It may be the end of an Indians season but that didn't stop fans from rallying around one of the team's favorite players.
Indians' Jason Kipnis hosted his annual giveaway of shoes and other accessories at Progressive Field on Monday.
"Personally, I always like to give back. You're not always going to have fans on your side, it just happens but I know when I tweeted something like this the people that do show up have always been in my corner," Kipnis said. "It means a lot to me that they show up and come here and they're the ones I really want to give back to the most. Cleveland always has great fans but these ones really mean a lot to me."
Fans started lining up at the gated entrance to the player's lot several hours in advance.
Since the Indians fell to the New York Yankees during Game 5 of the ALDS, Kipnis had some time to decompress from the devastating loss and what he looks forward to next season.
"Compressed or not, it's still disappointing the way we finished. I think you will find every single person in the clubhouse will tell you that, we were right there with the whole city. We had a long run in us," Kipnis said.
Wish it was off a parade float but the show must go on.... Shoe Toss and other giveaways will be Monday at 11:30am! Hope to see you there!
— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) October 13, 2017
Kipnis added, "It will always be a dream to do it [the giveaway] on a parade float and toss the stuff out that way."
"I know this team isn't where we want to be right now but I think a lot of guys are already looking forward to next year," Kipnis said.
The giveaway attracted, even more, fans this year, which could be a telling sign of the team's growing fan base in the city.
"I think the Indians brought back a lot of the baseball fandom to the city and rightfully so, this team means a lot to the city and the city means a lot to the team," Kipnis said. "It's a great relationship between both. We try to give back when we can and we appreciate all the support that we get."
