CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s a beautiful ballpark.
I say that to myself nearly every time I’m at Progressive Field. I still think of it as “the new ballpark.” But Progressive Field is the ninth oldest in Major League Baseball.
The new ballpark? It’s more like a special place to watch a game. It opened in 1994 – the last century! It’s becoming like Fenway Park is to Red Sox fans and Wrigley Field to Cubs fans.
Stories by Terry Pluto
Did you see the end of the Guardians game Sunday? Did your heart beat faster? – Terry Pluto
My head, my heart & a migraine when thinking about Browns QBs – Terry Pluto
Oh my! 2 interceptions wreck Browns’ first half vs. Lions – Terry Pluto’s Halftime Scribbles
“That’s one of the reasons why we chose to renovate vs. trying to build a new ballpark,” texted Brian Barren, Guardians president of business. “We wanted the renovations to adapt to the changing needs of a new generation of fans with things like standing room only spaces with local food and beverage options the fans of Cleveland enjoy.”
The Guardians have done that starting with the Corner Bar down the right field line in 2015. It’s an acceptance that some fans like to wander around during games, sample food and drinks … and yes, have fun with their phones.
The Guardians have been through several stages of renovations. The latest version opened this season with more open spaces such as the Terrace Hall and Blue Moon Terrace Garden down the left field line where you watch the game and also check out the Cleveland skyline.
When the Guardians were making these changes, I heard from some fans – mostly from my generation. Like me, they grew up going to the park, buying a scorecard with a little golf pencil and then sitting in a seat, watching the game.
The fact is, you can still do that. OK, they don’t sell old-fashioned scorecards with golf pencils, but there are lots of seats. Your scorecard can be on your phone or your own traditional score book.
“We wanted to preserve and extend the life of an iconic ballpark in the heart of downtown Cleveland,” added Barren. “We did that by keeping the things our older fan loves, from the bleachers to the majestic views from the upper deck.”
Why this year is special
Yes, the team is part of the reason the Guardians have drawn more than 2 million fans for the second consecutive season. That hasn’t happened since 2007-08.
Last week was incredible with the Guardians playing six critical/crucial home games. A playoff berth and a Central Division title were on the line.
So was baseball history.
The Guardians were trying to put an exclamation point on the biggest comeback in baseball history. They were 15 ½ games behind the Tigers in July. No team had ever been more than 15 games out of first place and then made the postseason.
The amazing statistic was Cleveland being 12 ½ games behind the Tigers on Aug. 26.
The Guardians then started winning and kept winning. The Tigers started losing, and kept losing. Cleveland went to Detroit on Sept. 16. They were still 6 ½ games out of first place.
The Guardians swept the three-game series. Next stop was Minnesota, where the Guardians won 3 of 4 games. Their loss was Sept. 21. That ended a 10-game winning streak. Manager Stephen Vogt went into the clubhouse and told the players to turn up the music, act like winners. They were coming home for those last six regular season games of the season.
Then Vogt told the media: “We couldn’t be more excited to get back home. I know these are school nights. I know people work. But we need to pack-out Progressive Field. We need our fans. Our boys are going to be ready to play. We’d love to see as many fans as possible. We know what’s at stake. It’s going to be a lot of fun this week.”
Vogt has three kids, so he knows all about school nights. Notice how he mentioned people working. It’s refreshing to have a manager who can see life outside the baseball bubble.
A 1990s Feel
Fans packed stands, averaging 31,054 in attendance for those final six games. There were two sellouts. It was the largest attendance for any six-game period this season.
In many ways, it had the middle 1990s vibe when winning Cleveland baseball was so new, as was the ballpark. Fans were on their feet in the late innings, screaming on nearly every pitch in a close game.
The last two games were the kind those watching will remember for a long time. There was rookie C.J. Kayfus being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to give the Guardians a 3-2 walk-off victory over Texas.
That clinched a spot as a wild card team.
Sunday, the Guardians were behind 8-5 in the bottom of the 10th inning. They came back to score four runs. The game ended with Brayan Rocchio’s towering fly ball off the right field foul pole for a game-winning three-run homer.
That also gave Cleveland the Central Division title and home field for the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday at 1:08 p.m. at Progressive Field.
Vogt pushed his team not to be content with making the playoffs. Win the Central Division. Play at home in the first round. Finish the job.
Vogt understands smaller baseball markets such as Cleveland. He spent seven of his 10 big league seasons in Oakland and Tampa Bay.
“It’s huge to get in, and now we get to play in front of our awesome fans here in Cleveland,” Vogt said Sunday. “That’s what we wanted. That’s why today mattered. We want to play at home. We get so much energy from our amazing fans. They showed out this home stand. I can’t thank them enough for that. I know it’s school nights. I know it’s work nights, but they showed up. They supported us. I know today was a football day, but we still had an amazing crowd today.”
And an amazing month, as the Guardians were 20-7 in September. As for the Tigers, they were 7-17.
Why two million matters
This isn’t the 1990s when the ballpark was new. That also was when the Browns had moved to Baltimore, and had no NFL football from 1996-98. Cleveland was Tribe Town back then, the biggest show in what usually is a Browns-obsessed city.
Since then, the Browns came back. The economics of baseball changed in many ways, the local TV contracts being the bigger driver of revenue compared to the fans at the ballpark.
Then add in the Guardians’ slow start and some lousy spring weather. The team stumbled around for most of July and August. A lot of fans showed up buying those monthly standing room only “Ballpark Passes,” allowing fans to wander around the stadium for only $54 a month.
Then came September when the Guardians not only caught fire, but so did the fans. They average 25,200 per game this month – the second highest since 2008. The only other hot September was in 2017 when the team was in the middle of a 22-game winning streak.
But the Guardians have been building a solid fan base. They had about 9,000 season tickets, which was the most since 2009.
The Guardians have had 25 games of at least 30,000 fans. They averaged 25,331 fans … 21st in the majors.
The Friday and Saturday summer weekend games averaged 32,760 fans. That’s the most since 2015, when they reduced seating to about 35,000 due to renovations.
“It was an insane weekend with an improbable finish to a remarkable season,” texted Barren. “It was so special to see and experience the energy from our fans in all of those new spaces – and places in the ballpark. It was incredible to watch the ballpark erupt with a walk-off in front of a sellout crowd Saturday night, then again Sunday as we clinched the AL Central!”