the gist is, some Tribe fan drove "all the way to Detroit" and the team lost and he took to twitter to bash the team, tying attendance to record (to which Kipnis responded, and all manner of social media spazzing ensued).
Tom Horsman @TomHorsman Follow And we wonder why only 9,000 people show up to Indians game in September. This team is pathetic. @Indians @TheJK_Kid
Boy, was he off-base:
Team | Attendance | Wins | Attendance/Win |
LA Dodgers | 3,487,962 | 84 | 41,523 |
St. Louis | 3,225,241 | 82 | 39,332 |
NY Yankees | 3,058,366 | 76 | 40,242 |
San Francisco | 3,160,755 | 82 | 38,546 |
LA Angels | 2,809,008 | 93 | 30,204 |
Boston | 2,736,561 | 65 | 42,101 |
Detroit | 2,629,472 | 82 | 32,067 |
Milwaukee | 2,640,357 | 77 | 34,290 |
Texas | 2,469,781 | 56 | 44,103 |
Colorado | 2,473,852 | 59 | 41,930 |
Chicago Cubs | 2,326,480 | 65 | 35,792 |
Washington | 2,358,883 | 84 | 28,082 |
Cincinnati | 2,291,197 | 71 | 32,270 |
Baltimore | 2,202,208 | 88 | 25,025 |
Toronto | 2,170,129 | 77 | 28,183 |
Philadelphia | 2,288,687 | 69 | 33,169 |
Pittsburgh | 2,182,913 | 78 | 27,986 |
Atlanta | 2,072,548 | 75 | 27,634 |
Minnesota | 2,024,470 | 62 | 32,653 |
San Diego | 1,918,247 | 68 | 28,210 |
NY Mets | 1,951,222 | 72 | 27,100 |
Arizona | 1,867,890 | 60 | 31,132 |
Seattle | 1,935,005 | 80 | 24,188 |
Oakland | 1,775,616 | 82 | 21,654 |
Kansas City | 1,709,458 | 81 | 21,104 |
Houston | 1,585,595 | 65 | 24,394 |
Miami | 1,584,950 | 71 | 22,323 |
Chicago White Sox | 1,516,348 | 68 | 22,299 |
Cleveland | 1,323,848 | 76 | 17,419 |
Tampa Bay | 1,322,047 | 76 | 17,395 |
Only the Rays provide their faithful with more overall wins (and arguably, effort) per ticket sold, and no one else is even in the neighborhood, so this argument is simply silly. This Tribe team is not perfect, and certainly you could criticize certain aspects, but to blame attendance upon performance is sheer lunacy. Questioning their effort isn't much better. This team is playing meaningful games in mid-September. Isn't that the point?