Cleveland Indians: The attendance numbers tell the story

The Cleveland Indians reached an attendance milestone, showing how fans have responded to this team’s success the past two years.

The Cleveland Indians continue the march toward the best record in baseball on the road for the remainder of the week, but return home next week to close out the regular season in front of some excited fans.

The vibe at the ballpark won’t be as wild as it will be in two weeks, but watching this team close out the regular season with so much success will be a nice treat.

There should be a lot of fans in the seats next week, which continues a theme seen all season. You will hear arguments from detractors who watch one Indians game and see a half-empty stadium and declare the fan base to be the worst ever, but the numbers say otherwise.

Two million tickets sold is an amazing amount for a small market team like Cleveland, and it makes sense given how this team has taken the city by storm the past two seasons.

According to ESPN’s attendance numbers, the Indians are currently at 1,895,186 on the year, meaning the final six games of the year should get them over that mark of two million in the seats.

For reasons I can’t understand, some out there will still claim these attendance numbers are too low. Yet based on the capacity of the park and circumstances such as awful early-season weather and school being in session, along with 6:10 p.m. weekday games, two million is a lot of people.

I’m not trying to be an apologist, but the proof is in the numbers, especially when you factor in television ratings.

Some fans aren’t in a financial or physical position to make it down to the park, while others simply don’t have the time. And if a family makes one trip down for the year but takes in every other game on television, is that so bad?

Fans respond to great play, and that was proven when the park was packed throughout the 22-game winning streak. Filling up Progressive Field for an afternoon game in September is a rare sight, but the fans were there and cheered on the team to a victory.

Next: Top storylines as the postseason approaches

The stadium is going to be packed and electric for the postseason, so people can stop complaining about attendance. The fans have been there all season and will continue to show up and be loud in October.