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How gullible can a baseball fan be? From AP-
Coco Crisp thought he still had a chance to get to Shin-Soo Choo’s bouncing base hit. A bird beat him to it.
The ball flattened a low-flying gull in the 10th inning and rolled past Kansas City’s center fielder and Mark DeRosa scored from second base without a throw to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-3 win over the Royals on Thursday night.
“Crazy things happen in this game,” Crisp said after Shin-Soo Choo’s line single over the second-base bag clipped the wing of one of hundreds of birds that buzz the ballpark. “It was hit so sharply, I felt like I had a chance,” Crisp said. “You never know what the heck is going to happen.”
The stunned bird flopped around for a few seconds before finally flying off.
Just another wild win at Progressive Field.
“I didn’t see it, but I’ll take it,” Choo said.
Two years ago, a swarm of bugs rattled New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain in the AL division series, helping the Indians rally.
The ballpark which has hosted the Cleveland Indians for over 15 years, is close to Lake Erie and regularly has problems with birds through the stadium. I’m surprised it too so long before one of them interfered with a game being played.
Feel free to add your own jokes about what happened last night.
He and his brother David resurrected the moribund franchise that was too often the laughingstocks of MLB. RIP.
Richard E. Jacobs stepped up along with his brother in the 1980s to rescue Cleveland’s baseball franchise, which was struggling under weak financial backing and poor fan attendance at an outdated, mammoth stadium.
Under his leadership, the Cleveland Indians twice reached the World Series and sold out 455 consecutive games at a new ballpark.
Jacobs, who had been in ill health, died peacefully at the age of 83 on Friday, his real estate company confirmed. Other details were not immediately released.
Jacobs and his brother David bought the Indians from the Steve O’Neill estate in 1986 for $40 million. David Jacobs died in 1992.
Richard “Dick” Jacobs focused on restoring the struggling American League franchise’s profitability and making it competitive on the field.
The team’s new ballpark in downtown Cleveland became Jacobs Field when it opened in 1994, and the Indians made it to the World Series in 1995 and 1997, losing to the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins. Jacobs owned the club until 2001.
The park was renamed Progressive Field last year after Jacobs’ naming rights deal ended and Progressive Corp. signed a new agreement.
Jacobs was a low-key owner who preferred to let his baseball executives and manager be the face of the team. But Jacobs attended most of Cleveland’s home games while he owned the team, sitting in the loge behind home plate.
This takes place the day after the Florida Marlins shell the veteran righty. From AP-
The Milwaukee Brewers made big changes to their thin bullpen on Tuesday.
One day after reliever Jorge Julio allowed five runs while facing six batters in the sixth inning of Milwaukee’s 7-4 loss to the Florida Marlins, the Brewers released the right-hander.
Julio entered Monday night’s game in Miami with Milwaukee leading 4-2. He gave up two hits, hit two batters, walked one and another reached on an error. Signed to a one-year, $950,000 deal in the offseason, Julio was let go Tuesday after going 1-1 with a 7.79 ERA in 15 appearances.
The Brewers called up right-hander Mike Burns from Triple-A Nashville. Burns was 6-2 with a 2.98 ERA for the Sounds.
Milwaukee’s manager says the bullpen is thin. Which it is, particularly after David Riske was lost for the season after elbow surgery.
Julio, who has played for eight ML teams since 2001, throws very hard. Something baseball managers like. I expect a ninth team to take a chance on him before the 2009 season is over. Perhaps even by the 4th of July.
One of the hazards that comes with the Designated hitter rule. From AP-
An error on the Tampa Bay Rays’ official lineup card forced starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine to bat in Sunday’s game against Cleveland.
The Rays listed Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria as the third baseman on the card given to the umpires before the start of the game. Longoria was supposed to be the designated hitter.
After the top of the first, in which Zobrist played third, the game was delayed 13 minutes as the umpires discussed the matter among themselves and individually with Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon and Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.
The umpires pulled the Indians off the field midway through the delay.
The Rays lost their DH position due to the error, meaning Sonnanstine replaced Longoria in the third spot of the lineup. Longoria was available to come off the bench.
Once in high school, our coach deliberately tried to re-use a player who had left the game. The other team wasn’t fooled, after one pitch the batter was declared out and the game was over. We were only one run down and the tying run was in scoring position.
It was in a game this afternoon against the New York Yankees. From AP-
NEW YORK — The Cleveland Indians set the bar for Yankee Stadium’s new record book Saturday, scoring 14 runs in the second inning of a 22-4 victory.
Asdrubal Cabrera hit a grand slam and an RBI single in the second as the Indians chased struggling starter Chien-Ming Wang and set several marks that could stand for a while at New York’s swanky new home.
Mark DeRosa and Shin Soo-Choo each hit three-run homers, Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez had solo shots and manager Eric Wedge earned his 500th victory. Jhonny Peralta had three hits and two RBIs after missing Friday’s 6-5 loss with a strained left elbow.
*****
It was the most runs for the Indians since they beat New York 22-0 on Aug. 31, 2004, at the old Yankee Stadium. The 22 runs also tied the Yankees’ record for most allowed in a home game.
The 14 runs and 13 hits by the Indians in the second were the most allowed by the Yankees in an inning.
I can’t recall watching a professional baseball game where 10 runs scored in a inning.
I remember Uhlaender both from my extensive baseball watching as a youth, and later through the playing of past seasons of Strat-O-Matic. He was a very good defensive center fielder but offensively he wasn’t all that good. After his playing career was over, Uhlaender remained in baseball working as a scout and coach. RIP.
Former major league outfielder Ted Uhlaender, whose daughter races for the U.S. skeleton team and is eyeing her second Olympic berth, has died. He was 68.
Uhlaender died Thursday after a heart attack, the San Francisco Giants said. He had worked as a scout for the team since 2002, and was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer last year.
He spoke with his daughter, Katie Uhlaender, by phone Thursday morning, shortly before she ended the World Cup skeleton sliding season with a silver medal in Park City, Utah. On the awards podium following the race, Katie Uhlaender said she raced that day to give her family a needed emotional boost.
At the time, she didn’t know her father had already died.
Ted Uhlaender played in the majors from 1965-72 with Minnesota, Cleveland and Cincinnati. A sure-handed, fleet center fielder, he hit .263 with 36 home runs and 285 RBIs.
His health was failing for months, and Katie Uhlaender — who competed in the 2006 Turin Olympics and is a favorite to lead the U.S. team into Vancouver next year — said it affected her focus on sliding.
“All year I was feeling like my priorities were messed up, and I felt like I should be with my family instead of sledding,” she said shortly before learning her father died.
Ted Uhlaender had been hospitalized for another round of chemotherapy, and doctors found a blood clot Thursday morning.
His daughter has since returned to Lake Placid, N.Y., where the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is based, and is training for the world championships to be held there later this month.
“She’ll slide because she knows her father would have wanted her to slide,” USBSF spokeswoman Amanda Bird said Saturday night.
Katie Uhlaender will leave Lake Placid on Monday to join her family for the funeral, which has been scheduled for Thursday.
Ted Uhlaender started out with the Twins, joining them too late in the 1965 season to be eligible for the World Series that October. He played five years on a team more noted for big hitters such as Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva.
Uhlaender was traded with Graig Nettles and Dean Chance to Cleveland in a package for Luis Tiant after the 1969 season. He was traded to Cincinnati for his final year, and ended his career with a pinch-hitting appearance in a Game 7 loss to Oakland in the 1972 World Series.
In later years, he worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees. He spent two years with the Giants, became Cleveland’s first base coach in 2000-01 and then returned to San Francisco.
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The former Yankee and Indian 2nd baseman will be inducted into Cooperstown next summer. From AP-
NEW YORK — Former second baseman Joe Gordon has been elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
The late Gordon was a nine-time All-Star with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. He played on five World Series championship teams and retired in 1950.
Gordon was the only person elected Monday on a ballot of players who began their careers before 1943.
Ron Santo, Gil Hodges and Joe Torre fell well short of the 75 percent needed for election to Cooperstown.
Gordon is a good choice. Torre will be elected one day, Santo maybe. Hodges, and this coming from a NY Met fan, I don’t think will make it and am not even sure if he is worthy of induction. It is debatable.
In addition to playing for Cleveland and New York, Gordon served as Manager of the Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, and Kansas City Royals.
Score was best remembered for three things
His blazing fastball
A long career as a Cleveland Indian announcer
and having his career fall off a cliff after a line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald hit him in a face on May 7th 1967. Till then Score appeared to be on the road to greatness. He is well remembered by not just Cleveland Indian fans, but all baseball fans. RIP.
Herb Score, the Cleveland Indians pitcher and former broadcaster whose promise on the mound was shattered by a line drive, died Tuesday. He was 75.
Score died at his home in Rocky River, Ohio, the team said in a statement.
“Today is a sad day for the Cleveland Indians family and for Cleveland Indians fans everywhere,” team president Paul Dolan said in a statement. “We have lost one of the greatest men in the history of our franchise. Generations of Indians fans owe their love of the Tribe to Herb Score, who was a powerful pitcher and legendary broadcaster. Our thoughts and prayers are with Nancy and the Family.”
Score pitched for the Indians from 1955 to ’59. He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1955 after going 16-10. He went 20-9 in 1956 and twice made the All-Star team.
However, Score’s career took a sad turn on May 7, 1957, when Gil McDougald of the New York Yankees lined a ball off Score’s right eye, breaking his nose and a number of bones in his face. Though he recovered his vision, Score was never the same after the injury.
Score later went on to become the legendary “Voice of the Indians” for a 34-year run from 1963 to 1997.
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To address their .732 OPS against southpaws, the Yanks signed former Mariner slugger (and I use that word loosely) Richie Sexson to a league minimum contract. At this point, he can’t be worse than Wilson Betemit and will only play against lefties, so it’s a low risk move. And he does hit lefties well: 1.045 OPS this year (albeit in 71 plate appearances) – his career totals aren’t quite so hot: just an .879 OPS vs. southpaws. This presents a frightening scenario, what if Sexson regresses to his career norm? Then the situation is no better off and probably even worse than a righty Wilson Betemit. If that happens, Sexson can always be released, but the damage done will be irreversible.
- The 15 inning All-Star Game received great TV ratings, which will only further empower FOX and MLB that the 8 p.m. start time is perfectly suited. What kid watching on a Tuesday night stays up to 2 a.m.? I understand that 15 innings is an aberration, but even the normal All-Star game lasts until near midnight because of the frequent pitching changes and longer commercial breaks. Not a good formula for future fandom (how’s that for alliteration?).
He died Saturday after a fall down the stairs at his home. John was strictly a bullpen catcher, but he managed to stay employed at the Major league level for 12 years. Afterwards he went into broadcasting. RIP.
PHILADELPHIA – Former major leaguer John Marzano died Saturday after falling down a flight of stairs at his home. He was 45.
The cause of his death was not immediately clear, police said.
Marzano was from Philadelphia and had been working for Major League Baseball’s Web site, where he co-hosted a show on weekday mornings.
“John was a beloved member of our team, a personable, terrific friend to all with whom he worked,” said Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of MLB Advanced Media. “He was an engaging, informed interviewer. His energy, knowledge of the game and comedic touch produced admirable results. We miss him dearly already.”
In a statement announcing his death, MLB said Marzano had fallen. MLB.com will establish an internship program in Marzano’s name, the release said.
Before joining MLB’s Web site, Marzano was a baseball analyst on Comcast SportsNet for the station’s Philadelphia Phillies postgame shows. He had also appeared regularly on WIP-AM.
“John was one of those rare persons who put a smile on your face the moment you saw him. He was joyous and he was proud,” said Comcast’s Michael Barkann, who co-hosted many of the postgame shows with Marzano. “You always knew when John was in the room. You never asked, ‘When’d you get here, Johnny?’ He always made an entrance, and it was big and it was loud and it was full of joy.”
Marzano, known for his South Philly accent, appeared with Barkann on the station’s “Daily News Live” show from the Wachovia Center before the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals in an NHL playoff game on Thursday. At one point, Marzano stopped in mid-sentence, turned to the crowd and screamed, “Let’s Go Flyers!”
“The place went nuts,” Barkann said. “He did that a few more times during his segment to the same effect each time. That will be my enduring memory of John — smiling, talking sports with a sea of fans behind him. I will miss him every day.”
A graduate of Temple, Marzano earned a spot as a catcher on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that included future major league stars Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin and Will Clark. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 1984 amateur draft.
Marzano played 10 seasons in the big leagues for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners before retiring in 1998. He also played in the minors for the Phillies and the Cleveland Indians.
Overall, Marzano batted .241 with 11 homers and 72 RBIs in 794 at-bats in 301 games.
“He was a baseball guy and he loved life,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who managed Marzano in Cleveland’s minor-league system in 1993. “He had a personality. He was kind of a pepper-pot player. He was a go-getting kind of guy. That’s what he had to do and it worked for him.”
Marzano was popular in Seattle for his altercation with New York Yankees outfielder Paul O’Neill during a game in 1996. The two traded punches at home plate after O’Neill took exception to a knockdown pitch by Tim Davis.
Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer played three seasons with Marzano in Seattle and remained friends with him.
“He was a lot of fun to be around,” Moyer said after facing the New York Mets on Saturday. “He was the brunt of a lot of jokes, but he could dish it out too. He always used to call everybody, ‘Cuz.’ He’ll be missed.”
The Red Sox planned to honor Marzano with a moment of silence before their game against Texas on Saturday.
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