Special_K19
05-04-2003, 02:32 PM
Hal Lebovitz
News Herald
GOOD SON
You might have heard of the Indians' Father's Day "Mac and Me" promotion on radio and TV for the June 15 game against the Dodgers. Here's how it came about: John McDonald, the popular infielder, approached the Indians during the winter, saying he wanted to sponsor a Father's Day contest among the fans in honor of his dad, Jack. He offered to buy 200 bleacher tickets and 200 special T-shirts to be given to lucky son-father combinations. A random drawing would be held. John would be there along with his dad for autographs, plus photos with the winning father-son combos. Johnny Mac is paying for everything, refusing aid from the club. Boys 16 and under, or dads, can visit any Tribe team shop for an entry blank. And now you know the rest of the story.
******
PURSEGATE
After Brian Anderson received national publicity, including an appearance on the "Today" show, for combining with teammate Carl Sadler to apprehend a purse thief while the team was staying at a hotel in San Francisco, ABC called him to take part in their "Bachelor" show. His reply, "I'm wearing a wedding ring." The show is still seeking a prominent athelete as a participant. ..... When the Indians signed Dave Burba to a minor-league contract, it was with the promise he could leave, no strings attached, if he had a major-league offer. That's why they'll get nothing in exchange from the Brewers, who signed him yesterday. ..... Relief pitcher Jose Santiago, who has been knocked around lately, is on the bubble. If he's sent to Buffalo, Jason Boyd will be brought up to replace him. Santiago didn't help his cause in yesterday's loss to the Rangers, although I would have taken him out after he put the winning run on base. ..... Incidentally, the Indians had another Jose Santiago, also a reliever, in 1954-55. When he wasn't at the ballpark, he was at the race track.
******
WOOER
Fans who have come to like Winter Haven, Fla., as the Tribe's spring-training site and enjoy the visit there -- as I do -- still may be making the annual trek. Said executive vice president Dennis Lehman, "There is a good chance we'll stay." He is going to make a decision shortly among the three candidates, the other two being Fort Myers, Fla., and Port Charlotte, Fla. In the past week, Port Charlotte has been singing a siren's song to Lehman. The city is prepared to offer it facilities for two years while Fort Myers readies some new diamonds, or it will give the Tribe a highly attractive long-term offer. The problem with Fort Myers is that four parties -- city, county, Red Sox and Indians -- must get together in order to strike a deal, and that's becoming more difficult daily. Port Charlotte is a small town (50,000) and 40 miles away from Sarasota and Fort Myers, making it a heavy-traffic drive for Clevelanders vacationing in those cities. Also, too many games would be played against the Red Sox and Twins. "It's weighing those two cities against what we know we have in Winter Haven," Lehman said. Winter Haven appears to be winning out by a process of elimination. ..... Cypress Gardens, one of the oldest entertainment parks in the nation, just closed its doors in Winter Haven, and if the Tribe goes, it would be a double loss for the community.
******
CHOICE
Tribe third baseman Casey Blake is struggling while his rival, Greg LaRocca, has a hot bat in Buffalo. Why not bring up LaRocca? The front office reply: "Blake clearly won the job in spring training and is a better fielder than Greg." But after 40 games, if Blake's bat doesn't wake up and LaRocca's stays alive, there could be a switch. ..... Tough-luck Ricky Gutierrez is just getting back to his conditioning program after suffering a sore hip. The neck surgery seems to have been successful. ..... Until Friday, the Indians had gone one hit in 44 tries with runners in scoring position. Batting coach Eddie Murray is just as frustrated as the hitters -- and the fans. He knows he can't give them too much advice, so it is taking utmost patience from Eddie.
******
STUDENT
I don't recall a pitcher ever doing this before: Billy Traber, before every game, studies videos of how the better left-handed pitchers have worked against the team the Tribe is facing that night. For example, on Friday he watched tapes of Seattle's Jamie Moyer, Oaklands Barry Zito and Mark Mulder and New York's Andy Pettitte pitching against the Rangers. Then he came in from the bullpen and shut down the powerful Ranger hitters. ..... Manager Eric Wedge also has instituted new daily video classes for the hitters. Under previous managers, they watched tapes of the rival pitcher for that day. Now they must watch the rival bullpen pitchers, too. ..... Wedge undoubtedly already has set an all-time record in lineup changes. He's changed the starting lineup 26 times in their 29 games to date. ..... Also, he's setting a record for team meetings, almost one a day. He's a pro-active manager and when he sees something that needs addressing, he wants to get it talked out before the next game. He's even more frustrated. ..... Wedge is instituting a twice-a-month "Manager's Mound," in which he'll meet at Jacobs Field with 25-30 high schoolers and junior-high youngsters, selected from among disadvantaged students. There will be a different group at each session.
******
TIMING
In a recent column, I noted that fans listening to Tribe games on radio occasionally have been missing the first pitches of an inning -- two rare homers went unheard -- because umpires have cracked down on the 2:05 minute time limit between innings and the Indians have sold exactly 2:05 minutes of advertising. So if the announcers don't cut out the instant an inning ends, listeners will lose the start of the next one. The Indians have been tracking the umps and it turns out there have been several instances when they started innings before the 2:05 interlude, because in the cold weather, the pitchers want to get going. The umps have been put on notice. ..... Apparently the Las Vegas oddsmakers aren't convinced by the Royal's torrid start that they're any better than the Indians. In the latest figures, both the Indians and Royals are 120-1 to win the World Series. The Pirates, Brewers, Devil Rays and Tigers are well below them. The Yankees are 9-5 to take it all, with the Athletics next at 7-2.
******
AND FINALLY
One of the hottest items in the current WVIZ auction proved to be tickets to Lake County Captains games. ..... The Wahoo Club luncheons, suspended for several years, are being renewed. First one is May 17 at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Josh Bard and John McDonald will be there to sign autographs. Call the Wahoo hotline at (216) 999-1781 for details.
News Herald
GOOD SON
You might have heard of the Indians' Father's Day "Mac and Me" promotion on radio and TV for the June 15 game against the Dodgers. Here's how it came about: John McDonald, the popular infielder, approached the Indians during the winter, saying he wanted to sponsor a Father's Day contest among the fans in honor of his dad, Jack. He offered to buy 200 bleacher tickets and 200 special T-shirts to be given to lucky son-father combinations. A random drawing would be held. John would be there along with his dad for autographs, plus photos with the winning father-son combos. Johnny Mac is paying for everything, refusing aid from the club. Boys 16 and under, or dads, can visit any Tribe team shop for an entry blank. And now you know the rest of the story.
******
PURSEGATE
After Brian Anderson received national publicity, including an appearance on the "Today" show, for combining with teammate Carl Sadler to apprehend a purse thief while the team was staying at a hotel in San Francisco, ABC called him to take part in their "Bachelor" show. His reply, "I'm wearing a wedding ring." The show is still seeking a prominent athelete as a participant. ..... When the Indians signed Dave Burba to a minor-league contract, it was with the promise he could leave, no strings attached, if he had a major-league offer. That's why they'll get nothing in exchange from the Brewers, who signed him yesterday. ..... Relief pitcher Jose Santiago, who has been knocked around lately, is on the bubble. If he's sent to Buffalo, Jason Boyd will be brought up to replace him. Santiago didn't help his cause in yesterday's loss to the Rangers, although I would have taken him out after he put the winning run on base. ..... Incidentally, the Indians had another Jose Santiago, also a reliever, in 1954-55. When he wasn't at the ballpark, he was at the race track.
******
WOOER
Fans who have come to like Winter Haven, Fla., as the Tribe's spring-training site and enjoy the visit there -- as I do -- still may be making the annual trek. Said executive vice president Dennis Lehman, "There is a good chance we'll stay." He is going to make a decision shortly among the three candidates, the other two being Fort Myers, Fla., and Port Charlotte, Fla. In the past week, Port Charlotte has been singing a siren's song to Lehman. The city is prepared to offer it facilities for two years while Fort Myers readies some new diamonds, or it will give the Tribe a highly attractive long-term offer. The problem with Fort Myers is that four parties -- city, county, Red Sox and Indians -- must get together in order to strike a deal, and that's becoming more difficult daily. Port Charlotte is a small town (50,000) and 40 miles away from Sarasota and Fort Myers, making it a heavy-traffic drive for Clevelanders vacationing in those cities. Also, too many games would be played against the Red Sox and Twins. "It's weighing those two cities against what we know we have in Winter Haven," Lehman said. Winter Haven appears to be winning out by a process of elimination. ..... Cypress Gardens, one of the oldest entertainment parks in the nation, just closed its doors in Winter Haven, and if the Tribe goes, it would be a double loss for the community.
******
CHOICE
Tribe third baseman Casey Blake is struggling while his rival, Greg LaRocca, has a hot bat in Buffalo. Why not bring up LaRocca? The front office reply: "Blake clearly won the job in spring training and is a better fielder than Greg." But after 40 games, if Blake's bat doesn't wake up and LaRocca's stays alive, there could be a switch. ..... Tough-luck Ricky Gutierrez is just getting back to his conditioning program after suffering a sore hip. The neck surgery seems to have been successful. ..... Until Friday, the Indians had gone one hit in 44 tries with runners in scoring position. Batting coach Eddie Murray is just as frustrated as the hitters -- and the fans. He knows he can't give them too much advice, so it is taking utmost patience from Eddie.
******
STUDENT
I don't recall a pitcher ever doing this before: Billy Traber, before every game, studies videos of how the better left-handed pitchers have worked against the team the Tribe is facing that night. For example, on Friday he watched tapes of Seattle's Jamie Moyer, Oaklands Barry Zito and Mark Mulder and New York's Andy Pettitte pitching against the Rangers. Then he came in from the bullpen and shut down the powerful Ranger hitters. ..... Manager Eric Wedge also has instituted new daily video classes for the hitters. Under previous managers, they watched tapes of the rival pitcher for that day. Now they must watch the rival bullpen pitchers, too. ..... Wedge undoubtedly already has set an all-time record in lineup changes. He's changed the starting lineup 26 times in their 29 games to date. ..... Also, he's setting a record for team meetings, almost one a day. He's a pro-active manager and when he sees something that needs addressing, he wants to get it talked out before the next game. He's even more frustrated. ..... Wedge is instituting a twice-a-month "Manager's Mound," in which he'll meet at Jacobs Field with 25-30 high schoolers and junior-high youngsters, selected from among disadvantaged students. There will be a different group at each session.
******
TIMING
In a recent column, I noted that fans listening to Tribe games on radio occasionally have been missing the first pitches of an inning -- two rare homers went unheard -- because umpires have cracked down on the 2:05 minute time limit between innings and the Indians have sold exactly 2:05 minutes of advertising. So if the announcers don't cut out the instant an inning ends, listeners will lose the start of the next one. The Indians have been tracking the umps and it turns out there have been several instances when they started innings before the 2:05 interlude, because in the cold weather, the pitchers want to get going. The umps have been put on notice. ..... Apparently the Las Vegas oddsmakers aren't convinced by the Royal's torrid start that they're any better than the Indians. In the latest figures, both the Indians and Royals are 120-1 to win the World Series. The Pirates, Brewers, Devil Rays and Tigers are well below them. The Yankees are 9-5 to take it all, with the Athletics next at 7-2.
******
AND FINALLY
One of the hottest items in the current WVIZ auction proved to be tickets to Lake County Captains games. ..... The Wahoo Club luncheons, suspended for several years, are being renewed. First one is May 17 at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Josh Bard and John McDonald will be there to sign autographs. Call the Wahoo hotline at (216) 999-1781 for details.