Tribe time is about three months away and optimism is running high for the Cleveland Indians, and Bob DiBiasio urged members of the Lima community to be a part of the what is expected to be another successful year said the longtime senior vice president of public affairs to the Rotary Club of Lima Monday.
“We feel realty good about who we are as a baseball team and should provide the fans one heck of a summer,” DiBiasio said.
DiBiasio enters his 38th season with the Indians and his 39th in Major League Baseball in 2017. He began with the Indians in 1979 as assistant public relations director, was named director in 1980 and vice president of public relations 1988.
The Indians are enjoying one of the franchise’s best run in team history after posting three straight wins, making the World Series in 2017, before bowing out to the Chicago Cubs in an epic game 7.
Like the heart-wrenching loss in 1997 that saw the Indians lost to the Florida Marlins in game 7, the Tribe are still trying to get over the loss against the Cubs but DiBiasio is confident this team is poised for another big run in 2017.
“We are the only fan base, the organization that has back-to-back World Series appearances in game 7 to lose in extra innings,” DiBiasio said. “We are a tough bunch. What a remarkable year and what a remarkable off season we had to put ourselves in a position to to treat Tribe fans to another wonderful October.”
Looking to address some of the Indians’ need during the off season, the Tribe scored big in the free agency market by acquiring hard-hitting slugger Edwin Encarnacion from the Blue Jays. In 2016, the 34-year-old infielder hit 42 home runs and drove in 127 runs. In his eight years with the Blue Jays, the all-star third baseman hit 239 home runs and recorded 679 RBI.
Not making the same headlines but just as vital in terms of signing the Indians acquired left-handed reliever Boone Logan. Known for his ability to strike out people and setting down left-handed hitters, Boone pitched for the Rockies last year and recorded 57 strike outs in 46.1 innings of work.
“We got the best hitter available on the free agency market and we got one of the two or three best left handed pitchers on the market,” DiBiasio said. “We added a couple of pieces we absolutely needed.”
DiBiasio said these two signees are joining a clubhouse that is led by what DiBiasio calls the best manager in baseball, Terry Francona.
“One of the things I love about Terry Francona is how he uses humor as a leadership skill,” DiBiasio said. “We are blessed to have a leader like Terry Francona. It showed our resiliency but it also showed our manager is not going to let a three-game losing streak turn into a to an eight-game losing streak.”
In addition to the manager, DiBiasio said if the Tribe stay healthy they can really do damage in the America League.
Getting off to a good start and winning within the division were another two reasons Cleveland recorded the best record in the American League.
Last year, the Tribe were beset with injuries last year, particularly on their pitching staff, but added that it was “the next man-up mentality” that carried them in the postseason.
“We struggled with that throughout the year and then it bit us late in the year but it didn’t derail the spirit and the resiliency of our team,” DiBiasio said. “You have to give most of the credit to the players themselves.”
While the Tribe are trotting out a championship caliber team, attendance continues to be an issue for the Indians. Last year, the Indians attracted more than 1.5 million fans. The Indians ranked 28th out of 30 teams with an averaged of 19.650.
In addition to the talent on the field worth the price of admission DiBiasio said, the Indians are in the midst of a $30 million renovation project to not only meet the demands of the 21st century fan but to prepare for the 2019 All-Star game that will be held at Progressive Field. The Indians home stadium celebrates their 25 year also in two years.
DiBiasio said season ticket sales are hovering around 11.5000 and he expects to eclipse the 12,000 barrier.
“We need people to come to the ballpark,” DiBiasio said. “We have changed our whole philosophy about how we do business at the ballpark. We wanted to get millennial in the ball park and they do not watch sporting events like the gray hairs watch sporting events.”
DiBiasio added that they also enhanced their kids area so adults can enjoy the ballpark while the children interact with the amenities.
Pitchers and catcher report Feb. 14.
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