Kee On Sports Magazine Volume 1: “The Genesis”

The Real Issue With Todays Baseball Fan Goes Beyond A Logo Or Name

by Vince McKee 

Do you remember the first time you went to a ball game with your family?  For me, I sure do, it was June of 1987 as the Cleveland Indians hosted the Detroit Tigers.  It all seemed so magical as Cleveland Municipal Stadium seemed like this majestic castle with my favorite game being played right in front of me.  I didn’t care about anything else because I was watching baseball with my dad and brother.  We lost 15-3 by the way.

I’ll never forget hearing the crack of the bat for the first time.  Or my personal favorite, the sound of the catcher’s mitt popping with every fast ball landing in it.  The peanut and also beer vendors yelling.  It was all just so surreal and fun.  I had my first taste of it, and I was hooked!  I have loved baseball ever since and it will always be my favorite sport.

I grew up during such a special time in the 80’s and 90’s to watch my beloved Indians go from seller dwellers to perennial World Series contenders.

I didn’t need dollar dogs, flaming scoreboards, fireworks, cute girls going into the crowd to toss T-shirts, giant stuffed Hot Dogs racing.  Who cares about any of that? I’m there to watch the game.

Thus, my point is as simple as this.  True baseball fans there for the sport of baseball are dwindling down.  Pick up a promotional schedule if you don’t believe me.  Why is there a bar at the stadium now?  One in which you took away seats to put in. College ID night, bring your Dog to the game night, etc..

I will tell you why, because today’s society of fan needs to be entertained 24/7 and that is very sad.  That is the REAL problem with today’s fan. It has nothing to do with a name, or a logo.  If you asked 10-year-old Vince McKee, in 1992, to name you every position player on the team, along with the pitchers along for the Cleveland Indians, along with top prospects for the Canton Akron Indians, I would have told you with ease.

Do you really think that 50% of the attendance on a given night could even tell you all 5 starters in the rotation?  How about a backup catcher?  You could give Karen from North Olmsted 25 chances to name you any player not named Shane Bieber or Jose Ramirez, and she won’t come close.  That’s the problem fans.

Quite frankly, I will be a Cleveland Guardians fan, just like I have been a Cleveland Indians fans for 39 years.  I’m not a fan because of the name or logo, I’m a fan of the sport of baseball.

Do I think it was time to change the name?  No, I do not. If we live in a world where we are constantly afraid of offending someone, then that is a pathetic world to live in.

But guess what?  Who cares?  At the end of the day, I’m the same fan who saw his beloved Cleveland Browns leave for 3 horrible years.  Keep the team here, and I don’t care if they are the Cleveland Snowflakes.

Root for the sport, root for the team and let everything else go.  Be there and support for the right reasons, not the dollar dogs and racing mascots.

Become a fan again, not a trendy selfie on Instagram.  A baseball fan!