Season's Over

I truly love baseball - even though it can be agonizing as it was this past week watching the Tribe lose to the Red Sox after being up 3 games to 1. As Hall-of-Famer and Dayton Ohio native Mike Schmidt said, "Any time you think you have the game conquered the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose." I guess we got punched in the nose this week! The Red Sox did play well, and all my friends who are Sox fans (and I have many, since we share a common enemy) have been strangely, respectfully quiet this week. Guess they know what it feels like! Anyway, get up off the dirt and shake it off. Time to watch the Series and root for Karen K's Rockies!

One of the things I love about baseball is that anything can happen. I missed Game 2 of the series with the Yankees because I was travelling, but here's how Don - who believes there is some very strange dynamic that causes unusual events to happen in Northeast Ohio- described it in an email to me:

"Don't know if you caught the game last night at Cleveland but it is now 2-0 Indians. The Yankees scored a run early, then it settled down to a duel between Pettite (NY) and Carmona (CL). With a NYY reliever on the mound in the 8th inning, a swarm of gnats descended on the field, distracting the Yankee pitcher, leading to two walks, two wild pitches and a 1-1 tie. This quasi-Biblical intervention - like all wierd natural events in Cleveland - was apparently without precedent. In any case, strong pitching on both sides continued until the Indians finally scored in the 11th to win 2-1. Talk about home field advantage!"

Folks in Cleveland now refer to this as 'the bug game' - in case you missed it too, you can watch the actual bug attack here on You Tube, or if you prefer to see the humor in the event, you can hear David Letterman's somewhat pro-Yankee jibes here. Paul says they were 'midges' not 'gnats' - personally, I think this is a minor detail, the point is, they went after the Yankees!

Niece Helen has become a fan this year - we took her to a game at the Jake when we were in Cleveland in July and she really enjoyed it. The Plain Dealer had a contest to see who could design a new uniform for the Indians, and Helen's entry won (along with 7 others) and was published in the Sunday paper. Here's her creative design, modeled by 'the very modren Travis Hafner'! We're proud of her!

Was in Cleveland last week for the CaseWestern trustees meeting. Gorgeous weather, and unseasonably warm in the mid-70's. Can't complain about that. Could have been nice weather for a World Series!! Ah, well....