It's a Beautiful Day for Baseball - Let's Play Two.

Thanks, Ernie Banks. I agree. Even though it's September I'm still feeling the rush of excitement from baseball. Perhaps it is me getting all I can from the game before it goes to sleep (in Cleveland) for 6 months, but it truly is a treat to have a double-header today. I was in the mood for it!

The Tribe didn't win by the long ball today. In fact, there were NO homers for our guys today even tho Shelley and Kipnis and Santana were in. We still managed to score 8!

Also, while our strikeout count wasn't happy (7), the Twins left with 13 K's and had 8 LOB. See how that loses ballgames?

David Huff had quite a turnaround after his last game. His previous game was nasty when he gave up 9 runs to Seattle. My uncle was making fun of me because I said Huff was good. I should have said "good" with air quotes and said he was streaky. Because he is.

After just going 2 2/3 Monday, Huff went 5 2/3 today only giving up 2 runs and had SEVEN strikeouts. Those are Ubaldo numbers right there.

He didn't get the win, though, because we were tied when he left. Putnam came in and looked good striking out a guy to finish the inning, then he hit Rivera and gave up a single. He eventually settled down and got the next guy to line out then struck out the rest.

Frank Herman came in and actually pitched 2 innings - which is great on a double-header day - and struck out 3.

Jason Donald started the afternoon game at short today and continued to hit well. He only went 1 for 4 but that gives him 13 hits in his last 10 games. He worked hard for his single today, too, beating a close play for an infield single!

Kipnis had a phenomenal game. Makes me think Asdrubal would have too if he were batting behind Kipnis! Kipnis himself went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. His batting average is hovering up around .300 at .294. He's also got 19 RBI in just 32 games!

Pronk was in this afternoon game. Must be that Thome is in the night game. That's weird that we have such a platoon of designated hitters. Just before we got Thome we had none! Travis went 1 for 3 and scored 2.

Shelley Duncan! He got back on his shiny horse today and made a crazy awesome catch in the 2nd, reminiscent of his "famous" catches in Texas.

Again!

He also scored our first 3 (and thus winning!) runs with a 2-run double in the 1st and then a sac fly in the 6th to start our huge 6-run rally. Rock!

LaPorta got in on the act today, getting an RBI double after Shelley's double. It was his 5th RBI in 4 games. Then Hannhan and Fukudome came in with RBI singles after that! Getting it done, small-ball style!

Fuky wasn't slated to play but he had to come in and relieve Trevor Crowe who re-injured his shoulder in the 1st inning while in the field. Manny says Crowe is OUT for the rest of the season. Dammit...No word yet on Twitter from @tcrowe4 but be sure you send him good wishes because I am sure he is BUMMED beyond belief.

Great game this afternoon, with a lot of well-timed hitting. Granted it all came at once but it sure was a lot at once! I can't wait to see what tonight brings, how about you?

Tonight is the TRIUMPHANT RETURN of Mitch Talbot. Heya! He'll be facing another youngin in Scott Diamond. Perhaps a high-scoring game? I'd be up for that.

As long as we win.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"We all know how good the 90s teams were, but they never hit wall-scraping home runs. There was never any doubt about it."
- Tom Hamilton

"Those two schools could play marbles and pack the house."
- Tom Hamilton on OSU and Michigan

"When you break in with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, I guess that is a sign you're going to have a heck of a run in baseball.
- Tom Hamilton on Mike Hegan's career

"I think when Kirk Gibson tells you to do something, you do it."
- Mike Hegan

"Right now Liriano's body language would tell you he would like to be anywhere but the mound."
- Tom Hamilton just before we scored 6 off Liriano

"That's the thing about Matt LaPorta. He shows those signs every once in a while where you go 'wow.'"
- Mike Hegan

"Ron Gardenhier heading to the mound to choke Liriano."
- Tom Hamilton

"Carlos Santana is looking for a 96-mile-per-hour fastball that he can send out to the Bob Feller statue."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's at-bat in the 6-run 6th

"GOT HIM! Or no...I guess not."
"You trying to get out of here?"
"Four-thirty mass at the cathedral."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on Hamilton's missed call in the 8th

Thomecoming. I'm into it.

Ugh why am I such a downer about Jim Thome? Get over it, me! HE IS SORRY! I am such a grudge holder. Not even a Jim Thome statue in center field can make me feel good. In fact the statue makes me kinda grumbly since they offered him a statue to stay in Cleveland before, and he left and got a statue anyway.

But...well...3 RBI and a homer on "Let's all honor Jim Thome Day"? That's pretty sweet. I like that. I'll have Jim Thome back now, if he'll have me. Perhaps maybe in flesh only...I'll have to think on it.

Justin Masterson had a long night. He only made it through 4 2/3 but left after 100+ pitches. He gave up 3 earned runs in that time. The offense was actually giving him runs to work with! But, you can't be the ace every night and hell we scored 11 yesterday so 4 we can deal with. And that same offense gave him 2 errors while on the field too.

Even though it was a short game for him it was a good enough outing. He struck out 4 and got himself out of two big jams.

Manny said this was Masterson's last night and he ended up 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA. And we all know about his poor run support and stuff. The ERA tells the tale. Good season, Nasty.

The #bullpenmafia came in and held it up just fine. Hermann, Raffy, Smith, Pestano and Chris Perez were just like old times except Raffy gives up (a) runs now. Chris Perez got the Win! Funny.

So last night's heroes was the top of the order and tonight those guys didn't do shit. But that's ok because Thome grabbed LaPorta and Chisenhall by the ears and said "Follow me, boys!" and they did.

First off, tho, Fukudome got another hit and looks to be finishing the season with flare. Our outfield next season is going to be VERY interesting...

Kipnis, Cabrera and Duncan were silenced tonight. Weird, right?

But Jim Thome had a lot to say. We all thought he hit it out in the first, but it was "just" a double. A RBI double so that was pretty awesome. But then in the third he hit it out for real - close to where they're about to erect a statue of him - and well...well fuck yeah! He wasn't done yet, he also had an infield single. He ended the night 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and one triple away from the cycle. The radio guys and Manny Acta had a good time poking at Jim for his lack of ability to run for three.

Keep an eye on the Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run Call in all of Baseball page because you're going to want to hear that one!

Lonnie Chisenhall and Matt LaPorta were duly inspired by Thome. The two of them had 5 hits together with Lonnie scoring 2 and Matt putting him in twice. Both guys got doubles, too - just like Big Jim! It was adorkable.

Sweet Lou was lookin' good in the field tonight, participating in a great double play to save some runs. He also went 1 for 3.

Then they pinch hit Carlos Santana for him, just as I was getting out of my bath (YOU HEARD ME!) and my roommate must of wondered why I was laughing and clapping all by myself in the bathroom. Well, dude, it's because Carlos Santana just hit a walk-off home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the 9th THAT IS WHY! Bwahahahahaha!!!

I always forget that the players are so young. Carlos Santana got so happy and he hopped in to home after his home run. Yes, hopped. We've seen him do this before...see here.

Fun times, kids. This is why we pay attention to all 162! Tomorrow we get TWO baseball games and I can't WAIT!

1:05 and 7:05 tomorrow - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Sunday's game set baseball back about 20 years. There were 6 errors in that game."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians/Twins game last Sunday

"When you start mentioning Lou Boudreau and Asdrubal Cabrera in the same sentence you know you've had a good year."
- Tom Hamilton

"The key to success for a good pitcher is to be able to go to the mound when you don't have your best stuff and take care of business."
- Mike Hegan

"And why wouldn't he get an infield single? On tonight of all nights!"
- Jim Rosenhaus on Thome's single in the 5th

"We thought this would be a pitcher's duel but both teams came out swinging the bats."
- Tom Hamilton

"Good LORD, what are the Indians doing there?"
- Tom Hamilton questions Zeke throwing home instead of his cutoff man

"Tosoni went in like a running back trying to run over a linebacker."
"This is fall and I know it's Friday night but the football game is down the road."
"Tosoni did what he was supposed to do and Marson didn't budge."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on our second out at the plate

"For Asdrubal Cabrera, trying to get a hit off Pavano is like trying to swim across the Atlantic ocean and reach land."
"Pavano knows Asdrubal is not going to get a hit and Asdrubal knows he is not going to get a hit."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan

"There are a couple of generations of fans who think the elbow is named after Tommy John. [...] Those of us in broadcasting are relived that Jarrod Saltalamachia  wasn't the first to have that surgery."
- Tom Hamilton

"It was over the outside corner but that's not a strike tonight. Al Porter is not Umping tomorrow so he doesn't care that it's a day nighter."
- Tom Hamilton

Milestones

It's pretty fitting that a game that started with Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel hugging at home plate (after exchanging lineup cards) ended with both Travis Hafner and Asdrubal Cabrera reaching milestones and breaking records. The new face of the Tribe? Absolutely.

Hafner got his 1,000th career hit tonight. A double. He hit that right after Asdrubal hit his 25th homer of the season, the most ever for an Indians' shortstop. Asdrubal also has the most RBI for an Indians' shortstop since Lou Boudreau in 1948 with 96 (Boudreau had 106).

It was a milestone game for me tonight too. Sort of - it was my 10th game. I think my previous record was 6 unless we ended up going to more games than I thought in the 80s.

It was the second time in history that the Indians have had 2 home runs to start the game at home. Last time was 1971, 40 years ago.

It was Asdrubal's second 5-RBI game of the year and guess what? I was at both! My friend OMG was only at one, sadly.

I made a call to add another game to Everybody Hits over there. I added it with an asterisk. Because the only guy who didn't hit (Hannahan) got 2 walks and came around to score 2 runs. So it's my blog and I put it up there. In the tradition of baseball, I gave it an asterisk!

After all of that milestoneage, I decided to walk all the way up 5 floors of the parking garage to get to my car. First (and last) time for that! BAM!

Where was I? Special game indeed. Let's get to the stats!

Jeanmar Gomez? Awesome! He's gone 5 and 2 this year with a 3.52 ERA so far. Tonight he only gave up 1 earned run and struck out 3 in 6 innings. Perfect, perfect outing for any of our starters, let alone our newest! He has gone 5-0 in his last 5 starts and in those 5 starts has given up 5 runs. Think we'll see that guy next year??

Joe Smith came in to handle the 7th, which was great because by then we were only leading by 3. Your reliever with a 1.82 ERA is exactly the guy you want to see in that instance.

Once we were leading by 7, it was time for Putnam and Kluber to stretch their arms. Guess what? They did AWESOME, with Putnam going 1-2-3 and Kluber walking two but striking out one. BALLGAME!

If you didn't hear, the game started with 2 home runs. First Fukudome knocked one out on his 2nd pitch then Kipnis followed up with one of his own. Fukudome has more homers, more RBI and fewer strikeouts than he did with Chicago this year, in 30 more games!

Fuku (or as Acta says "Fuky") ended up going 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, a walk and 2 runs. He also looked great out in the field, catching a fly from Adam Dunn who is not slated to get any more hits this year.

Kipnis hasn't gotten a homer in FOREVER (since before he got hurt) so it was great to see him go yard. Although he hasn't had a homer, he has gotten 14 hits in the 12 games since he's been back!

Asdrubal, Asdrubal, Asdrubal. Did not let me down! I showed up with my sign and dragged it aaaaalll the way up to the upper deck (which, as it turns out, does not have cupholders or even a practical place to lean a sign) and the usher at the front of the section said "Oh, you know he's out for the rest of the year?" I told her no way, but then I hadn't heard any news.

Yeah so she came an apologized to me for her misinformation about the 3rd inning. Heh.

Tonight he went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI and 1 run. No strikeouts. Some nice field play - although nothing TOO crazy... you can tell he's being a bit conservative with his body out there. GREAT night for me to be out there with OMG but section 457, in the upper deck above the plate? Not particularly good for camera exposure. Oh well, I think my section appreciated it. A bit.


This is 3 homers in a row for Asdrubal, too, having homered Monday, Tuesday and now tonight. He also has 12 RBI in his last 4 games. I am sure there is some sort of stat about that that involves Venezueleans and short stops but I am no statistician!

Also mentioned above was Hafner's 1000th hit. I don't think I've ever been in the building when a guy hits a milestone. That was really special for me, to be able to cheer for him like that. I really wish you could see the ovation (and we had 21k fans out there tonight!) but alas, MLB.com does not see fit to share it with you.

Hafner, by the way, looked just ducky running around the bases in the 6th (he got on on an FC) so Dr. Me says "Foot all healed! Look out, 2012!"

Carlos Santana did not want to be left out, so he got a hit. But it turns out he did get left out because he didn't get any RBI or score any runs or even get extra bases. He does have 10 hits in his last 10 games including 3 homers so....THERE!

Grady Sizemore, he got a hit.

LaPorta was making me nervous about getting a hit but he came through in the 6th AND it was an RBI hit. Regardless of that, he was a MONSTER in the field tonight. Not sure why there are no highlight videos of his stuff but I guess he was just doing his job. I think he saved a few runs for sure and just looked TIGHT out there.

Jack Hannahan is the guy who didn't technically get a hit tonight. But like I said he walked twice and scored twice. Plus HE was a monster in the field tonight. Not only did he do a classic Hannahan bare-handed put-out from across the diamond, but he had another play where he flattened out on the line and stopped a ball from going through. He didn't get the batter at first but he still got a wild round of applause for that niceness!

Zeke was looking great tonight. He is so super-fast! He almost got a triple but Chicago whined about it and it ended up a ground-rule double. He also had a walk, a single and a stolen base, and came around to score every time he got out there! Zoom!

Such a great game tonight and I was so lucky to be there. It was reminiscent of the first game I went to with this very group of friends, exactly 4 months ago. On May 22 we saw Asdrubal get 5 RBI as we smacked the Reds 12-4. My friends and I also completely BAKED in the sun that day. Then I took them to a game in August where it poured rain and there was a 2-hour delay and then 14 innings of boring baseball. So this time I got the weather right AND the team had the bats going. So I'm hoping my friends will remember this all winter and want to go back next year!

We've got 4 games in 3 days against the Twins. It's gonna be AWESOME and we're gonna score tons of RUNS. Especially Asdrubal, and anyone else who wants to get in on the hit parade. And Shelley Duncan.

Speaking of which, I sent Shelley "his" picture tonight on Twitter. He was asking fans to sum up the season. I think that sums it up, don't you?

7:05 tomorrow night - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Humber is the pure definition of a 6-inning guy."
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th, before we scored our 5-6-7 runs off Humber in the 6th and 7th

"You know what Ron Washington would say to that? 'That's the way baseball go.'"
- Jim Rosenhaus on the possible insanity that is the AL Wildcard

"It's an infield convention."
- Tom Hamilton in the 8th when there was a high pop-up above the pitcher's mound. Asdrubal took care of it.

"If the Mariners ever make another trade with the Indians, it may be after we're dead and gone."
- Tom Hamilton

"There was no drama when the month began for the Major League Baseball playoff races. None!"
- Tom Hamilton

"Any time you've got a shortstop with 25 homers and 90 RBI, look around and see how many shortstops there are that can do that."
- Tom Hamilton

What Was That?

I mean really, Chad Durbin - what was that?

Four runs off three homers in the 8th? That does not a good reliever make! I hope there is some sort of punishment ritual in your little mafia group...

Ubaldo actually wasn't too bad. He did give up 4 but only 1 until the 7th when he gave up 3. They left him in just slightly too long. He did strike out 7. Did you know he averages 9 strikeouts per 9 innings with the Indians? That's pretty awesome - he leads our starters by 2.5. Vinnie Pestano leads the bullpen with 12, if you were wondering.

Our hitting was all over the place today, with no one getting multiple hits but 8 different guys getting at least one.

Asdrubal wasn't in today. He went around telling everyone he was just fine but Manny sat him. They say he'll be in tomorrow, which better be the case because me and OMG are going to the game!

Fukudome was the leadoff tonight with Kipnis following. Both guys got doubles, and Kipnis with an RBI. As you can imagine, they didn't put those doubles TOGETHER so they didn't amount to much. Kipnis also had a base-running error after his double which would have amounted to a run if he had stayed on. Oops!

Santana was third. Have we seen him there yet? Not a bad idea if Asdrubal's out (or slumpy) and Pronk is in. Santana was on when Hafner belted a 2-run dinger (minus Kipnis).

Hafner has 2 homers in his last 2 games and 8 RBI in his last 4 games! Woah! The whole top of the order has been doing pretty well lately. Even with Donald further down the lineup and Asdrubal out, they got all the RBIs tonight.

Nice to see the top of the lineup looking good, with Brantley and Asdrubal gone.

Remember Michael Brantley? He was really good. Like, REALLY good. I can't wait to see him next year...

Donald was down in the 6-spot today. Coming in to the game he had hit 7 in his last 9 at-bats and after tonight it's 8 for the last 12. Wow! He's hitting .311 and I don't think it's a fluke...

Who's going to be the infield next year, then? Because Donald was slated to play 3rd but Hannahan rocked and now Kipnis and Donald are sort of fighting for 2nd. Let's not forget Chisenhall, either. (Valbuena who?) Jim Rosenhaus said "It's a good problem for Manny Acta to have." I agree, I just hope that we can hang on to this depth and make the right choices!

Sweet Lou started and went 1 for 3, and then we got a glimpse of Super Jack pinch hitting. Hi, Jack!

The game could have been a lot better, all-in-all, but we weren't quite hitting Buehrle like we did last time and well...DURBIN!!!

Oh well...going to the game tomorrow where Buehrle is not pitching. Jeanmar (who's been great!) versus Huber. I'll be in the top deck right over the plate. Please oh please oh please don't fall...

Let's hope we can come away with a split. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He looks like he's chopped some wood in his past."
- Mike Hegan on Jason Kipnis

"It's a good problem for Manny Acta to have - 4 good players for 3 infield positions."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Jason Donald's new role

"Hey may have hit that as high as he did far!"
- Tom Hamilton on Hafner's homer

"Lou Marson put down 5 fingers, which is something I've never seen a catcher have to do."
- Mike Hegan on Jiminez's immense repertoire

"You haven't had that good a year, Alex. No one's trying to hit you."
- Tom Hamilton tells Alex Rios to stop bending out of the way of strikes

"Hope you're enjoying the ambiance of a screechy in-house PA system. Just wanted to give you the ambiance of the ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

Too Few

Too few runs scored. Too few good bullpen guys at the moment. Too few Asdrubals in the second game. All too few.

Zach McAllister brought his ERA down some 4 points today by only giving up 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings. He actually hadn't given up any runs on his exit but left two guys in for Raffy to send home. He had a great game, I think. And he picked Omar Vizquel off second!

Then Raffy gave up one of his own which was all...what? The next 3 guys were newbies - Putnam, Hagadone and Judy. Hagadone and Judy have had a little bit more work than Putnam (maybe one game each) and he gave up 2 while the other guys managed to put a lid on it.

Putnam and Judy did hit THREE guys in their 1 1/3 innings. Ooops....

Didn't matter tho because 5 runs was too much for our old beat-up team to overcome. We did get 4, however.

Jason Donald was FUCKING AWESOME tonight going 4 for 5. Unfortunately there were too few hits before and after him, giving him just one run and no RBI. That gives him 12 hits in his last 10 games tho. I wonder what that means for his 2012?

Thome had it going on tonight. He was another guy (along with Donald and the lead-off, Zeke) who didn't play this afternoon. He ended up going 1 for 2 with two walks, a run and an RBI. He seems to be doing pretty good against his two former teams.

Shelley Duncan, or "Little Blond Thome" as we might call him, also got 2 walks and went 1 for 1. He came in to score one of the runs. They pinch hit Fukudome for him late in the game...I bet Fuku thought that was weird.

Sizemore and LaPorta both had RBIs. Sizemore was in the form of a sac fly and LaPorta had an RBI double. Yeah, I know - LaPorta!

Luis Valbuena went 1 for 3. Ok.

It's my opinion that we have 2nd place locked up. We can win the next 1 or 2 against the White Sox and we could very well take 4 against the Twins. Even if the Tigers devastate us the last 3 games of the year (they'll probably play a B-squad!) we're good.

So my advice is just...everyone stay healthy!

Ok it's been a long day so everyone get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow at 7:05 for some Ubaldo-on-Buehrle action!

Radio Chatter:
"They keep talking about Flowers and what a show he puts on during batting practice, but 5:05 is very different from 7:05."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's audition time!"
- Mike Hegan on rookie pitchers in September

"Ozzie Guillen is a killjoy tonight."
- Jim Rosenhaus on the intentional walk of Thome

"The young kids, for them, they have been in awe since Thome got here."
- Tom Hamilton

Big Bashers

So you'll never guess how we won this game. It was all homers, all by the top of the order, and without the help of Shelley Duncan! Wow!

Oh AND we also won due to some stellar pitching by Fausto that didn't include any big innings or melt downs. Just 3 earned runs over 6 innings and 3 strikeouts. He got himself a WIN and is now 7-15.

That #bullpenmafia was back today, with Smith, Pestano and Chris Perez. Three innings, 3 batters each, 3 strikeouts total. It was capped off by a fancy twirl and save number 35 for Perez.

Sweet and simple:

Fukudome, 1 for 4 with a homer.

Kipnis, 2 for 4 with a double and stolen base.

Asdrubal, 1 for 4 with a homer.

Hafner, 2 for 4 with a homer and 2 RBI.

Gavin Floyd shut everyone else down except for Trevor Crowe who got 1 hit (and a stolen base!) Considering so few guys got hits and nobody walked, you will all be happy to know that there were only 7 strikeouts! Yesterday we struck out 11 times in just 7 innings. Progress!

So Asdrubal...he has fallen in to the "get hot in Cleveland, get hurt" trap and strained his back while swinging the bat in the 8th. Tom Hamilton went all scorched-earth on me and said "maybe done for the season" right away which is just NOT FAIR because I have tickets to 2 more games yet! Maybe I need to paste "Shelley Duncan" over the "Asdrubal" part of the sign?

Did you see Jack Hannahan was in today? They say he's all better! So, one up, one down...

Just checked out the lineup for tonight's game. Zeke is in, and so is Thome and so is....Valbuena?! Aye aye aye! I guess we just have no choice with this schedule.

Zach McAllister with his 12.27 ERA will be facing another young guy with 0 wins. Maybe it'll be an awesome slug-fest again. For both teams equally of course.

See you tonight!

Radio Chatter:
"If you're gonna miss, miss off the plate not on the plate."
- Mike Hegan gives sage advice

"The guy's as big as Paul Bunyan."
- Tom Hamilton on Adam Dunn

"You ask the man on the street who Juan Pierre is, they might say he's a French chef. Our owns an ice cream company."
- Mike Hegan remembering the sponsors

"This isn't like the NBA where all you have to do is be a mediocre ball club and get into the playoffs."
- Tom Hamilton

"Joe Smith showed some hops!"
- Tom Hamilton

"Well, since we believe in Santa Claus...couldn't he deliver Michael Cuddyer?"
- Tom Hamilton's Christmas list

Wet and Wonderful

So I was at that game tonight. Me and 15k (yeah right...more like 3k) of my closest, wettest friends.

I came about my tickets in an awkward way (won them in an auction, supposed to have seen batting practice, didn't want to come at 1:30, batting practice some other time...) so it didn't occur to me just where my seats would be until I got there and just 10 feet in front of me were Shelley Duncan and Asdrubal Cabrera (and, like, Grady Sizemore and Lonnie Chisenhall. Whatever...)

Oh, how I longed for a Sharpie. How I longed for a ball. My Asdrubal sign. A "Batter's Up" magazine. Anything! But alas, I was ill-prepared. I simply shouted "SHELLEY DUNCAN YOU ROCK!!!" He didn't hear me tho. Or maybe he did but he was getting ready for the game as he ran by. Then, I had the privilege of being close enough to tell him how much he rocked between every inning. I know he cares. In the 5th or 6th inning, some kids in the bleachers were like "HEY SHELLEY DUNCAN" between pitches and he turned around to wave. What a guy!

Hey kids!

I think they purposely pump up the audio in the stadium between innings so you can't harass the players as they run to the dugout. What do you think?

Side note - not only were there like 3000 people at this game but also John Adams was NOT THERE. I can't believe I was at a game he wasn't at. I can't believe he skipped a game! My uncle and I decided he must have come to the original PPD game and thus counts that as being "at" the game and today he was at home, enjoying the game on television. At least we hope that's how it went down because that would be the best. John Adams just not showing up is unacceptable. And the Patron Saint Of This Blog would never do such a thing!

Anyway so yeah - I was in the 4th row, right behind the tarp. It rained the entire time I was there. I was with my uncle from Phoenix. I told him that tonight's game would be unlike any he would ever go to in Phoenix - cold and wet. I didn't disappoint!

We spent most of the game keeping our eyes on the ball, being terrified that we might get hit by a foul ball. But then we hoped one would bounce in one of the 200 empty seats around us and land softly in our laps. Neither thing happened.

So David Huff...well, he's taken a permanent detour to Sucksville it would seem. The dream is over, I think. Nine runs in 2 2/3 innings?

Ok, 4 un-earned runs. But still, 5 runs? Bro. It was wet yes but...

Although Durbin couldn't get his shit together, either. Two more runs from him. One from Hermann. Good job Hagadone, at least.

Lonnie Chisenhall was working hard today. I know he was cuz I was RIGHT BEHIND HIM. He caught a couple of foul balls JUST NEXT TO ME. Awesome!

But he had an error. His 10th of the year in just 53 games. Tsk tsk.

Batting was pretty fun tonight! (apparently, for Seattle too...)

Jason Donald was hitting 2nd and playing 2nd today, and he went 3 for 4! He came in to score twice, too.

Of course, since the guy in front of Asdrubal was kicking ass, so was ASDRUBAL himself! And I didn't have my sign...ARGH! It was just too wet. I want to use the sign for seasons to come so I wasn't ready to sacrifice it to the weather.

Some enterprising fans out in center field had laminated signs. GO YOU GUYS!!!

Speaking of Asdrubal, another reader has come out of the woodwork and left a comment! Holla Libby! She's another huge Asdrubal fan so she understands the EXCITEMENT of Indians baseball!

Anyway so Asdrubal...hit for the near cycle (who knows...had the game not been truncated...) with a single, homer and double. That's 3 more RBI for him. If you aren't following along (WHY AREN'T YOU FOLLOWING ALONG?!) that's 7 hits and 4 RBI for him in his last 2 games. Asdrubal is going out with a BANG!

Oh and BTW... OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Homer #23!! Once again I was not stationed to announce this on Facebook or Twitter. My friend Doug, who I don't think actually follows baseball in any meaningful way, posted "OMG Asdrubal # Whatever!!!! (btw, it was # 23)." on his Facebook wall. This is much better than a few weeks ago when he randomly posted "OMG ASDRUBAL #88!" on his wall on a day there wasn't even a game. Much improved, Doug.

So anyway, not to be outdone, Carlos Santana got himself a homer too, right after Asdrubal's homer. Almost in the same spot, too! No complaints here. Also, he NOW holds the record for the most switch-hitting home runs by an Indians player, 26. Before I said he held it (he was tied) and I wasn't sure if it was just Indians or what. Just Indians.

Hafner and Sizemore both went 1 for 3, which is nice to see in person. You know, cuz they're like team mascots so it's nice when they do stuff. We also want them to leave the season reminding us that they're healthy and 2012 is their YEAR, BABY! Or at least that the value of my autographed Sizemore bat won't go down too much.

That's about all that happened in the baseball game, other than my uncle and his buddy leaving me "for a beer" and me sitting by myself in the rain for 2 innings (all the people in my section left) and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" by myself. It was all right. I had an Emergency Rain Poncho.

Then all of a sudden a large group of young men came dashing towards me and hopping up into the seats. I mean, on to the tarp. Just like the SWAT team in The Blues Bothers. The lead groundsman was like "go, go, go!" and they rolled the tarp out.

That sort of sucked because really, it wasn't raining much. Then this girl who had more makeup than sense bounded down the stairs and asked me what was going on. I had to explain rain delays. Then she asked if I knew how long it would be. I told her until it stopped raining. Then she started yelling at the grounds crew "Hey, hey Indians!...Do you know any of their names?" "Well, no, they're not the Indians..."

That was weird. Later, she got one of the bullpen crew to come over and chat with her, because she is blond and she was there.

Anyway before I departed, a mess of beard and hair and batting-practice-hat came strolling past me and I was like "HI CHRIS PEREZ!" and this time he turned and waved and smiled! THANK YOU CHRIS PEREZ!

Lou Marson must have talked some sense into him.

So that was my time at the game tonight. Pretty eventful considering it only lasted 7 innings and we lost by 6 runs. But we GOT 6 runs so that was awesome and Chris Perez said "Hi" to me so whatever else happened, I'm oblivious.

I had to leave work early today to go to the game, and apparently right after I left the network went down for 2 or 3 hours and I totally missed it all. This may have truly been the best game of the year!

I've got a pounding headache so no Radio Chatter tonight. I gotta go to bed, I can't listen to the game.

TOMORROW we've got a super treat - a double-header! 1:05 and 7:05 versus the White Sox. So much baseball in so little time!

See you there!