All These Years, When Already?

I have friends who have been disgusted about the losing patterns of all Cleveland teams.  It has been a long time since the Browns or Indians have had a championship.  Give credit where credit is due, Cleveland fans may be the greatest in sports.  You have to give props to people who spend their money to come and root for teams that have not won the way Cleveland fans do.  If you look at other cities, such as Philadelphia, fans would have given up moons ago if they had to suffer the way the poor Cleveland fans have.  In a city that boos Santa Claus, as Philly fans have,  twenty years is an eternity to wait for something good to happen.

Another sad situation of the loyalty factor is that when we Indians fans travel outside of Ohio and happen to have an Indians hat on, we are constantly on the defensive of all verbal ribbings.  “Do you wear that simply as a sunblock?”, was asked of me in Myrtle Beach, SC, last summer by a Yankees fan.    The nerve of that guy.  That team pays more than the 2009 stimulus bill and can’t win anything, but those fans are always right in their own eyes.

My advice to fellow Indians fans would be hang in there.  Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro are approaching the talent level the Indians enjoyed in the mid-1990’s.  The Indians will be in contention, and God willing, can catch a few breaks to win it all.  The key will be to stay injury free and playing smart fundamental baseball.

Spring Training:  The Tribe got clobbered in the late Innings by the Arizona Diamondbacks, 15-9.  Cleveland drops to 0-2 in the very young exhibition season.  To me, at least for the first couple of weeks, the final score of an exhibition game should be registered after the fifth inning.  Beyond the fifth inning, prospects, has-beens, and wanna- be’s are basically playing a pickup game.