AL Central

Dear Clevelanders,

I hope I don't jinx anything, but the Indians are playing some good ball right now.  They have won five games in a row, and have done it in different fashions, showing their versatility.  I don't harbor any World Series illusions, but a little support for these guys couldn't hurt.  Hear me out before saying you hate Dolan and Shapiro and write off the idea of attending a game.

The Minnesota Twins are doing a poor job of protecting the investment they made in catcher Joe Mauer. 

The eight-year, $184 million extension Mauer signed with the Twins last season places him fourth among the highest-paid position players in Major League Baseball.  

    While the New York Yankees surprised no one by taking a three-game series from the Minnesota Twins in their trip to the Empire State, there are certain observations that should instill both optimism and pessimism for the Twins as the season trudges through its first weeks.

The Kansas City Royals will be taking on the Detroit Tigers in game one of a three-game set at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday afternoon.

KC will be looking to continue their hot start to the season and improve their record to 5-2 while the Tigers are trying to climb out of a season-opening hole that has left them at 2-4 to start 2011.

Minnie Minoso was one of the best players of the 1950s. He had a Hall of Fame career, although he will never be voted into the Hall of Fame.

"Opening day is always a pain in the (rear). There’s always stuff around there. It’s almost the most overrated thing. But it’s always nice for the fans. This day is for the fans. Opening day is just for the fans. To me it’s just another game. Just thank God you have another year in the big leagues. But I think the fans should be excited."-Ozzie Guillen.

The fans are excited.  How could you not be?

Shin-Soo Choo got his swing back in the first inning—he rocked a two run homer scoring Michael Brantley. Travis Hafner did a great job of getting pitches out of Daisuke Matsuzaka.  After nines pitches, Prunk took the walk. Orlanda Cabrera was hit by a pitch, but the Indians couldn’t make anymore out of the first inning leaving two runners on.

The White Sox made a quick pit stop in Kansas City this week for a two game series with the Royals before returning home Thursday for their home opener with the Tampa Bay Rays, and once again the bats carried spotty pitching and poor defense to a series split.

The 2011 baseball season has barely begun, but there are some positive signs for the Cleveland Indians.

Pitchers deep in the rotation have pitched late into ballgames against the talent laden squads of Chicago and Boston.

Names like Carlos Santana, Orlando Cabrera and Jack Hannahan have provided offensive pop for the Tribe.

Perhaps most notably, however, is the resurgence of Indians DH Travis Hafner.

Go ahead readers, guess the team with the low attendance numbers.

Team A: 9,853; 8,726; 9,025.

Team B: 20,000; 18,936; 10,482.

Team A is Cleveland. Team B is Florida.

Surprised?

With an estimation of 1.3 million fans in attendance during the 2010 season and not cracking the five figure mark after Opening Day, it is clear that the sports fans in Cleveland are no longer interested in their major league baseball team.