It's a Shame About the Rays

I was searching for something and came across a post from this blog from May 29, 2011 in which I write "Guess the Indians can't figure out the Rays, just like we can't figure out the White Sox. Or maybe it's that those teams have us figured out?" I'll admit - I often forget that the Rays even exist. They don't seem to have forgotten the Indians - even though we're a completely different team than 2011.

Friday I hung out with my aunt & uncle who were in town from Phoenix and we watched the game. Frankly, it was a boring game! The Rays' starter pitched a good one and our guys couldn't hit the ball. Well, Michael Bourn hit the ball and even Jason Kipnis did too. But Bourn had no one to drive him in and Kipnis hit the ball to where dudes were waiting for it.

Mike Aviles started at third on Friday. He missed a lot of spring training due to the World Baseball Classic. But he is a baseball player and he was playing baseball the whole time so it's not like he went from the couch to third base. Aviles looked bad at the plate and worse in the field. I don't have anything against the dude yet, but his job that he was hired for is to be a utility man and to not play every day, so he needs to hurry up and get used to not playing every day. If we're going to have a Sometimes Guy who can't hit we might as well get Shelley Duncan back! So, keep an eye out for Aviles and let's hope he improves as he gets more games under his belt.

Mark Reynolds came to us from Arizona and my uncle couldn't tell me enough about how disappointing he is as a player. I'll be honest, I was very disappointed in him through the middle of the second game (against the Blue Jays) but he hit that game-winning homer and I was all "YAY!" Then the next night he hit a homer too and that was cool! But Reynolds' MO is that he strikes out most of the time until he hits a home run or five. And who doesn't like a home run? I don't know if I have the patience to watch all of those strikeouts inbetween, especially with all of our other guys on base. I'm sort of hoping that he is getting a lot of playing time right now so that the front office can decide sooner than later if he fits on this team. He was our first pickup at the end of the 2012 season, I think (or one of the first) so if he doesn't shape up, he may be the first to go.

I think that's why he's been in instead of Ryan Raburn, who had quite an awesome spring. Raburn was in the game on Saturday in right field and he was not only one of the few guys to get a hit, he also had an outfield assist! I had mentioned to my uncle that we didn't really have a scary arm in our outfield this year now that Choo is gone, but that night (Friday) Brantley had an outfield assist and Saturday Raburn had his. Someone more educated in the field of physics might be able to do the calculations to prove that it is or is not due to their ground speed, but that's my story.

Since Raburn was in the field, Santana was the DH on Saturday with Sweet Lou Marson behind the plate. Lou got absolutely flattened on a play at the plate, with the Rays' center fielder coming down on him in a move that would have gotten 15 yards in football. But Lou hung on to the ball and actually played out the inning before everyone decided that it might be in his best interest to visit the team masseur instead of play the rest of the game.

So Carlos Santana moved from DH to catcher which left the #9 spot open in the lineup and that was filled by the pitcher. First Bauer then Albers and then Aviles at the end. Aviles came in to replace Chisenhall at third but not before reliever Cody Allen replaced him in the lineup. Beautiful-looking box score if you care to look!

If you didn't hear, Trevor Bauer became our fifth starter for one day only after Scott Kazmir went on the DL with a rib muscle strain. Bauer is only slated for this one game as Carlos Carrasco will be back in the rotation now that he's served his suspension. Bauer (also from Arizona) had a rough start, walking the first 4 batters he faced but the kid only gave up 1 run in the first and two more in the 4th before he was done. He walked 7 and only struck out 2, so I'd say he owes a bit to the defense behind him!

Matt Albers came in to relieve Bauer and he kind of sucked. Three hits and 1 run in one inning. There was almost another outfield assist in the series when Bourn caught Escobar trying to stretch a double into a single, but umpire CB Bucknor botched the call, missing the fact that Kipnis clearly tagged Escobar on the foot. Albers gave Bucknor the what-for at the end of the inning (actually he was pretty smart - the guy knew to wait until he was on his way out to get thrown out). I haven't been blown away by his pitching yet but now I know his name, that's for sure.

Cody Allen took the 7th and 8th and gave up two runs. Our bullpen has some holes, friends.

Although we managed 5 hits in the game, they were the definition of "few and far between" so nobody really even got past second base save for a short rally in the third inning where Raburn got to third base.

Even though we came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard both Friday and Saturday, at least Saturday's game had a little excitement. Do you think Nick Swisher will be able to rally the troops to perform better in today's game? Today's game features our #1 guy (1-7 against the Rays) against their #1 guy (2012 Cy Young winner).

I'll see you there - in 5 minutes!

Radio Chatter:
 "Wow. How in the world was that a one-run inning?"
 - Tom Hamilton after the first

 "Any more than 3000 here and it elicits a parade in Saint Pete."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "It's one of those games where you look at the line score and say 'That must be a snoozer' but we've had some action here in the first three innings."
 - Jim Rosenhaus

 "Trevor Bauer trying to make like David Copperfield. Can he elude danger one more time?"
 - Tom Hamilton

 "If Earl Weaver was managing the Indians right now he'd be on his third pack of cigarettes."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "If you would have said that Bauer would make it through five [innings] back in the first...no way."
 - Jim Rosenhaus

 "He is arguing with C.B. 'I got another one wrong' Bucknor. [...] He could go out there with a blindfold, flip a coin and have a good a chance at being right as he would be wrong."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "Raburn, the ball and the wall all seemed to arrive at the same time."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "At some point in life, if you're not good at what you do, you should not have that job."
 - Tom Hamilton on umpire CB Bucknor

 "Tampa Bay must feel like they've had the Indians on the canvas all night, but the Indians keep getting up."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "Boy when did you think we'd ever say this? 'The good news is, the Yankees are coming to town.'"
 - Tom Hamilton

Post Hiatus - Keep Listening!

Hey y'all - Sorry I got everyone pumped up about the opening game then flaked out for two games in a row. I have been busy dealing with the passing of my grandpa (who was absolutely a Tribe fan!) and it's taking more out of me than I thought, time-wise.

I would have loved more than anything to cover Thursday's game - what a whale of a game! And ALMOST everyone hit! - but we only lose grandpa once so I had to make the call to be with my family (watching out of the corner of my eye) instead.

Friday I'm going to catch the Rays' game with my aunt and uncle from Arizona, on the television (no, we're not the Waltons...well, kinda) and I'll come back and do a blog post sans Radio Chatter. Saturday's post will be late but SUNDAY - I'll be back in business Sunday and of course Monday is The Big Show!

Love and Kipneses,

- JJ

One Little Victory in the YYZ

Tonight's game had everything you wanted from your Tribe. Solid Masterson, unbelievable defense, plenty of hits with a little bit of power, and the Bullpen Mafia. Oh, and capitalizing on the other team's errors, of course.

And Geddy Lee!

Do you think that inducting Rush into the Rock Hall generated some good juju for the Tribe this week? Yes.

I'll be the first one to admit that I was more afraid of R.A. Dickey than I was confident in Justin Masterson. Masterson's rocky start didn't add to my confidence level, though. But dude totally proved me wrong by hanging tough some walks and loaded bases, and finishing off with three one-two-three innings. If that's what Masterson is going to do this year than doggone it we've got our ace!

I don't even need to tell you what Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez did in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. I know you know what the Jays did - nothing. Well, nothing except for the one hit that Chris Perez likes to give up. Otherwise, our boys blanked 'em!

Of course the stellar pitching did get help from stellar defense, in the form of Asdrubal Cabrera, natch. He wasted no time being amazing this season by snagging one off the felt, getting knocked on his culo and still having the ability to get it to Kipnis who got it to Swisher. Nick Swisher was of course pumped UP! about this play, but you'd better believe it that Justin Masterson said a little woo-hoo of his own!

Wondering what some of the other FNGs were doing? Drew Stubbs was running around as advertised, catchin' stuff. Would Choo have slid into a wall in the first game of the year? Hmm, I'd vote no.

So, how did the new Tribe do against 2012 Cy Young Award Winner R.A. Dickey? Fantastic! They got 4 runs and 3 earned runs. One of those runs was due to the inability of Dickey to throw into the catcher's glove.

Much love to JP Arencibia for not only giving us 3 passed balls, but for also being a stand-up guy against bullying. Tangent: April is Autism Awareness Month. This February, JP gave tickets to tonight's Jay's home opener to an autistic guy who's a huge Blue Jays fan once he heard that the guy had been struggling with bullies. Nice that the whole stadium was Lit Up Blue for autism, too - I assume.

My dog was lit up blue for autism today!

Ok, so, how'd we hit?

Michael Bourn is our new leadoff guy, because he's got the speed of Kenny Lofton (or Rickey Henderson, however you want to phrase it). He didn't get any steals today but he went 2 for 5 on the night with one of his hits coming after the game in a scoring change!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! He started the game with a walk then in the 5th, BOOM! Two-run homer! It was pretty funny because I started the tradition of posting "OMG ASDRUBAL!!!" to Facebook after every homer, and my friends were commenting on how they were racing to their newsfeed to see my announcement. Ha! He's on track for 162...

Michael Brantley is hitting .500 already. I definitely see .300 in his future! He went 1 for 2 today with 2 walks - either he's got an amazing eye or the opposing pitchers are afraid of him. I'm going with the latter - the cat's out of the bag! Man, that guy is awesome. I hope you all put him on your fantasy teams...

The Carlos Santana we paid for showed up today! He went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. That's patience at the plate, yo.

Mark Reynolds was the DH today. Not sure why he's our guy and not Ryan Raburn but I'll leave that mystery to Tito. I guess maybe he gets the nod for being the first guy we based our season on? He went 0 for 3 today with a walk and a run, so not useless. I don't really have an opinion on this guy so we'll get to know him together this year!

Lonnie Chisenhall is your guy to watch this year! (Aside from Michael Brantley) He went 1 for 4 with an RBI (on a ground out). He got the Tribe's first RBI of the season. Nick Swisher was so excited for him!

Drew Stubbs also got it done at the plate, so far proving to be a valuable 9th hitter. So far, you know, after one game. He also went 1 for 4 with a RBI. Batting, fielding - we like Drew Stubbs!

Nobody stole a base today. A little disappointed since we kept getting promised speed. Asdrubal tried to take care of it himself but got caught. ¡Ups!

I liked this game as an opening day game because it wasn't extreme in any way. Nothing crazy happened, there wasn't a big blowout (either way), we didn't have to employ any trickery. It was vanilla and excitingly so. It looked like a game we could play any day, and if we play this very game every day then we will have an amazing season!

Tomorrow's game is at 7:05 but I'll be at my grandpa's wake. Huge bummer, sorry. But don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can to see what happened and then to give you my most upbeat impression of things. I hope there's as much excitement and enthusiasm for tomorrow's game as their was today! It was a great baseball day - let's keep it up!

Radio Chatter:
"In the past you'd come here and it was like watching a game in the library."
- Tom Hamilton on the enthusiasm of Jays fans

"You wouldn't think there would be FIVE Cy Young winners who would end up pitching for another team the next year on opening day."
- Tom Hamilton (Dickey, Clemens, Martinez, Cone, Maddux)

"He is going to know everybody in the first row by their first names by the end of this game."
- Tom Hamilton on Arencibia's troubles with catching Dickey

"If you give Smith, Pestano and Perez a 3-run lead, usually that's a great day for the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Blue Jays, if they lose this game, are going to say 'Woulda, coulda, shoulda' about the first few innings."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy those baseball gods have a wicked sense of humor..."
- Tom Hamilton on Perez coming in with a 4-1 lead in the opener...again

Do You Hear That?

I hear drums, boffins. John Adams' drums, the drums that precede the Indians game broadcasts on WTAM, or possibly just the beating of my heart as it pumps faster and faster in anticipation of The Big Event which will happen less than 24 hours from now.

I bet you hear it now too!

Short recap of the last 6 months: Choo left, and everyone said "Yeah ok." Hafner didn't get picked up and went to New York. Not too sad to see him go (I got to see his last game!) but it does sting a little that he'll be with the bad guys instead of just hanging up his cleats. Of course, I'm sure any baseball player is pretty pumped to put on the pinstripes so we'll give him that.

Terry Francona became our new manager and I was excited from the beginning about that one. Sandy Alomar Jr. was what everyone wanted with their hearts but you all KNOW that Tito is the choice from the brain. And we totally TOTALLY won by keeping Sandy on the team. How awesome is that?!

We kept Chris Perez and Asdrubal Cabrera, which to ME is the most exciting part of the off-season. I accidentally made my way to the MLB Trade Rumors site one day before everything settled and I swear I gave myself nightmares. Crisis averted and I read in an article that Asdrubal hopes to stay in Cleveland indefinitely. Perhaps he is just full of puffery but my dreams have been all cotton candy and fresh-cut grass since then.

Signings from the fall and early winter were pretty "meh." Mike Aviles seemed like the best we could do. Trevor Bauer was kind of exciting but also sort of scary. Drew Stubbs filled the Choo hole but only really garnered "good enough?" excitement. But then out of nowhere - Nick Swisher! Michael Bourn! If anyone had any sort of feelings left for Choo, those feelings flew out the window when we realized our outfield was just one runner shy of an Olympic-speed relay team - Brantley, Bourn, Stubbs.

The infield this year isn't just the El Hoover at short and the Dirt Devil at second, but now we've got a legit firstie in Nick Swisher (O-H-I-O!) and according to Spring Training, Lonnie Chisenhall is going to be the guy to watch this year (other than Michael Brantley, but you knew that). He's looking tight at third and he's crazy at the plate. CRAZY. AT. THE. PLATE.

A word on Mike Aviles - I didn't really think about him much as an acquisition, but then I saw him speak at the Fan Fest and I'm sold. I'm now sold on the idea of a utility infielder to add a layer of protection to our awesome infield. Plus, Aviles seems to fit in seamlessly with Vinnie and Kipnis, personality-wise and any team can use more Vinnie-Kipnises. Plus, Aviles really shone during that World Baseball Classic thing.

Speaking of the WBC, Carlos Santana also had a good spring with his team, the Dominican Republic. He swatted 2 homers and walked NINE times to help lead his team to world domination. Aviles, by the way, batted .323 during the tournament. Carlos can always use improvement behind the plate (and a little more concentration AT the plate) but I'll guarantee you Sandy will not let this boy give up.

Dice-K and Jason Giambi also vied for a spot on our team this spring. Weird, right? Giambi made the 40-man roster but, well, is it bad that I laugh that he's on the DL with back pain?

I'm not going to talk about pitching because it's nowhere near as exciting as our hitting and defense. I'm hoping we'll be giving everyone tons and tons of run support as they work their way to greatness. Amen.

Real quick about Fan Fest: After me finally making it out to the mall last winter and coming up with a solid plan on how to beat the crowd and get some autographs, they totally switched it up on me and decided to throw the bash down in the basement of The Prog.

What I liked about this year's Fan Fest: Touring the facilities, most of all the locker room. After going through Wrigley Field it was super interesting to see the 90-year difference in facilities. It was neat just being in a different part of the ballpark than usual. I also liked that there was more stuff to do than at the mall. At the mall, you had to just stand in line while not being able to hear the guys on stage, and then eventually you got an autograph. At this one they had guys on stage the whole time, plus photos with players and autographs and all sorts of other junk to do.

There was a lot of stuff I didn't like about it. A lot. I didn't even come close to getting an autograph or a photo. I guess the first day they had so many people waiting in line that a ton of folks stood in line only to be turned away after an hour. The second day (when I was there) you had to sign up for a spot in line, which kept people from standing in line and THEN being disappointed. My disappointment was swift.

It also sucked that you had to pay for the event (kids are free tho) then had to pay to park. They did have discount ballpark food, but also by the second day the radio stations closed up their booths and stopped giving out free swag.

I did get a swell block-C magnet and some sort of t-shirt, so that was cool.

All in all I can't complain. The problem was there were too many people there and I can't complain that too many people PAID to come out and see some Tribe stuff in the middle of winter. That was awesome, I love that sort of fan support. LOVE IT! And I loved that I got to ask Vinnie some questions - Jim Rosenhaus let me ask two questions, one provided by him (he sort of set me up, as it was a stupid question about Kipnis living with Vinnie in Goodyear).

I also got to see Rosie's son, who was there as a fan. And he's a dorky, gawky pre-teen who is probably going to grow up to be some sort of baseball player-slash-model or something. But for now he is what you imagine Jim Rosenhaus's son to be, thick glasses and braces. AWESOME.

A few other random notes:

- A girl from Cleveland, Alex Justice, made it to the Fan Cave. I voted for her, she seems like a pretty awesome fan! Positive Tribe Approved! Here's her Twitter feed, you'll have to keep an eye on her this summer.

- I was Tweeting a bit with Rosie during the night games this spring. I kept making him laugh and he read my tweets on air. Gotta remember that for next spring! Fun times!

- Did you sign up for the Tribe Fan Club? I sign up every year to get my MLB Radio subscription paid for. There's more to it than that, and some day I'll delve into it. But - sign up!

- I mentioned on Twitter, to the Indians, that it was kind of skeevy weird to have the Indians.com site background feature (and ONLY show) Terry Francona and Nick Swisher. See below:

Ok, the Terminal Tower and the BP building are in there too. But no Kipnis, no Brantley, no Asdrubal, no Vinnie, no Perez. Just two new guys.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the new guys and we should all be excited that they're here - but I'm not too hip to hero worship (shut up Asdrubal is not my hero, he is just dang good). I don't like the idea of one guy saving us all. Tito will lead a whole team of talented players to a winning season, no doubt, and Nick Swisher will be their cheerleader and first baseman. But to leave everyone out like that is just...I dunno, it makes me quite upset.

You should mention it to the @Indians (or Indians) if you think it's weird too, and want to see some of your favorites up there. They do change that background a few times during the season.

Ok, now that we've had this chat, I am all ready to go! I've literally been "training" these last few weeks to make sure I can get out of work, get to the gym and get to my seat by 7 every night. It will be dicey but really what the heck else do I have to do with my life? The key to my success lies in getting a shower radio, I think. I'll let you know. 

Tomorrow night, 7:05 in Toronto. See you there!

Hafner, History and Helpful Hints

Beautiful.

So the Tribe went out with a whimper, not a bang. Well there were bangs - 5 of them actually - but none off our bats.

David Huff lost his shit for real and gave up 3 homers and 3 earned runs. "Luckily" for him, Lonnie had a big error and so did Hannahan so there were 4 un-earned runs. Still it was 7 to nothing when he left.

Then Vinnie of all people lost his shit later on and gave up 2 home runs. Can you imagine?! He looked like he wanted the mound to open up and swallow him alive when the second batter in a row went yard. He actually didn't finish his inning and had to be taken out. He got a standing ovation when he left and I HOPE my 18,092 companions were cheering for the same reason I was - to say "it's ok Vinnie, please come back and be awesome next year."

Sandy got a ton of love tonight, seeing as how he had to come out like 5 times to switch pitchers. He got almost a standing ovation every time! I'm pretty sure he was blushing.

What do you think about the manager thing? Between Alomar and Francona. I honestly do not envy whoever has to make the decision. Francona clearly has the experience and the know-how and would be an absolute all-star for us. Sandy is un-proven (and why was he passed over so much by other teams?) but the fans go bananas for him. Heck I want to win as much as the next person but I go bananas for Sandy over Francona too. Who knows? Sandy could actually be an amazing manager and could take a team to the top. But it's a gamble. It'll be a head versus heart decision. I actually think it's going to end up being Alomar because he's got the marketing edge, seriously. Plus the players seem really in to it. And if the players are in to it then they will make him look good.

So, Viva del Santo! Expect tons more of that song from me next season.

Speaking of standing ovations, Travis Hafner had a bit of a night tonight. He got a standing O on his first at-bat, lots of claps on his second, crazy excitement for his third when he got a hit (presumably his final as an Indian) and an honest-to-goodness freak-out on his fourth and final at-bat. He tipped his hat to the crowd before stepping in, which was totally awesome. I was standing there with my camera out and ready but I was too busy cheering to take a picture, so all I got was him putting his hat back on. Duh. Here's my Pronk pics from tonight though:

Travis Hafner on deck

Getting his hit in the 4th.

Putting on his hat after tipping said hat.

Final at-bat.

Final ball in play.

It was not fun at all to watch this, to be honest. It was way too close to pet euthanasia  or something. I've always liked Hafner - he basically replaced Thome for me as our home-town heavy hitter. He filled the place in my heart that Thome left when he left town. But all baseball players must end their career in Cleveland sometime...sigh.

It was also awkward thinking that it'd be the last time we see Choo (hopefully not!) and maybe Jack (who played first) and Kotch (who didn't play but still signed stuff before the game cuz he's classy). I was right there in the front. It was the definition of bittersweet.

In other not-so-depressing news, Miguel Cabrera got the Triple Crown today. It's mind-bogglingly exciting considering what a feat it is, how rare it is (15 ever) and how long it's been since baseball had a Triple Crown winner (1967). There are fewer Triple Crown winners than perfect game pitchers. There are fewer Triple Crown winners than perfect game pitchers!!! 

Also tonight I said "low-carb be darned!" and got my favorite food at the ballpark - the Signature Steak sandwich from the Food Channel booth at section 172. I also got my other favorite food - fresh cut fries from Spuds & Suds at section 163. I did NOT get my other other favorite food, the cotton candy, because I had to drive home. But seriously if you like cotton candy I highly recommend the cotton candy at Progressive Field. It has fruity flavors not just "dye"!

I also was intrigued by the "Triple Mix" of popcorn (butter, cheese and caramel corn) at the stand at section 175 so I grabbed me some of that. Pretty good but their cheese corn is TOO good and TOO cheesy. It would have been better as just a mix of caramel and butter. My dog totally totally loved it, though!

Another thing I tried this year that was so-so was the fried Snickers. I decided that you can't really make a Snickers bar taste bad so frying it doesn't make it taste bad - it just doesn't add $3.50 worth of taste. I did enjoy the overall taste better than the fried cookie dough and the fried Twinkie (tried those last year) but I think that's because I enjoy Snickers more than those things.

Oh yeah I also tried the Po Boy, which is ok I guess except I don't actually like bbq pulled pork, which is a good portion of what a Po Boy is. So WTG me! My friend got one and he ate his right up so I can say it's not BAD.

Two other food things from this year that I hope stick around next year - the discount refills and the $8 Classic Combo. Over 14 games I think I saved like $30 on pop by remembering to bring my refill cup back. I forget how much a pop costs cuz I keep getting the refill, so I don't know how much I actually saved. But it worked for me. I didn't get the combo (carbs) but my friends usually did and it's just a darn good deal.

Two thumbs up for the deals! Let's see them again next year!!

Oh also, speaking of food - if you can eat I highly recommend snagging some club seats at least once in the year. You will more than make up the cost of the tickets in food. You may make it up in soda alone. And it's GOOD food, not just stale nachos or something. Pass up the "All You Can Eat Seats" and go Club. Here's my post from the 4th of July about the seats. Do it!

Two more things to share with you about going to games. First is parking. The deck next to the field is only $12. There are parking lots further away that cost more! And they're not as secure. If you get there soon enough, always try the deck first. If the deck is full, swing over to Prospect and 8th (across from the Winking Lizard) where it's only $10, or $8 on slow nights. I've never seen that deck fill up and it's a quick walk in to the stadium. There's actually another deck right next to it that's the same price, and a tiny little lot closer to the Q (still off Prospect) that's only $10 too.

The other thing is Perfect 10 Voucher packs. I give these a thumbs down. Having to stand in line to get tickets is stupid. Just stupid. Yes you do save some money on fees and maybe it helps "force" you to go to games but the new Ticketmaster ticket buying system is AWESOME. You get to choose your exact seats from a map and stuff. It's sort of actually worth the fees to be able to get it all taken care of before you hit the ballpark.

One thing I will say, though - the cheap seats at Progressive Field, which are the upper half of the bleachers and the upper half of the upper deck - are awesome seats. They're like $10 too, with or without vouchers. If you're taking a fidgety kid to the game, get those. Even if you want to sit and watch the game intently, get those. Only bad seats in the park are deep in right and center, I say. Everything else rocks.

Hmmm what else? Oh yeah - there's a service now where you can buy stuff from the day's game, like bases. Seriously! And they're not too crazy expensive - like $150. That's about all the recon I managed to get on the situation, other than the place to do it is a booth outside the main Team Shop. But I think that's pretty awesome and I have to remember to do it some day.

Also don't forget that if you go to a game and it's your first game stop at a Fan Services booth and get a first game certificate. I doubt you have to be a kid to get one, by the way. Also there is some sort of game passport book thingy but I never got a grasp on that this year. I should have - I went to a lot of games! If anyone knows, tell me.

I guess that's it, then. My impression on 25 games in 2 years (14 this year!) and some stuff I learned, and ruminations on the last game of the season.

Oh yeah I surpassed 20,000 views some time in the past month so that's cool - I hadn't reached 10,000 yet by the end of last season so I guess I'm picking up steam. Got a couple of good links in, snagged a ton more Twitter followers and had like uh...33 comments. Kind of low on comments compared to last year but I did get some re-Tweets and whatnot so whatever.

Oh hey if you have a swell transistor radio like I do, it's time to flip over from AM to FM. On my radio, AM 1100 shares the dial position with FM 87.7 which is a mind-blowingly awesome new radio station for people who were in to the latest music incarnation of 92.3 before it went sports, and 107.9 "The End" from back in the day. Holy cow, boffins - I'm totally listening to a transistor radio during the day because it's so good! Dig it!

All right so I'll hit you up soon with a recap of Hammy and Rosie from this year. Probably next week. Until then, everyone leave a comment, ok? So I feel like doing this again next year.

See you in April! 

Good night!

Radio Chatter:
"I know many of you want to know when they're coming to town so you can get tickets for Christmas..."
- Tom Hamilton on the Houston Astros

"This ballclub is playing for him like they are trying to make the statement 'We want this guy as our manager.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Sandy Alomar

"Is it true you get the car for the winter of no one wins here?"
- Jim Rosenhaus on the grand slam bonus inning

"I have a feeling, Rosebud, with a 7 to nothing score we're going to be seeing a lot of first-pitch swinging. Guys want to get out of here. [...] The White Sox have already ordered a pizza. They scheduled the delivery for 9:30."
- Tom Hamilton

"This shift might be more productive if they took the two outfielders and put them in the upper deck in right and right center."
- Tom Hamilton

"I don't know Rosie - I like Detroit. Which probably means they'll get swept in 3 games."
- Tom Hamilton on the playoffs

"It's been a great summer, we had a lot of laughs along the way. Glad I could be there for you!"
- Jim Rosenhaus, the straight man

"You Cleveland Indians fans are what makes this the best job in the world. We appreciate your support and we look forward to talking to you next spring!"
- Tom Hamilton

Good Game, Greasemonkey!

Today was a nice game to show off our "team spirit" I think. Our ace pitcher was ace. Our crazy closer was nuts. Our slick star was starry. Our veteran big basher had a big bash. And in the end it was all the young kids who came around to win it.

Now, inbetween all that stuff it was kind of gut-wrenching having to listen to 1-1 baseball for the second-to-last game. One would want nothing else but to see a lot of action from both teams.

But we did get one thing we wanted and that is one more quality start from Masterson. He went 6 today and only gave up one earned run (a homer) on 4 hits and struck out 5. So...good. Bring that back with you next year, ok?!

If we were REALLY lucky we'd have Smith and Pestano pitch their two perfect innings (close - Vinnie gave up 2 hits) and then Perez shut it down but that didn't happen. He walked a guy then gave up a 2-run homer. Oops! Not a good day for him to be doing that. Then he beaned a guy up near the ear and all of Chicago (well, half of Chicago but all of the White Sox) gave him an earful. After the inning was over, he ran over to the guy he hit (and we all said "Uh oh...") and apologized and told him he didn't mean to hit him and they were cool.

He also apologized sort of for ripping on the management and basically said that Manny Acta was his problem. Huh. Dude definitely is the classic "bad boy" boyfriend - he keeps doing shitty stuff then getting out of it with sweet words.

Anyway I hope we still got Perez next year. He's our only excitement. And his intro graphics/music is awesome! I hope to see him tomorrow at the game, too.

So the White Sox's starter was pitching a no-hitter for a while until Choo broke that up with a homer in the 4th, and that was the only thing he gave up until Kipnis walked in the 7th. They brought him back in the 9th, after 104 pitches, and he proceeded to give up a single to Surprise Brantley...

Surprise!

...and then a 2-run homer to surprise Hafner!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How cool was that, seriously? I hopped! I hooted! It was fun fun times!

I bet Chris Perez hollered loudest!

After that there were 3 more innings in which Barnes, Rogers and Seddon didn't give up any runs. All three have been pretty solid lately really. Barnes hasn't even given up a hit in 5 appearances. Rogers did have an upset yesterday but everybody had an upset yesterday. He pitches hard, too. Chris Seddon improves every time we see him. And - hair!

We did manage to get 5 hits off the Chicago relievers after getting just 3 off the starter. Jason Donald, who was in for Brantley who was in for Lillibridge who was in for the injured Brantley at center (work with me here) got a double in the 10th but Other Vinny couldn't hit him in.

The top of the lineup did nothing in the 11th or 12, and it was Chisenhall the second batter in the 12th who got on with a single. Then the Death Knell For Other Teams was sounded and they intentionally walked Russ Canzler. I have a small and un-tested (laziness) theory that most of the times other teams have put our guys on, it ends up costing them. I know it happened when I was at that Detroit game in September and I am pretty sure it happened again and oh yeah it happened tonight!

After Hannahan struck out (remember when he was our "clutch guy"?) Jason Donald - the greasemonkey! - got an RBI single and won the game!

Way to go greasemonkey!

You should watch the video, it's very feel-good. He tags first then runs towards the mob with his helmet off instead of waiting for the mob to come to him. He is very excited! Too bad it's not the last play of the last game but whatever - I'm excited to see what we'll do tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'll be at the game down by the plate. Probably will bring OMG ASDRUBAL!!! with me cuz why not? Look for us on TV! It'll be David Huff versus RHP (4.47). No problem, right? It's gonna be a real good time I think and I'm going with my bestie so you know we're gonna have fun no matter what!

See you there!!

Radio Chatter:
"Somebody tried to catch that [foul] ball and...somebody will be in a cast tomorrow."
- Tom Hamilton

"Ya hang a slider and this guy will make it 2-1 Chicago."
- Tom Hamilton on Dan Johnson

"This isn't exactly Usain Bolt but it's Jose Lopez pinch running for Dan Johnson."
- Tom Hamilton

"You could tell the hitter it's a slider and they wouldn't have a chance with this one the way Rogers is throwing it."
- Tom Hamilton

"Free Guinness for everybody if Hannhan ends it here!"
- Tom Hamilton in the 12th

The Indians Buy Me Dinner But I Have A Headache, and Nobody Gets In

The White Sox don't get in to the playoffs, I mean. They needed to not lose any games and Detroit to not win any games the rest of the week or else they'd be eliminated. While Cleveland would have liked to be the one to give Chicago a loss, it was actually Detroit got the win that got the Sox their E. So sorry.

The Indians did not come close to winning today. Today's game was nothing like yesterday's game, except there was a grand slam. Only not by Asdrubal, by the White Sox. The Indians lost bad. Kluber was bad, the bullpen was bad (well not Joe Smith. Yay Joe Smith!) The batters...the batters were super bad. Or the Sox's starter was super good. We got 2 hits - one by Choo in the 3rd and one by PH Cord Phelps in the 9th. We also got 2 hit-by-pitch, one by Asdrubal in the 4th and one by PH Neal in the 9th.

And then it started to rain.

Anyway, aside from the baseball game it was Social Media Appreciation night! I think anyone who signed up to get in to the Social Media Suite got invited, which means I got invited even though I'm not good enough to go to the suite yet. They sent us a complimentary ticket and invited us to come as early as 4:30 for dinner on the Budweiser Patio. Free dinner! Needless to say, a lot of people showed up. Hot dogs, chicken, bbq pork, mac & cheese, potato salad, chips, popcorn, cookies and soda. We also got a free shirt which my sleeping dog will now model for you:

Not dead, just sleeping. Woah - metaphor!

We got to eat and enjoy the view:

And almost get hit by foul balls.

After a while, @VinnieP52 showed up for Q&A. For some reason they totally could not get the microphone to work so you had to read his lips or strain to hear or just forget about it. In general he was cool though. I asked him if the league had any rules about Twitter and if you could take your phone to the bullpen. He said no tweeting an hour before and until an hour after the game. No phones in the bullpen of course. Answers I pretty much figured on but hey I thought I'd keep it on topic.

How could you not like this guy?

This baby has something to do with Vinnie. I think the guy once asked Vinnie if his wife would get pregnant again and he said "Yes" and here is proof of his psychic abilities.

Some social mediaers. Recognize anyone? Sadly, @Jobu_Lives was not there - I was looking for him!

After Vinnie I ate more cookies (free cookies, yo) and then Mark Shapiro came and answered a lot of questions. They got the microphone figured out for him. Everyone asked pretty good questions too about the team and the future of the team and stuff. Shapiro sure is a smooth talker, I tell you what. People like to hate on him but they've probably never heard him speak. He got to where he was for a reason.

Everyone had on name tags with whatever you wanted to put. Mostly everyone used their Twitter handle. I put "The Positive Tribe" though because I'm not very Twitter-y. It was kind of funny walking by everyone and staring down their chest to see if you recognize anyone's name. I didn't recognize but like I said, not too Twittery. Probably some folks there were some of my awesome followers, no doubt. But I didn't know.

I did stop and chat with this guy because I don't know why - scary beardy is something I feel comfortable with I suppose. He's a pretty cool fellow. Google Stalking him later on I found his rap song about the #BullpenMafia and well you wish you would have thought of it first! Two thumbs up DStew! That's some Positive Tribin'!

According to DStew's Twitter he stuck around and met some dudes from Sports Time Ohio but I went down to my complimentary seat, really just not being familiar enough with STO to be able to chat. The seats were pretty good.

Always a pretty sight.

Baseball stretching or gay porn?

I had made plans with my friends to go to this game like a month ago, so I had them grab some Perfect 10 Voucher tickets and meet me inside. I also noticed that the section of seats assigned to the Social Media group was pretty sparsely filled (everyone stayed and enjoyed the patio, which is enjoyable) so once I determined that two seats in section 131 were going to be free for sure, I had my friends come down and sit down with me. Appreciate!

A couple foul balls came close to us. One hit the large guy 2 rows ahead of us and we were all quite relieved. The fella in front of us was trying pretty hard to snag something but all the rest were out of reach.

I did notice a distinct lack of kids around us so when the Fun Bunch came around I gave a great holler and they walked up and handed me a swell canvas bag. Normally I'd let the kids have all the Fun Bunch swag but tonight it was all me!

As the game wore on the crowd got pretty restless. And then sparse. The guys in front of us were having a great time yelling at the Sox while they were on base. One guy said "ADAM DUNN YOU SWING THE BAT LIKE A GIRL!" as loud as hell and then "I KNOW YOU HEARD ME DUNN!" and Dunn turned around and waved! Ha! That is pretty high up the ladder when it comes to crowd yellin' I gotta say! Another guy was heckling them about Detroit winning. Not as loud but still funny.

It was a pretty fun time altogether even though we lost like a motherfuck and I did have a headache (no doubt from the cookies. I STILL have a headache now!) It did start to drizzle at the end but the weather was quite nice otherwise and didn't get too cold. I wore my Kipnis shirt, my Wahoo waffle shirt and my jersey and 2 pairs of socks and I was good. Didn't even need the hoodie, scarf or gloves that I lugged around all night. At least I got a swell bag to put them in!

Oh hey check this out - if you come up with any good ideas for any of the following, tweet @dncindians (the Indians food service company) and you could win 4 Club Lounge tickets! If you recall I went to the Club Lounge on the 4th of July and it's awesome!

So try to come up with something cool and send these guys a tweet:
- Ideas for "Burger of the Month"
- Ideas for "Pizza of the Month"
- Idea for  a "Fried Delight"
- New food at the stadium

Their food is actually quite good, I think, and there's a lot to try at the park. It'll be fun to see what they come up with next! And no I'm not even getting paid to say any of this, I'm just fat.

Ok so tomorrow I am NOT going to the game but I'll be listening at 7:05 to Masterson versus RHP (3.37). Probably - now that they're eliminated it might be LHP (0.00) or something. You better be there - I'll see you there!