Cleveland Indians: 4 moments that define a modern fandom
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Indians are still looking to snap their World Series drought but fans of the franchise have had plenty of modern moments to hang on to.
The Cleveland Indians are a storied franchise with a fanbase that has seen and been through a lot. Sure, the Indians are the once-popular juggernaut they used to be twenty-odd years ago, but that’s due to fans moving away from baseball as a whole, not the Indians. In fact, the Indians over the course of the last seven years have been the model franchise of success for all mid-market baseball clubs.
Constantly in the playoff race with a great eye on scouting talent, and an even better eye in acquiring it. To some, that doesn’t take away the pain of not winning a World Series, yet, it’s the journey that makes the adventure. The moments that make the story. The players that define an era. Not if you won a trophy or not at the end of the year.
Only one team every year can win the World Series. To some, that means 29 teams had a failure of a season; but that’s simply not true. The success of the season is measured by how much was experienced, not by how much was won. So no, to me, failing to win the World Series does not mean that the last 20-odd years of being a fan has been in vein
On the contrary. It’s been the best fandom-ride of my life. The moments that make up a club are only so often measured in championship success. It’s the other moments, the moments you tell your kids about, those are the moments that define a club. With so many fans acting as if the Indians hadn’t won a game in twenty years, and that they aren’t a perennial playoff contender each year, I figured it’d be nice to remind some fans of the great moments that can come when you’re just enjoying the game.