In 2015, Cleveland Indian’s fans were skeptically excited about the new renovations. Being creatures of habit and tradition when talking about the sports teams, change is a scary thing (unless we’re talking about the Browns, but that’s a different matter). The team had big plans to transform our ballpark, and the only recent memory tribe fans had of big changes was when our beloved Jacob’s Field became Progressive Field and it felt as if a part of our baseball-shaped tickers were taken away. But this was different, it wasn’t a tweak of a name, but the face of the park itself. Tearing down pieces that were so loved in order to post up new attractions hoping to be loved just as much. Not all were thrilled, but nonetheless the new bar, The Corner, in right field and the additions of Cleveland foods seemed to hit a soft spot for everyone. Now they’re at it again…
When stepping through the gates of the ball park, fans will be given a chance to experience Cleveland baseball like never before. A brand new high definition scoreboard above the mini-green monster will be the biggest thing to greet you. It’s gone through makeovers over the years, but now it’s been given a new title, “biggest scoreboard in the MLB” and you better believe that it will strike that pride nerve we all love to show off. Being 59 ft high and 221 ft wide (bigger than TWO 85 ft long brachiosaurus dinosaurs next to each other), that’s an impressively giant way to showcase this city’s summer love.
Panning a little to the left, over to the Home Run Porch will be a standing room area much like the one in right field in front of The Corner. Along with the district tickets the Indians began selling last season, the standing room was where those ticket holders would end up, beers in hand and ready to mingle between innings. The Home Run Porch is standing room as it is and is usually where most fans congregate at the end of the games while still holding on to the hope of a walk off (come on Gomes!).
The concourse will be one of the biggest changes as it opens up to all the happenings on the field. In the last few years I’ve taken a trip to the Pittsburgh Pirate’s PNC Park with my family, and the conversation always came up wishing Cleveland had an open-concept concourse like theirs. It flows nicely, as we saw with the 2015 renovations out by right field, and lets fans stretch their legs and grab some Sugardale dogs while still watching the game. The Indians are expanding this idea through the rest of the ballpark, tearing down the walls down from the 130-170 sections to allow as much viewing of the field as possible, which means when I do my lap around the park for “good juju” I can still see everything!
A few other sizeable additions to the park will be the new, shiny season ticket holder club behind home plate. This will only be accessible for diamond and field-box STHs, and the plan is to keep this section open post-game while the crowds and traffic die down. A bit swanky, giving these fans a full bar and concessions all nicely placed behind a big, glass window facing the field. I assume rain delays would be nice in there.
Also, there are many upgrades to the concessions, like a new bar near the Main Team Shop behind section 164 and a whole slew of new food places to experience. In 2015 the Indians added on Melt, Barrio, Sweet Moses and Dynamite Burger to their Right Field District plans, leading 2016 to be even better. New additions so far include Happy Dog, Cleveland Pickle and Ohio City Burrito, while still in talks with a few other places before Opening Day.
Other than just counting the days to get the season started, the excitement is building to see the unveiling of phase two and everything it has to offer. It’s going to be a big change, with a few missing seats here and there and a couple sections morphing into nothing but open space, but after what the Indians presented to the fans in 2015, this year’s renovations might be more welcomed than ever. What better way to take over the MLB than with a shiny, sparkly, renewed ballpark to crush home runs and collect wins in?
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