The Cleveland Indians made a wonderful offer on a sunny, crisp November afternoon.
The Cleveland Indians retracted their open invitation to play at their stadium, AND THEY MUST PAY
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
This is baseball weather. First 18 people to meet us at the Right Field Gate can play. Go! pic.twitter.com/REtryZWqRa
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) November 11, 2015 30 seconds later their rescinded their offer.
Jk guys our groundskeeper would kill us
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) November 11, 2015 The people of Cleveland took the whole thing well. A few cordial jokes and back-and-forths -- one man wanted other Clevelanders to rake his leaves. We all had a good laugh. However, there’s something we shouldn’t ignore. This is America. Do we roll over and say “okay” when someone tells us we can’t do something? Hell no we don’t. Do we go gently into that good night? We certainly do not.
Every person has a moment. Every city has a time. This is your moment in time, Cleveland.
It’s time to rise up, leave your jobs and storm Progressive Field.
Who’s this “groundskeeper” we’re so afraid of? Who is he to tell us what we can and can’t do? Last time I checked baseball was “America’s Pastime,” not “Groundskeeper makes all the rules and stops us from doing fun things.” We need to go to Progressive Field, gently lull the groundskeeper to sleep with gentle lute music (because we’re not hurting anyone) and go play ball.
I know some of you think this idea is dumb. That’s because you’re doubting whether you can do it. I’m here to tell you that you can. It’s in your DNA. It has been welded to your soul purely by virtue of living in Cleveland.
Did Moses Cleaveland quit when he was fighting for the 2nd Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army? No.
Did Grover Cleveland quit when James G. Blaine ran attack ads against him in 1884? Heck no.
Did Cleveland Brown quit when it was abundantly clear Family Guy was no longer funny, causing the moderately successful but utterly terrible Cleveland Show to exist? God no.
Cleveland doesn’t quit. People named Cleveland don’t quit. This city doesn’t quit. Sure, they might burn a LeBron jersey before pretending they never did it and welcome him back, but quit? No way. We accept your formal invitation, Indians. Sorry but we didn’t see your reply. Yes, we would love to see you at Progressive Field and play some ball.
See you soon.
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