The Observer, April 22, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 26
Observing the Indians from the Jacobs Field press box
One of the nice things about watching an Indians game from the press box in Jacobs Field is that you have a nice table in front of you on which to keep score and take notes. I thought I'd take advantage of the good fortune that afforded me the opportunity to take notes and kept a running diary of the events from the Tribe game against the Minnesota Twins last Saturday. Here it is, from my notebook to you.
1:05 p.m. – Cleveland starter Kevin Millwood hurls the first pitch, and we're underway. This is my fourth time in the press box, but the first time the windows have been open. We have a 65-degree game-time temperature to thank. Cleveland weather is beautiful.
1:07 – Millwood sets the Twins down in order, throwing seven pitches, all strikes.
1:10 – Cleveland second baseman Ronnie Belliard flies out to left, but the ball really carries. Today is the first day of this homestand that the wind hasn't been blowing straight in from center field. Thanks to Mark Johnson on the scoreboard, I know that this is because of the southerly winds brought by the movement of a high pressure front. What it means: it might actually be possible to hit a home run today.
1:21 – It's the end of the top of the second inning, and Millwood looks sharp. He sets Minnesota down 1-2-3 again, but does throw a couple balls.
1:25 – Aaron Boone is the game's first base runner, thanks to Twins second baseman Nick Punto dropping a high pop to short right. No doubt the sun and wind played a role in that drop. Boone hustled all the way and made it to second base by the time the ball fell to the turf. This gets John Adams pounding away on his drum in the bleachers, and I must resist the urge to clap along because I'm a professional in the press box (sort of).
1:27 – Jose Hernandez rips a 399-foot blast to the left field bleachers off of Twins starter Dave Gassner, who is making his major league debut. It's nice to see another team make an error and have it cost them.
1:28 – The Jacobs Field crowd is really into the game now. They are strong in spirit, if not in numbers. A better record than 4-6 coming into this game would have helped.
1:53 – The Twins get their first hit off of Millwood with two out in the fourth. Terry Tiffie rapped a single up the middle. This ends an 0-for-29 streak for the Twins going back to last night's game.
1:54 –Torii Hunter comes to the plate. I wonder if Millwood will throw at Hunter in retaliation for that last hit. I also wonder if Millwood's afraid that if he does, Hunter will throw it back at him.
1:55 – I wonder how many of you will make the connection that Hunter got hit by Danys Baez a couple years ago at The Jake and threw the ball back at the pitcher.
1:57 – After a Hunter double, Jacque Jones strikes out to end the inning. Tribe still up, 2-0.
1:58 – Between innings we get significant April 16 events on the scoreboard. It turns out that this is the 65th anniversary of Bob Feller's opening day no-hitter. How about that?
2:14 – Punto strikes out looking, allowing for the first backward "K" in the scorebook. Nothing makes a person feel quite so baseball-savvy as making a backward "K" for a called strikeout, methinks.
2:35 – Millwood was cruising, but then Hunter singled with two outs. A Jones double brought Lew Ford to the plate for the Twins. 398 feet later, it's 3-2 Minnesota. There's a collective sigh from the crowd.
2:46 – I keep waiting for something positive to happen. I really don't want to write a negative piece on the Tribe going into the summer. Will I have no choice?
3:00 – Still waiting …
3:01 – Manager Eric Wedge let Millwood come out for the eighth inning despite already having a pitch count of 100. This is an interesting move, but maybe it'll work out.
3:05 – The first two Minnesota hitters reach base, and Millwood now has thrown 108 pitches. I know if Bob Feller were here, he'd mention that in his day, 100 pitches was nothing. And it's true that human athletes have only gotten bigger and stronger in the last 50 years. But today pitchers are groomed for only around 100 pitches. This number would seem especially high given that it's so early in the season.
3:07 – Hunter hits a 1-2 pitch 379 feet into the right field stands. Wedge comes out to make a pitching change to a chorus of boos. Not a good day for the Tribe skipper.
3:19 – Indians hitters continue to be impatient, and it's as if all the success of last year has been abandoned. Jhonny Peralta hit a long double off the top of the center field wall to lead off the Tribe eighth, but then Coco Crisp failed to advance him, flying out on the first pitch. I'm bitter. This is maddening.
3:20 – Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire appears to be pushing all the right buttons today as his defensive replacement at third base, Juan Castro, just robbed Ronnie Belliard of a hit.
3:21 – Travis Hafner grounds out on the first pitch, and the inning is over.
3:27 – As Cleveland trots in for the bottom of the ninth, an astute Rick Balazs mentions the possibility of Terry "Old Man River" Mulholland earning a rare three-inning save.
3:28 – As Mulholland takes the mound, a very bitter Bill Wright considers that either the Indians or Cavaliers have lost on each day for the past week, not counting Tuesday because neither played a game. In the immortal words of Crash Davis, "We're dealing with a lot of sh-- here!"
3:32 – Ryan Ludwick homers off of Mulholland, making the score 6-4 in favor of the Twins. Ludwick is now 2-for-16 on the year with two home runs. Impressive.
3:34 – Josh Bard hits a slow roller up the third baseline that Castro fields with a bare hand and throws Bard out. I'd say 30 percent of today's crowd could beat Bard in a footrace from home to first. I wonder if the upcoming "Touch a Truck Day" promotion involves touching Josh Bard.
3:35 – Victor Martinez comes off the bench to pinch-hit, causing Gardenhire to go to his closer, Joe Nathan. So long, Old Man River. Martinez flies out. We all go home. I've been to four of the first five Tribe games and they lost them all. Great week. The good news is, I'm not going tomorrow so they should win.
