Indians fans aren’t giving Yanks a shot
“You’re from New York, aren’t you,” the cabbie said, not waiting for me to correct him: it’s Jersey.
No matter. He’d already broken down my speech in the first five minutes of our trip from the airport.
“I can tell from your accent you’re here because of the Yankees.”
Accent? I didn’t know I had one, but he sure did.
“No disrespect, but I think it’s the Indians’ year,” he said. “My gosh, who’s going to beat them?”
Did he say gosh? It sounded like gahsh.
“Nice accent,” I say, returning serve until he drills down to the core of his argument.
“We beat the Yankees in the division series in 1997,” he said. “And we beat ’ em 2007. So it’s another 10 years. It’s that time again. Sorry, buddy.”
I told him no apology was necessary. The Indians are at the top of the pyramid this month. If they lose to anyone, including the Yankees, it’ll be a shifting of the game’s tectonic plates. After coming within an inning of a world championship in 2016, most of Cleveland assumes the Tribe are destined to return to the World Series and, this time, win it all.
But that belief is conversational, not in your face. The folks here are civil and patient, decidedly un-Jersey. I couldn’t find a bubbling reservoir of hatred toward the Yankees, nothing like what festered in Boston in the Jeter/A-Rod years. But that’s not to say the Indians are any less convinced the Bombers are going down, even after their dramatic comeback against the Twins in the wild-card game.
I called the mayor’s office, asking him what he thought about the big-market Yankees’ chances of breaking the Indians’ hearts. Frank Jackson, who’s already served two terms, was busy campaigning for reelection, so I was told there would be no in-person interview Wednesday.
But I did hear from Jackson’s media liaison, who said: “Last year the mayor made his comments when the Cavs were in the (NBA) Finals and the Indians were in the World Series. So he’s going to wait until we’re closer to the end of the deal.”
So much for worrying about a government shutdown — even His Honor is convinced the Yankees have no shot. I tried my luck at Harry Buffalo, a popular sports bar a block away from Progressive Field, where the dinnertime crowd was beginning to file in. I saw lots of Cavs jerseys, only one or two patrons in Indians garb. But that’ll change Thursday night.
“It’s going to be chaos in here. Good chaos,” said Brock Reish, the bar’s general manager. “The city is really pumped to see the Indians get after it again.”
He said the fans would begin arriving about 2:30-3 p.m. and would quickly grab the 58 tables on the two levels. After that, it’s standing room only — a hot, sweaty crowd that’ll spill onto the sidewalk.
“A lot of excuse-me’s,” Reish said with a laugh. Of course. This is Ohio. Nice people. But just like everyone else, the restauranteur is an Indians fans and isn’t worried about the Yankees.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll get through them real quick,” Reish said. I wanted to point that a total flattening of the Bombers would actually be bad for business. After all, if the Series goes long enough, Game 5 would be played at Progressive, where Harry Buffalo could be SRO all over again.
An electric response would be a nice change of pace for the entire neighborhood. Despite the Indians’ success, their attendance was a disappointment. According to USA TODAY Sports research, just 18,521 fans showed up when the Tribe’s historic winning streak reached
19 games in September. The total swelled somewhat for No. 20
(24,654) and the record-breaking No. 21 (29,346).
Overall, the Indians were only 22nd in the majors in attendance this year. That’s one area the Yankees have them beat, as they’re the American League’s No. 1 draw. But the comparison isn’t entirely fair, either, as the most recent Census puts Cleveland’s population at 385,809 — or about 8.2 million fewer than New York City’s.
The Indians play in front of MLB’s 25th-biggest market, which means their ability to bring folks to the ballpark is commensurate with the number of fans within reach. But, hey, as meager as the attendance figures sound, the Indians did experience a 27% uptick from 2016.
And, as the staff at Harry Buffalo say, it’ll be a new reality once Trevor Bauer throws the division series’ first pitch. Then it’ll be the supremely talented Indians, the major league elites, against the upstart Yankees, who are young and inexperienced but clearly unafraid.
Poise is October’s most precious currency; just ask Luis Severino. But history and the law of averages matter too, as my cabbie made sure to point out as he dropped me off.
“Been an Indians fan my whole life,” he said. “We lost to Bobby Cox (and the Braves) in
’95, lost to the Marlins in ’97 and we almost had the Cubbies last year. This time my Indians are going to be hot.”
Did he say hot? Sure sounded like hat.