Oh, Jake, it seems like we hardly knew ya.
The Indians announced today that Jacob’s Field is no more. After searching for the right company (read: the guys with the most loot) to buy the naming rights to the home of the Tribe, the Indians have reached an agreement with Mayfield-based Progressive Insurance. Thanks to the deep pockets of billionaire philanthropist Peter B. Lewis, the humble home of the Tribe on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario will now be named
Progressive Field.
Progressive will
pay about $3.6 million annually for 16 years for the naming rights, along with a free year of ATV insurance for Mark Shapiro.
I wonder how the
341 employees just laid off by Progressive in the last two months feel about the company dumping millions of dollars into the naming rights. Hey, everyone loves baseball, right? And with some extra free time, some of these folks can enjoy some day games at Progressive Field and enjoy baseball with no mixed emotions at all.
The new name gives creative Clevelanders the chance to come up with a catchy nickname like The Pro, or The Prog, or The Res, or The Sive. --
Vince Grzegorek
