They’re all angry by definition? I don’t understand the point you’re trying to make. There are plenty of cheerful people who are writing to him.

At least I think there are. Here’s what has me confused: I realize there are plenty of fire-breathing whack job fans for any team. But if his mailbag is filled with vitriol, does this mean that average, run-of-the-mill fan is furious about the perceived lack of spending by Dolan? Is this more rampant than I realize?

I actually think these columns struggle to get enough good questions for a column and so they sort of take all comers. I submitted a question once to Grossi and it was published the next week. I also recall several LGT’ers saying Hoynes has taken their questions.

Further, I would modestly propose that if we hate the questions so much we should start asking better questions. Here’s the link (which could admittedly be much easier to find.)

I just keep thinking of someone ranting to Hoynes and finishing with “SPEAK’N DE’ ENGLISH?!” before slamming the enter button. Thanks for that.

Geez I dropped some words out of those sentences. Don’t think it’s unclear, though.

Very well said. Some fans seem to think that it’s Dolan’s duty to GIVE THEM A CHAMPIONSHIP at any cost. Anything less is evidence of avarice.

On a related note, the lack of this kind of dialogue is exactly what I think makes LGT legitimately incredible.

This is because Cleveland fans are smarter than any other sports city in the country. We’re the best. We’re number one.

I just don’t understand how people are capable of such standing hate regarding sports. It’s not cute sports hate, it’s actual hate and I find it really, really disturbing.

It does seem particularly stupid in sports, or any entertainment. But I think it’s a larger trend in how people discuss any public subject. Check out how people discuss Tom Cruise, or George Lucas, or Stephanie Meyer, or Diablo Cody. At that’s just entertainment; people are unable to even mention an opposing political figure or commentator without going overboard.

completely agree with this. I certainly could never see myself doing that. If you check out MBs of NFC East teams, you’ll see them name-dropping a Cowboys QB just so they can call him ‘Homo’.

Actually I find this whole concept pretty ironic since it demonstrates an inordinate lack of insight. First, I thought I was surrounded by soccer fans – no? When those boyz go off more than people’s feeling get hurt. Second, some words are more powerful to different social/economic/age/education groups than others. The use of homophobic slurs, for example, is a common, every day occurrence amongst our military personnel. Here at LGT most folks find them abhorrent – many of our soldiers find them funny. Similarly, one of our noted moderators once said about a certain left-handed pitcher, "I’d like to punch him in the face". I remember this since it was so out of keeping with his character and it put me aback. In some environs I’ve been in this would be considered an inappropriate response to a simple ball game. What I’m trying to say here is that a little perspective is needed.

Finally you need to remember that rooting for a baseball or any other team is in and of itself irrational. We don’t know those guys and they sure as hell don’t know us. Exactly none of them are from our hometown. And for once I agree with Seinfeld – we’re just rooting for laundry. Occasionally I forget this – in fact it’s part of the attraction of sports. A friend of mine is an Oncologist and rabid Indians fan. He uses his fandom as an escape from the pressure and tragedy of his job. But he knows that the Indian’s performance has very little impact on real life. In fact that’s the beauty of it.

Bottom line: sports are the male equivalent of the soap opera. A meaningless, compelling, mind game of little true worth, but you just can’t stop watching and caring.

Or, he just picks out the most ridiculous because, otherwise, his column would be pretty boring for most readers.

Was I the only one whose immediate reaction to this column was "oh my god… Hoynes reads the Bill James Handbook??"

Nope.

Ticket prices seem to my main beef with sports anymore. Not that they are high. I just get frustrated when people whine and moan about the amount of money professional athletes make, and then we drop a decent amount of cash on seeing them play, therefore we are paying for those high salaries. If Indians fans genuinely want Dolan to shell out cash, Tribe fans should take their interest to the ballpark and sell the stadium out.

Maybe my argument is conflicted, feel free to let me know if it is. It’s a pet peeve of mine I had to get off my chest, but I could be totally wrong seeing as how I’m not addressing the fact that people make more money in cities like New York, Chicago, and LA because the cost of living is higher there than in Cleveland.

I think the most frustrated and angry are more likely to take pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) than the non-angry fans. That’s why there’s that imbalance in the mailbag.

The curious among us are already out there, searching for these answers on our own … we’re not interested in asking Hoynsie because we know he probably doesn’t quite have the answers we’re looking for.

It is so much more fun to disagree with you, but I’ll happily tip my cap to this post. I would love for Hoynes and Castro et al to read it.

Jay, you cautiously approach the question of whether such aggressive complaining constitutes bad behavior on other sites. There are two avenues for answering the question. From the perspective of a moderator, I can’t say; I don’t run cleveland.com. From the perspective of a potential participant, I can easily say the answer is yes.

Hoynes, or Castro, or others might argue that they can answer the questions to “educate” their reading public or they can drown out the voice of angry fans. I think it’s a false choice, as it would imply some kind of censorship of the insatiably irascible. Instead, ignoring such vitriol is more effective in fostering healthy discussion than in answering it, even in harsh terms. And let’s be clear: Hoynes does not offer anywhere near enough clarity and force when he attempts to answer that manner of question.

We’ve heard a handful of plausible explanations for why fans get so fired up about sports. While there is merit to some of the theories, the bottom line for me is that those voices ought to remain in the wilderness, not welcomed or engaged. Such engagement shows them more respect than they are due.

Thanks to Jay and Ryan, Adam and Andrew for keeping LGT so focused and, well, awesome.

Cleveland fans, it should be pointed out, have reasons to be bitter. There’s a lot of hate in Cleveland, too, much of it based on economic disappointments and longstanding ethnic and racial biases. If being bitter makes one a bad Indians fan, it doesn’t make one not an Indians fan.

People who don’t feel in control of their own lives tend to take it out on others.

I don’t think we’ve ever deleted something because it was self-flagellistic, but I’ve tried consciously to not encourage it. It may be therapeutic to from time to time wallow in self-pity, but it doesn’t accomplish anything other than to make you somehow enjoy your sports misfortune. Obviously, being a Cleveland sports fan, it’s extremely easy to fall into that rut, but all ruts do is to take you to the same place others have been before, and I’ve never wanted to recreate cleveland.com et al. Sure, there’s a time and place for lamentations, but…this is Spring Training, when everyone’s at least above-average.

I really pity those people who wallow around in hate; if I thought it made any sense to live life that way, I’d still be a Browns fan

Ouch. For those of you that like a little abuse, I recommend trying Fantasy Injury Football. It keeps the Browns’ tragedies entertaining.

there is a sect of fans (any team) that think a lot of K’s is bad, no matter what. Never mind if you have a high OBP, see an insane amount of pitches per PA, etc. my brother-in-law whitesox fan genuinely thinks grady isn’t all that good because of his high strikeout totals.

If we’re to believe some of the Shoppach analysis out there (ie. Fangraphs), then Shoppach put up huge numbers because he was lucky. While there’s something to that, if there’s a way to help him cut down his K’s while maintaining the rest of last year’s performance, is that a bad thing?

I’m not one to say that K’s are the worst thing a hitter can do. If the bases are loaded, 1 out and Tribe down by 1, I’d much rather see Victor K and give the next guy a chance instead of GIDP.

I’m not taking the time just yet to look up how often Vic or Shop K’d vs. GIDP, but in general, if a player can cut down his K’s to improve his performance, why not?

It’s not a level, but just in case it were a level, it would be the subtlest, most outstanding level in the history of Hey Hoynsie letters.

I think he meant “gambol”, over the hills and dales.