Farewell to the Jake?

It was a beautiful early afternoon.

The sun was shining.

The sky clear and blue.

The Tribe was in the process of a third-straight come-from-behind win to bury the Tigers' flickering Central Division hopes.

C.C. was mowing them down one last time in the regular season in front of the home folks.

Several Tribe hitters were taking their turn contributing to an offense that, once again, was just good enough to put up a "W."

All was right with the world.

And then, with one toned-down, oh-by-the-way announcment - put out in the form a press release and played down considerably by the TV announcing crew - the festivities at the Jake seemed just slightly less festive.

The Indians front office today announced it has retained an advisor to help the team search for someone to purchase the naming rights to Jacobs Field. Or, as the team put it, "a naming rights partner."

The Jake, as most of you know, was named by Richard Jacobs - the owner if the team when the stadium opened in 1994. Jacobs purchased the naming rights for 13 years. Jacobs' name remained on the park this year, as the Tribe, apparently, was unable to come up with somebody to cough-up big cash to put their brand on the park marquee.

With the team's success this year, the front office is stepping up its efforts to find a buyer for the naming rights by appointing sports media firm IMG to assist in the search.

So, without knowing it, you may have already made your last visit to "The Jake"

Next year you might be going to KeyBank Park. Or Cleveland Cliffs Stadium. Or Frankie Yankovic Memorial Field for all I know, if the folks managing the deceased self-proclaimed Polka King's estate determine that's a smart way to spend his money.


Most of the older park's - Forbes Field, Crosley Field, Comiskey Park - were named after a team owner or someone important to the team's history. Some of those names still exist today. Shea Stadium and Kauffman Stadium come to mind.


Some of those names could also be considered "corporate." Wrigley Field was named after the family of chewing-gum fame and the former Busch Stadium is St. Louis was named after Anheuser-Busch brewing magnate August Bush.


Other parks were named for the teams who played there - Tiger Stadium for example.





Others were named for the neighborhood in which they are located.


Fenway and Camden Yards come to mind

Of course, like the star player who stayed with your team his whole career, the classic ballpark names are a thing of the past.


Today, every team has to grab every last dime in order to remain competitive against teams like the Red Sox and Yankees, who - because they play in huge media markets - rake in the money at a much brisker clip than their counterparts.


So today we have AT&T Park, Cellular Field and Minute-Maid-Orange-Juice-With-Less-Pulp Stadium, which took the place of Enron Field after the collapse of that corrupt prize of American capitalism.


We knew the day was coming when the Jake would no longer be the Jake. Did the front office have to choose such a jubilant afternoon to remind us?