Terry Pluto's talking about Cleveland Indians, center field: Put me in coach!
Terry Pluto, known for his notebook scribbles and well-regarded historical books on the Cleveland Indians, is also a slide-show producer. While they can be informative and done well, more times than not, slide shows provide little of anything in regards to being insightful. One of Pluto’s latest puts to work pictures from long-time Plain Dealer photographer Chuck Crow as Pluto serves as a caption creator you’d be more likely to find in the comment threads of a blog. Pluto’s captions, however, are not set to entertain but rather aim to be more informative. After all, Cleveland.com is not a site that covers the quirkiness and fun of baseball like that of some blogs out there; their main mission is to inform and educate the reader, so no one should expect a funny picture caption contest any time soon.
In his slideshow, Pluto is not telling the reader anything one couldn’t find out by conducting a Google search on each candidate for center field for the Indians. While visitors are likely visiting the Plain Dealer’s website to be educated on matters regarding the Indians, this doesn’t really offer anything groundbreaking. Not that everything should, but one has to wonder what, other than generating some traffic is the purpose of this slideshow? And why is someone like Pluto doing it? Up until this, Pluto has posted mostly video content and his usual Tribe snippets.
In regards to the actual slide show itself: He puts a large focus on height, as if a certain foot and inch measurement is a pre-requisite for the job. He starts every candidate off by listing their height and then follows up with some basic statistics and sometimes a note about them, be it where they came from or how they are in camp this spring. Again, nothing groundbreaking and overall, nothing in terms of hard analysis that would lead anyone to believe who should get the job in center field. There’s no conclusion to this other than to say, here are the candidates, most of them are under 6 feet and one of them is suspended, which is why there are so many candidates. But you, especially if you’ve followed Pluto, already know that. If we dig further into Pluto’s history this spring, we can glean some meaning, because the slideshow does not give it to us.
Pluto, a reverent writer on the Indians for many years, has produced a lot of content on the Indians outfield this spring. In fact, eight of his nine posts (including his latest on Marlon Byrd signing) since Spring Training has started more than a month ago have focused on the outfield, which would lead his readers to believe that it is an issue or an ongoing story line. That is not to say that it isn’t, that is for him to inform you about and you as a reader to decide. Headlines such as “Cleveland has a mystery in center field” and “Cleveland Indians have Terry Talkin' about outfield pains...” would you lead you to believe that it is a story. So, whether it is in the scope of what the Indians are really doing, Pluto has made it a story.
In a show of transparency, Pluto notes that as his stint in Arizona begins (March 17th) the outfield is something he will be focusing on. His coverage up to this point has focused on Tyler Naquin being the team’s center fielder. While the slideshow is objective in that it is simply listing the candidates, it provides no real substance. Most of Pluto’s pieces on the outfield have focused on Naquin and one even stated that the Indians “want” Naquin to win the job. He notes that privately they are “excited” about him, but does not include specific language that they privately or publicly “want him to win the job” so this is questionable wording at best. At most, he says that him playing the way he has is ideal for the Indians, but again, not a quote or definitive wording that this is what the Indians want. Pluto’s history and even more definitive wording in the same post would lead you to believe though that the Indians prefer Naquin, but is that the case?
Pluto’s coverage of the outfield in particular is leading. Leading that it is an issue for the Indians and leading that the Indians want Naquin to start in center and win that position battle. The first is a matter of opinion, that again is formulated by you the reader based off information you read; the second being a matter of fact based off what Pluto says. His slideshow is more of the objectivity without the lead, but also provides no real substance to the argument being posed, but perhaps playing off his previous inclination that the outfield is a story. You as the reader are following this story and you click to see if there’s any more answers to this question. A question was created and although only the Indians can definitively answer the question, Pluto may be leading you to believe he can before they do officially and the slideshow appears to take advantage of that.
Where Pluto goes from here now that he is in Arizona and covering the team can really change based off the information he is able to produce and the opinion he is able to provide. Most would assume Pluto is an opinion writer, but his production of a slideshow with factual information is anything but, other than inferring height is part of the equation by it being a focal point. That isn’t to say a writer can’t be both, but how are we to know the difference as Pluto mixes “what the Indians want” and “how the Indians feel” with what he believes one sentence after another? The question that needs to be answered is simply this: What is Pluto’s role? Is he an opinion columnist? Is he an insider that provides information no one else does? Is he a beat-writer who covers the team and provides information other outlets does? Is he writing pieces to educate the fans on the makeup of the team? One could assume he fills all those roles based off his coverage thus far, but that is particularly confusing. One could also assume that he can provide the answer to a question he has created for his readers, and will continue to tempt you with that until the answer is actually given.