DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cleveland Indians - somehow hanging onto hope

I was thinking, what would you rather have...

A Browns win against the Bengals

OR

The Tribe making the playoffs but then losing in the 1-game playoff against the Rays

Those are your only two choices. I'm torn.

I came up with the question because I KNOW the sports god's won't give me both. Heck, there's a good chance they'll screw me over completely and give me neither, but I'm trying to stay at least a little positive.

In that scenario, I'll take the Browns win.

I'll take the Browns winning against the Bengals, the Indians winning that game against the Rays....

and setting us up for a really happy or really sad Thursday

Maybe it wasn't as hard as I thought. I couldn't decide.

On one hand, the Indians are validated by getting into the playoffs. They beat out the Yanks, O's, Rangers and surging Royals. But then the Rays bounce them one night later.

The Browns winning doesn't guarantee anything for the Buffalo game, but it gives us a much need win against a divisional opponent at home. But could also ruin our draft positioning if we truly are playing for a franchise QB in the draft.

Okay, maybe it would be tougher to pick between a Browns win versus getting to the Divisional Round (to play and then lose to the Red Sox).

Jhonny Peralta is coming back from his 50 game suspension tonight and he is going to play LF the nest 3 games for the Tigers. After listening to Leyland he doesn't think he will have any problems out there.



DETROIT -- Despite a recent injury to shortstop Jose Iglesias this past week, the Detroit Tigers haven't changed their plans.

When suspended infielder Jhonny Peralta rejoins the Tigers in Miami on Friday, he still expects to see most his playing time in left field -- not at shortstop.

Peralta wrapped up his final day with the Tigers' Instructional League team in Florida on Thursday, going 2-for-5 with two walks in seven plate appearances against a prospect-laden Atlanta Braves' Instructional League team.

Peralta started in left and played seven innings, but no fly balls were hit in his direction. In fact, Peralta has yet to make a putout in the 10 combined innings he's played in left field this past week.

"Maybe I’ll get a fly ball in Miami," Peralta told the Detroit Free Press.

Peralta played the final two innings at shortstop Thursday, but it was believed to be as a precaution. Peralta reaffirmed that the Tigers intend to play him in left field when he returns from his 50-game suspension.

"I don't know for sure what they want me to do when I get there, but I know they want to see me in left field in Miami," he told the Free Press.

It's unclear if Peralta will be penciled in the starting lineup in any of the Tigers' final three games, considering three right-handed starters are scheduled to start for the Marlins. Typically, Andy Dirks receives starts in left field with right-handers on the mound.

However, with the division wrapped up and only three games remaining in the regular season, the Tigers will likely want to get a first-hand glimpse of Peralta in the outfield.

His production this weekend could go a long way in helping the Tigers decide whether the 31-year-old will be added to the postseason roster early next month.

"I know they want to see me in Miami and after that they figure out what to do," Peralta told The Detroit News.

It's possible Peralta could also see playing time at shortstop, serving as a replacement for Iglesias, but Leyland was hopeful the 23-year-old rookie could return to the lineup Friday.

Iglesias, who hasn't been in the starting lineup the past six games due to a bruised left hand, took batting practice prior to the team's game Wednesday night in Minnesota and was inserted as a late-inning defensive replacement at shortstop.

"More than anything, (the Tigers) made it clear that they want me in left," Peralta said.
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2013/09/detroit_tigers_jhonny_peralta_14.html

I said it 50 games ago and I'll say it again. Any player suspended for PEDs should be ineligible for the postseason. It's just wrong.

Quote:

---

I was thinking, what would you rather have...

A Browns win against the Bengals

OR

The Tribe making the playoffs but then losing in the 1-game playoff against the Rays

---

If it was not a division game I would probably take the Indians but since it's the Bengals that makes it a little harder... I was torn last week toward the end of the Vikings game between rooting for the win and rooting for the draft pick.. I usually find myself happy for the win in the short term and then later thinking that it wouldn't have mattered if we had lost.

My son put it pretty well when he said, we don't want to get to 0-6 or 0-7 and be talked about as going 0fer.. so we got a nice win against the Vikings at the end of a rough week..

Rays drop a game tonight, while Texas and Cleveland win. Magic number is now 2.

A win tomorrow and a Texas loss and we clinch a WC berth.

Let's go Tribe!

Ironically the second best scenario for the Indians is to have the 3 teams tie. If that happens we host the Rays on Monday, if we win that we get a wild card spot. If we lose that game we travel to Texas on Tuesday for the other wild card.

The best scenario is tribe the 1 seed and Texas 2

My only question in the second best scenario is, if we beat Tampa on Monday then Tampa beats Texas, do we host the wild card game?

his own fans never showed this guy any support. I know he said some things that were out of line, but it was a constant battle with Perez and the fans. The guy pitches for the indians, not the yankees.

But anyway, I would have Masterson as our closer, with Ubaldo, Salazar, and Kluber starting. Even if Salazar only goes 5-6, he gives us a better chance to win than Kazmir.

Yikes - I completely forgot Salazar.

Yeah, he definitely should be in the mix. I wonder if Tito will carry 12 pitchers on the postseason roster?

I really really hate how mlb conducts their business with fox and this whole blacking out day games on Saturday because they want everyone to watch "their game"

I can't watch the Indians in their most important game, even though I paid for their mlb.tv service. They want me to watch the Pirates and Reds which I could care less about.

Now instead of me watching their league, I'm watching college football. Great logic there, mlb. That's why you're light years behind the NFL and always will be.

What a joke.

The Indians are on FOX here in YTown.

I agree though. That's a large reason why I bought DirecTV. I could have got the MLB app for my Roku, but the Indians would always be blacked out live, despite paying a premium for the games. So many restrictions. The MLB app worked the same way. IIRC, the NBA app worked the same way. Local games were blacked out.

Toronto helped out, but the Angels sure haven't. Hopefully, we win today and it makes tomorrow a little less stressful.

If we hang on for the win today, we are at least guaranteed a home game on Monday, Tampa bay losing today was huge.

We've guaranteed ourselves one more day of baseball! One more win, and we get home-field for the wild card game.

Yep. Go Tribe!

I guess there's only one thing left to do then.

Win the whole ^%&($#'in' thing.

Indians win out to finish the season and wrap up the 1st Wild Card spot! Masterson threw the 1st pitch of the season, and he threw the final pitch of the regular season.

I had this number of 92 in my head from the All Star break ..... and that's where we wound up.

What a GREAT weekend! Indians win and make the playoffs! Browns win in dominating fashion! Buckeyes win against a tough opponent!

I am psyched!

We are in!!! And hosting the game too!

On a side note, I think Masterson is going to find himself in the closer role here. He had a pretty solid final 2 innings.

Boom! They needed to go 21-6 in September, including 10 in a row to finish the season, but they're in. Home game on Tuesday! #Windians

Unreal.

Salazar Wednesday.

Its amazing how this team got no fan support all year, and they sell out the wildcard game. Can't stand these bandwagon fans. Never understood how some could only watch/go when a team plays good. JUst stay home, and let the folks that followed the team attend.

Besides Ubaldo, Salazar is probably the guy I want on the mound Wednesday. Unreal how the season played out. Hopefully they could bring the world series home. Those are my expectations. Its a long shot, but that's what I'm hoping for.

They had 1 sellout all year. Just a few weeks ago they were getting 10k fans on a weeknight. If you don't think these are bandwagon fans, you're kidding yourself. There are about a handful of people on here that follow the team the whole year. When the team has sucked, there is no interest, and all you hear is complaining about how rigged baseball is.

http://www.letsgotribe.com/2013/8/23/465...-but-attendance



Popularity is a funny thing. The Indians' attendance still ranks among the lowest in the majors, and their attendance/game is actually down this year vs last year:
2012 attendance/game 2013 attendance/game
20,976 19,767

But the TV and radio ratings are a much different matter:

- Their rating on flaships WTAM 1100AM and WMMS 100.7FM combined are up nearly 40% from last season.
- The team's TV rating on SportsTime Ohio is up nearly 30% from last season at the same number of games. July saw an increase of 33% and so far in August, there has been an increase of 168% compared to last year.

(Pretty shrewd move by the Indians to release this data now, just in time for a weekend home series.)

How do you explain the disconnect between TV/radio ratings and attendance? I think part of it has to do with the way popularity builds. There tends to be a timing gap between when a team (or any performing group for that matter) gets good and when it becomes popular. There's less of a time investment to turn on your TV and radio than to buy tickets and spend 4+ hours going to a game or a concert. Apparently the Indians haven't quite reached that tipping point where going to an Indians game is the "in thing" to do, though if they remain in contention after their road trip to Atlanta and Detroit, I think people will buy in and head to the park.

Also, the way the Indians price their tickets does discourage the walkup. Tickets to Progressive Field are more expensive if they are purchased at the box office on the day of the game, which is pretty much standard procedure for the entertainment industry (see this fantastic article at WFNY for much more), but the downside is that you aren't as welcoming to those who want to jump on the bandwagon.

Getting people to really buy back into the Indians isn't going to happen overnight, as that involves changing long-held attitudes about ownership and the team in general. The only real solution to making Progressive Field a destination again is several consecutive years of contention, something that hasn't happened since the turn of the century. The Indians should know by now that they can't just field a team and expect people to show up.

It's certainly not a given that the Indians will make the playoffs, but as the ratings show, this season can be a big step towards a fanbase rejuvenation regardless of how the season ends. A lot of the groundwork has already been done, which is amazing given where the organization was a year ago. Make a couple more additions this winter and retain or extend a couple of key players from this year's club, and you'll see 25,000 a night next season.

I don't get why people go on and on about the (lack of) attendance at Indians games. It's equal parts of 1) epic choke jobs down the stretch over the past few seasons, 2) stupid "dynamic" ticket pricing model ($28 for a nosebleed seat on a Wednesday night?...that's what our tickets were for the White Sox game last week), and 3) despite their league-best record in September, they still have just one series win against a .500+ team in the past two months, and have an abysmal record against the "good" AL teams...0.410 winning percentage and -80 in runs scored in games against .500+ AL teams.

I'm glad they made it to the "post-season", but I'm not going to really get excited until they're playing in the ALDS.

FWIW, didn't the Indians have the best walk-up ticket sales in the league?

Unless prices have gone up, you can get into a regular season game for $8 correct?

I think there is a misnomer with public perception when it comes to the cost of attending baseball games. You are allowed to bring snacks and drinks in. Id argue a baseball game is cheaper to attend than a movie.

I dont blame indians fans for not showing up when we were losing. I blame them for not showing up when we are winning. Im a fanatic so my perception is biased, but I think cost is a weak excuse for cleveland fans

Another positive about the wins is David Price will face the Rangers tomorrow.