Ed Morrison · Regressive Field

October 2nd, 2010


Paul Hoynes makes it official: Cleveland Indians had the lowest attendance in the majors this year.

It’s the fewest people to watch the Indians at Progressive Field since the ballpark opened in 1994. Overall, it’s the team’s lowest attendance since it drew 1,224,274 in 1992 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

Progressive Field regresses when it comes to attendance: Cleveland Indians Insider

For some insight into where the Indians might be in their development cycle, check out Paul Cousineau’s DiaTribe. For Manny Acta’s view of the season, go here and here.

Brent Larkin weighs in on the Indians’ season:

In 11 years, Dolan’s Indians have lost more games than they’ve won. The last two seasons — both unmitigated disasters — marked the first time since the team became known as the Indians in 1915 that it has lost more than 90 games in consecutive seasons. And if you lived through all those years from the ’60s to early ’90s when they fielded all those garbage teams, you know that’s saying a lot!

….The team that ends its season today in Chicago has to be one of the least interesting to watch in franchise history.

Poor attendance may not mean poor profits, though. Despite the Dolan’s carefully worded statement that the Indians “do not operate profitably” it does not mean they are not doing well financially. The reason: A welfare system operates in baseball to help out small market teams.

In August, deadspin published leaked documents that showed how small market teams, like the Pirates, make money while losing. As one commentator has noted, the Pirates have found the secret to sustainable success under revenue sharing, by remaining consistently awful. Here’s an overview of how they do it.

That revelation has sparked hot debate over whether Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing system is broken.

Addendum:

Hoynes ends his reporting for the season with some helpful perspective:

The Indians don’t have one big-league free agent to worry about this winter. What they do have are potential minor-league free agents and a lot of hollow spots on the 40-man roster…

Shelley Duncan, who can be a minor-league free agent after the season, scored the Indians’ first run and recorded their first hit in the fourth inning against Edwin Jackson (4-2, 3.24). The two guys who homered, Luke Carlin and Drew Sutton, were acquired in late-season trades not to help the Indians, but to assist Class AAA Columbus’ run to the International League championship.

Hey, an organization has to have its priorities.

…[E]njoy the silence of another Indians winter. You’ve earned it.

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