I better see you all at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario next week.

So wait... we just swept Detroit and Atlanta, and now we are starting a series with Toronto?  Weird...

So wait... we just swept Detroit and Atlanta, and now we are starting a series with Toronto?  Weird...

 

Yeah, they were talking about it in the PD last week that it was the same three teams the CAVS played in the first three rounds in the same order. Does that mean we split this series?

^^That is some fantastically weird Cleveland sports juju going on there!    I hope to see the Giants in October!

So wait... we just swept Detroit and Atlanta, and now we are starting a series with Toronto?  Weird...

 

It just means Cleveland will win in six against Toronto...again.

The Tribe's starting rotation will make less than half in salary this year what Justin Verlander will make alone.

The Tribe's starting rotation will make less than half in salary this year what Justin Verlander will make alone.

 

So much salary concentrated in so few players usually doesn't make for a winning baseball team.

End to Cleveland's waiting puts Cubs on the clock

 

by David Haugh Contact Reporter

Chicago Tribune

 

For the first time in 52 years Monday, people in Cleveland woke up in a championship city — and it only felt like a dream.

 

On the first day of summer, 2016 started to resemble the Year of the Anomaly in American sports, with the Cavaliers coming home as NBA champs and the Cubs coming on strong as World Series favorites. In Hell, they braced for the coldest of winters.

 

Cleveland last celebrated a major sports title in 1964, when the Browns beat the Baltimore Colts in the NFL championship game. That was the year the Cubs marked a 56th year of futility since the franchise last won a World Series in 1908. What Clevelanders call a long wait for a championship, Cubs fans consider a good start. By the way, they still are waiting in Wrigleyville.

 

How much longer will they have to wait till next year?

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-cavaliers-title-cubs-next-haugh-spt-0621-20160620-column.html

^References a Cleveland sports drought (which, btw, spanned more sports seasons than the Cubs drought), but for the Cubs...no mention of Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks?  Wtf?

Nate Silver's site has the Cubs and Indians as the two best teams in baseball. Gives the Cubs a 20% chance to win the WS and the Indians about a 15% chance.

 

Of course the same site showed the Cavs having a 9% chance of winning the Finals while the Warriors had a 45% chance when the NBA Playoffs started. So there's that too.

^References a Cleveland sports drought (which, btw, spanned more sports seasons than the Cubs drought), but for the Cubs...no mention of Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks?  Wtf?

 

Cities that currently have 3+ teams with a complete title drought I believe it's now:

 

1. Minnesota/Minneapolis

2. Washington DC

 

San Diego has the longest drought in terms of total seasons since their last title.

 

Cry me a river Chicago. Six NBA titles in eight seasons.

^References a Cleveland sports drought (which, btw, spanned more sports seasons than the Cubs drought), but for the Cubs...no mention of Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks?  Wtf?

 

Cities that currently have 3+ teams with a complete title drought I believe it's now:

 

1. Minnesota/Minneapolis

2. Washington DC

 

San Diego has the longest drought in terms of total seasons since their last title.

 

Cry me a river Chicago. Six NBA titles in eight seasons.

 

Come to think of it, has San Diego ever won a title in anything?  They had the Clippers for a hot minute and, I think, the Rockets some time ago, though I'm not certain of the latter.

^References a Cleveland sports drought (which, btw, spanned more sports seasons than the Cubs drought), but for the Cubs...no mention of Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks?  Wtf?

 

Cities that currently have 3+ teams with a complete title drought I believe it's now:

 

1. Minnesota/Minneapolis

2. Washington DC

 

Drought since when?? Minnesota Twins won in 1987 and 1991 and Washington Redskins won Super Bowls in 1982, 1987 and 1991.

^Even if not on our old scale, 25+ across 3+ sports sounds like a legit drought to me.

Both of those cities have 4 teams now, right?  I'd say those are legit droughts.  That said, the 'misery' index has to be the highest in Buffalo, especially with a potential move of the Bills constantly hanging over its head.

^References a Cleveland sports drought (which, btw, spanned more sports seasons than the Cubs drought), but for the Cubs...no mention of Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks?  Wtf?

 

Cities that currently have 3+ teams with a complete title drought I believe it's now:

 

1. Minnesota/Minneapolis

2. Washington DC

 

San Diego has the longest drought in terms of total seasons since their last title.

 

Cry me a river Chicago. Six NBA titles in eight seasons.

 

Come to think of it, has San Diego ever won a title in anything?  They had the Clippers for a hot minute and, I think, the Rockets some time ago, though I'm not certain of the latter.

 

I believe San Diego won the AFL title in '63. You are correct on the Rockets. Started in SD then moved to Houston.

^Even if not on our old scale, 25+ across 3+ sports sounds like a legit drought to me.

 

Yeah, but if I had lived in those cities, at least I'd remember those titles. ;)

Can someone explain to me Indians ticket prices. I was looking to grab 3 tickets to the day game on July 6th. I saw three online 20 rows behind home plate for $50 a piece and $12.50 each in fees. I decided to ride my bike up to the box office and avoid the fees. One problem... The same exact tickets at the box office were $91 dollars each??? WTF? The older gentleman at the ticket office said that, unless you're buying the cheaper seats, even with the fees, it's cheaper to buy them online. Does that make any sense?

Can someone explain to me Indians ticket prices. I was looking to grab 3 tickets to the day game on July 6th. I saw three online 20 rows behind home plate for $50 a piece and $12.50 each in fees. I decided to ride my bike up to the box office and avoid the fees. One problem... The same exact tickets at the box office were $91 dollars each??? WTF? The older gentleman at the ticket office said that, unless you're buying the cheaper seats, even with the fees, it's cheaper to buy them online. Does that make any sense?

 

It makes business sense for them, but as a fan, their ticket pricing structure is pretty bad.

Can someone explain to me Indians ticket prices. I was looking to grab 3 tickets to the day game on July 6th. I saw three online 20 rows behind home plate for $50 a piece and $12.50 each in fees. I decided to ride my bike up to the box office and avoid the fees. One problem... The same exact tickets at the box office were $91 dollars each??? WTF? The older gentleman at the ticket office said that, unless you're buying the cheaper seats, even with the fees, it's cheaper to buy them online. Does that make any sense?

 

It makes business sense for them, but as a fan, their ticket pricing structure is pretty bad.

 

I had heard that they are charging fees when buying in person now - perhaps as a was to encourage people to buy ahead of time, but this does not make any sense.  At worst, the cost should be the same.  I think it stinks that you can't buy cheaper at the box office, and if anything, to me would discourage walk ups, which seems pretty dumb given their attendance issues.

I miss the days like back in 2007 when I could just go up to the box office and get a $7 upper outfield reserve ticket without any fees. I went to about 25 games that summer. No way could I do that now.

I miss the days like back in 2007 when I could just go up to the box office and get a $7 upper outfield reserve ticket without any fees. I went to about 25 games that summer. No way could I do that now.

 

I think this is something all of MLB needs to listen too.  It's too complex now for casual fans who just want to show up and enjoy a game. 

^References a Cleveland sports drought (which, btw, spanned more sports seasons than the Cubs drought), but for the Cubs...no mention of Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks?  Wtf?

 

Cities that currently have 3+ teams with a complete title drought I believe it's now:

 

1. Minnesota/Minneapolis

2. Washington DC

 

Drought since when?? Minnesota Twins won in 1987 and 1991 and Washington Redskins won Super Bowls in 1982, 1987 and 1991.

 

http://www.scout.com/story/1680158-5-cities-with-longest-championship-droughts

The "fees" are a farce. They are essentially part of the ticket price. Much of the "fee" goes right back to the team, not to Ticketmaster or any other third party service provider. It's the same dumb game mobile phone providers and other service providers play by breaking out costs in silly ways to make it sound like they are just passing charges on. Drives me crazy. For the secondary market, the site Seatgeek.com helpfully spells out the full price from the beginning.

 

But to answer stpats44113[/member] question, yes, it makes perfect sense why a business would charge more for customers to use expensive human labor instead of the computer. It's not intuitive based on the gradual phase-in of technology many of us lived through over the past 30 years, but it's no different from what airlines, banks, and other businesses are moving to.

That doesn't justify it though, especially if they're trying to get more live humans to attend live games.  As for replacing people with computers... what good is saving money if the method wipes out your customer base?

I miss the days like back in 2007 when I could just go up to the box office and get a $7 upper outfield reserve ticket without any fees. I went to about 25 games that summer. No way could I do that now.

 

I think you needed a Pepsi can to get that price, right?

 

My buddies and I would buy those tickets and spend the entire game at the Batter's Eye in centerfield. Didn't once go to our actual seats.

I miss the days like back in 2007 when I could just go up to the box office and get a $7 upper outfield reserve ticket without any fees. I went to about 25 games that summer. No way could I do that now.

 

I think you needed a Pepsi can to get that price, right?

 

You just gave me a bad flashback. I figured I'd just buy a Pepsi when I got downtown....there was no place to buy any.

 

I repeat.

 

There was no place open anywhere near the Jake to buy a can of Pepsi.

I miss the days like back in 2007 when I could just go up to the box office and get a $7 upper outfield reserve ticket without any fees. I went to about 25 games that summer. No way could I do that now.

 

I think you needed a Pepsi can to get that price, right?

 

My buddies and I would buy those tickets and spend the entire game at the Batter's Eye in centerfield. Didn't once go to our actual seats.

 

Nope that was general face value. They increased to $8 in 2008--still wasn't bad.

The "fees" are a farce. They are essentially part of the ticket price. Much of the "fee" goes right back to the team, not to Ticketmaster or any other third party service provider. It's the same dumb game mobile phone providers and other service providers play by breaking out costs in silly ways to make it sound like they are just passing charges on. Drives me crazy. For the secondary market, the site Seatgeek.com helpfully spells out the full price from the beginning.

 

Right.  Sort of.  MLB started their own ticketing service.  Tickets.com is owned by MLB and I believe all teams have finally made the switch to this platform.  So these fees do go back into the league and the teams unlike concerts with Ticketmaster, where the fees go back to the band, the promoters and the venues. 

Fun fact about the current Tribe as of 7/1/16: at $104.1M, their total payroll is 25th out of 30 teams.  We're gourmet cooking on an Aldi budget.  We've got almost $85M in cap space.

That's why it's so important to have a good talent eval team, front office and draft day execution. The days of just paying for whoever are long gone. Why the Yankees are terrible.

 

We also have the flexibility to take on a big contract at the trade deadline and the resources to do it without disrupting the current squad.

Fun fact about the current Tribe as of 7/1/16: at $104.1M, their total payroll is 25th out of 30 teams.  We're gourmet cooking on an Aldi budget.  We've got almost $85M in cap space.

 

Forgive me, but is a salary cap actually involved in MLB?  I know the other leagues have them and pay fees for exceeding it, but I always thought MLB was much more free-wheeling, with teams free to absurdly spend however they saw fit, a la Yankees.  What does it mean when you say the Tribe has $85M in cap space? Are these simply profits that Dolan and company are sitting on?

^There's no cap, but there is a luxury tax that requires teams to make payments to a central pool if their payroll exceeds a fixed level. That tax threshold is currently about $189M, which is where I'm guessing Gramarye got his number. The accounting for luxury tax purposes is a little funky though, requiring teams to average out multi year deals to prevent gaming the systems, so it's not as simple as comparing the actual payroll to the threshold.

 

In any case, very few teams exceed the threshold and pay the tax--last year it was only four teams. Some teams are just below it, but most are well below it. It's really aimed at the handful of teams whose revenues justify that kind of spending (Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, maybe a couple others).

Just a nice little 6.5-hour game...whatever it takes to keep the streak alive!

 

Two 50+ year old Cleveland sports records have fallen in the past two weeks -- a championship drought and now a win streak...

 

Anyone get the feeling that we're living in a Twilight Zone episode?

Monday's game against Detroit is officially sold out. Friday's game looks close to selling out too

Hopefully the bats come back alive for Z-Mac. He'll need 'em. Unless there's voodoo magic regarding Indians pitchers having SP next to their name now which is entirely possible.

Sorry to see the streak end today at 14. If they win tomorrow, the Indians will have started this season 50-31.

 

Win or lose, the Cleveland Indians will reach the midway point of the season tomorrow. Here's how they started and ended each season since 1994...

 

Well now the Indians need to get back on track. Big series with 2nd place Detroit coming in only 5.5 games behind. The Tribe has absolutely owned Detroit this year and they've gotta keep that going with Salazar taking the bump tonight. Tigers are on a six game winning streak.

Two hours before first pitch:

 

Cleveland teams are 15-0 against Detroit teams since the NBA playoffs started.

Geez...finally.

 

Started at the bottom: Sellout crowd lifts Cleveland Indians out of last place in attendance rankings

 

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2016/07/cleveland_indians_attendance_n.html

Can't believe that this thread has been quiet for over two weeks. The Indians are rolling again after winning road series in Detroit and Kansas City. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, but at this point I think the Tribe are in great shape in the AL Central really playing for home-field advantage now.

 

Some fun stats:

 

-If the Tribe played .500 ball from here on out, they'd win 90 games.

-After the Tribe ends its long road trip Sunday in Baltimore, they will end the season with 39 home games and 26 road games.

^Gonna be fun to see what they do before the deadline. Probably just some tinkering (lefty relief pitcher, maybe an expiring bat), but always a chance there's something really big, like Ubaldo in 2012.

^Gonna be fun to see what they do before the deadline. Probably just some tinkering (lefty relief pitcher, maybe an expiring bat), but always a chance there's something really big, like Ubaldo in 2012.

 

There was some talk yesterday of getting Lucroy from Milwaukee, which would be huge. I'd do it as long as the Tribe didn't have to give up anyone off of their 25-man roster.

 

There was some talk yesterday of getting Lucroy from Milwaukee, which would be huge. I'd do it as long as the Tribe didn't have to give up anyone off of their 25-man roster.

 

Indians reportedly in trade talks involving Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy

http://www.ohio.com/sports/indians/indians-reportedly-in-trade-talks-involving-milwaukee-brewers-catcher-jonathan-lucroy-1.698699

It appears that pre-sale single game tickets are selling more, particularly if there is a promotion.  We were looking to get 4 tickets together for the August 30 game, and there were none to be had on the indians.com site.  Glad to see more people going to the stadium!  Wouldn't it be amazing if the Indians were champions this year in addition to the Cavs? 

I wonder what people think about trading prospects to get an arm or bat before the trading deadline... Chris Fedor makes the salient point that, trading away prospects would be especially harmful and counter intuitive to a small market, limited budget team like the Indians who, in recent years, have been especially strong in developing its homegrown young talent... Makes sense to me.