MY LIFE - APRIL


Dave and Cricket

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

I know, I know. I was supposed to be writing entries everyday. I was supposed to do like all good web site journals do and keep up.

I never promised that I could do it, now did I? I said I'd try, but I couldn't guarantee anything. Especially if I suddenly was back into playing basketball and had spent seven out of the last 9 nights playing basketball.

No, this time, video games and work are not my reasons for not writing. I've worked almost all days for the last two weeks anyway, so that really couldn't serve as an excuse to begin with. I haven't really been playing video games since I moved back either, which is kind of weird since I don't have anyone telling me that I can't play them anymore.

It also doesn't help that I've been following the Indians very closely. I'm really caught up in how well the team is playing, especially since half the city said that they could care less about the Indians since they didn't resign Juan Gonzalez, Kenny Lofton, Marty Cordova, and traded Roberto Alomar. Shows their true colors, anyway.

Listening to the media and the fans in this city during spring training made me sick. Everyone complained when Alomar was traded. I remember listening to WKNR 850 the morning it happened. The radio host, Bruce Drennan, a guy I used to respect, spent two hours bad-mouthing the Indians because he was riding Alomar's dick so much that he didn't know what else to do.

I liked Robbie as much as the next fan, but I didn't exactly weep over this trade. I didn't go calling the Indians liars and frauds and people without souls. I looked at the players coming and going and felt that we had made out fairly well. Alomar's a great player, but one man does not make a team, especially in baseball.

Drennan was out of hand that morning and I immediately lost respect for him. He had become so close to Alomar, too close in my judgement, that he felt the team had wronged him and the city. And evidently most fans felt the same way. Alomar was everyone's favorite player, it seems.

Am I the only one who remembers him spitting in an umpire's face, then being allowed to play in the playoffs? Am I the only one who remembers him questioning his own manager and basically trying to run the team by himself? Am I the only one who remembers him as an arrogant player who was always looking out for his stats and nothing else?

I guess so.

I did see an interesting note during opening day last week though. Cordova, one of the players that fans wanted signed, went on the disabled list.

Alomar is currently batting around .200 for the Mets, Gonzalez hasn't done anything with the bat yet either, and Lofton is playing for a White Sox team that can't hold a five run lead right now.

Meanwhile, the Indians are 8-1, best in baseball, their starters are 8-0 with an ERA of 3.04 (last year at this time, they were 3-5 with an ERA over 6), and the offense is averaging 6.7 runs a game. Not bad for a team that wasn't supposed to score any runs.

Oh, and two grand slams in three games against the team supposed to make a run at the division title, the Minnesota Twins.

I read an article online (StarTribune.Com) where several Twins said they didn't forget how badly the Indians beat on them last year and how the Indians showed them up. I also heard the quote from Joe Mays, a starting pitcher for the Twins, that said the division was for the Twins to lose, that they were the team to beat now.

Mays gave up 5 runs and couldn't make it through three innings on Tuesday night. Eric Milton, the staff ace, gave up 9 runs and couldn't make it through four innings. Rick Reed, tonight's starter, barely made it through five innings, giving up 7 runs.

Three games against "the team to beat," and the Indians are 3-0 and just putting a whipping on them each time.

Oh, and only 25,000 fans showed up for tonights fans, but I give those fans props. Those are real fans, not the fans who expect to see six homeruns every night from superstar players, the fans that jumped on the bandwagon seven years ago.

Or, as one caller last night put it, the yuppie fans.

The season should be sold out. You don't just stop supporting your team just because you don't think they'll win because they change how they're going to play. You don't just give up like that. Anyone who wrote the Indians off before the season started should be ashamed of themselves. You are not a fan. You are a shallow human being who only bothers to pay attention when things are going well.

That is why this city is not a great sports town. Because too many "fans" turn their backs too soon.

The real fans appreciate the kind of player that Matt Lawton is. Lawton, one of the players involved in the Alomar trade, showed just what kind of player he is in tonight's game. At one point, in between pitches, he turned towards the fans in the right field seats and encouraged them to do the wave.

It gets better. When the wave came back around towards him, he raised his arms up and helped continue it, while the game was still going on! He didn't do this during any kind of time-out. He did this while play was going on, while the pitcher was pitching to the batter. He did the wave with the fans.

When was the last time you saw a player do that?


I have been real busy working on my basketball skills. I'm getting my shooting touch back, but I'm finding that my ballhandling skills aren't exactly there anymore.

Regardless, in the first game that I played in, which happened to be the first game I had played in in a long time, I played very well, scoring more than half my teams' points and helping us win our game. I was making threes, twos, and lay-ups, and nearly pulled off a pretty spectacular move to the basket.

In a game yesterday, I played fairly well again, but I missed some shots and I made two very bad passes. I also made a couple of good passes to make up for my mistakes though.

It's been an interesting process though. You just can't expect to be playing up to a certain level after going so long without any real kind of experience. It had been at least six months since I had last played and probably two years since I had played in any kind of game experience. It was nice to be part of something again and to be contributing as well.

I've had fun and I intend to play some more basketball again tomorrow when it's supposed to be 70 degrees outside and sunny.

I'm hoping to keep getting better. I may be small, but I'm scrappy and that's the best kind of player there.


Tribe Watch 2002

SCORE
Twins, 3
Indians, 9

RECAP
The Indians picked up a run in the first on back to back doubles by Ellis Burks and Jim Thome to give the Indians an early 1-0 lead, but the Twins loaded the bases in the second, getting two runs to take the 2-1 lead. As has been the trend in the series though, the Indians came back with a vengeance, with a little help from Christian Guzman. Two errors lead to two runs and a bases loaded situation with Jim Thome at the plate. Moments later, Thome sent a 427 foot home run to the bleachers in left-center field to give the Indians a 7-2 lead that would eventually grow to 9-3. Dany Baez wasn't sharp, but he was able to go 5 & 1/3 innings, giving up three runs, to get the win. Mark Wohlers, Jerrod Riggan, and Charles Nagy shut the Twins down, who have lost all three games to the Indians. Bartolo Colon, 2-0 1.72 ERA, goes for the Tribe tomorrow as they look to sweep their second straight series.

GAME NOTES
The twins are just 17-39 in Jacobs Field and 5-17 over the last two seasons...Twins came in hoping to send a message that it was their time to win the Central. Instead, they now try to salvage one game out of this four game series that has been thoroughly dominated by the Indians...Twins came in with 12 home runs early in the season to lead the majors. They've hit one home run in the series while the Indians have mashed six...Indians pitchers have given up just 2 homers in nine games.

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