The 2011 Cleveland Indians provided a great season for us fans! It was maybe their best since 1997. Had it not been for an unforgiving September and injuries, we might have been talking about Yankees, Rangers, and Cardinal matchups last fall. Think not? Think back. Think what you saw! Think Tribe.
Let’s review a few highlights: #1) Who could forget the Cabreras’, aka Two Guys and a Glove, #2) or how about the Perezes’ out of the bullpen? One (Raphael) sets you up for smoke… the other (Chris)… smokes you! What would a season be without a triple play? So #3) would have to be Asdrubal’s nifty gem. In fact, it would be remiss to not mention about a jillion other “leather flashers” he produced this year, including a few other “barehanders” that didn’t require a glove. Omar who… ? Oh yeah, that guy (Omar Vizquel) was good too…. but Back To The Future 2011. Grand slam homeruns are amazing. It’s very much like a 3 point basket from half court, only it gets you 4 points. Walk off grand slams are even more amazing and come around about as often as Haley’s Comet. So credit highlight #4) to Travis “Pronk” Hafner’s Walk Off Grand Salami last summer. The Toronto Blue Jays never knew what hit them. Certainly Blue Jay fans would never refer to Cleveland as the Mistake On the Lake (Erie), but on that July night the pitching mistake to Hafner almost landed in a lake! That lake of course would be Lake Ontario.
So Cleveland Faithful let’s get our red and blue game faces on! The spring training watch is only a short 3 months out. We’ve got some exciting young kids with names like Chisenall, Santana, Tomlin, and Pestano in the mix with seasoned vets like Cabrera, Choo, Hafner and Sizemore. Could this be Back To the Future 2012? Fire up that DeLorean McFly! Rocky Colavito don’t believe in no steeeeenking curse ! (All due respect to Miss Howell, 12th grade English).