “it’s just the way things go in Cleveland.”

He is also a avowed general sports fan that might annoy you, because he’s a nerd who doesn’t realize that there are other things that go on in this world. He listens to music that may cause you to question his sanity, but he likes it that way. He lives with his wife who has just taken a liking to Shin-Soo Choo, only to likely see him leave in a trade. It took him only 12 years to finally get her to enjoy baseball. He hopes Jason Kipnis can hold her interest.

Above all, he’s just a guy waiting and hoping that the Indians win a pennant before the Cubs do.

Justin Lada: For better or worse, Justin was born a Cleveland Indians fan, graduating from Wickliffe High School in 2007.  

His first experience in baseball at the age of five consisted of blowing dandelions in the outfield and asking the coach if he could go home, if he got hurt.

Will McIlroy is a happy mess, equal parts Aragorn and Aqualung. He used to be Bartleby the Scrivenor but escaped and now looks and feels more like Slider. An incorrigible Indians fan.

Horse on the Left:    So, how many carrots do you think this pose is worth?
Horse on the Right:   Carrots? This guy’s a putz. I’m holding out for apples.

Ryan McCrystal (pictured at age 7 or 8, dressed as Brook Jacoby for Halloween) has been an Indians fan since birth. Previously employed by the Worldwide Leader, Ryan worked on various shows, including Baseball Tonight, while stationed in beautiful Bristol, Connecticut. Ryan is currently attending graduate school at John Carrol University. Also an avid college football fan, more of Ryan’s work can be found on DraftAce.com and ESPN Insider. You can follow Ryan on twitter at @TribeFanMcC or follow his college football thoughts at @Ryan_McCrystal.

Vern Morrison has been a fan of the Cleveland Indians since John F. Kennedy was president. He has been to some memorable Indians games over the years, including Opening Day, 1975, when Frank Robinson homered in his first at-bat as player/manager of the Tribe. He’s also seen many games he’d just as soon forget. In the accompanying photo, Vern displays the physique and baseball aptitude that caused him to go hitless for an entire season of Little League in 1967. Vern works for the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Ryan Pinheiro has been an avid Tribe fan since first being introduced to baseball during the 1998 MLB Postseason.  He graduated from Green High School in 2009, and currently is a graduate student at the University of Akron.  He has a double major in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and is currently pursuing his Master’s in Applied Mathematics.  Ryan is extremely interested in sabermetrics and baseball analytics, and is currently working on doing research in these areas for his thesis.  Ryan also writes a fantasy baseball blog for the website midwestsportsfans.com.

Contributors

Brenden Lowery is a 22-year-old senior in college from Dover, Ohio. He fell in love with the Cleveland Indians at an early age after Kenny Lofton signed his coach pitch glove (a glove he can still fit his hand into today ironically). Brenden went on to play four years of varsity baseball for Dover High School, starting over 100 consecutive games in a four-year span. After a selection for the 2008 Mizuno All-Ohio Series, Brenden decided to continue his baseball and academic career at Thiel College, located in Greenville, Pennsylvania. He is currently finishing up his Biology/Pre-Med degree with minors in Medical and Animal Wildlife Biology after completing two seasons for the Tomcats baseball team. When Brenden is not at school in Pennsylvania, you can find him on the baseball diamond in Dover, Ohio playing Class A baseball (3B for the Fairless Falcons) or at Cleveland Indians games heckling Big Papi if and when the Red Sox come to visit. He also encourages you to follow him on twitter, as he loves chatting with readers about their thoughts on his columns.