2012-2013 Indians Red Hot Offseason Thread (Bourn signed post 1940)

[bushwick_bill]

Right. Just goes to show that fans are as good as the product they're provided with. I'm happy as hell to see that the fans are stepping up and buying into the product, but it's not like the "Spend Some, Get Some," crowd hasn't been repeating over and over that they'd show up if they were provided with a good product.

Now, the problem is that if they're going to keep fans coming in...the product's going to have to show up and play good baseball. Either way...good for the front office and good for the fans. I'm personally pretty doubtful that these signings translate into any better than a .500 team, but you can't say they didn't put in their best effort to turn it around.

They got a coach with a great reputation, a few players that can actually hit with power and get on base, a guy that'll remind the fans of Kenny Lofton, and a nice pitching prospect. Can't ask for anything more from a small market team in a single office season.

I still completely expect a ton of games where you might only see 5K fans show up to the park early in the year...

 

[The Oi]

I still completely expect a ton of games where you might only see 5K fans show up to the park early in the year...

Nah. You might have some games where it's in the 25k range if the weather is shitty, but I bet the buzz will be pretty strong to start off the season. What the Tribe really needs to do if they're going to sustain any success is to start identifying a Jim Thome or Manny Ramirez or Albert Belle in their damn drafts, but the moves they made are a great way to at least generate the early season buzz they're always lacking.

The fans need to reward these moves by showing up early and I think they will. I'd just be surprised if they sustain success throughout the season, because Reynolds, Stubbs and Swisher are all prone to really long slumps. If they all slump at the same time for 20-30 games, the losses are gonna stack up and the fans are gonna lose interest real fast.

Draft is key.

 

[Huber.]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Indians">#Indians</a> report that ticket sales just yesterday for the club equal what the team typically sees during an average offseason month.</p>— Matt Loede (@Loede923TheFan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loede923TheFan/status/301773128042967040">February 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
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No excuses now.

Unless people are getting those game packs or season tickets, this is bull spilled out by the Indians to try to get other people to buy tickets.

 

[shoes22]

Unless people are getting those game packs or season tickets, this is bull spilled out by the Indians to try to get other people to buy tickets.

Not necessarily...I've heard that the Indians have been calling a lot of people over the last week asking them to buy into season tickets or flex plans. (This is earlier than they usually do it, I think). They might have reached that number from that alone.

 

[shoes22]

The fans need to reward these moves by showing up early and I think they will. I'd just be surprised if they sustain success throughout the season, because Reynolds, Stubbs and Swisher are all prone to really long slumps. If they all slump at the same time for 20-30 games, the losses are gonna stack up and the fans are gonna lose interest real fast.

Not to mention when those guys slump, it creates more pressure for Santana, Kipnis, Cabrera, etc. to perform, and they don't always do the best under that kind of pressure.

 

[AZ_]

Hoping to see them move back into the low 20s among major league teams in attendance.

Anything else is a pipe dream, really.

 

[The Oi]

Hoping to see them move back into the low 20s among major league teams in attendance.

Anything else is a pipe dream, really.

...so long as they can't sustain success.

 

[Huber.]

Not necessarily...I've heard that the Indians have been calling a lot of people over the last week asking them to buy into season tickets or flex plans. (This is earlier than they usually do it, I think). They might have reached that number from that alone.

I guess it wasn't total BS. I checked stubhub for opening day tickets 2 days ago and about 400 tickets were available. I checked now and it's up to about 1,900 where most seats available are where you can buy 10+ tickets in the same row. Meaning, most tickets they have sold are to scalpers.

 

[AZ_]

...so long as they can't sustain success.

Good luck sustaining any type of success in a small market, but I'm certainly not kidding myself. Hoping they stumble upon a run in a near future if the pitching staff develops.

 

[shoes22]

Good luck sustaining any type of success in a small market, but I'm certainly not kidding myself. Hoping they stumble upon a run in a near future if the pitching staff develops.

Maybe not sustainable success from year to year, but sustaining success over the course of a single season would do wonders for attendance. They haven't managed to do that in several years.

 

[AZ_]

Maybe not sustainable success from year to year, but sustaining success over the course of a single season would do wonders for attendance. They haven't managed to do that in several years.

Historically (2005, 2007) that has not been the case.

Just one of those things, hopefully their getting back some of the market share from the Cavs now that...well, they're awful.

 

[The Oi]

Historically (2005, 2007) that has not been the case.

Just one of those things, hopefully their getting back some of the market share from the Cavs now that...well, they're awful.

Oh, you obviously haven't heard.

Cavs ticket sales are going to EXPLODE in 2014. There's an entire thread dedicated to it.

 

[Stark]

People will really start showing up if we're in serious contention in late August and into September.

 

[B Mac]

I really hope for the Belle bobblehead they have him pointing to his bicep.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Indians confirm the Albert Belle bobblehead will be a replica of him pointing to his bicep. Seriously. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23giveawayoftheyear">#giveawayoftheyear</a></p>— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZackMeisel/status/301757976832794624">February 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Insanely awesome.

 

[sjhughes]

I really think that Dice-K will end up being part of our rotation when all is said and done. This will be based completely off of the health of his arm and that of francona. Being that Francona was basically the reason he came here I can see him being the reason that he makes the major league team and I will say if he regains anything close to his previous form would be a huge pick-up for us. Lets hope for a healthy spring for our organization so we are able to evaluate or talent rather than filling gaps due to injury.