BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : City Starving for a Winner Being Fed by the Indians

They pack Jacobs Field wearing all manner of Cleveland Indian paraphernalia, picking up where they left off last year when the labor dispute rained on their renaissance.

There is no evidence here of the bitter residue that has diminished attendance elsewhere.

In a shortened season of 72 home dates, the Indians’ average of 36,438 projects to 2.6 million, but the average and projection will grow, now that schools are out. The Indians are expecting to play to 41,000-plus capacity over the rest of a season in which they are demolishing the American League’s Central Division.

Last year, in their first season in what rivals Camden Yards as baseball’s most spectacular stadium, the Indians were on their way to 3.1 million in attendance, which would have obliterated the club record of 2.6 million, set in dank and cavernous Municipal Stadium in 1948.

“No team was more negatively affected when the strike hit, and no team was less affected when it ended,” said Bob DiBiasio, the team’s public relations director.

“Putting some amateur psychology on it, it was as if our fans were more depressed by the strike than angered by it.

“It was as if they said, ‘Here we finally have this terrific team and beautiful park, and the Cleveland jinx strikes again.’ They almost looked at the club as a victim of the strike, rather than a perpetrator.”

There were other aspects to the fans’ willingness to forgive and forget.

“First and foremost, after 40 years of bad baseball, we’ve given the fans a legitimate championship team,” DiBiasio said. “Then there’s this facility. Fans didn’t get enough of it last year and couldn’t wait to get back. We had an insignificant number of cancellations, even when it appeared we were going to open the season with replacement players. Put those two factors together in a town starving for a winner, and you’ve got a powerful formula.

“We also made it a point not to cheapen the product or insult the fans with discount tickets and other giveaways. We felt the best way to apologize to the fans, to say we’re sorry for what happened, was to continue to try and put the best possible team on the field in the best facility in baseball.”

Then the Indians added to their already potent mix with a series of free-agent signings at comparatively bargain prices.

Orel Hershiser and Bud Black were added to the pitching rotation, Paul Assenmacher and Dennis Cook joined the bullpen and Dave Winfield re-upped as a part-time player, underscoring how times have changed in a once-ridiculed city.

No free agent ever considered signing here, but now 11 Indians live in the area year-round, taking advantage of the weight and swim-exercise facilities at Jacobs Field. The ballpark and neighboring Gund Arena, new home of the NBA Cavaliers, have become the centerpiece of a downtown reclamation. People actually walk the streets there at night, pushing babies in strollers.

The Indians drew fewer than 1 million in 26 of their last 44 years in Municipal Stadium and exceeded 2 million only in their final year of 1993, when nostalgia buffs and a wave of season-ticket buyers investing in guaranteed priority at Jacobs Field swelled the total to 2.1. The usual season sale at Municipal Stadium was 3,300. It’s 21,000 now.

Considering the attendance surge, it’s remarkable that the alcohol and cigarette tax that helped finance the new stadium barely passed: 52% to 48%.

And it still might not have become reality if owner Richard Jacobs hadn’t agreed to apply luxury suite revenue to the construction debt: a contribution of about $70 million over 15 years.

“If Dick hadn’t bought the club as a local owner [in 1987] and the tax hadn’t passed, the Indians would definitely have moved, despite the baseball history here,” DiBiasio said.

“The other American League teams would have forced the move. It was nice to have a team they could come in and beat up on, but it was a costly proposition. They never took any money out of Cleveland. They were getting killed financially.”

Not all of the current response stems from the stadium, however.

The Texas Rangers also opened a new stadium last year and are in the thick of the Western Division race, but their average attendance of 39,733 in 1994 has fallen more than 15,000 in a numbing reaction to the strike.

The Indians clearly have something special going, and it could get better. They’re talking about an I-71 World Series in Ohio, matching the Indians and Cincinnati Reds. That’s the highway linking the two cities. In this area now, it’s paved with gold.

THEY CAN DO IT ALL

The Indians are on a pace to win 106 games in a 144-game season and are 53-21 at home since Jacobs Field opened.

“We didn’t build the team to fit our park, not like the [Kansas City] Royals did in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, when they went out and got a lot of guys with speed,” Manager Mike Hargrove said. “We’ve just got a lot of good players.”

The Indians lead the majors in virtually every offensive category and are on a pace to set a major league home run record, despite the shortened season. And the pitching staff leads the league in earned-run average and has given up the fewest hits and walks. The last team to lead the league in batting and pitching was the 1971 Baltimore Orioles.

Said Mike Mussina, ace of the ’94 Orioles after the Indians completed a three-game sweep Wednesday night: “Three or four years ago, you would come to Cleveland expecting to win two of three or all three. Now you come, hoping to win one. I mean, I’m just hoping that some day the team I’m on can develop to that level. We’re certainly not there now.”

ROYAL ROUTE

Under rookie Manager Bob Boone, the red-hot Royals have doggedly kept Cleveland in sight in the AL Central and strengthened their wild-card possibility while using a four-man rotation.

“It was done for 100 years, and I don’t see why it can’t be done now,” Boone said from Oakland, where the Royals are playing the Athletics. “I mean, I don’t believe arms are hurt through usage. I think they’re hurt by bad mechanics. That’s why you see young pitchers coming up hurt and wily veterans like Don Sutton pitching for years.

“Everyone talks about the scarcity of pitching, so this is one way to deal with it, but we’re not forcing anyone into a mold. We’ll only do it as long as the arms tell us they can do it. If someone tires, we’ll change.”

That may have happened Saturday when Dennis Rasmussen, activated before the game, started in place of Chris Haney to give everyone an extra day. Boone went to a rotation of Haney, Kevin Appier, Mark Gubicza and Tom Gordon on May 24. The Royals then won 17 of 22 games, with the starters producing a 2.57 earned-run average and 16 quality starts: six innings or more giving up three runs or fewer.

Appier has been the anchor at 9-2, but Boone also cited the catalytic influence of Vince Coleman and former Dodger Tom Goodwin at the top of the lineup and the productivity of rookie outfielder Jon Nunnally.

The Royals, who open a three-game series Monday night in Anaheim, had won seven in a row until losing Saturday and improved to 27-19, seven behind Cleveland but only half a game behind Texas for what would be the league’s wild-card berth in the expanded playoffs.

“Right now it appears that the wild card will either be us or a Western [Division] team, so this is an important trip,” Boone said.

“However that’s not conceding anything to Cleveland. They’re a very good team, no question about it, but if we hadn’t flat-out blown four games, we’d have 14 losses and they’d have 12. I know you can’t get those games back, but the point is, we’re not handing anything to Cleveland. We don’t accept the contention that they’re dominant.”

NAMES AND NUMBERS

--The Minnesota Twins’ pace projects to a winning--if that’s the right word--percentage of .250, matching the 1962 New York Mets, who were 40-120 in their inaugural season. Kirby Puckett, who has known both good and bad in his Minnesota career, said: “We’ve been through peaks and valleys. Right now we’re in a valley. Death Valley.”

--The Colorado Rockies, averaging 44,984 in Coors Field, became the first team to reach a million in attendance Wednesday. Said shortstop Walt Weiss: “It’s amazing. How could you want to play anywhere else?”

--Joe Torre might not have been fired as the St. Louis Cardinal manager if Danny Jackson, the $10.8-million free agent, had pitched to expectations, or if the Cardinals had done more research on his off-season surgery for thyroid cancer. St. Louis knew of the operation but apparently was unaware of potential aftereffects, including a loss of stamina. Jackson (0-7) is taking at least two weeks off to rebuild his strength, at which point, he said, a decision will be made on “whether I remain a starter, go to the bullpen or retire.”

--The Florida Marlins haven’t been very good or very lucky. They’ve had to put 12 players on the disabled list already this season and have eight still on it, including Gary Sheffield, out for the season after tearing thumb ligaments last Saturday. In addition, Andre Dawson’s free-agent homecoming has been anything but a party. The Hawk is batting .191 and hit his first two homers Friday and Saturday, unhappy over his inconsistent playing time and no longer talking to the Florida media, which has been suggesting that he be grounded permanently.

--Oakland Athletic Manager Tony La Russa doesn’t dismiss speculation that he will return to Chicago as manager of the White Sox next year, renewing friendships with owner Jerry Reinsdorf and General Manager Ron Schueler. “I’ll never flatly say no, but I don’t know what the considerations are,” he said. “What I’ve said all along is that I was real lucky to start my career in Chicago. It’s really a sports-crazy town, and I like to be in the middle of that.”

--Rondell White had six hits against the San Francisco Giants last Saturday, another step toward what the Montreal Expos believe will be certain stardom. “He has thunder in his hands,” Manager Felipe Alou said.

No one has ever said that about Giant utility man Mike Benjamin, but the .186 lifetime hitter at the start of the season also had six hits in Chicago on Wednesday for a record 14 in three games, then broke up a perfect game by Chicago’s Frank Castillo with a single Thursday. “Just shows that anyone with a bat in their hands is dangerous,” Manager Dusty Baker said.