Cleveland Indians' bandwagon has plenty of space available - Terry Pluto, Friday, September 14, 2007, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Are you ready to buy into the Indians now, or at least throw down a few bucks for a ticket as they return for the final homestand of the regular sea son beginning tonight at Ja cobs Field against Kansas City?

Does first place in the American League Central Division do anything for you? Especially first place with a 5½-game lead over Detroit and Tigers manager Jim Leyland re cently waving a division surren der flag.

Yes, the man who managed the Tigers in the 2006 World Series recently told reporters, "[The Indians] are winning the way division champions win. They are going on the road and winning at Minnesota. They are coming back and winning games. They have all the earmarks of a division champion."

He really is talking about your Tribe.

Fans, the Indians won't blow it this year. It's not a repeat of 2005, when the Tribe was battling hot teams from Chicago to New York to Boston for a playoff spot and fell apart in the final week.

The Indians are going to the postseason for the first time since 2001, period.

They aren't backing in, they're storming the Central Division castle, kicking down the doors, climbing the walls, pouring through the windows and claiming it for Cleveland.

They have just finished a stretch of 23 games in 23 days and won 17 of them. They're home from a 10-day trip where they were 7-3.

They are 14-4 against defending Central Division champion Minnesota, and have beaten Twins Cy Young winner Johan Santana five times.

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They are 41-22 in their own division. They are 85-61 overall, the third-best record in baseball behind Boston and the Los Angeles Angels.

They have been in first place for 102 days this season and have won 11 games at Jacobs Field in their final at-bat.

They have what should be their own Cy Young Award winner in C.C. Sabathia. Eric Wedge may be American League Manager of the Year. Mark Shapiro could be Executive of the Year. Catcher Victor Martinez won't be the Most Valuable Player, but he could be the American League's most underrated and least-appreciated star.
They have three starting pitchers with at least 15 victories in Paul Byrd, Fausto Carmona and Sabathia.

They have the American League saves leader in Joe Borowski. They have a lefty telephone pole of a reliever named Raffy Perez who has allowed only one extra base hit to a lefty batter in two years.

They are doing all this with two of their projected starting pitchers (Jeremy Sowers and Cliff Lee) out of the rotation, and with projected starting third baseman Andy Marte spending most of the year in the minors.

They are doing this with an old friend (40-year-old Kenny Lofton) and a new one (24-year-old Franklin Gutierrez) joining Grady Sizemore to become one of the fastest, most athletic outfields in the majors.

They are doing this as fans learn to pronounce Asdrubal (ASH-drew-bull) Cabrera, a 21-year-old who has risen all the way from Class AA Akron to hit .308 since taking over as the second baseman in August. The Indians are 20-9 with him in the lineup.

They are doing this with five players who have at least 18 homers, but their top home run guy is their leadoff man - Sizemore with 23. He also leads the team with 32 steals. He has played in 341 consecutive games and never failed to run out even the most discouraging pop-ups or ground balls.

If you are a baseball purist, you should love this team. In the AL it ranks third in pitching, third in defense, fifth in runs scored - and first in overachievers, doing it all with a payroll in the bottom 30 percent of baseball.
But for all the whining over the Dolan family being frugal, the owners have signed key players Travis Hafner and Jake Westbrook to multiyear deals worth nearly $100 million - adding $20 million to the payroll this season with those and other moves. They will not lose a significant player to free agency this winter.

"I love this team!" e-mailed Karen Corrigan of Lakewood. "At the beginning of the season, I didn't think there was a chance they'd make the playoffs. Now, the Tribe [is] in the postseason again. I'm very excited."

That may seem obvious, but more than a few fans in Northeast Ohio have missed it. The Indians rank 22nd out of 30 teams in home attendance. They average more than 32,000 on weekends when there are promotions for fireworks and giveaways such as bobbleheads. But during the week, it's about 23,000.
It would be lower, but the team has Dollar Hot Dog Night (the last is Tuesday) during the week, and those have averaged 35,399 fans.

Many fans are like Corrigan. She wrote that she has not been at a game this season, but watches nearly every night on television.

Another fan, Robert Oberlin of Akron, said he also hasn't been to a game yet but sees "about all of them on TV. My wife wears a Travis Hafner T-shirt. We love the team." He has been to Winter Haven, Fla., for spring training three times, and recently sent The Plain Dealer a detailed six-point plan to re-sign Sabathia. He is a loyal, knowledgeable fan, "but it's easier to watch the games on TV."

Television ratings are up about 35 percent overall from 2006, and 63 percent since Aug. 1 from a year ago. Attendance has risen every month, from 18,572 in snowy April to 32,883 in August. Since the All-Star break, the Indians are averaging 32,608 fans - seventh best in the American League - and up from 24,837 in the first half.

"I've been to 10-12 games this season," e-mailed Mark Cousineau of South Euclid. "I was talking to a fan who kept saying, 'What a great team, I don't know why the ballpark isn't packed like it used to be.' To which I asked how many games has he been to this year - he said, 'None, it's too expensive.' "

Actually, it's not, at least compared to the other Cleveland sports franchises. The team has offered lots of discounts, especially for weeknight games.

But only tonight's fireworks game and Saturday's game with Kansas City have a pre-sale of at least 30,000.

The Tigers are in town for three games beginning Monday night when the team has asked fans to wear red, but so far, an average of only 24,000 tickets have been sold for each night of that series.

"People remember the 1990s (455 consecutive sellouts) and it probably will never be like that again," said team President Paul Dolan.

"But support is growing. You can see it in the TV ratings, merchandise sales and the tickets. We have added about 1,000 season tickets during the year, most in the past three months. The foundation is in place for us to contend the next several years. This is not an illusion."