Players, Staff Get up Close with Fans at Tribe Fest Team
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Players, staff get up close with fans at Tribe Fest Team expresses optimism on first day of weekend event By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | January 24, 2015 + 2 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Tom Hamilton waited patiently with a smile, signing every autograph and posing for each photo asked of him by the crowd that surrounded him Saturday morning at Tribe Fest. The radio voice of the Indians never once looked for an escape route. Instead, Hamilton shook hands, accepted hugs and took a moment to appreciate how much the fans in attendance cared for him and the Indians. On the first day of the third annual event at Progressive Field, streams of Tribe diehards poured through the gates, enjoyed the behind- the-scenes festivities and expressed optimism about the season ahead. "It always makes you appreciate how much the ballclub means to people," said Hamilton, who has called Indians games for the past 25 seasons. "Sometimes, when you're in it every day, you don't realize how special this team is, and baseball is, to people in this area. When you're at an event like this, I think it really gives you a much better feel, because you're one-on-one with the fans, which you normally aren't. "I'm sitting up in a broadcast booth away from people. I think it's really neat to see how much enthusiam there is. This is a promising, young ballclub and I think people realize that. People are excited, and they should be. I think we lose sight of the fact that this is the first time since 2000-01 that we had back-to-back winning years. That's a long time." A majority of Cleveland's players, including offseason addition Brandon Moss, were on hand for Day 1 of the two-day Tribe Fest event to interact with fans and sign autographs. Manager Terry Francona and general manager Chris Antonetti fielded questions during the morning session, and catcher Yan Gomes teamed with former catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. to talk about their craft. Hot Stove: Brandon Moss Hot Stove: Brandon Moss Brandon Moss calls in to Hot Stove to talk about the trade that sent him to the Indians and how he is preparing for the 2015 season The Indians showed video clips of the ongoing renovations in center and right field and held a discussion with fans in the audience about the massive project. Tribe players Nick Swisher, Michael Brantley, Michael Bourn and Cody Allen also went up against four Cleveland fans in an entertaining round of "Tribe Feud," which was based on the popular game show, "Family Feud." The festivities included games for kids, tours of the home clubhouse and a look inside the team's batting cages. It was also a rare opportunity for the Indians' players to get up close to their loyalists to discuss the team that is in place and the season ahead. Tribe Fest will continue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, and team president Mark Shapiro is scheduled to sit down to chat with fans. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway and some of Cleveland's hurlers are also slated to hold a discussion on pitching, among other activities. Information about tickets, parking and autograph sessions can be found at Indians.com/tribefest. It has been a relatively quiet winter for the Indians, but that has not shaken the team's confidence. "We are under the radar. We are quiet," Brantley said. "I kind of like that. We have a great group of guys in this locker room that learned so much last year and we're going to look forward to putting it together this year in 2015, and coming together as one." As Hamilton noted, last season's club won 85 games to clinch a second straight winning season for the first time in more than a decade. Cleveland made the playoffs as a Wild Card team in 2013 and remained in contention until the final weekend of the regular season in '14. Injuries and a reliance on young players took a toll on the Indians down the stretch last fall. The Royals finished four games ahead of the Indians in the American League Central standings, grabbing a Wild Card spot and using it to make a run all the way to the World Series. If Cleveland has a clean bill of health and an even cleaner defense in the upcoming season, the team feels it has what it will take to close the gap. "If you look at it, we didn't play very good defense last year," Brantley said. "I think defense really, really hurt us. And then with the guys we lost, our offense went down. It's no secret, if you don't have your main starters out there for a long period of time, you're going to have struggles and you're going to need people to fill in those roles. "So, if we can just limit our errors, play flawless defense like we can and we're capable of, and we're going to work on it in spring, and go out there with our regular starters, we're going to be just fine." Moss, who was acquired from Oakland in a trade on Dec. 8, said he is looking forward to hitting in the middle of the Tribe's order. "I'm pumped about it," Moss said. "Obviously, there are a lot of names in this lineup and they've accomplished a lot. I've never been part of a lineup that has been this deep and has the potential to have so many good players. I'm excited about it." New food options for Tribe fans New food options for Tribe fans Popular local restaurants Melt, Barrio and Sweet Moses will be at Progressive Field in 2015, serving unique new food options to fans The players were also happy to reunite in Cleveland this week, not long before the time comes to head to Arizona for Spring Training. "This is the first time all of us have really gotten the chance to get around each other," Swisher said, "to see each other, to give each other a hug, and just kind of check in on our families and stuff. It's been a great [weekend] and I know all of us are super excited for what's to come." Doby celebration, giveaway highlight promo schedule Indians also plan Kluber, Santana, Brantley bobblehead days By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | 11:22 AM ET + 4 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- If a Mount Rushmore existed for Indians greats, Larry Doby would undoubtedly have a place on the mountain top. Doby was not only an icon for the franchise, but a trailblazer for black players in the American League. Doby has long been immortal in terms of baseball history, but the Indians have now finalized plans for immortalizing his image at Progressive Field. On Saturday, Cleveland announced its promotional schedule for the upcoming season, revealing that the much-anticipated statue featuring Doby will be unveiled at the ballpark during an event on July 25. Doby's likeness will join the statues of Indians greats Bob Feller and Jim Thome in the reimagined Gate C entrance and Right Field District area, which is currently undergoing a major transformation. It is a long-awaited honor for Doby, who debuted with the Indians as the AL's first black player on July 5, 1947 -- roughly three months after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in the National League with the Dodgers. As part of this season's celebration of Doby's career -- one that included seven trips to the All-Star Game and a runner-up finish for the AL Most Valuable Player Award in 1954 -- fans in attendance on July 25 will receive a replica of his statue. That event highlights a long list of promotions being offered this season by the Indians, who have increased the number of giveaways for a variety of the items. Cleveland's promotional schedule also features 11 fireworks nights, 10 KeyBank Kids Fun Days, five replica jerseys, four bobbleheads and two Rock N' Blast shows (Aug. 7-8), among other things. The current players featured in this year's bobbleheads will be pitcher Corey Kluber and his 2014 AL Cy Young Award (June 6), first baseman Carlos Santana (July 8) and outfielder Michael Brantley (Aug. 8). On Sept. 12, Indians manager Terry Francona and his famous red scooter will also be featured in the fourth and final bobblehead giveaway of the season. Throughout this season, the Indians also plan on honoring the 20th anniversary of the 1995 team that won 100 games and captured the AL pennant. Cleveland will have a two-day celebration on June 19-20 with a number of players from that team on hand at Progressive Field. On June 20, a '95 AL champions T-shirt (by GV Art + Design) will be given away. The Indians will also be giving out replica jerseys for former manager Mike Hargrove (June 22) and former catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. Other replica jerseys in the plans this season include a 1975 replica (May 23), a 1948 Bob Feller jersey (Aug. 11) and another for catcher Yan Gomes (Aug. 29). Among the items with increased giveaway totals are the Kluber (17,500 fans) and Brantley (15,000) bobbleheads, the Doby statuette (12,500) and Alomar jersey (15,000), among others. For the second year in a row, the Tribe will also have a fan-designed T-shirt promotion (Aug.