Sorry for the late post. Most of my posts have come quite late this season but also all but one of the games has come at a weird (non-7:05) time. So I have to listen to the game and then get stuff done before I have time to sit down. That and a big Sunday win has left me energized and wanting to do stuff! If you recall most of last year's Sunday games were snoozers and losers. But today's game with all of its runs ... instead of making me want to take a nap, I did a bunch of stuff. I just now got done doing stuff!
I did stuff like clean the kitchen, mow the lawn, do laundry. I also went to pick up food at B Spot and stopped at Trader Joe's, where I spotted a Melt tattoo in the wild. I'd never seen one of them before! I felt so very Cleveland, especially wearing my #13 Cabrera t-shirt. A couple of the workers stopped me to ask about the game and I was excited to be able to say that we won. Although I was a little disappointed in both of them as one guy asked where I got an "old-school Melky shirt" and the other said "too bad it's not 1995!" I guess, though, it was still all very Cleveland of them.
Going back to yesterday's game for a moment - here's a nice montage that the Tom Hamilton Has The Best Home Run Call in Baseball Facebook page put together of yesterday's scuffles. Great job!
Ok so today's game. Ubaldo was being all Fausto (anyone can be Fausto, it seems) and randomly sucking after a great previous game. Sucking badly. No command, just throwing things. He gave up 9 hits and 4 earned runs in 5 innings. He did show his professionalism by getting himself out of some jams and not just giving up 15 runs like Fausto might have done.
I can't remember off the top of my head what Fausto's real name is and I keep wanting to call him Robert California. But he's not Robert California, this guy is.
After Jiminez was the bullpen (NOT THE BULLPEN!) and they did all right for themselves.
No, just kidding. They gave up 3 more runs. But we were winning by like 10 the whole game or something so it was ok.
Dan Wheeler, who is new (but older than me so really, old) was good. And Tony Sipp was NOT BAD - brought that 18 ERA down to 13.5! Raffy Perez and Asencio gave up those 3 runs so whatever.
At least we didn't have to bring in our center fielder to pitch like the Royals did. Both teams had used-up bullpens but apparently the Royals weren't interested in using theirs any more in the 9th. So they brought in Match Maier and he now has a better ERA than most of our pen.
Let's get on to the WINNING, shall we?
I think we had our best hits/LOB ratio today with 15 hits, 7 walks and only 7 LOB. People just kept getting on and then getting in.
Brantley is officially "back" and "hot." He went 3 for 6 today and now his average is a resuscitate-able .206. He got a double, he got 2 RBI, and he was there for when Asdrubal wanted to get hits with him. In fact he hustled his ass off in the 3rd inning and got on base by a step, then we went on to score 6 runs with 2 outs because MICHAEL BRANTLEY ROCKS YOUR FACE!
'Droobs only went 1/5 today and so did the Choo, but Choo got another 2-run double (batting in our heroes Brantley and Cabrera!) and also did not get hit by any balls or start any fights. Progress!
Hafner was the DH today and he was jonesin' to get in on this hit train because dude went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a homer and 2 runs scored. So wonderful to see him out there hitting, not just Thome-ing it trying to get a homer or nothing. He got 2 singles and a walk alongside his homer - that's amazingfruit for a DH!
Shelley Duncaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!! Dude was lights out in the field, lights out at the plate. He went 1 for 3 with THREE walks. The other team has his number now no doubt. "This guy he hits homers!" And then he hit a homer! And then they walked him a bunch. He was so hot that they put Cunningham in for Choo instead of Duncan.
Casey Kotchman, who got a homer and a stolen base yesterday got a homer and a stolen base today. Kotchman has a total of 11 stolen bases in the Majors from 2004 to 2011. Now in 7 games with the Tribe he's got TWO! As for homers, he went between 7 and 14 in all his previous years, so having 2 already for us is also fantastic. Let's hope he keeps this up and perhaps we'll never speak of Matt LaPorta again.
Jason Kipnis was the last guy to make it to our Everybody Hits playground today. Although he did walk in that big 6-run 3rd inning so that was something. What was REALLY something was his 3rd home run of the year in the 8th inning, going back-to-back with Kotchman. On the first pitch too. On the radio side Hamilton hardly had a second to stop praising Kotchman and on the TV side Rick Manning was so caught up in everything he called the dude Choo.
I decided we must start something comparing Kipnis to Katniss (the main character in the current hit movie-book The Hunger Games) but I couldn't really come up with anything, not being familiar with The Hunger Games. But I know she is an archer (NPR tells me that archery is very popular now because of the movie!) and I know Kipnis holds his bat flat, so how about this?
Jack Hannahan was in the game today and got a hit. He also did not commit any errors (seriously - how does Jack Hannahan already have 5 errors?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!) He also did not try to beat anyone up so that is good.
Sweet Lou did not get to throw anyone out today. He also probably thinks Jiminez sucks pretty bad. He did get a hit which was an RBI double and then he himself came around to score so I think that's a pretty kickass day for Lou!
So today we got 15 hits, 7 walks and 13 runs. Four home runs and three doubles. Do you want to see who leads
You might also be interested to see who is tied for first in the Majors with home runs. And see who we're tied with.
If you have a short memory that is the 2011 AL Champion Rangers and the 2011 World Champion Cardinals and the 2012 Cleveland Indians tied for first in home runs.
So now we're at .500, we're leading the league in walks and homers and we just swept a series. Travis Hafner hit a home run that was the first home run to end up in the restaurant at Kaufman Stadium. We set a franchise record with 8 runs scored in each of our first 3 away games. There was also some other record about winning the first 3 away games I believe, but Bart Swain is so fast in getting new crazy statistics out there that I can't always remember each of them.
We're starting to have real fun now, not just the sort of fun I have when I'm home alone with the radio (heynow!) I mean fun that everyone can share about the Indians, not just the negative nellies. Hits! Runs! Scores! Fights! They have it all!
They won't be having it all in Cleveland for 10 more days. In the meantime we're going to have to put up with 10:05 starts from the west coast. Last year we had a pretty amazing west coast trip, getting some wins or at least working real hard against some at-the-time fantastic teams. Let's hope we do it again!
Next game isn't until Tuesday night, 10:10 against the Mariners. Hope you had a nice weekend and see you then!
Radio Chatter:
"It's like he and Lou Marson met each other 30 seconds before the game."
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez seemingly not getting Marson's calls
"It's like he and Lou Marson met each other 30 seconds before the game."
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez seemingly not getting Marson's calls
"At least this weekend will quiet the critics."
- Tom Hamilton
"Ubaldo Jiminez is not missing any bats today."
- Tom Hamilton
"The royal fans, Rosie, their patience has worn thin. And it's only their
first home stand."
- Tom Hamilton
"I forgot were in Kansas city. Eric Hosmer has been given a double. Yes
Virginia there is a Santa Claus and he is the official scorer."
- Tom Hamilton
"...hell go to second on I difference. But knowing this scorekeeper it's
probably three stolen bases."
- Tom Hamilton
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