Saturday, April 9, 2011

Double Digit Inning FTW!

So, I missed today's game. I missed today's game because, to be honest, it's a rough life to try to be a person who catches every game and at the same time not be totally lame. Perhaps it's an ok hobby for say a married person or a retired person or a person who is friends with people who like to sit and watch games. But if you're a person like me and you tell your friends that you'd rather stay in and listen to the Indians game (yeah, not even see it on TV) instead of go "out" then well...if nothing else, your friends are going to stop asking you out. If you have those sort of friends (if you have friends who think this would be cool, call me!)

However, this brings up a good opportunity to talk about all the different ways you can catch a Tribe game nowadays. There's Sports Time Ohio, and sometimes WKYC. You can hopefully catch a game in any bar in the area - although it faces stiff competition from basketball. If you live outside of the market you can watch on MLB.tv, which I hear is awesome but blackouts make it worthless to me. You can tune in to 1100AM WTAM or if not there, you can find it on 100.7 WMMS in Clevelans or whatever your local Tribe radio station is where you live (always fun to hear the shout outs!) You can listen to radio on your iPod or iPhone, for $14.99 a year (warning: battery drainer!) and on Android and on Blackberry. I also paid $19.95 to join the Indians Fan Club which includes a subscription to Gameday Audio, which not only gives you the live feed but an archive for the year.

If you can't watch or listen, the At Bat 11 app (for mobile devices) and Gameday Web feature are pretty awesome. I did not get At Bat 10 last year, as I was just learning to appreciate the mobile version of the Indians' site, which had a stripped-down version of Gameday. I'm pretty pleased with At Bat 11, however. It's got quicker access to the box score and a more polished look. Also has quick access to player stats which is nice when you want to see how a guy is progressing.

Gameday on the Web has also changed for 2011, as has all of mlb.com and team sites. The change happened sometime between spring training and opening day - perhaps ON opening day. I REALLY like the updates. On Gameday, the pitch-by-pitch interface, which has always been cool, now includes an actual representation of the stadium in which the game is being played from the correct perspective. It also has the extra little detail of putting the batter in the right jersey. Their video clips are online within about an hour or two after the game, which is quite nice if you're a radio or Gameday regular. Like At Bat 11, the box score and player stats are much easier to get to. And check out the new play-by-play.

I am very happy to link you to the play-by-play for today's game because, being that I missed the game, this is essentially how I "caught" the game today. I wish wish wish I could have heard that magic 4th inning live but alas, I only heard about it second-hand. Props to follower Scott Cabrera (no relation) for texting me some updates as well as catching today's Radio Chatter! But anyway, thanks to the updates over at MLB.com, it's almost like being there! Ok not really like being there at all but it sure beats reading about it in the newspaper the next day.

So, Hafner is definitely back. Exhibit A.  Everyone can get their Pronkville signs and 48 t-shirts out of storage because we've got a DH who is playing the role of DH as if he were built to play DH and not like that guy we had the last year or so who was playing hurt for a while and then forgot how to hit the ball. Who knows how many more seasons Hafner has in him, but this is going to be his comeback season for sure. Oh yeah, and Exhibit B is his .375 batting average. All of the other guys seem to be leveling out but Pronk is continuing to hit every night, which is exactly what we need. Sitting around and waiting for the long ball is a fool's game. Solid singles and doubles to bring home the 4 guys in front of you is what is going to win games.

Speaking of homers, it looks like Asdrubal has THE POWER in him. He got his #2 tonight, putting him right on track with Hafner. Ixnay on the ike-outstray. Don't be fooled, though - remember this guy can also bunt and steal. And field. And cause a lot of internet chatter about his tattoo.

I mentioned the other day how Asdrubal was involved in all of the Progressive Field triple plays. He was also involved in this play tonight:

Asdrubal Cabrera strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen. Matt LaPorta scores. Michael Brantley to 2nd. Throwing error by catcher Miguel Olivo. 

Reading stuff like that instead of hearing Hammy call it makes me angry to have missed the game, but I'll be tuning in to the Gameday Audio archive tomorrow. I also want to check out the magical 4th inning where we score TEN runs and sent FOURTEEN men to the plate. 

You know who else got a hit tonight? CHOOOO! Well him and everyone else on the team, including pinch hitter Travis Buck but excluding pinch hitter Adam Everett (who I will be looking forward to seeing more often). Jack Hannahan got two hits tonight, coming out of his Positive Tribe-declared "mini slump" (he impressed me mightily in the first few games!)

Carlos Carrasco pitched 6 innings with 6 strikeouts, and completed the cycle of all of our starters having a winning game (not a win, however, for those of you new to the game). He only gave up one run and brought his ERA back down from outer space.

Justin Germano relieved Carrasco, which was a good move as he seems to need more exposure and we had the means to give it to him. It's a great feeling to know that we can be up by 11 and know that our bullpen will not blow that lead. Hahahaha let's all have a good laugh now remembering a time when our bullpen could definitely have blown that lead! HAHAHA! Ok, now wipe it from your memories!  

Tomorrow is Masterson, and don't worry, I've cleared my schedule.  Note that the game starts at 9:10 PM eastern, not 10 like we're used to.

Radio Chatter:
"If that restaurant doesn't have windows, someone has a large crouton in their salad."
- Tom Hamilton, regarding Hafner's homer off the face of the restaurant at Safeco Field.

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