Indians Closer Chris Perez Doesn’t Think Much of Cleveland, or Cleveland Fans
Indians closer Chris Perez delivered some memorable comments recently about Indians fans along with the apparent widespread lack of desire to play in the city of Cleveland. Basically, he’s sick of getting booed at home and he’s tired of the embarrassing lack of attendance. The guy really, really appears to be disliking his stay in Cleveland.
“I’m tired of getting booed at home, so I figured I’d throw some strikes today. You can quote that. It doesn’t bother me. It (ticks) me off. I don’t think they have a reason to boo me. They booed me against the Mariners when I had two guys on. It feels like I can’t even give up a baserunner without people booing me. It’s even worse when there’s only 5,000 in the stands, because then you can hear it. It (ticks) me off.”
So basically, in the eyes of Perez, barely anyone attends home games, and the disgraces who have actually made their way to the ballpark, suck. Fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but perhaps he’s being just a bit sensitive and a tad too reactive. Perez’s rant, thankfully, didn’t end there:
“I’m not calling out the fans. It’s just how it is. That stuff is reserved for road games. We don’t want to deal with that crap. Here, good fans are supposed to help you try to get through the inning and say, ‘Hey, you’re only one pitch away,’ or ‘Hey, it’s all right.’ And then after I struck out (Seattle’s Jesus Montero), the mock standing applause just adds to it. You see their true colors … Guys don’t want to come over here and people wonder why. Why doesn’t Carlos Beltran want to come over here? Well, because of that. That’s part of it. It doesn’t go unnoticed — trust us.”
Was Perez expecting some kind of singalong by the fire that hasn’t quite come to fruition yet? I can almost understand what he was attempting to get at, but I have three words for him: Indians, Browns, Cavs. Seriously, those are the only three powerfully depressing words one has to say to convey the temperament of Cleveland fans. They thoroughly explain everything. If Perez still doesn’t understand after a little time to reflect, and maybe some quality time with Google, he simply hasn’t been paying attention to the sea of cinder blocks that have been raining on those franchises for the past 50 years.
[via Chronicle-Telegram]

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65 Responses to “Indians Closer Chris Perez Doesn’t Think Much of Cleveland, or Cleveland Fans”
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May 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 AM
yea, more people are much quieter.
also, fuck you hernia.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 AM
i will say that cleveland is the type of place where negative thinking can lead you down a bad path…optimism is way better. a shit salad’s much easier to eat if you think of it as salad and not shit.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:36 AM
Hahahaha!
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:38 AM
Yes, it’s always fun to hear the well paid athlete berate the fan base. Well done.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:38 AM
He should blame the asshole that signs his fucking checks for the lack of attendance.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:39 AM
the best thing from last night’s games wasn’t actually the Red Sox beating the Orioles (eat shit!). It was this: Kansas City 6, NY Yankees 0
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:39 AM
Mmmm fecal greens
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:39 AM
I see how he could be upset by the lack of fandom, but he’s gotta use better words. Maybe something about how he and his teammates are dedicated to winning and playing hard every day, and they hope the fans respect and appreciate that and show it by attending games.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Actually it’s true. When the place is packed, individual insults gets lost amongst cacophony of noise. But if you are one of 5,000 people attending the game and have the whole section to yourself, whatever you say can be heard by the player if you’re loud enough. Especially if you are sitting close to the field.
Back when I was baseball fan, I would always hear this one particular guy in Florida every time braves played the Marlins. Just stupid stuff like chanting “larry” over and over again whenever Chipper was batting.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:40 AM
also explains why free agents “don’t want to come.” like they’d even consider coming to cleveland…because it’s not like the ownership is going to offer them anything. if they won’t pay cy young winners in or near the prime of their careers, why would they pay another team’s good players?
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Money and St. Louis is by far the best baseball town in America.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 AM
Also, Perez, people are still hurting and baseball games aren’t exactly a priority when mortgages and bills need to be paid. Plus, Cleveland isn’t exactly a burgeoning metropolis in this economy.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 AM
Because he doesn’t want to live or Cleveland or play for the Indians. Duh.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 AM
oh i know…small crowds are much more intimate. hard to care about a single bad grain of sand in a desert.
just making fun of his grammar, that’s all.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Saw this on IT yesterday.
I thought players tuned out the fans during games?
Mr. Rabbit Ears shouldn’t be so sensitive. Maybe change jobs to something that doesn’t involve other humans so much.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Fresh Express press release responding to a recent E. coli outbreak
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Announcer No. 1: Hall of Famer Whitey Ford now on the field pleading with the crowd for … for some kind of sanity.
Announcer No. 2: Uh-oh, and a barrage of pretzels now knocking Whitey unconscious.
Announcer No. 1: Wow. This is uh … This is a black day for baseball.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:43 AM
hernia…the day you finally accept your inevitable baldness, throw the rogaine away and stop trying to cover it up…i will be there to spit shine your dome.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:43 AM
I don’t understand why their attendance is so bad. It’s embarrasing…they actually have an exciting team.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:46 AM
i don’t understand why mr. heroin-addict-dad won’t give his son another $20…they actually have a lot of money.
you know why? because we’d see this team that’s not half bad, get excited for the future and then realize that future includes trading the players away for pennies or watching them just walk away from a low-ball offer. it’s the ownership man…if fans showed up en masse, they’d just be enabling the asshole dolans to fuck em over again.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:46 AM
Ubaldo VS Porcello tonight. A bloodbath.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:46 AM
They remember what happened last year
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Sounds like a 10-9 game
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Damn, the Tigers are the worst road draw in MLB?!?
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:50 AM
Simple. There are just too many things to do in Cleveland.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:50 AM
Pretty sure they’ve just played a bunch of low attendance teams early on.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:51 AM
“Hey city with high unemployment and a dwindling population, come out and support this team that hasn’t been good in a decade that has no real stars OTHERWISE YOU’RE NOT REAL FANS!”
I know the Indians have a dedicated fan base, but I don’t cry for players playing in front of no one when the fan base, again, has had little to cheer for in a long time.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:51 AM
Damn, no one asked if this was Yardwork. I guess that meme is dead.
There are seven Red Sox outfielders on the DL. SEVEN.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:51 AM
Bring back the Barons.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:52 AM
Once you start to become predictable, you might as well give up.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:52 AM
They’ve played at NYC, but also Meth Sox, KC, Oakland and Seattle – all four in the bottom eight of home attendance.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:52 AM
St. Louis fans are the worst in baseball. They love the smell of their own farts, are methheads and cheered for a damn squirrel. Fuck them. Every injury the past few weeks, the better.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:52 AM
Also, aren’t Cleveland fans really passionate? You’re angry that they boo you when you suck?
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Hey now buddy. What do you call Johnny Damon!?
/Droobs, Smooth, Kipnis
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:54 AM
does anyone know if the Padres have any actual fans? apparently last night the Padres and Cardinals shared a feed, so Dick Enberg was in the booth with Ricky Horton on the Cards braodcast. the only thing I can figure is that there are so few Padres fans that FSN didn’t want to send out their own feed so they piggybacked it with the Cards to save $$.
can anyone confirm this?
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:54 AM
He can go to TB or KC and see what it’s like to play for apathetic fans.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:56 AM
New money always cries.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:56 AM
When I went in 06, all I can say is that Chris Perez would LOVE to pitch there.
/big park, and none of the fans seem to give a shit
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:57 AM
I was going to, but the EIC got a little touchy about it the other day so I refrained. didn’t want to feel the wrath of the sharpened ban hammer.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:58 AM
does anyone know if the Padres have any actual fans? apparently last night the Padres and Cardinals shared a feed, so Dick Enberg was in the booth with Ricky Horton on the Cards braodcast. the only thing I can figure is that there are so few Padres fans that FSN didn’t want to send out their own feed so they piggybacked it with the Cards to save $$.
can anyone confirm this?
This did happen. The Astros and Cubs shared a feed last night too (though their broadcasters kept separate broadcasts). There was apparently a huge technical problem at Fox Sports broadcasting center that spread out over their entire network. Some broadcasts were affected more than others.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:59 AM
+10000 for The Flats.
/No
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Hey now buddy. What do you call Johnny Damon!?
/Droobs, Smooth, Kipnis
ah….choo?
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:05 AM
plase don’t tell me smooth is choo
fucking korean nicknames
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Santana is smooth.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:08 AM
i never understood this criticism. there’s nothing to do? WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE EVEN DO?!?!?
have no idea what this even means. you’re right there’s nothing to do…were just sitting here in a box completely removed from time and space. just here with our thoughts…thinking of things we could be doing, but just can’t visualize.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:09 AM
Choo sucks. He needs to heat up and raise his trade value. He’s a Boras client so there’s no way he re-signs here. Suck on that Chris Perez.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:10 AM
Well, there is a casino now…
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:13 AM
Sounds like Jake Taylor needs to have a chat with someone.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:15 AM
I expect my professional athletes to attend Broadway plays and museums every day before their games.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:15 AM
apparently you have to be a fucking new york hipster to answer this question. everything there is so fucking awesome that simpletons like us would never understand.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:16 AM
Hey buddy.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:28 AM
I’ve given this whole thing a lot of thought.
1. People are really pissed at the Dolans. Initially, I thought this was a minority of crybabies but I’ve heard it a lot. Trade 2 cy young winners for no studs, trade Victor Martinez, etc. Dolan also slashed the glory years (1994-2000) payroll down when he over-leveraged himself to buy the team and couldnt sustain it.
2. People haven’t seen a lot of traditional baseball. What I mean, is the 1994-2001 teams were loaded with talent and 90-100 wins was easy. Previously, they had no talent. People have been slow to warm up to this team. There is no star power. Pronk and Sizemore are role players or hurt, or both.
3. I think the days of 42,000 fans nightly are over. 30,000 fans is realistic. In 2007 they averaged 30,000 approximately from mid-May-Oct. The local economy is doing okay, but it’s become more privatized into large companies. I think there are less small businesses buying season tickets, etc. I went on FRI and was suprised to see more empty seats in the premium areas than there have been in the past. But this area isn’t flush with money.
4. Perez has nothing to gain by this. There are ways to try to get more fans out, but antagonizing them is absurd. Also, he knows shit about economics are baseball. Beltran isn’t here b/c the Cards offered more $$$. When a player turns down more from the Tribe to play for a non world series contender, that’d be different. Josh Willingham had a similar offer but one less year, so he’s a Twin (??) and not on Cleveland. Money.
5. The fans could do a little better but this is an odd case. This is a great sports area. But people really hate Dolan at this point. I really don’t see much changing. There are whispers the team is for sale but that’d be years to occur. In the end, winning cures all. I was there for about 20 games in 2007 and all the playoff games. Nobody mentioned the crowds then.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:39 AM
if fans showed up en masse, they’d just be enabling the asshole dolans to fuck em over again.
Ahhh… so it’s a massive, extremely organized, city-wide boycott. I guess, in the future, I’ll give the residents of the fine city of Cleveland much more credit than I have in the past.
/Kirby vacuums rule!
//not really
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:40 AM
WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE EVEN DO?!?!?
Obligatory.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Kirby vacuums rule
I got a used one on ebay the thing is awesome. They’re built with lifetime warranties so they last forever.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Yeah if you have to play at Cleveland and at KC 20 times a year, your road numbers will be shit.
This is amazing. The starters were supposed to be Crawford/Ellsbury/Kalish, but since Kalish was injured and they traded Reddick, they brought in Ross/Sweeney/Repko, with McDonald as the 6th OF.
All 7 are on the DL, with Nava (no spring training invite), and two scrap heap trade acquisitions (Byrd, Podsednik) starting tonight, and an elite defensive CF who can’t hit as the 3rd or 4th, depending on who is pitching. Ridiculous.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Nava also has the interesting back story of being undrafted, then playing independent ball a couple years until his coach begged the Red Sox to take him. Then he was just organizational filler because even as he could hit in the minors, he was always very age-advanced. Then he swung on the first pitch of his first MLB at bat and hit a grand slam, had some nice moments, and ended up back in the minors in 2011, and looked like he wouldn’t get a shot at a second HR with the Sox (no Spring Training invite), until all these injuries forced them to call him up.
If he kills someone soon, he’ll be a guy to root for.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:50 AM
I wish you’d stop being so ambiguous and just tell us how you’re really feeling.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:55 AM
There was apparently a huge technical problem at Fox Sports broadcasting center that spread out over their entire network. Some broadcasts were affected more than others.
The reds game could not run its commercials, so the announcers had to entertain me in between innings and for all the pitching changes. I thought it was funny the really don’t know what to do when they can’t describe the game.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Podsednik
scotty pods to you
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Nice piece by @BrianMac about Nava. I forgot, he was also cut as a walk-on in college and had to go to JuCo. And he’s not signed for $140 million over 7 years. http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/red-sox/content/daniel_nava_joe_blanton_05-19-12_87VAC4E_v2.6b40c3.html
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:59 AM
He can have a nickname when his BA gets above .260, and he shows an ability to both catch and throw the ball. Until then, he’s lucky I learned that his name has two ‘D’s in it.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:59 AM
The reds game could not run its commercials,
I was at a condo at the beach one year and their cable feed had the non-commercial video – it was actually kind of nice.
/team grounds crew
May 22nd, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Kirby vacuums rule
They were a customer of mine at a previous gig – really nice folks.
May 22nd, 2012 at 12:32 PM
Chris Perez is someone to root for.