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| In Cleveland, perception is reality. |
If you want a look into the mind of
the petulantly angry Cleveland
fan, at least as perceived by closer Chris Perez during his outburst to reporters over the weekend, look no
further than the small table set up on the outdoor patio of Panini's Bar
and Grill on E. 9th St. in downtown Cleveland.
There stands a young capitalist
selling homemade t-shirts of the kind offered outside most every stadium in the
nation. Invariably cheap-looking cotton shirts embroidered with swears or in
the case of Wrigley Field, gay slurs
aimed at the top players of rival teams, i.e. "Albert takes it in the
Pujols."
The table at the Cleveland Panini's
contains similar wares, boasting the usual anti-Steelers slogans and the like.
One shirt stands out from the lot due to its deep red coloring and mocking sentiment
against the very franchise that most people have come downtown to root for. "What If" The Dolans Weren't So
Cheap, the shirt reads, a not-so-subtle dig at the Tribe's nostalgia-laced
ad campaign of the last two seasons.
It's strange seeing this shirt being
sold before an Indians game, weirder still witnessing a foursome of giggling
twenty-something girls purchase a couple of the tops before heading to
Progressive Field for the game. Were these ladies going to wear the
ownership-bashing shirts while still cheering for the home team?
This discomfiting dichotomy may be
symbolic of the current state of Cleveland
fandom. Cynicism, anger and rampant negativity have long been components of the
fan experience here on the North
Coast
Perez's pointed comments have been
met with both harsh backlash and applauding support from Cleveland faithful, as well as the
not-so-faithful fans waiting for the other shoe to drop on the first-place
Indians. Perez was correct to bash the fans lustily booing him for letting a
couple of guys on base during a game against Seattle last week. There's no percentage in this type of
behavior. You may have the right to boo, but I in turn have the right to call
you an idiot for booing when the home team's closer hasn't even given up a run
yet. That's just stone stupid.
But Perez's comments about the
attendance, as well as his broaching the taboo subject of free agents avoiding Cleveland , is a much
deeper issue than it appears, one that touches on the deep-rooted psychology of
a battered fanbase and a city still recovering from its recession struggles.
In my 37 years of existence, a good
quarter century of them spent avidly rooting for Cleveland 's teams, I've never experienced the
level of frustration, paranoia and negativity that exists among fans today.
Again, that's a product of a shrinking planet where your fellow fan is just a
button-push away, but the Tribe's attendance issues are a very real
manifestation of the general feeling out there right now.
The economy, a shrinking downtown
population, distrust in ownership and the fervent wish for a time machine to go
back to 1995 all undoubtedly play a role in Progressive Field's tomb-like
status lately. However, the half-empty stadium also smacks of an overall
fanbase that's come to the end of its already frayed tether.
This is a population of fans that's
been Murphy's Law'd to a twitching, bloody pulp for a generation, with the last
few years being especially miserable. The Tribe sent away two Cy Young-winners
in trades that have thus far reaped very little in return; the Browns latest
regime has struggled as badly as the (mis)management before it; and finally, the
death blow, That Guy in Miami (TGiM) ungraciously departing for South Beach.
James leaving may have been the back-breaking straw for many fans, because if Cleveland 's not going to win the big prize with that kid,
how is any Cleveland
team going to win a title, ever in life?
Combine those factors with a bad
economy and the hopelessness spreads like a disease. Erratic behavior soon
follows. Fans see a first-place Indians' team and all they can do is point to
the 30-15 squad from the year before that faded once the summer heat hit. It's
almost childish how folks have gone out of their way to not support the 2012 Tribe. You almost expect every anti-Dolan tirade
to end with the complainer crossing his arms and pouting, "So, there!"
In a way, the pessimism is
understandable. The current ownership group did themselves no favors not
filling a glaring need for a right-handed power bat in the offseason,
particularly after signaling a short window of contention by trading the
organization's top two pitching prospects for Ubaldo Jiminez.
If Perez is right and free agents
will only come here for the money, perhaps the Tribe should have taken the risk
and added an extra year to the deal they offered Josh Willingham. Instead, they
foolishly inked a fragile Grady Sizemore, and are now left scrambling for help
among the aging and injured pile of veterans this team always seems to pursue
in lieu of actual talent. Fans see that and can't help but be a little cynical.
Circumspection is a necessary part
of fandom, and there's nothing wrong with not eating every ill-tasting dish
that ownership ladles out. Even the Browns are not immune. They may sell out
the stadium, but in 2011 were met with swaths of empty orange seats as early as
the second home game of the year. See, sports universe, Cleveland is not entirely full of myopic,
football-crazed lemmings!
What the Indians are experiencing
now is way beyond mere cautiousness, however.
It's more of an aggressive apathy bordering on spitefulness, an attitude
that will take a deep playoff push and an above market free agent to diminish.
Until then, the "Dolans are cheap" drum will keep on beating, and the
ugly spillover from past disappointments will continue to infect our enjoyment
of the teams we once loved.