As The Onion's Jim Anchower would say, I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya. And it's been even longer since I rapped at ya about the Indians. But the trucks left Cleveland yesterday on their way to Goodyear, Ariz., full of the equipment the Tribe will need for spring training. Pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks, and while this figures to be a rebuilding year for the Indians, I'm excited to see how this season plays out.
Some early computer projections for how the season will play out have been completed, and I don't think it'll surprise any loyal Of Fair Hooker readers to find that the Indians are expected to finish third or fourth in the AL Central, with a sub-.500 record. This projection has our Tribe finishing third at 76-86, behind the Twins and White Sox; this one has them finishing fourth, behind those teams and the Tigers, but also 76-86. Unfortunately, coolstandings.com hasn't done its projections yet, but I would imagine it will be something close to the same.
As fans, we always want our team to contend for a title, but we have to accept that in Major League Baseball's financial climate, the Indians can't compete year after year. A team like ours has to rebuild and make a run for it every few years. They were able to stay one of baseball's top teams for a few years after the ballpark then known as Jacobs Field was built, but that stadium is no longer the advantage it once was. If they do finish 76-86, that would be a nine-game improvement over last year, and I'd be OK with that. Not happy, exactly, but OK.
The Dery Brothers Guardians Cast S6:E8 – Home sweep!
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Matt and Todd are in a great mood coming off the sweep of Oakland. Your
first-place Guardians are on fire. The boys talk rotation worries, Josh […]
3 weeks ago
2 comments:
Steve, we missed our opportunity a few years back when we had the BoSox down 3-1 in the ALCS and lost it. That might have been the last, best chance for you and I to see an Indians World Series championship in our entire lifetimes, even if we live to be 100.
Mullett, what do you think the Indians' attendance will be this season? In 2009, they were 13th out of 14 AL teams in attendance.
They finished either 1st or 2nd in attendance from 1995-2000.
It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, Steve: they have low attendance, so they have less money to go after free agents; because they have inferior players, they stink and nobody wants to go see them; then their attendance shrinks even further, further reducing their payroll... and so on.
It's not looking too good, Steve.
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