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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The 2013 Indians are trying to keep pace with the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, but they are falling short on the field and in the stands when it comes to home attendance.

As a fan, do you believe in this team, or not?

With that question in mind, we present the Indians Believe-O-Meter. To make it work, we need your input.

Today's average so far

Below, you will see two sliding bars. On mobile devices, you'll need to tap the bar rather than slide. (App users click here first)

The top bar represents how much you believe in the Indians with your head.

The bottom bar represents how much you believe in the Indians with your heart.

The average of the head and heart numbers provides your Believe-O-Meter score. Also, there is a box to add a one-word comment.

After you click "contribute," your score and comment will be plotted on the chart below, along with those of the 99 fans who voted right before you.

The Believe-O-Meter gauge at the top of this page measures fan sentiment today, and will update every day throughout the season.

So, tell us: Do you believe?

Use this slider to gauge your thinking: On a scale of 0 to 100, in your head, do you think the Tribe is good enough to make the playoffs?

Use this slider to gauge your feeling: On a scale of 0 to 100, in your heart, how much do you believe in this team?

Now sum up how you feel about the Tribe in one word. Type it into the space below and click "Contribute!" to add your opinion to the scatter plot. You can vote every day ....

Head: 00 Heart: 00

Web development:

The Plain Dealer

Part 2: Stats-driven Believe-O-Meter

Here's a Believe-O-Meter driven by the numbers, not the changing opinions of fans from day to day. It was last updated on Thursday, Sept. 26.

The Cleveland Indians head into the final weekend of the season on a six-game winning streak and positioned to win a wild-card playoff spot. And, reflecting this trend, cleveland.com's stats-driven Believe-O-Meter is on the rise.

55

39 72 Overall Heart Head



The meter, an index taking into account on-field performance and fan interest, reads a 55 this week on a scale of 1-to-100.

That's up from a 51 on Sept. 16 and a season-low 45 a week earlier on Sept. 9.

The primary reason the meter isn't higher is because of the fan factors - or the

heart

part of the Believe-O-Meter. Despite a large crowd for the final home game, attendance averaged just 17,854 over the last 10 home games. And the Browns are grabbing a big share of the interest from sports fans.

Here's how we come up with the stats-driven Believe-O-Meter rating, an average of our head and heart indexes.

For the head (currently a 72, up from 69): We've created an index that takes into account the Indians' record over the last 10 games, the overall record for the year, games behind first place, and the team's American League ranking for runs scored and runs allowed.

For the heart (currently a 39, up from a 33): The index factors in attendance over the last 10 home games and readership over the last week on cleveland.com for