Looking to a Higher Power
by ChitownTribe on Jul 9, 2009 10:25 PM EDT
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PrintMr. Dolan,
Hello…my name is Dan, and I’m a Tribe-aholic. Ok, I know what you’re thinking, another whack job Indians fan ranting about the Titanic disaster that is the 2009 Cleveland Indians season, but really, that is not the case. Not this time. You see, I am writing you as an addict, and to tell you about a miracle that you have control over. One that can change the course of mankind forever.
But first, let me tell you about how I got here. It started when I was only 11 years old, in 1965. At first, it was because I wanted to be part of something, a part of a group. So I would watch the games on an old black and white Sylvania. Leon Wagner, Larry Brown, Max Alvis, roaming the field in Municipal Stadium. Then I was in High School and before I knew it, I graduated to fan clubs, going up to the lakefront with a group of other addicts to get a fix and go to a game, hoping Gomer Hodge was not just an opening day anomaly and praying John Lowenstein would lead us out of the wilderness, all the time telling myself it was no big deal, I could stop if I wanted to.
But you know how that goes. Along comes college, and then you’re looking for that next big high. I went to school in NJ, and that meant late nights at Yankee Stadium watching Buddy Bell be embarrassed on the hallowed grounds that Babe Ruth once walked. I was so far gone by then, I thought trading Nettles for Charlie Spikes was a good idea. That losing Chambliss would be no big deal, he would amount to nothing. Looking back, I should have seen the signs, but I was in too deep.
I got married, had kids, but their childhood is merely a blur of Chief Wahoo and bad baseball. Every spring, around March, the family would start to disengage knowing that the madness would soon start. Obsessing over whether Rich Yett could really be a viable starter, would they get anything for Swindell before he walked (no), was Brook Jacoby better than Cal Ripken? (no). Why my wife stayed I’ll never know.
But Mr. Dolan. Something has changed. And I owe it all to you, sort of. I mean, it’s not that you did anything directly, but it’s the people you have hired, specifically Mark Shapiro and Eric Wedge. Addicts will never be able to quit on their own, they always need help, and Mr. Dolan, whether intentionally or by accident, you may have found a way to wipe out all addiction. You see, thanks to Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Wedge, I have been clean for close to a year now; no urges, no relapses, no missteps. I have been clean, sober and Tribe free. It is truly a miracle! I live in Chicago, and the Indians playing the White Sox used to be an obsession, but two nights ago the Indians were absolutely embarrassed, and I felt nothing. The next night, they make the previous evening’s travesty look like a courageous effort, and I yawn. My family rejoices, my friends are relieved, and I feel free.
Mr. Dolan, please realize that you have two people in your employ who can change people’s lives. Have them take over the Drug Enforcement Agency, and before you know it, people won’t care about Heroin or Cocaine. Have them promote and market alcohol, and drunk driving will be eliminated. Mr. Dolan, by putting Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Wedge in charge of things people love and care about, you are guaranteed to kill any desire, passion or interest they ever had before. Trust me, I know. I used to love the Tribe, and anguish over them regardless of how bad they were. But now? Who cares?
To paraphrase…God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (the Tribe will suck in April, draft badly and acquire every soft throwing lefty in existence); the courage to change the things I can (no, I WILL NOT buy tickets to the game); and the wisdom to know the difference (Peralta has not been a viable SS since 2006!).
Sincerely,
Clean, Sober and Tribe Free
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Was that cathartic? I can believe that one can quit caring for baseball in general, but I don’t believe for a second that anyone who lived to tell the story of the Rich Yett years can up and walk away from the team because of the state of the team. I dare you to try to care for another team. No man can serve two masters. Speaking of which:
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
If Chris Berman had been around then, he would have coined him Rich ‘not ready for prime time’ Yett. Not sure if your old enough to appreciate the Gomer Hodge reference, but it is actually true. In 1970 my family moved my from Bath OH to NJ for my Senior year of HS, and I went back to visit friends in April 1971. From the airport we went to opening day at Municipal Stadium and saw Gomer rip a pinch double in the 8th inning to score Cleveland’s first run, then hit a two-run single in the bottom of the 9th to win the game 3-2. The world was full of possibilities that afternoon, but like much of Tribe history, it was merely a mirage.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
“Ugh. Not Yett!”
I was born in 1983. I became heavily invested in the team by 1988-1989 if not sooner.
I remember my Dad urgently waking me up to watch the news of the Berlin Wall coming down. Not long after that my Dad woke me up to tell me that Joe Carter had been traded. Being 6 years old, I came to think of the events as proportionally significant and somehow connected.
That is too funny. Hey, we did land Carlos Baerga, who was both a revelation and a disappointment.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
If Chris Berman had been around then, he would have coined him Rich ‘not ready for prime time’ Yett.
Berman started at ESPN in 1979 shortly after it started. He was around then. It was Rich “Not” Yett.
by TribeJay on Jul 11, 2009 12:23 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Guess we hadn’t gotten rich enough to buy cable yet, so I must have misses it.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 11, 2009 3:07 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
OK, perhaps you haven’t been paying attention, but there is an AL team in Chicago, they play at the Cell (which is three stops away on the Redline), the last time I checked AL teams share 20% of gate receipts, and there is the spiritual aspect of showing support.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions
So the White Sox get 80% of the money and the Indians get 20%. And you feel this helps?
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Considering the references and posts in just about every Cleveland paper and Indians board, ad nauseam, about how cheap the Dolans are, perhaps. But me thinks you are taking things way too literal here.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
My reading comprehension isn’t always the best, but I am still wondering why this particular team made him stop and not, say, any of the teams from 1960-1994
Of course, I cannot fully rid myself of the affliction that is the Tribe since they are rooted in my childhood, but given the great hue and cry this year about Shap and Wedgie, it was just an admittedly feeble attempt at satire, (definition in the reply to the post below).
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions
That part doesn’t seem unlikely to me at all, given A) the difference between expectations and results these two years and B) that these teams get added to the 1960-1994 experience.
by dgcambridge on Jul 10, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
There were never high expectations between 1960 and 1994?
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 10, 2009 11:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Ya know this is about the 12th time I’ve seen that BS SI cover on this site supposedly offering positive proof that Indians fans were sure that Tribe was gonna win in all in ‘87 . Sure a coupla contrarian sportswriters thought that we’d be good in ‘87 – but just a couple. Most Indian fans thought we might be decent – after all we were 2 games over .500 the year before – and some of us thought that maybe, just maybe, we might still be in it by Labor Day, but nobody I knew thought that we’d be playin’ ball in October of ’87. Our team offense the year before in ‘86 was decent – Mel Hall’s OPS+ of 128 was the highest on the team – but our pitching? Good God was our pitching bad. Our "stud" in ’86 was a knuckle baller named Tom Candiotti (ERA+ of 116), our numbers 2 and 3 were the immortal Ken Schrom (ERA+ 91) and an octogenarian named Phil Niekro (ERA+ of 96). The other two starters were just as bad if not worse. Our BP – if it was possible – was even lamer with Ernie "Gas Can" Camacho and the aforementioned Rich Yett holding down pivotal rolls. So what did our brilliant FO do to bolster our pitching? Why the signed a future Hall of Famer named Steve Carlton, that’s what. The only problem was that Steve Carlton’s best years were waaaay back in his rearview mirror by then. I truly believe that we wouldda been better off with Bob Feller in ’87 than Steve Carlton. At least Feller still gave good interviews.
So yeah, there’s some archeological evidence that somebody, somewhere thought that the Indians mightta hadda shot in ’87. But most of us – in our heart of hearts – knew that as long as the Yankees, and Red Sox and Tigers were in the American League, that collection of mamalukes wearing Indians uni’s had no real shot at the pennant in ’87.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
OK, Chuck, it was more of a joke than “proof” that Indians fans thought we were going to win it all in ‘87. I was only 8 then so I don’t really remember the sentiment of most Indians fans that year. But my point, though, was that there were times between 1960 and 1994 were expectations were high. Not necessarily that the Indians were going to win the World Series, of course, but that they would at least be able to compete for the playoffs. So these past two years weren’t the only times where the Indians fell short of expectations over the past few decades.
By the way, good to have you back, Chuck.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 11, 2009 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions
I think (didn’t look it up) that the Tribe actually finished 6 games over. But for some reason, I always seem to remember that they swept Seattle in the final series of ‘86 to get there. Had it gone the other way, a sweep by Seattle, and I don’t think an 81-81 club gets the cover of SI as a fashionable pick in ’87. Forecasting how teams will do is part of the fun of baseball, but (back then especially) it sure as hell was not scientific. BTW, right now I am watching a replay of the ’81 All-Star game on the MLB channel. I was there, and it was a great time, even though it was right after the strike.
by kennesawmountainwahoo on Jul 11, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions
And Len Barker is now pitching.
by kennesawmountainwahoo on Jul 11, 2009 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions
Yer right Judge, it was six games over .500. Good for fifth place in the Eastern Division back then. We ask for Your Honor’s forgiveness.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Chuck, just curious – did you go to that All-Star game?
by kennesawmountainwahoo on Jul 11, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I was there. Drove up from Columbus after work – I was working at Battelle at the time – with some of my college friends. We were all jonesin’ for some Major League baseball. Got to the park late and missed the first 3-4 innings. The first thing I remember seeing was Manny Trillo – the Tribe’s future second baseman – coming to the plate. The stadium was really rockin’ that night.
But of course the game ended in disappointment – like most things did at that park back then – with Schmitt – a goddam Ohio boy fer chrissakes! – hitting that blast in the eighth. Still it was good to sit in the Old Girl on a warm night, have a few barley-pops with my goomba‘s and talk BS. Ya know what? I’m probably the only guy on the planet that misses that old monstrousity.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Nah. Not the only one. by far. Lots of great memories there. There are no fans better than Cleveland fans (I live in ATL now, trust me).
by kennesawmountainwahoo on Jul 11, 2009 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions
It was like “A Tale of Two Cities” When the game and the weather were good, it was the best of stadiums. When it was late September, cold and drizzlin’, the Tribe down by six runs in the eighth, been otta contention since Memorial Day, “Eatin” Ed Farmer was in relief of Steve Hargan and it was just you and 1,182 of the Faithful left in the stands – it was the worst of stadiums
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
That was precisely what was so cool about it. It was so much a part of the lake climate. Midges, lake flies, all sorts of bugs. One of the wildest parks ever built in terms of being part of a natural environment. It was wild as in wilderness.
Oil Can was right when he said that’s what they get for building a ballpark so close to the ocean.
So, because of one season that is remiscent of the 1980s Indians, you give up the Indians, but you stuck around through essentially 30 straight seasons like this?
Don’t take this personally, but you need to get a grip.
by Ryan on Jul 10, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I was so much younger then…Oh yeah, and it is meant to be ‘satirical.’ (Adj. 1. satirical – exposing human folly to ridicule).
My grip is just fine, but thanks for your concern.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
Aaah, you are just a sly practitioner my friend.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Okay, it’s satire. Not the greatest satire, but he stuck his neck out there and posted something. Fair enough.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
I’d like to blame this season on mauichuck, who has the strange powers of being Bizarrely Correct About Basically Everything Tribe. I think the Indians’ fate is tied to the whims and notions of that particular Hawaiian – with mauichuck’s departure, God has left this team. The on-deck circle changes shape with batting order: leadoff hitter is the first circle of hell, all the way down to Chris Gimenez – damned for eternity.
by joeee on Jul 10, 2009 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Dude, dude, dude, you’ve lost your Clevelandness – but then again, you’re not from Cleveland are you? You – like some other guy I know – hail from Bath, Ohio, no? That’s a long distance phone call from Cleveland – got a totally different ethos.
You say you’re a long time Tribe fan and imply that Shapiro and Wedge are the worst GM and Manger that you’ve ever seen, is that right? Shapiro is worse than Lane? or Paul? or Seghi? Those three morons could screw up a junkyard. You hung in there with those jadrools, right? Why not Shapiro? Shapiro’s made some damn fine trades and signed his share of surprising FAs. Name three trades those other guys have made that were worth a damn. Can’t do it, can you? You need to re-calibrate.
And Wedge – you don’t care for Wedge. What, exactly did you think of Adcock? Was he the second coming of Connie Mack? And what about Dark? or Corrales? were they HoF caliber managers in your estimation?
Let’s move back from the ledge. Times are tough for the Tribe right now. But then again Indians fans – old time Indians fans – like you and me – have seen a lot tougher times than this. Just remember tought times don’t last, but tough Indians fans do.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Grandpa, what’s a “long distance call” ?
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Jul 10, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Heh.
On the general subject, though, you’ve earned a hearty STFU on the subject of Clevelandness. Cleveland comprises all sorts of different people, and its geographic boundaries are narrowly drawn. You apparently don’t know jack about Northeast Ohio, or else you would know that Indians Country extends far, far beyond the city limits, utterly undiminished. I don’t know why you always feel the need to talk down to fans from outside the city, but it’s arrogant and foolish.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Well you know me I ain’t never, ever gonna STFU about something I feel strongly about. OK, OK, you can be from anywhere and be an Indians fan. Never said anything to the contrary. But if you’re gonna call yourself a Clevelander, you – IMHO – actually hafta come from, or at least have lived in, Cleveland proper at one time. Now this I am inflexible about.
So go on ahead, call yourself an Indians fan – you can come from anywhere and be one – I’m with you 100%. You can have spent all of your life in Ohio and call yourself a Buckeye – fine by me. But Clevelander is a specific sub-set of Indians fan – they are not synonymous.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Who called himself a Clevelander?
I’ll tell you what, Chuck — I’m not sure Cleveland proper has any higher concentration of Indians fans than Stow.
How many actual Clevelanders are reading this right now? Are there any?
Specific sub-set, sure — a rarely seen subset.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Agreed. I’m the guy that brought the whole “Clevelandness” up. It’s just me. Can’t you give an old guy a break?
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
No.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Jul 12, 2009 3:01 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Here joeee let me help you. The way I see it Shapiro/Antonetti are like Ray Charles. Those other three mooks were like Helen Keller. See the difference?
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
by mauichuck on Jul 11, 2009 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well actually, started my time on the rock in Garfield Hts. And I hear you about Gabe Paul and Seghi. To paraphrase Bill James in his 1983 (I think) BB Abstract, “if Gabe Paul ran a hospital, I’d open a mortuary.” Or something to that effect.
But the whole premise is more or less a tongue in cheek stab at he ‘fire Wedge, eviscerate Shapiro" chorus. Cuz you know, I know, and most Tribe fans know that changing a manager, or GM, or bullpen coach ain’t gonna get er done.
Your blast at Corrales seems a tad unfair though. I lived in central NJ when ol Pat led the Phightin Phils to the WS, well led them halfway to the WS since he was fired with the team in 1st place holding a record of 43-42. He was brought into Cleveland to clean up Mike Ferraro’s mess, who seemingly was hired despite no other discernible skills or attribute to recommend him except he once wore pinstripes and drank water from Yankee Stadium water coolers. At least Pat got a team to first place, if only for half a season. Ah, those were the days. George Vukovich, Toby Harrah, Larry Sorenson, Gerry Willard, and Carmelo (big guns) Castillo. Good times man. Bad baseball, but good times.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
OK, Garfield Hts. – my brother usta live on E 109th by the park. Nice area – pretty Clevelandish.
And yeah, I got the tongue in cheek part, but this is no jokin’ matter – to me at least. Bein’ a Tribe fan is a metaphor – it’s more than baseball – it’s about how you deal with adversity. I know that you realize that every year there’s one – exactly one – World Series Champions. That means that there are 29 losers – every goddam year. So if you’re 30 you – on average – should see one – count ‘em one – WS Champs in your hometown and "lose" the other 29 years. And if you give, say about half of the WS Championships to the Yankees and Red Sox and Dodgers and Cards, that means you could live to be 60 and never see a WS Championship. Think about that. We obsess about how tough we Indian fans have had it, but think about being a Rangers fan or a Nationals fan or a Royals fan. They got it tough too. So I don’t wanna hear any of this "time to change teams" BS. If you call yourself an Indians fan then you know: we never, ever give up.
As to Corrales it’s not that he was any better or worse than that string of stunods we saw after Lopez – with the possible exception of Birdie Tebbets – it was because he was a cazzi cafone – an embarrassment. When he went out after Dave Stewart and got his ass kicked – literally – like he just stole Mamma Stewart’s rent money, every Cleveland guy on the planet hung his head in shame. Whatta busone!
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
by mauichuck on Jul 10, 2009 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I realize that this post was (mostly) in jest. But honestly, if anyone has the power to up and walk clean out of this crack den, they get a few claps from me.
I’m talking about a clean break from baseball/sports, of course. Switching your fandom to another team is a wrong for which no punishment is too cruel.
I’m sticking with it because I have to, it’s hard-wired inside of me. And because I appreciate that this is what Indians fans do. They are tough that way, as Chuck says (welcome back Chuck!). And because I have this feeling that the team would win it all the second I walk away. (totally unreasonable, I know) I certainly do not stick with this team because I expect, or even suspect, that they will ever win it all. I expect them not to.
And I stick with it because I love the fellow fans – family, friends, and strange distant internet connections.
I was at the game on Sunday, and I rarely get to Cleveland anymore. It was still special, and yet this was a game where Cliff lost to Gio Gonzalez. The good times are special, but don’t come anywhere close to outnumbering the bad.
I do find it strange to react to Chitown by saying it was worse before. Why is it a comparison? Let’s say your girlfriend burns down your house, and you stick with her, and then she later decides to kick your dog → you don’t say “That’s ok, it wasn’t as bad as last time.” No, the logical thing to do would be get away as fast as possible, because she burned down your house AND kicked your dog. If someone wants to step out of this mess, and spend their time elsewhere, I can’t argue with that. Good luck with all that free time.
by dgcambridge on Jul 10, 2009 4:36 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
If I may expand, any jadrool (watch me try to insert this word everywhere) can root for a major market team. That would be like rowing downstream. Where ,exactly, is the intellectual challenge there?
You improve your ability to reason by confronting multi dimensional challenges while spotting your opponent. We are the fans who embark on a search for that edge yet undiscovered because maintaining the status quo leads to sustained failure.
I believe strongly that great fans are at their greatest in a terrible year. This is partly why those who somehow remember 2007 as a choke-job are the very worst fans in the world — in a way even lower than frontrunning Yankees fans like Lebron.
I wrote this for the first page of the Annual. Due to a bizarre production snafu, the first paragraph somehow was omitted from the book. It seems to apply here.
These guys have made me think a lot about the Cleveland sports fan mojo. I think about Chris, still waiting for the winning run to score from Ten Cent Beer Night, or Paul, still waiting for that 1987 pennant. I think about Andrew’s pain, as he realized the 2008 season was a lost cause, and about all of us, still waiting for Mesa to close out Game Seven. But mostly, I think about my little brother Doug when he was a kid, insisting that you can never, ever leave an Indians game before the final out—because you never know. Doug and I sat patiently, expectantly through Game Four of the 1997 ALDS, beer-soaked and Thome high-socked, waiting inning after inning for the Indians to come back and win the game. And in 2001, we jumped around like idiots when the Indians pulled off that 12-run comeback. For how many hopeless games had we waited until the very last out, hoping to witness that one incredible finish?
These are the Cleveland fans that are close to my heart—determined, stubborn, resolute—and of whom I’m proud to say, these people are real fans, the standard by which other sports fans are judged. Over the decades, the Indians have not always strived to be a great team, but we have always strived to be great fans, and there’s something to be said for that.
This is our year. For that matter, every year is our year. Indians fans know that.
This — right now, 2009 — is our year. Think about that.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Jul 10, 2009 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions 10 recs
Amen.
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Jul 10, 2009 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions
…still waiting for that 1987 pennant.
Great stuff, Jay.
by The DiaTriber on Jul 10, 2009 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Gee, I think I still have the SI cover with Cory Snyder and Joe Carter in a box somewhere. Probably thought it would be worth something someday, or at least worth more than a good laugh.
by ChitownTribe on Jul 10, 2009 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions
I have to tell you, Paul … I honestly was crushed when I received the books and saw that paragraph missing. It was the last thing I wrote or edited for the book and probably my favorite thing that I had written for the book. It took me a few days to get excited about the book again.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
I read it like 5 times last night and all I could think was “damn, I wish that was in the book, that’s fantastic.”
by The DiaTriber on Jul 11, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
No, I thought it was a great introduction as to where the group of writers was coming from that fed precisely into what they wrote and putting a face to the words in the book.
Not messing at all.
by The DiaTriber on Jul 11, 2009 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Perfect. I’ll try to remember this as I resignedly listen through another game tomorrow.
I become an expert simply by doing something.
…when he was a kid, insisting that you can never, ever leave an Indians game before the final out—because you never know.
After a while you do know, you know they’re going to lose (wisdom granted with age), but it still doesn’t make a difference. What else are you going to do with your summer?
But that’s the thing … we did watch that 12-run comeback together. And in fact, it’s probably the only game we watched together that year, because we live 450 miles apart. He just happened to be visiting me that day.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
I started of off as a youngun, writing the 70s players stats from the Sporting News into accounting books so I could see how each player (Kuiper and Thornton were my guys back then) did versus each team etc. Granted it wasn’t like anything Bill James and the SABR guys did, but hell I was 6.
Then in the 80s, I followed the team just as hardcore, but not as ardouos with the number crunching. I too still have that 87 Sports Illustrated magazine with my collectables. Snyder and Swindell were the guys I liked best then.
Then the early 90s hit (post college) and all my friends and co-workers laughed as I applauded the trades for Baerga, etc. I even drafted Joey Belle the year before he actually made it to the show in my fantasy league, because I felt he had it. Olin was my favorite pitcher at the time, and when Spring of 93 happened and I was completely crestfallen. That year was probably the toughest I ever endured because it just hurt to think about what that team went through.
1994 was an exciting year to boot, but the strike perhaps derailed our first postseason in 40 years. And then the perfect (regular) season occurred in 95. I watched almost every game I could being on the West Coast without satellite or internet. Then the playoffs started and watching the Tribe sweep the Red Sox in the Division Series, all seemed right after the Drive, Fumble, and Shot heartbreaks.
As the Mariners series started, my mother phones me and tells me she won a lottery for Series tickets to Game 5. My first thought was, my beloved Tribe, in the World Series? No fricking way! Did I fret they wouldn’t get past the Mariners? Hell no, I purchased my tickets the next morning for a brief but furious 36 hour tour of Cleveland for Game 5 on a cold Thursday nite in Cleveland. After Game 2 of the series, I was pretty worried, down 2-0, but watching the Game 3 at work that nite win assured my $1500 flight was gonna pay off.
Red eye into town Wed nite, arrive early Thu morning, spend another $500 on souveniers in the Team Shop around lunch time. Watching that game in person at the Jake (my first game in that stadium by the way) was the happiest I’d ever felt I believe up to that point. The Hershiser staredown, the Thome blast to dead center field was spectacular to see. Then a quick visit to the Rock n Rol Hall of Fame, and back on a plane to Los Angeles for my 10 year reunion at the Bonaventure in downtown LA (What a great personal week).
Unfortunately, I only got to see the final 3+ innings at the bar during my reunion, but Glavine pitched a beaut. C’est la Vie. By the time the 97 series arrived, I was even more isolated. I ordered my roommates out of the house during game 7 and nearly threw a baseball threw the wall when Mesa blew the game/Fernandez error.
I’ve had much more success following the Tribe since this site and the internet proliferation and most of you know all of those stories anyways. But Jay’s message above reminded me how badly I lived and breathed with those teams. I still do live and breathe with them, but not near to the previous extent. Not sure if reaching the 40s has done that, or the travails of marriage and fatherhood. But I for one pray that we finally taste that champagne soon.
Sorry for the long post ….
by talonk on Jul 11, 2009 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
We would all do well to remember 1993 in a year like this. 30+ years of futility, and then … a couple players actually die. This year is nothing like that year.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
This — right now, 2009 — is our year. Think about that.
2009 has been a total dissapointment. But as I recall from the end of the 2007 season, after we lost to Boston, a reporter asked Shapiro if he was dissapointed. He stated that he obviously was, but at some point in a season 29 of the 30 teams are going to be dissapointed, some just sooner than others.
If we didn’t have enough talent to win it all in 2009 and were destined to be dissapointed at some point , perhaps “our year” is simply an opportunity to develop younger players, earn a top draft pick, and set ourselves up for success in the future. I can take solace in that.
In a year like this I mostly just start focusing on the minors, looking ahead to next season and to the future. We endure; and I can always dream of the day my team wins it all.
I do worry about my father and his generation though, since he and they seem to feel the seasons ups and downs more acutely. .
Speaking of the minors, that is some July Marte is continuing to have (now batting .375 in July with extra base hits in 10 of the 16 games so far this month). Trade him for pitching, fast, before he comes back to earth!
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- Photo: Padres fan regrets letting mother capture moment with Trevor Hoffman
- Marlins agree to unretire No. 5 for Logan Morrison, who will honor his father’s favorite player
- Weatherman Derek Holland does Dallas TV
- Ask Alex: Will Julio Teheran or Matt Moore win rookie of the year?
- Ku Klux Klan, umpires and bowling: Why the minor leagues tossed out Jim Evans academy
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