I started All Tribe Baseball nearly four years ago and David, from Indian's Baseball Cards , was one of the first bloggers I got to know. We don't do a lot of trading with each other as our collections are very similar, but we do keep in touch and and send an occasional package.
David, originally from Pittsburgh, became an Indians fan as a youngster since his grandparents lived in this area. He and his family decided to come back home on vacation and a side trip to Cleveland was inevitable. Especially since he had never seen "The Jake" . Or Progressive Field, as some people like to call it.
As soon as I heard the news that he was attending a Tribe game I knew we had to hook up !
It was a Monday night game in Cleveland. June 18th, Asdrubal Cabrera bobble head night !
I don't usually don't go to games during the week if have to work the next day because it's about midnight by the time I get home. But my son and I wanted the bobble head too, so it was well worth it.Although at I wasn't so sure at first !
Late Monday afternoon the clouds started rolling in around Sandusky where I work, about an hour west of Cleveland. I was changing clothes about 3:30 pm and all h--- broke loose ! It was raining sideways and tornado warnings were sounding. A funnel cloud had been sited at Cedar Point, about a mile from where I work !
Just like the postal workers, undaunted by the weather, Josh and I headed out in the storm. We got soaked just trying to get to the van. We headed east on Rt 2 where traffic was moving at about 40 mph and almost everyone driving with 4-way flashers on, which allowed us to identify the lanes of traffic. The storm was moving on a south easterly path and as we got closer to Cleveland things were looking better.
We had our bobble head and were ready for the game to begin. I had been in phone contact with David but we hadn't met yet.
Now we are getting underway with the game.
Go Tribe !!
The start of the Hot Dog Race! Always a fun part of the game. It starts as a virtual race outside of the ball park, shown on the video portion of the scoreboard. Then they enter the field through a door in the left field corner and race around the edge of the stands to the finish line just past 1st base. The Redbird mascot, who used a football block to take out "Ketchup", was subsequently taken out by Slider !
Then my phone rang and it time to meet up with David. This was really a great moment ! I feel like I know a lot of you bloggers out there but it's really special to meet in person.
David took notice of my shirt. You probably can't read it, but the bottom line says Cooperstown, New York. Actually, "Baseball Dad" has been around a lot longer than my blog. Back in the early '90's when my boys and I started collecting, we dicovered the Topps and Upper Deck web sites. They always want usernames to join the site and Baseball Dad just made sense to me at the time. A few years later we were visiting Copperstown, the vacation Mecca for baseball fans ! On our last day there, we were making one more pass along the shops that line the streets and I stopped dead in my tracks. I saw this shirt in the window and knew I had to have it ! So that's the story of "Baseball Dad" !
The victory celebration !
As you can see from the box score, it was a very exciting game. 19 runs, 27 hits with 5 HR.
By the way, David, I'm sending you a copy of the Plain Dealer sports page for that game !
One portion of Progressive Field, that is a must see, is Heritage Park.
It is located behind the trees beyond center field.
They recently created this Bob Feller tribute area.
A Jim Thome statue is also in the works.
This portion of one wall has a plaque for each of the topp 100 Indians of all time.
This is a special monumant in honor of Larry Doby, the first African-American to play in the American League.
Sockalexis, a tremendous American Indian player for whom the Tribe got it's name.
A chance to meet David, a Tribe victory and a new bobblehead ! What a GREAT day !!
