Jake in Progress?

Excellent comments on the last couple of posts, if you haven't clicked on them - please do. While in attendance to Wednesday's game (there were less than 10K there), many things struck me about Jacobs Field and how it has evolved over the course of the last 10 years + 3 games.

-the scoreboard layout was changed this year, making it much easier to read. However, they are a little slow on getting what each player has done in previous at-bats onto the screen because of all of the graphics. While I can always peek over the shoulder of the guy who always sits in front of me who keeps score, I'd rather just have the information readily available.

-Chief Wahoo is no longer a part of Jacobs Field...anywhere. Why is it that the Tribe doesn't embrace their nickname and use it for clever marketing ideas, rather than shunning it like the plague. Are they that afraid of offending that tiny, tiny part of the population who takes offense to the name?

-the new Batters-Eye Bar in Center is brilliant, but they didn't go far enough. It is a great addition to the Market Pavilion (which has very good and cheap, relatively speaking, food) and now the area leading down to center field, next to the Tribe bullpen has tables and seats set up. This area should have been fully cultivated, with the area with tables having TV's and places to buy beer there. Advertise that it's open early and late, make food and beers available for discounted prices before the game and make it a party atmosphere. Name it "The Reservation" and have those girls behind those big tubs selling to the crowd that you want in there, the pre-game Panini's crowd. Have a big machine that sends up smoke signals when the Indians are threatening, make them correspond with John Adams banging on the drum. Make port-a-potties out there that look like teepees. Go all the way! I'm tired of these decent ideas down there being half-baked and not fulfilling their potential. There's a segment of the fanbase that would embrace that atmosphere, love the proximity to the bullpen and center and make that the "place to be" for a game.

-please, get rid of Slider!?! My hate for him grows and his profile seems to grow from year to year. Why can't the Indians have MoonDog (who's not quite as annoying) and the Cavs, oh I don't know, actually have a Cavalier for a mascot?

-I swear that I could get 5 guys together and bring back that party atmosphere at the Jake, while not turning off the segment of the population that the Indians seem so afraid to offend.

On to the actual games - last night, the bats woke up (particularly Pronk and the Stick) to save the team from Elarton and a sweep. I agree with the comment on Alex Cora, I think that the further that the season goes on, the more and more he's going to factor into the future. We'll see if the hitters can figure out Santana tonight and if Jake's sinker is actually sinking.

More to come on steroids in an upcoming post. I have some thoughts on this that may surprise. As a teaser, I've got two words, "Ripped Fuel".