Just In From the Cold

I thought that I would be the last to tee-off on this one, but there has been absolutely no coverage of the Indians/Clippers exhibition game that lasted just 2 and a half innings today.

Before we go any further, here is a box score from the game.  You will not find it anywhere else.

CLE at COL - Hutington Park
Mar 30, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland Indians ()	0	1	0							1	3	0
Columbus Clippers ()	0	1								1	4	0
W: None L: None S: None

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CLE	COL
	2	Matt LaPorta doubled to left field. Jack Hannahan walked, LaPorta to second. Adam Everett out at first on sacrifice bunt, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall to second baseman Jason Kipnis, Laporta to third, Hannahan to second. Michael Brantley grounded to second, LaPorta scored. Orlando Cabrera struck out swinging.	1	0
COL	2	Jason Kipnis singled to center. Jason Kipnis stole second. Wes Hodges struck out looking. Luis Valbuena walked. Jared Head flew out to right. Luke Carlin singled to right off of pitcher Zach McAllister's glove, Kipnis scoed, Valbuena to second. Ezequiel Carrera walked, Valbuena to thrid, Carlin to second. Cord Phelps struck out looking.	1	1

Cleveland Indians
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Brantley, CF	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	.263
O Cabrera, 2B	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.364
Choo, RF	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	.322
Santana, C	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.300
Hafner, DH	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.304
Kearns, LF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.295
LaPorta, 1B	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.153
Hannahan, 3B	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.340
Everett, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.267
BATTING: 2B: LaPorta, Hafner SAC: Everett

Columbus Clippers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Carrera, CF	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.286
Phelps, DH	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.217
Chisenhall, 3B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500
Brown, RF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.222
Kipnis, 2B	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.167
Hodges, 1B	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.---
Valbuena, SS	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.260
Head, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.071
Carlin, C	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	.143
BATTING: 2B: Chisenhall
BASERUNNING: SB: Kipnis

Cleveland Indians
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
McAllister	2	4	1	1	2	2	0	4.50
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: McAllister 48-28

Columbus Clippers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Huff	3	3	1	1	3	3	0	5.82
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Huff 60-38

Today's game, of course, does not count. It was basically an intra-squad scrimmage to begin with, so it likely wouldn't have been aggregated into the spring stats regardless. Anyway, the averages and ERAs indicate spring totals from Arizona.

Onto my own subjective experience. The game started at 1:05p with gates opening at 11a. I arrived at the park around 10:30a and watched the Clippers take BP through the fence in right field. In case you are unfamiliar, there are wide gauge metal screens built into the right field wall of Huntington Park. One can stand on the street and watch any game for free from that vantage. Awesome. I was able to chase down a couple of BP HR balls, one from the Chiz Kid (which I kept) and a second that I gifted to a wee lad. If I was not the first to arrive at the park, I was one of a select few. I was probably also the first in, but I'll stop tooting my own horn. I spent the next two hours in a generally fruitless autograph hunt (got Santos, Durbin, Everett and Asdrubal).

Over that span of time the Tribe warmed up and took BP. Most of this went as expected. Carlos Carrasco threw a bullpen session directly in front of the throng of us lingering near the end of the visitor's dugout. The one salient observation that I can make is that Travis Buck absolutely raked the ball.  Each and every ball sang off of his bat like a Hi-C. I cannot wait to see if the guy is for real.  The only other guy to stroke similarly was Chisenhall during the Clip's session.

The game itself was an unmitigated disaster. While it was neat to see the Indians play themselves and the idea of letting the winning team take on the ChiSox on opening day is good for a dark larf, the timing of the game could not have been worse. The five hours of bad weather (about 1-6p) completely surrounded the game. Yesterday was crisp and cool and this evening, despite the chill, was calm and clear.  Bummer.


Evaluating performance on a day like this is nearly impossible. Both pitchers, predictably, had difficulty throwing strikes due to weather. Jordan Brown had an adventure tracking down a fly ball to the track in right. Orlando Cabrera looked slick at second, though he refused to engage the fans much at all. The highlights came off the bats of Chisenhall and Travis Hafner as they each stung doubles. Chiz's laced over the head of Michael Brantley in center while Pronk's clanged loudly off of the top of the right-centerfield wall. Pronk pulled the ball! Pronk pulled the ball! And with authority. How glorious would it be if this was a sign of things to come. We're all excited enough about Chisenhall, so I'll leave that one alone.

The event, the spectacle of the day, was wonderful. Watching Manning and Underwood do the pregame 20 feet away, screaming for signatures (Choo only signed for Koreans), scoping the suits in their overcoats and digging the vibe of an MLB team in the limbo between pre and regular season was both fascinating and unique. Hopefully the atmosphere and turnout will be enough to bring the game back next year, if for no other reason than to make it up to the Columbus faithful.

And a tip of the hat to Justin Masterson for his wardrobe.  Did anyone know that he was born in Jamaica?

  

Cheers.