On Monday, former Cleveland Indians outfielder Kenny Lofton responded to the team's current closer Chris Perez's comments from this weekend about the lack of fan support from the city of Cleveland for the Indians. His comments came courtesy of an interview with Andy Baskin and Ken Carman on CBS' WKRK-FM The Fan.
"He doesn't get it," Lofton said of Perez. "He hasn't been in the league long enough to have an understanding of what you have to do as a player first."
Lofton went onto discuss how he had never been booed during his time in Cleveland because he felt as though the fans understood that he gave them his all and always worked his hardest. The former Indian expressed that the most inaccurate part of Lopez's statement was his opinion on free agents not coming to Cleveland due to the fans.
"If you pay a guy some money, he's going to come to Cleveland," Lofton said. "I don't care where you go. If you go to Chicago, New York, if you put some money in front of a free agent he will be in Cleveland."
Lofton went on to explain that just because the team is doing well now, doesn't mean the fans are immediately going to start coming out. He even shared a story from his time in Philadelphia in 2005 when the fans were engaging in an Eagles chant for the town's football team and weren't paying attention to the game.
"The grass is not going to be greener on the other side," Lofton said. "It's not. As much as you think it will be. Cleveland fans are loyal and other fans (in other cities) are not always loyal."
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