Patient Indians reap a big reward by adding Encarnacion's big bat

The Indians brought a big dose of baseball euphoria to Cleveland last summer amid some mixed signals disguised as empty seats. For all the talk of the city embracing Terry Francona and the Tribe, it’s hard to ignore the team’s 28th ranked attendance total of 1.59 million, or the shame less bailout by all those self-professed Indians “diehards” who sold their tickets to Cubs fans for Game 7 of the World Series at Progressive Field.

- Jerry Crasnick 

The venue formerly known as Jacobs Field has shown some signs of fraying since its grand opening in 1994, when it was a crown jewel of a new era in ballpark construction and the Indians filled it with some star-laden lineups. The Tribe reeled off a streak of four straight seasons with 3.4 million fans or better and set a major-league record with 455 consecutive sellouts from 1997-2001 before interest began to wane. With Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and so many other dynamic hitters providing the entertainment, Cleveland fans were well aware of the risks they incurred if they chose to stay home.

During the franchise’s long, steady descent to an enthusiasm gap, the Dolan family ownership earned a reputation for being cheap and Cleveland’s front offices spent a lot of winters as bargain hunters and bystanders. The lone exception came before the 2013 season, when the Indians invested a total of $102 million in long-term contracts for Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. We all know how that leap of faith turned out.

Four long, cold winters later, the Indians made a surprise reappearance as Hot Stove stalwarts when they signed free agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion to a guaranteed three-year, $60 million contract. Judging from the 200 season tickets sold the day the news broke, the locals wholeheartedly approve.

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