Salt Lake Telegram | 1933-12-15 | Page 18 | Indians Go Bank to Old Plant after Year in Titanic Stadium

Cleveland Indians Return to Old Home I 1 M l I r 4 kc c L' L i Lt t Back to their old stamping grounds go the Indians and are their sluggers happy to leave the vast Municipal stadium behind That crowd you see is the kind they used to entertain at old League park in the dear dead days when immortals like Nap Lajoie up upper upper upper up- up per and Tris Speaker made it their headquarters Indians Go Back to Old Plant After Year in Titanic Stadium Cleveland Club Loses 1 Money While Operating in iii Municipal Municipal Mu Mu- Park Whore Homers Are Arc Hard to Hit flit By Associated Press The Indians are headin a back toward toward to to- ward the old reservation because the fans want to see the apple clear the fence Down on the Cleveland lakefront span and pale gray and silver is the city's municipal stadium a thing of vast distances Start walking in the morning from the home plate to the right field fence and you ou have to take your lunch along So lamented genial Billy Evans general general gen gen- eral manager of the Cleveland baseball baseball base base- ball company compan as he leaned back in his swivel chair and explained why the American leaguers decided to go goback goback goback back to league park out at Lexington and Sixty-sixth Sixty streets after a mournful mournful mourn mourn- ful ul season and a half halt at the stadium Not Even Two Ruths I Take that right field fence he said Its so far ar spreading his hands like a man describing the size of the fish that got away that not even two Babe Ruths could lift the ball over it The fans tans dont don't like that They want to see it disappear Our drop in attendance attendance attendance attend attend- ance showed that Then theres there's another another an an- other thing He settled into his chair Finances Fi Fi- Fi nances We figure we paid a complete loss loss to to the city just for forthe forthe the he privilege of playing to three big crowds cro Its It's bad business Those three crowds were the on opening day in the stadium July 31 1932 and two others of ct and Outside of those three crowds there here wasn't a game during the 1932 and 1933 seasons that we couldn't have lave accommodated at League park That by the way was the biggest congregation of ot fans that ever witnessed a major league baseball game But then the attendance started dropping and Evans doesn't think the depression had much to do with it The Indians Indians and and their opponents for that matter simply matter simply could not lay on the sphere hard enough to defeat the stadiums stadium's vast reaches So they are going back to their own grounds where taxes are only around a year ear compared with the the club poured into the city's coffers cof cot fers tel's in its us tenure of or the stadium League park is a landmark built in 1910 grizzled a little down at the heel Compared with the stadium its it's nothing nothing nothIng noth noth- ing to write home about I Here and there bricks in the facing of the concrete on the stands have fallen out out and you get an eerie feeling feeling feel feel- ing of confronting ghosts when you venture inside the place shades place shades oi ot Nap Lajoie Bill Bradley Terry Turner Tur Tur- ner ncr Addie Addle Joss and Tris Speaker On that turf Speaker gave Cleveland the thel only worlds world's championship the town ever won But they're fixing It up now chinking chinking chink ing holes here and there and dousing linseed oil on the planking The stands will have their faces washed and paint will brighten the ramps before the crowds begin surging through the turnstiles les You know mused Evans I J wouldn't be surprised at all if bus business nS picks up a whale of a lot lol Artistically were we're going to have a better season in 1934 and 1934 and watch that ball clear the fence