Indians surprisingly rank higher than other Cleveland teams in FanSided 250
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Indians and their very own fanbase beat out other Cleveland area teams in 2020 according to the FanSided 250 countdown.
In a bit of a shock, the Cleveland Indians baseball team fanbase not only cracked the FanSided 250 listing of all the sports and entertainment fanbases but did better than the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns. The Indians even beat out Game of Thrones, Star Trek and, Rick and Morty.
The Indians came in at No. 122, a very respectable showing considering the Indians fanbase has often been described as uninterested and noncommital. That’s not surprising, as the Indians are 29th in the league in team value, and rank in the bottom of attendance now for years. So how their fanbase got so high is a bit shocking, but appreciated nonetheless.
While the fanbase and their devotion is always a topic of discussion in recent years, what isn’t up for debate is how well the Indians did on the field in 2020. Despite numerous issues with things like payroll, manager Terry Francona missing nearly the entire season due to health issues, as well as the Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac controversy; this team had no business being as good as it was in 2020.
The team made the playoffs, falling just a game short of winning the AL Central. They had two AL Gold Glove winners in Roberto Perez and Cezar Hernandez, while also having a Silver Slugger winner in Jose Ramirez. Speaking of Ramirez, he finished second in the AL MVP and is the only player in the last four years to have three top-3 finishes in the AL or NL MVP race.
Capping off a marvelous year was Shane Bieber, who won the AL Cy Young award unanimously, achieving a feat that is rarely seen in baseball, as pitchers rarely ever get selected as a Cy Young winner with all the first-place votes.
The Indians have proven over the last two decades that it doesn’t matter what obstacles they face, they can always find a way to overcome them and that’s why their fanbase deserves this high ranking.
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