People say that all good things come to an end, and for the Cleveland Indians, their franchise-leading winning streak has finally ended at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays. They were sitting atop the American League Central by four games when the streak began, and now they find themselves sitting six games above the Kansas City Royals. They’ve spent a total of 27 consecutive days now as the leaders of the division.
The streak has taken them past five different teams; the Chicago White Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers, the Atlanta Braves, and the Toronto Blue Jays. They haven’t played the ultimate cream of the crop, with two of those teams being last-place teams, one of them being in fourth place, and the other two being in third place, but what makes this remarkable is that eight of the fourteen wins have come on the road. Currently, the Cleveland Indians have won 66% of their home games, and 58% of their games on the road.
Of the 14 wins, 11 of them belong to Cleveland starters; three of them belong to relievers. The Cleveland Indians amassed a .242 batting average over those 14 games. They also hit 24 home runs. Juan Uribe hit five of them, himself. In fact, over the course of the streak, four of the five home runs that Uribe hit came four games in a row, and all four of those games were at home.
While all seems well in Cleveland, there is one disturbing fact that sticks out. While the Indians have been putting together a remarkable run, it seems as though nobody is coming to Progressive Field to see if happen. Progressive Field has a capacity of 42,865. Over the six home games that the Tribe played during this stretch, here are the attendance numbers (in order of games): 27,912, 31,066, 25,269, 13,811, 15,629, 21,216.
It’s understood that Lebron & Co. had been making magic happen next door, winning the NBA Championship, but it seems as though the Cleveland Indians have been neglected! If you were to add up the attendance numbers over the last three home games, you would only be about 7,000 fans over capacity. It’s sad that a team that has been doing so well, with a Cy Young winner in Kluber, and fantastic manager in Terry Francona, an All-Star in Jason Kipnis, great young talent in Francisco Lindor and Tyler Naquin; yet nobody in Cleveland seems to be coming to the games.
Now that the parade has ended and baseball has the perfect window to be seen; with the NBA and NHL seasons over, and still a few weeks before NFL training camps start, perhaps this will provide Cleveland fans the opportunity to check out some great baseball, and not take another solid team for granted. They may not be the big-market team that an L.A. Dodger team, or a N. Y. Yankee team is, and they may not be getting the coverage a team like the Chicago Cubs have been, but it’s time for Cleveland, and the rest of the baseball world, to take notice.