CCLB 03-19-07 Indians 1 CCLB.qxd

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CCLB 03-19-07 Indians 1 CCLB
3/15/2007
2:15 PM
Page 1
PIECED
TOGETHER
Without a quick fix, Shapiro
fills bullpen, outfield by committee
By JOEL HAMMOND
jmhammond@crain.com
W
ould Indians general manager
Mark Shapiro enjoy his job as
much if he had the resources to
compete with the top spenders in
Major League Baseball?
Would he feel as satisfied with the
product if he possessed the ability to sign
Randy Johnson or Daisuke Matsuzaka or
Gary Sheffield or Josh Beckett, consequences and finances be darned?
“That’s a tough question,” laughed Shapiro,
in his sixth season as the team’s GM.
Without that quick fix in his arsenal,
Shapiro was again forced to use some
creativity: He patched together with three
well-traveled veterans a bullpen that
suffered badly from its youth in 2006, and
completed platoons at first base and in
left and right fields by signing two corner
outfielders who have platooned before.
See PIECED Page 8
PHOTO: RUGGERO FATICA
ILLUSTRATION: KRISTEN WILSON
I-2
3/15/2007
1:10 PM
Page 1
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
MARCH 19-25, 2007
Tribe history in the making
Once completed, the $1M Heritage Park
project will feature 38 memorable moments
By DAVID PRIZINSKY
clbfreelancer@crain.com
generations.” DiBiasio said this
last goal of bridging the generations through shared memories is
aseball and an appreciation
“what makes baseball special.”
of the past go together.
“It will be the signature landToss in more than a century
mark at Jacobs Field,” he said. “We
of local professional baseball
want every trip to Jacobs Field to
and you have the ingredients for
include a visit to Heritage Park.”
Heritage Park at Jacobs Field — a
Professional baseball in Cleve$1 million project dedicated to
land can be traced to 1869. In
Cleveland Indians history located
1901, the franchise became a
beyond the center field fence.
charter member of the new AmeriHeritage Park, which will
can League, and the Indians name
encompass 4,300 square feet on
was adopted in 1915.
two levels, is scheduled to be
“We are one of the oldest instiready for fans on opening day.
tutions in the city of Cleveland,”
The top tier, rotunda area will
DiBiasio said.
feature plaques honoring the 15
The franchise predates many of
players in the 27-member Clevethe city’s oldest corporations and
land Indians Hall of Fame who are
has outlasted long-forgotten
also members of the National
automakers, steel producers and
Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperoil refiners. It has survived depresstown, N.Y. Names appearing on
sions, world wars and the changthis level include Earl Averill, Nap
ing area economy.
Lajoie, Bob Feller,
The idea of honorEarly Wynn, Tris
“We didn’t have an ing the team’s history
Speaker and Cy
enclosed space for had long been on the
Young.
minds of the team’s
a museum, but we officials.
The lower tier
wanted to find a
will spotlight the
“We didn’t have an
remaining 12
enclosed space for a
place in Jacobs
Cleveland Indians
museum, but we
Field to celebrate
Hall of Fame
wanted to find a place
the Indians’ history.” in Jacobs Field to
members as well
as the 100 players
celebrate the Indians’
– Bob DiBiasio, vice
who have been
president of public relations, history,” DiBiasio said.
Cleveland Indians
named as the best
The organization
all-time Indians.
settled on Heritage
Each of these players will have a
Park just beyond center field, but
granite plaque built into the brick
it had to be designed in such a way
wall that will link the lower and
that it would not interfere with the
upper tiers.
integrity of the ballpark’s hitting
In-ground markers throughout
background, which must not
Heritage Park will commemorate
distract the batter.
the 38 most memorable moments
Christopher Wynn, lead archiin the team’s history.
tect on the project for Osborn
There were three goals behind
Architects & Engineers in Cleveland,
the development of Heritage Park,
said he began working on the
according to Bob DiBiasio, vice
concept in fall 2005. “Heritage Park
president of public relations.
was over a year in the making.”
“We wanted to preserve history,
Construction on the project
honor excellence and connect the
began last October.
B
Heritage Park at
Jacobs Field, a
$1 million project
dedicated to
Cleveland Indians
history, is located
beyond the center
field fence.
Heritage Park will
encompass 4,300
square feet on two
levels.
PROVIDED
“A major challenge was avoiding
any visible activity that could be
seen from home plate. The activity
in Heritage Park, which will be
accessible to fans during games,
will be hidden from the batter by
trees and shrubbery.
“The ultimate goal was to create
a shrine for the fans,” Wynn said.
“This will give the fans a chance to
take a step back in time.”
The 38 memorable moments
highlighted in Heritage Park
include the Oct. 2, 1908, perfect
game by Addie Joss, and the 1911
season, when “Shoeless” Joe
Jackson hit .408, the last Indian
to hit .400. The number 38 was
determined by what would fit into
the layout of the park.
Heritage Park also will include
brick pavers purchased by fans
who want to link themselves
and family members to Indians
history.
The brick pavers sell for between
$150 and $375, depending on the
size and the length of the messages
inscribed on the bricks.
Bricks sold now will make it to
Heritage Park for the 2008 season.
The Indians said thousands of the
brick pavers already have been
sold and will be in place by opening day this year. The proceeds will
help defray the cost of the project.
Wynn said provisions have been
made for the Indians to add player
names to Heritage Park. Next up
are likely to be Jim Thome and
Omar Vizquel, according to most
predictions.
■
Marking memorable
Indians moments
Below are some of the top team
milestones to be highlighted at
Heritage Park:
■ Addie Joss, perfect game,
Oct. 2, 1908, vs. Chicago.
■ Carlos Baerga, homers from
both sides of the plate in the
same inning, April 8, 1993, vs.
New York Yankees.
■ Joe Jackson hits .408 in 1911.
He is the last Indian to hit .400.
■ Sam McDowell, tosses consecutive one-hit, complete games,
April 25 and May 1, 1966.
■ Luis Tiant, tosses four consecutive shutouts, April 25 to May
12, 1965.
■ Stan Coveleski, wins third World
Series game to clinch 1920
World Series title, Game 7,
Oct. 12, 1920.
■ Omar Vizquel, collects six hits
in 22-0 win over New York
Yankees, Aug. 21, 2004.
■ Earl Averill, homers in first atbat, April 16, 1929.
■ Johnny Burnett, nine hits in one
game (Major League Baseball
record), July 10, 1932.
■ Bob Feller, strikes out 17 as
rookie pitcher, Sept. 13, 1936.
■ Jim Thome, club record, 52
home runs, 2002.
■ Bob Feller, opening-day no-hitter,
April 16, 1940, at Chicago.
■ Larry Doby, integrates the
American League, July 5, 1947.
■ Lou Boudreau, 4-for-4 to lead
Tribe to victory in American
League playoff game at Boston,
Oct. 4, 1948.
■ Al Rosen, belts two home runs
in 1954 All-Star Game.
■ Herb Score, 1955 American
League Rookie of the Year,
16-10, 2.45 ERA.
ON THE WEB To find out
what other moments
round out the list, visit
www.crainscleveland.com
Source: Cleveland Indians
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3/15/2007
10:37 AM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
I-3
Tribe approaching season with platoons for some positions
By JOEL HAMMOND
jmhammond@crain.com
I
n a perfect world, the Indians
would have at every position a
player who could play every day,
hit right- and left-handed pitchers
equally well and maintain continuity
in the lineup.
Instead, general manager Mark
Shapiro believes he’s assembled the
next best thing.
The Indians will open the season
April 2 against the White Sox
employing three platoons, which is
the practice of having two or more
players — at least one left- and one
right-handed-hitting batter —
alternate at the same position to
exploit advantages against opposing pitching staffs.
Left-handed-hitting David Dellucci and right-handed-hitting Jason
Michaels will split time in left,
Dellucci likely getting the nod on
opening day against White Sox
right-hander Jose Contreras. Casey
Blake and newcomer Trot Nixon
will platoon in right field, with Nixon,
a lefty, starting against Contreras.
Blake, Victor Martinez and at times,
youngster Ryan Garko, will split
time at first base.
“We’ve had success with (platooning) in the past, but the ideal situation
would be not to do that,” Shapiro
said. “The ideal would be to have
guys at every position who could
play every game and rarely use the
bench, like the Yankees do and
maybe what we did in the mid-’90s.
“Platoons are a by-product of
trying to creatively impact and
incrementally improve the run
production,” Shapiro said. “It’s not
ideal, but it’s something we feel can
work.”
A matter of percentages
Shapiro’s confidence likely stems
from each of the players involved
being veterans who have platooned
before.
Before signing with the Indians
last offseason and playing every day
in left field, Michaels succeeded as
a platoon player in Philadelphia in
2005; Dellucci did the same in
Philadelphia last year and Texas
before that; and Nixon often shared
time, most recently with Gabe
Kapler, in Boston. Blake has seen
time at third base, first base, right
field and as the designated hitter in
his four seasons with the Indians.
Additionally, the numbers indicate
that the Indians will benefit greatly
from these platoons: Michaels hit
.291 against lefties last year, but just
.252 against righties. That prompted
the signing of Dellucci, who hit .299
against righties, but .200 against
lefties. Combine their best work, and
you have a left fielder hitting .296.
Nixon hit .288 against right-handers
in 2006, but just .204 against lefties.
Blake, meanwhile, hit .272 against
lefties. Combine them, and you
have a right fielder that bats .284.
Add those numbers to the on-base
percentage of Grady Sizemore and
the power of Travis Hafner and
Victor Martinez, and you’ve got an
even more potent offense than the
one that was second in the majors
in runs scored with 870, or 5.37 a
game.
“The guys we have platooning,
we’re going to find enough at-bats,”
said the 32-year-old Nixon, entering
his ninth full season in the majors.
“We’re a veteran group focused on
winning, so it’s easier.
“(Platooning) is especially tough
on younger players. You can get out
of whack. Young players can get
frustrated and upset not knowing
whether they’ll start, not start, pinch
hit, not pinch hit,” Nixon said.
Prepare to play
The main reason Michaels
signed with the Indians after the
2005 season was a chance to play
every day in left field. He did just
that, but fell short of expectations.
Still, he said he’s looking forward
to splitting time with Dellucci, and
could see time in center field if
Sizemore, who played 162 games
there last year, is physically removed
from the lineup by manager Eric
Wedge.
“David’s a tremendous player,
and I think we’ll be successful,”
Michaels said. “When you’re in
this situation, getting in there and
getting the job done is something
you look forward to.”
Both he and Nixon said preparation — perhaps even more so
than an everyday player — is vital
to success.
“You’re not sure when the atbats are coming, so you’re more
prepared for each at-bat,”
Michaels said. “You have to have a
short-term memory.”
Nixon pointed to injuries playing
a significant factor in the way a
team’s season — and platoons —
play out. Shapiro saved $5 million
when reliever Keith Foulke
abruptly retired at the outset of
spring training, but that money is
unlikely to be used on the outfield,
even if an injury occurs there.
Thus, a flare-up in Nixon’s
back, for which he had offseason
surgery, or another injury to
Blake, who played in 109 games
last year, could increase any player’s
time dramatically.
“All it takes is one guy getting
hurt or traded, and you’re back
playing every day,” said Nixon,
who pointed to the job Kapler did
in Boston’s 2004 World Series run
when Nixon was injured and
played just 48 regular-season
games. Kapler, in 136 regularseason games, batted .272, and
stemmed the tide until Nixon
returned healthy for the playoffs.
“You have to keep the mindset of
being prepared to play no matter
if you’re starting or not. You have
to be prepared to be called on at
all times.”
■
I-4
3/15/2007
1:10 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
Venue’s offerings can ensure event is a home run
By CHRISSY KADLECK
J
acobs Field is more than a
game-day destination to soak
in nine innings of Major
League play.
Boasting first-class banquet
facilities, state-of-the-art meeting
rooms and gourmet catering, Jacobs
Field aims to have its bases covered
for hosting special events yearround, not just during the Cleveland
Indians’ 81 home games.
“The ballpark is the most unique
venue in the city,” said Kristan Dolan,
coordinator of special events for the
Cleveland Indians. “People can
utilize it on game days for pre-game
meetings, but more importantly on
non-game days for events such as
corporate outings, holiday parties,
bar and bat mitzvahs, rehearsal
dinners, wedding ceremonies on
home plate or wedding receptions in
the Terrace Club.”
Out of the ballpark
Dolan, who joined the organization in July 2005 to focus solely on
building the special event business,
DAN MENDLIK, CLEVELAND INDIANS
“The ability to have a meeting, luncheon or dinner in the Terrace Club ... is something that you won’t get anywhere else in the city of Cleveland. Plus you get the
mystique of being at the ballpark when there aren’t thousands of people here,”
says Kristan Dolan, coordinator of special events.
said catering sales in 2006 totaled
more than $750,000, far exceeding
the more than $400,000 logged in
2005. Those figures are generated
mostly from non-game day events,
she said.
“When the team is on the road,
even in season, we are very, very
busy with events,” she said. In fact,
the number of events increased
close to 70% from 77 events in
2005 to 128 in 2006.
“Our wedding business has really
increased. We had 12 wedding
events in 2006 and already in 2007,
we have 11 scheduled,” said Ms.
Dolan who added that all special
events such as weddings have to
be scheduled around game days
and the current schedule.
Jacobs Field officials promote
that the venue is not only equipped
to handle special events, it has a
built-in ambience and a lineup of
extras that can liven up a corporate
get-together or charitable fundraiser.
“The ability to have a meeting,
luncheon or dinner in the Terrace
Club or even down on the field is
something that you won’t get anywhere else in the city of Cleveland.
Plus you get the mystique of being
at the ballpark when there aren’t
thousands of people here,” she said.
The Terrace Club can accommodate up to 500 people on its two
levels, and the largest meeting room
at Jacobs Field can hold 100 people.
“Whether it’s putting your
message up on the scoreboard,
taking a ballpark tour, hitting in the
batting cages, having cocktails on
the field, meeting in the dugouts,
contacting former alumni to come
out or even having Slider down on
the field, there are ways to enhance
your event here at the ballpark that
cross over through age generations
that you cannot do at a hotel for
example, or some of the other facilities in town,” Dolan said.
All charitable organizations are
offered 50% off room rental fees
for fundraising events at Jacobs
Field, Ms. Dolan said. Each organi-
zation also receives an autographed bat or ball to be auctioned
or raffled at the event.
In addition, Jacobs Field is able
to offer discounted parking for
special events at Gateway Garage.
Bigger and better
For those looking to celebrate an
event with a big group during an
Indians game, your statistical
probability of getting a suite big
enough just greatly improved.
During the off-season, four luxury
suites were transformed into one
luxury suite that can accommodate
up to 60 fans, said Bob DiBiasio,
vice president of public relations
for the Cleveland Indians.
The new suite, which offers a
view down the right field line, near
the right field corner, was remodeled
to meet the needs of the business
community and others, he said.
“We knocked down the walls
between those areas so we opened
it up to make it a suite that would
have two or three bathrooms and
two or three refrigerators and sinks
and much bigger space because we
are learning that sales groups and
businesses are looking to entertain
affordably and in a group size of 50
to 60 at a time,” he said. A typical
luxury suite in a ballpark accommodates 12 to 16 people.
“We only had three areas in the
ballpark where people could come
in groups in an indoor setting to
have their own private bathrooms.
Those three party suites held 50 and
now we have added one more to
that inventory.”
■
CHANGING TIMES: New gate times will be in place for the 2007
season at Jacobs Field. For Monday through Friday 7:05 p.m.
games: Gate C opens at 4:30 p.m. for access to Heritage Park,
Market Pavilion, Sections 101-103 and Kids Land; Terrace Club
and LF Bridge open at 5 p.m. for access to Terrace Club, Club
Lounge and suites; and all gates open at 6 p.m. for access
to public areas. For Saturday 7:05 p.m. games, Terrace Club
and LF Bridge open at 5 p.m. for access to Terrace Club,
Club Lounge and suites; and all gates open at 5:30 p.m. for
access to public areas. For Saturday and Sunday 1:05 p.m.
games, Terrace Club opens at 11 a.m. for early seating; and all
gates open at 11:30 a.m. for access to public areas, Club Lounge
and suites. For weekday 12:05 p.m. games, all gates open at 11
a.m. for access to public areas, Terrace Club, Club Lounge and suites.
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3/15/2007
2:25 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
JANET CENTURY
I-5
Unique Venues...
Memorable Events
Tom Hamilton signed a contract extension earlier this year that will keep him broadcasting games on the team’s flagship
station, WTAM-AM 1100, through 2011. He’s seen with a Tom Hamilton Bobblehead, a promotion slated for this season.
Calling the shots
Announcing games ‘was the next best thing’
to playing for broadcaster Tom Hamilton
By ERIC STOESSEL
T
om Hamilton has seen the
best and worst the Cleveland
Indians have to offer. In his
17 seasons of calling games
on the radio, Hamilton has seen a
105-loss season (1991), a 100-win
season (1995) and the Indians’
return to the World Series that year
and again in 1997.
He’s called 57 postseason
games, including 13 World Series
games. He’s witnessed the greatest
comeback in Major League Baseball
history, the Indians’ improbable
rally from a 14-2 deficit to beat
Seattle 15-14 in 11 innings on a
Sunday night six years ago.
But a game that didn’t even count
is the one he cherishes the most.
“Nothing will ever top my first
game of the major leagues,”
Hamilton said. “Nothing will ever
top that. It’s an impossible dream
that becomes a reality. Unfortunately for me, it was against the
New York Yankees in April of 1990.
A blizzard came off Lake Erie and
the game was snowed out.”
Welcome to Cleveland.
The debut capped a whirlwind
year for Hamilton, who had been
working as a radio broadcaster
for the Yankees’ former Triple-A
affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.
He heard of the opening with
the Indians in fall 1989, but he was
busy working on Ohio State football broadcasts and he and his wife
of one year were awaiting the birth
of their first child.
“I never really had enough time
or put much thought into putting a
tape together,” said Hamilton,
whose son was born in November
of that year. “I saw a story that they
narrowed the list to four candidates
the week of Christmas. I was kicking
myself for not trying for the job.”
After some prodding from his
wife Wendy, Hamilton went to the
radio station after midnight Mass
and put together a tape to send to
the Indians. The four finalists
became five and the rest is history.
Hamilton eventually was promoted to the top position in the Indians
Radio Network in 1998 after the
retirement of Herb Score. He signed
a contract extension earlier this year
that will keep him broadcasting
games on the team’s flagship station, WTAM-AM 1100, through 2011.
Hamilton said he knew early on
while growing up in Wisconsin
that he wasn’t going to play sports
professionally, so announcing
them “was the next best thing.”
He went to Brown College, a
small school near Minneapolis, to
study communications and worked
his way up from “a real small station
in a real small town in Wisconsin.”
He broadcast University of Wisconsin football games and University of
Colorado basketball games before
landing in Columbus.
His arrival in Cleveland coincided
with the team’s rebirth. Jacobs
Field opened in 1994, and a year
later the Indians were playing in
their first World Series since 1954.
“The next most special game to
me was Game 6 of the ALCS in
1995,” Hamilton said. “I can see it
like it was yesterday. Kenny Lofton
was at second base, Randy Johnson throws a passed ball (Dan Wilson was catching). We score two
runs off it and Kenny scores from
second base. When he did that,
you could just sense the ballclub
knew it was going to win that game
and go to the World Series.”
A decade later, Hamilton had
that same feeling. September 2005
didn’t lead to the postseason as the
Indians couldn’t quite reel in the
White Sox, but it was still one of the
highlights of Hamilton’s career.
“You went to the ballpark every
day knowing every game had playoff-like implications,” said Hamilton, who lives in Avon Lake with
his wife and four children. “That
was as thrilling as it gets.”
Hamilton said it’s a lot more fun
broadcasting a team that’s winning
and it’s hard not to root for a team
he spends so much time with. But
at the same time, once the game
starts, he calls it like he sees it.
“While I work for the Indians, in
essence I really work for the fans,” he
said. “If you don’t have credibility,
you won’t last at the job.”
Radio partner Mike Hegan said
there are no facades with Hamilton.
“Tom is what you hear every day,”
said Hegan, who also received an
extension that will keep him with the
Indians through 2009. “He’s that way
on the air, off the air. He’s just a genuine person and that comes across
loud and clear in his presentation. ■
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I-6
3/15/2007
10:36 AM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
Ariz. training complex
will offer team more
modern amenities
By SCOTT SUTTELL
ssuttell@crain.com
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he Cleveland Indians are about
to trade shabby-chic for sleek
when it comes to their spring
training environs — a move
that other teams are making as
towns in Arizona seek to give their
economies a shot in the arm by
attracting the presence of Major
League Baseball.
Come February 2009, the Indians
plan to conduct spring training in
a complex in Goodyear, Ariz., about
20 miles west of Phoenix, that will
feature a 10,000-seat ballpark
expected to cost $75 million. The
ballpark will include suites, 8,000
seats and lawn seating for an additional 2,000 fans plus parking for
3,000 vehicles. The complex also
will feature a 38,000-square-foot
clubhouse, six full practice fields,
two half practice fields and an
agility field.
The Indians plan to use the
Goodyear complex and its fields as
a year-round center for rehabilitation and training.
When the Tribe ventures west
two springs from now, it will leave
behind its spring training home
since 1992 in sleepy Winter Haven,
Fla. That complex has plenty of
charm — heck, it’s old enough to
have seen Ted Williams train there
with the Boston Red Sox — but it’s
lacking in modern amenities. (Ted
Williams wouldn’t have cared about
that, but it makes a big difference
in a baseball world that places
great emphasis on state-of-the-art
player training and fan comfort.)
Goodyear will represent a backto-the-future move for the Indians,
who trained in Tucson, Ariz., from
1947 to 1992 before moving to
Winter Haven, which is in central
Florida about halfway between
Orlando and Tampa.
The Indians in the early-’90s
planned to move to a modern
complex in Homestead, Fla., but a
hurricane derailed those plans and
prompted the team to switch gears
and move to the friendly confines
of Winter Haven’s Chain of Lakes
Park. The Arizona deal finally will
give the Indians the modern training
complex they sought 15 years ago.
“A state-of-the-art facility has
the ability to impact your culture,
your atmosphere and your rehabilitation,” Indians general manager
Mark Shapiro told MLB.com in a
recent story about the rebirth of
Arizona’s spring training Cactus
League. “We’re currently at a
disadvantage and have been for
some time.”
Village people
1.866.276.2973
www.expedient.com
The Goodyear development is
called Ballpark Village, but it’s
about much more than baseball.
The Indians’ training complex will
anchor a 240-acre private development that’s expected eventually to
include office space, retail shops,
restaurants, loft-style housing, a
hotel and a conference center.
“Our residents told us loud and
clear: They want spring training in
Goodyear,” said the Arizona city’s
mayor, Jim Cavanaugh, who sees the
complex as a way to “catalyze economic development” in Goodyear.
The Goodyear City Council this
month unanimously approved an
intergovernmental agreement with
the Arizona Sports and Tourism
Authority that will pay for half the
complex. The rest will come from
the city and developers.
Goodyear Baseball LLC, an entity
jointly owned by Goodyear-based
development company Rose Properties Southwest, and San Diegobased JMI Sports LLC, will manage
the design, development and
construction of the Indians’ spring
training complex.
HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo.
— the firm that designed Jacobs
Field, Cleveland Browns Stadium
and some of the most architecturally
significant new sports complexes in
the country, including the striking
Arizona Cardinals stadium in
Glendale, Ariz. — will serve as lead
architect and planner for the baseball portions of the development.
Specific land plans and architectural designs aren’t complete but
will be developed in the coming
months.
Creating a draw
Erik Judson, principal of JMI
Sports, said the project “is breaking new ground in the development of spring training facilities”
as a sophisticated sports and
lifestyle complex that will draw
travelers and Phoenix-area residents
to Goodyear.
John Ruggieri, managing director of Rose Properties Southwest,
said his firm’s preliminary analysis
indicates there’s demand for up to
$700 million of office, housing,
hotel and retail development in
the area. If that prediction were to
hold true — and many projections
of future growth don’t in the world
of sports complexes — Goodyear
could reap more than $100 million
in tax revenues in the next 15
years.
David Carter, executive director
of the University of Southern California’s Sports Business Institute,
said team owners in all major
sports now look for every possible
way to improve the experience for
fans and the environment for
sponsors. Spiffier settings for
spring training baseball give them
a chance to do that, he said, “while
improving the quality of their
brand and making a little more
money.”
Arizona has had good success of
late in expanding Major League
Baseball’s Cactus League of teams
training in the state. Currently, 12
teams train there, up from seven in
1992, and the Indians and Los
Angeles Dodgers, who currently
train in Vero Beach, Fla., will land
in Arizona in 2009. The moves by
the Indians and Dodgers will give
the Cactus League 14 teams by
2009, with Florida’s Grapefruit
League retaining 16 teams.
■
3/15/2007
1:41 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
No off-season on air
SportsTime Ohio has kept busy, adding more amenities
to its production area and broadcasting other sporting events
By JOHN BOOTH
jbooth@crain.com
I
t’s been a busy off-season for
SportsTime Ohio.
Yes, the network is on air
year-round, and yes, it broadcasts more than baseball, but with
its close affiliation to the Indians —
its parent company, Fastball Sports
Productions, is owned by the team’s
Dolan family — SportsTime’s
calendar year is inextricably tied to
the arrival of spring training.
Since the end of the 2006 baseball season, SportsTime has added
its own master control center, two
high-definition video editing suites
and a new studio to the production
space it occupies in the WKYC-TV
building on Lakeside Avenue.
Despite its location at WKYC,
SportsTime controls its own
programming, and Indians games
are wholly SportsTime produced.
WKYC personnel sometimes are
paid for specific operations, such as
in-studio camera work and technical
directing, for SportsTime shows.
Although SportsTime’s new setup
is physically scattered throughout
the Lakeside Avenue building, it’s
all connected through the network’s
new master control center. A
limited-use studio at Jacobs Field —
which according to Fastball president Jim Liberatore likely will be a
simple one-camera-and-a-backdrop arrangement — also is slated
to be linked to the control center.
On-air personality
The technical additions mean
more on-air material for SportsTime
Ohio viewers.
For instance, explains SportsTime
Ohio programming director/executive producer Pat Kilkenney, the
network’s new studio will be staffed
during Indians games to provide
live updates of other events, such
as relevant American League Central Division games or Cleveland
Cavaliers’ scores and highlights.
SportsTime tested the idea of
live updates last spring during the
Cavs’ playoff run that coincided
with baseball season, and Kilkenney said the network got great
feedback from fans.
Kilkenney said SportsTime Ohio
will have access to footage from
cameras rolling at a dozen Major
League baseball games per night, and
Al Pawlowski, who has produced and
hosted the network’s “Ohio Sports
Profiles” program, will man the
update desk at the WKYC building.
The two in-studio cameras will
be operated remotely through the
master control room one floor up.
Indians’ games will also have
more on-screen bonuses such as
super slow-motion zoom capabilities, pitch-tracking graphics and
“spray charts” that illustrate where
hitters are placing their shots. And
88 of the Tribe’s contests will be
aired in high definition.
SportsTime’s on-air talent for Indians games will be Rick Manning
and Matt Underwood, and former
Cleveland pitcher Brian Anderson
will be contributing to the weekly
“Tribe Report” show.
Most game days during baseball
season will look like this on SportsTime Ohio: An early-afternoon
replay of the last Cleveland Indians
game; a three-hour sports call-in
show; a 6:30 p.m. Indians pre-game
show; that evening’s Indians game;
and a post-game show.
Local, local, local
Still, Liberatore — who bristles
when he hears the regional sports
network described as “Cleveland
Indians-owned” — is adamant that
there’s more to SportsTime than
the Tribe.
“If you look at regional sports
networks in general, a lot of them
have what they call a national
backdrop,” he said, meaning their
non-local hours are filled with
programming from the likes of
ESPN or Fox Sports. “We are going
to be a hyperlocal network. That’s
where we think our niche is.”
SportsTime Ohio’s current
programming hours are 4 p.m. to
midnight. By April, Liberatore says,
the network will achieve its goal of
being on the air around the clock.
“The whole plan of the network
was to maybe, after three years, go
24/7,” he said. “There’s so much
opportunity in this market for a
24/7 sports network.”
The network already has aired
a fair share of non-Indians
programming, including golf,
martial arts and outdoor programs,
along with non-game Cleveland
Browns coverage.
But Liberatore is looking to grab
even more local interest. SportsTime
has aired Youngstown State University football and Ohio Athletic
Conference football and basketball.
The network also has broadcast
high school basketball championships in Akron and Cleveland,
and arranged to swap college
hockey coverage with a Detroit
television station.
Beyond event coverage, though,
Liberatore said, “What we really
want to do is interact with the fans.”
He talks about ideas he has for
locally generated content such as
open-microphone-style shows that
would invite viewers to share photos
and videos, or promotions offering
the chance to chat with pro sports
coaches and management. There
also are plans for a high school
sports magazine show on the air
before the end of the school year.
“We don’t think it’s a quixotic
notion that this can be an important network in Cleveland,” he
said.
■
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I-7
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I-8
3/15/2007
2:12 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
Pieced: Opinions mixed on team’s season outlook
continued from PAGE I-1
The GM maintains, however,
that the Tribe entered the offseason
with all options open.
“There wasn’t a strategic
approach to sign a number of
guys rather than one guy,” Shapiro
said in a phone interview from
Winter Haven, Fla., the Indians’
spring training home. “If the right
one guy is there, we’ll sign that
one guy. But in the areas that we
had need, the areas that were most
important for us to address, either
the one guy wasn’t there or if he
was, it was a prohibitive situation.”
Let’s compare
Shapiro said all winter that the
Indians’ 2006 payroll, 24th of 30 in
the majors at $56.8 million, would
be increased and made good on
his promise. In adding veteran
relievers Aaron Fultz, Roberto
Hernandez and Joe Borowski and
outfielders Trot Nixon and David
Dellucci, Shapiro committed $16
million more to the 2007 books.
(Since another reliever, Keith
Foulke, retired before the season,
his $5 million, one-year deal will
FILE PHOTO/DAN MENDLIK, CLEVELAND INDIANS
“We have to search for the best value
and build the best team,” says general
manager Mark Shapiro.
not be counted in the Indians’
payroll figure.)
For that price, the Indians got
five impact players — their closer,
two situational relievers and two
platooning outfielders, each of
whom will be key to the team’s
goal of contending in the American
League Central.
Compare that collective impact,
assuming a relatively healthy
season, to one of the “one guys”
Shapiro was rumored to be after,
former Tribe right fielder Manny
Ramirez.
The enigmatic Red Sox outfielder
will make $38 million over the
next two years, and the Red Sox —
who signed the aforementioned
Matsuzaka to a six-year, $52 million
deal straight out of Japan — could
have been convinced, in the name
of savings, to part with Ramirez for
a price similar to what the Indians
spent on their five signings.
Committing to Ramirez’s salary
would have prevented the Indians
from doing little else in the freeagent market, including fixing the
bullpen’s woes. Signing Ramirez,
or any other hefty-salaried players,
would again have left the bullpen
in the hands of youngsters.
“We have to search for the best
value and build the best team,”
Shapiro said. “In light of what
happened in our bullpen last year,
we just didn’t feel like we could
afford to run the same guys out
there again. From a sheer talent
standpoint, I think we felt pretty
good about our guys that we could
field a good bullpen. Our ’pen
certainly suffered some trauma
last year, and it was a situation that
in light of that trauma, we felt like
we needed to do a good job of
bringing in a veteran dynamic.
“Veterans are better able to
handle the ups and downs that, if
we hit a rough patch like we did
last year, we weren’t going to
revert back to last year, that we’re
going to understand that it’s a
natural part of the game.”
The good …
Shapiro’s non-strategy certainly
has its positives, despite lacking
the sexiness of making a big-name,
Ramirez-type splash.
Of the five free-agent acquisitions, the team is committed to
only Dellucci past 2007, having
signed the 10-year veteran to a
three-year deal worth $11.5 million.
Fultz, Borowski and Hernandez
have 2008 club options, and
Nixon’s deal was simply a one-year,
$3 million contract.
Additionally, the Indians also
were able to maintain some
financial flexibility with three key
players closing in on free agency at
Crain’s press time: Jake Westbrook
after this season, and C.C. Sabathia
and Travis Hafner after next.
Despite sticking to a short-term fix
and facing the prospect of doing it
all over again next winter if these
moves don’t pan out, Shapiro
maintains he isn’t concerned with
a lack of continuity.
“There will always be continuity
with a core of guys,” Shapiro said,
“and there will always be guys
around that core that we have to
view as, if their value is good,
we’ll stick with them; if not we’ll
re-examine our alternatives. That’s
a reality of the business of building
a successful team or a sustainable
team.”
… and (maybe) the bad
Unlike last year, when the Indians
were universally picked to be a
major sleeper and advance to
oyster perpetual
36mm
their first World Series since 1997,
opinions seem to be mixed this
spring. Some writers have high
expectations, while others, including some locally, are more reserved
in their predictions (perhaps because
they’ve seen this act before).
Included in that cautious group
is ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, who
pointed to the uncertainty at the
back of the bullpen as a cause for
concern.
“I’m not sold on the bullpen
moves that Shapiro made,” Crasnick
said via e-mail during his spring
tour around the Cactus League.
“Borowski saved 36 games for
Florida, but the National League
East is not the American League
Central … Roberto Hernandez
turns 43 in November. The Phillies,
who have bullpen issues of their
own, weren’t in any hurry to bring
back Aaron Fultz.
“Is there someone in this group
you can classify as a ‘sure thing?’
The Indians are going to have to
get lucky with some of these guys,
as well as with their kids.”
Dan Connolly, The Baltimore
Sun’s national baseball writer, was
a bit more confident in Shapiro’s
moves.
“Relief pitchers are the most
difficult commodity to gauge in
all of baseball; there should be a
warning label on free-agent
relievers — they couldn’t be riskier,”
Connolly said via e-mail after
spending much of spring training
checking on Grapefuit League
teams. “That said, if you buy a
chunk of them, like the Indians
did, the margin of error reduces. If
half of the new relievers in Cleveland
work out, that’s still two reliable
arms they didn’t have in ’06.”
He also said Keith Foulke’s abrupt
retirement, which made Borowski
the closer by default, should help
the Indians, not hurt them.
“The problem is closing by
committee doesn’t work. Mixing
and matching during the season
doesn’t work, because fragile
relievers perform better in set roles,”
he said. “But even the best struggle
when there is no assigned role,
when they close on Wednesday,
and set up on Friday and Saturday
and close again on Tuesday.”
■
datejust turn-o-graph
OFFICIAL ROLEX JEWELER
ROLEX
OYSTER PERPETUAL, DATEJUST AND TURN-O-GRAPH ARE TRADEMARKS.
3/15/2007
3:31 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
I-9
Making connections
BY THE NUMBERS
Year
Total
Attendance
Average
(home record)
Overall
record
Club hopes grassroots marketing focus
helps to win more attendance by
employing a personal touch with fans
2006
1,997,936
24,666 (44-37)
78-84 (fourth)
2005
2,013,763
24,861 (43-38)
93-69 (second)
2004
1,814,401
22,400 (44-37)
80-82 (third)
2003
1,730,001
21,358 (38-43)
68-94 (fourth)
2002
2,616,940
32,308 (39-42)
74-88 (third)
2001
3,175,523
39,694 (44-36)
91-71 (first)
2000
3,456,278
42,670 (48-33)
90-72 (second)
1999
3,468,456
42,820 (47-34)
97-65 (first)
1998
3,467,299
42,806 (46-35)
89-73 (first)
1997
3,404,750
42,559 (44-37)
86-75 (first)
1996
3,318,174
42,536 (51-29)
99-62 (first)
1995
2,842,725
40,038 (54-18)
100-44 (first)
1994
1,995,174
39,121 (35-16)
66-47 (second)
By ERIC STOESSEL
V
ic Gregovits was handing out
more than just candy last
Halloween. The Indians’
senior vice president of sales
and marketing was also passing
out the team’s 2007 schedule and
player cards.
“We believe there’s nothing
more important than reaching out
and having that personal touch
with fans,” Gregovits said.
“Everyone knows you work for the
Indians, so when they come to
your house why not have some fun
with it? What better way for me to
put our marketing message out
there.”
The message starts from the
top. It’s part of a new grassroots
marketing focus, something the
club is doing to enhance ticket and
merchandise sales. Wins are the
greatest selling point, but as the
Indians found out last year, that’s
no guarantee. They have to be
prepared to overcome that.
Attendance dipped to a low of
21,358 per game in 2003 when the
Indians won just 68 games and
climbed to 24,861 in 2005 when
they just missed the playoffs with
a 93-69 record. The Indians were
78-84 last year with an average
attendance of 24,665.
“It’s just a different time and we
have to adjust and do things differently,” Gregovits said. “There are a
lot of fans of those glory days. How
do we get them re-engaged with us?”
The easy answer is by winning.
Expectations were high after 2005
and the front office is again confident.
“Last year we were still going
through a lot of things for the first
time with a lot of young players,”
Indians general manager Mark
Shapiro told Crain’s Cleveland
Business. “I feel like we’ve been
through about everything we could
go through at this point. We’re
better equipped and better
prepared … I would be very
surprised and disappointed if we
are not a good team.”
Fans have plenty of options when
buying tickets. They can choose
from the “Six Pack Plans,” which offer various combinations of six
games. New this year is the “Pronk
Flex Plan,” which allows fans to select a combination of 20 games.
Tickets aren’t the only product
the Indians are selling. The retail
side of the business is just as
important.
Kurt Schloss, director of
merchandising and licensing, said
that in 2005 the Indians ranked
eighth in retail business out of the
30 Major League Baseball teams.
They ranked fourth out of the 16
teams that have out-of-stadium
stores, he said. The Indians have
five team shops outside of the
one at Jacobs Field. They’re
located at malls in Fairlawn, North
Olmsted, Elyria, Mentor and
Strongsville.
Wins are just as important on the
retail side, Schloss said, but marketing individual players also helps.
Nearly 70% of player product sales
are for fan-friendly Travis Hafner
Ticket sales/record since opening of Jacobs Field
SOURCE: Cleveland Indians
and Grady Sizemore and legend
Bob Feller, Schloss said, and that
is nearly 20% of the total retail
business.
Whether it’s a trip to the mall or
to Jacobs Field, the Indians’ strategy
is the same.
“For us it’s all about being fan
and family friendly,” Schloss said.
“Is it a great place to come? Is there
value to it?”
The Indians are doing everything they can to make sure the
answer is yes.
■
4HEINVESTMENTOFALIFETIME
“We believe there’s nothing more important than
reaching out and having that personal touch with fans.”
– Vic Gregovits, senior vice president of sales and marketing
As part of a team speakers’
bureau, members of the organization and sales staff, including team
president Paul Dolan and executive vice president of business
Dennis Lehman, were scheduled
to spend the offseason speaking to
business, civic and educational
organizations.
The presentations are 30 minutes
and include a video presentation
and a question-and-answer session.
The goal is to connect with fans,
giving them a taste of the upcoming
season.
That effort probably wasn’t as
important 10 years ago when the
Indians were in the midst of a
record streak of 455 consecutive
sellouts from 1995-2001.
Jacobs Field opened in 1994
with a first-year attendance total
of 1,995,174 (39,121 per game
average). The next season the
Indians reached the World Series
and averaged 40,038 fans, beginning a string of six straight years
with an average attendance of
more than 40,000 per game.
After another first-place finish
in 2001, the Indians fell to third in
2002 and won just 74 games.
Winning can’t be everything
The trick for the sales staff is
to succeed with or without the
wins.
“We try to capitalize on the
team’s performance if things are
going well,” Gregovits said. “And
if they’re not, hopefully we’ve
created a special event to help.
All our research shows ballpark
experience rates very high with
Cleveland fans.”
Gregovits said they’ve enhanced
the promotional calendar and
the giveaways are for all fans or
children, depending on the promotion, not just the first 10,000
as it was two years ago. For the
second straight year, every
Friday is a fireworks night.
Sundays are “Kids Fun Days,”
attracting families with events
and activities for children, even
allowing them to run the bases
after the game.
The Indians also focus on the
more traditional sales tactics, like
mass advertising, direct mail,
telemarketing and will even try
door-to-door sales, Gregovits
said.
NOT YOUR TYPICAL BOBBLEHEAD: The Indians
are set this year to become the first Major League
team to unveil the “Bobsterz.” Created by Cleveland-based Fun Enterprises, the Bobsterz are a
cross between a Bobblehead and a figurine.
The Indians will distribute a cape-wearing
Grady Sizemore Bobsterz on April 28 and a
SponseBobsterz to children on Sept. 16. To view
the 2007 season’s promotional schedule, visit
www.crainscleveland.com/promo.
DAN MENDLIK, CLEVELAND INDIANS
7HILEPLANNINGTHEFUTUREOFYOURESTATETHEKNOWLEDGEANDEXPERIENCE
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-EMBER&$)#%QUAL(OUSING,ENDER
I-10
3/15/2007
3:09 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
Former pitcher aims to keep
farm system’s winning ways
By DAVID PRIZINSKY
I
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n his first year on the job,
Cleveland Indians player development director Ross Atkins
intends to maintain the high
standards established by his
predecessors that have earned
high marks from baseball observers.
Atkins, 33, a former pitcher in the
Indians organization, was named
director late last year, replacing
John Farrell, who joined the
Boston Red Sox as pitching coach.
Atkins has been part of the player development department for six
years, first as assistant director
and until this year director of Latin
American Operations, a strategic
position considering the increasing number of Latin American
players in the major leagues.
He ties the reputation of the
Indians farm system and player
development department to “a very
good scouting department and the
culture of high expectations.”
The team’s player development
operations rely heavily on software
and data management systems that
Atkins described as state of the art.
More importantly, he said, a key to
the department’s success has been
“hard work by my predecessors to
make sure that the systems and programs in place were not only cutting
edge but managed and used daily.”
“But, there is no crystal ball or
magic bullet. … We have to outwork
the other guy, and we have to be
successful,” he said. “In the short
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Indians, which lacks the deep
pockets of the richest teams and
those teams’ ability to purchase
players in the increasingly expensive free-agent market.
The concept of the minor league
farm system can be traced to Ohio
native Branch Rickey, who
developed it in the 1920s and
1930s while
working for the
St. Louis Cardinals. Rickey
created the role
of the general
manager and
was the first to
use statistics in
Atkins
developing and
signing players when he was with
the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The reliance on data, scouting
expertise and a sound evaluation
system is vital to Atkins.
“The more thorough the process
is, the better the outcome will be,”
he said. “The challenge lies in taking
your gut instinct or bias out of the
process.”
The new director, a graduate of
Wake Forest University with a
degree in economics, said the key
to his job is accurately evaluating
each of the players and making
sure that each is developed by the
best manager and coach possible.
“We are in the people business.”
Since Larry Dolan acquired the
franchise in 2000, the Indians have
spent an average of $22.5 million
annually on the player development
department. This figure is 27%
more than the Major League average, according to Curtis Danburg,
Indians manager of communications and creative services.
The Indians have concentrated
on taking a broad approach to
player development. This includes
the innovative winter develop-
ment program that brings top
prospects to Cleveland for the
month of January for instruction
in conditioning and nonbaseball
issues, such as personal banking.
The team’s player development
operations won the Topps Co.’s
“organization of the year” designation in 2006. The accolade was
based on the 10 awards that Topps
gave Indians minor league players
last year.
The publication, USA Today
Sports Weekly, also has singled out
the Indians several times in recent
years as its “organization of the year.”
About 40 staff people in the minor
league system are under Atkins’
direction. There also are more than
150 players in the farm system.
The Indians’ affiliates are the Buffalo Bisons (AAA); Akron Aeros, (AA);
Kinston Indians (A), Kinston, N.C.;
Lake County Captains (A), Eastlake,
Ohio; Mahoning Valley Scrappers
(A), Niles, Ohio; Gulf Coast League
(rookies), Winter Haven, Fla.; and
Dominican Summer League (nondrafted free agents).
Training ground
Running Latin American operations was a good training ground
for Atkins, who speaks Spanish.
“Latin America is very important,
and I grew in that role,” Atkins said.
Latin American players now make
up about 30% of professional
baseball, he estimated.
Atkins said the broad approach
to player development will get a
boost from the team’s planned
spring training move from Florida
to Goodyear, Ariz., in 2009.
“The Arizona facility is an elite
facility. It is also for year-round use,”
he said. This facility is part of a 240acre, $75 million mixed-use development that will include the “ballpark village.”
■
3/16/2007
12:01 PM
Page 1
MARCH 19-25, 2007
I-11
Tribe to offer ticket holders profitable option
By BRAD DICKEN
F
orget the shady looking guy on
the corner outside Jacobs Field
waving a fistful of tickets the next
time you’re looking to score a
way into a Cleveland Indians game.
Starting this season, the Tribe is
getting into the ticket resale business,
or at least the online ticket resale
business.
Season ticket holders will be able
sell their tickets for a profit on the
Indians’ web site, and fans will be
able to reap the benefits, so long as
they’re willing to pay the price.
Vic Gregovits, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the
Indians, said the new policy will make
it easier — and safer — for fans to
get into even a sold-out game.
“It’s a service to our ticket holders,”
he said.
10% to the seller and 10% to the
buyer.
Security and convenience will
draw in fans, Gregovits said, because
by using the Indians site they’ll
know exactly what they’re getting.
“It’s secured, it’s controlled, it’s
guaranteed by the Indians to be
authentic,” he said.
That authenticity isn’t so certain
when fans buy their tickets from
other sources, Gregovits said.
Every year, fans show up looking
forward to a game only to discover
that the tickets they purchased are
fake or invalid.
“If it’s third- or fourth-hand,
there’s no way we can track it back,”
he said. “This cuts down on forgery.”
Flexibility for fans
This year, Gregovits estimates
there will be about 13,000 season
tickets sold, ranging in price from
$7 to $42 a game. Many of those
tickets will be split up between
friends, co-workers and other
groups that purchase tickets and
then divvy up the games.
It’s a practice that the Indians
encourage, but even the most
careful division can’t account for
everything, and sooner or later
somebody won’t be able to make
one of the Tribe’s 81 home games.
Jennifer Brumbaugh, a season
ticket holder from Willoughby, said
she typically sells off most of her
tickets through the Indians, but
until now hasn’t made a profit on it.
“I think this could be a huge
perk for ticket holders,” she said.
“There’s always about five games I
can’t make or sell, so with this you
don’t take as big a loss.”
The move isn’t entirely
altruistic. “If someone can’t make
the games, this helps us out,” the
Indians’ Gregovits said.
As with any new initiative, it may
take some time to work out the
kinks in the system.
Price could be an issue, but that
will depend for how much ticket
holders try to sell their tickets. If
the price goes too high, the Indians might have to cap how much
they can be sold for, although
there is no such limit in place now.
But it will be what the fans want
that will drive the system, Gregovits said.
“The fans have to get comfortable with it,” he said.
■
Cashing in
The Indians TicketExchange,
which can be found at Indians.com,
was online last year, serving as a
marketplace for ticket holders looking to sell.
The big change is that this year,
the season ticket holders can make
a profit. Under a regulation passed
by the city of Cleveland last June,
ticket holders may resell their tickets
for a profit — so long as they do it
on the Internet.
Season ticket holders simply post
which tickets they want to sell in
the online market run by TicketMaster for the Indians, but it’s not
an auction, Gregovits said.
Sellers can ask whatever price
they want to get and buyers can
take it or leave it on a first come,
first served basis.
Once the ticket is purchased it’s
simply a matter of the seller e-mailing the tickets to the proud new
owner, which can then be printed
out and presented at the gate.
It isn’t exactly a new idea. The
Cleveland Cavaliers run a similar
program, and Gregovits admits
Indians fans have been doing the
same thing on other web sites for
years.
Tad Carper, the Cavs’ senior vice
president of communications, said
fans loved the idea of making a
profit on their tickets through that
team’s Flash Seats program. The
team tested online sales last season
and launched it this season in a way
that allows for a profit.
“The response from season ticket
holders is 98% approval,” Carper said.
A key difference between the two
programs is who picks up the tab.
The Cavs charge 20% of the ticket
cost, which is paid by the purchaser,
while the Indians split the charge —
SOLD OUT: The Indians’ 2007
home opener on April 6 vs.
Seattle is sold out — the
14th consecutive
home opener sellout
at Jacobs Field. All
hope’s not lost, however.
As of early last week
there were two pairs of
tickets available through
Indians TicketExchange for
the home opener — one
selling for $206.99 per ticket the
other for $143.75 per ticket.
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