Indians closer Chris Perez has
crazy facial hair, "an arm like a f*ckin cannon" and the moxie of ten similarly sized men. What he
doesn't have is a filter between his brain and mouth. At times, such glibness can
be refreshing, particularly in an era when modern athletes are largely
PR-programmed robots with cut-and-paste responses to most media inquiries.
Alas, this is not one of those
times.
In an interview with The New York Times on Monday, with the Indians sunk in another
valley of what has been a queasily
up-and-down campaign, Perez rehashed his controversial comments from earlier in
the season about the Tribe's poor attendance.
"It's head-scratching. It's just — they don't come out." Perez said. "But around the city, there's great support. They watch it in the bars. They watch it at home. They just don't come."
The
Tribe's fiery, incredibly dark and edgy closer wasn't done there. Perez also
questioned Cleveland
"That's what I don't understand," Perez said. "Their whole thing is, 'We want a winner.' Well, why do you support the Browns? They don't win. They've never won. They left. You guys blindly support them. I don't understand it. It's a double standard, and I don't know why."
And an interview about Cleveland
sports these days would not be complete without someone tsk-tsking fans for rooting against LeBron James in his courageous quest
for a title, because that never, ever gets tiresome and I hope to keep hearing
from the sports' world's moral arbiters for at least the rest of the calendar
year:
"Why cheer against a guy that's not even in your city anymore? Just to see him fail? Does that make you feel good? I could see if the Cavs were in the championship, but that's their mentality."
Someone, either Mark Twain,
Benjamin Franklin, or an anonymous 16-century Chinese philosopher, once stated
that it's "Better to keep your mouth closed
and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
Not
saying "Pure Rage" is stupid, but the timing regarding his latest
comments on Cleveland
Whatever
the reason, Perez's comments were not needed, not right now. The Indians are
playing some of their worst baseball of the season, and this guy is once again pointing
fingers at Clevelanders for not believing in Wahoo Clause?
Sure,
the Tribe is technically in the thick of the AL Central race, but their off-season
of inactivity is very much coming home to roost today. They're failing in all
facets of the game from day to day, but last year's most glaring need, the
offense, was not addressed by Tribe brass, and that transparent lack of
ambition and/or disposable income has
turned many casual fans from the game. The league's unbalanced financial
playing field is a "baseball problem," but when it comes to free
agents, management is not willing to take any risks after getting burned by
Jake Westbrook, Travis Hafner, Kerry Wood, et. al.
Put
simply, the Indians needed to address a deficiency every Joe Six-Pack parked in
front of the tube could recognize. Instead, the front office did nothing but waste money on a gimpy
outfielder with the career life expectancy of a mayfly, and are now paying the
price both on the field and in the stands.
Winning,
real winning, not this hovering
around .500 fake-o winning, would solve some of those attendance problems real
quick. Maybe not 455 straight sellouts-type sexiness, but a nice 10-game win
streak would gain the attention of a city sick of hearing about That Guy in Miami
Hell,
some of what Perez said has validity. The
local loyalty to the Browns is an ongoing mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes.
And yes, we do "want a winner," Chris. The Tribe still has to prove
it can fit that mold. Until then, Perez needs to keep doing what he does best,
and STFU otherwise.