#91---CIN @ CLE, 3/24/2002

There's nothing like the scoresheet from a run-of-the-mill exhibition game to cheer one up on a dark, snowy winter day. I certainly hope the Reds were playing a split squad, because that lineup is putrid.

#90---NYA @ NYN, 6/17/2001

This Yankees/Mets game serves as a good illustration for why I prefer scoresheets that don't allocate space to statistical summaries--I rarely ever fill them in.

If you overlook 3-4-5, this Met lineup is pretty ghastly. Benny Agbayani was a fun player, but Desi Relaford, Rey Ordonez...Joe McEwing in *right field*? Not good, but they exploded for six in the bottom of the eighth to turn a 7-2 deficit into an 8-7 win in a rematch of the previous season's World Series.

#89---CLE @ BAL, 4/5/2000

This was the second game of the season for the Indians and the Orioles in 2000. Charlie Manuel, in his first year as skipper, was tossed for arguing balls and strikes in the third inning. His frustration would have been understandable as this game was a preview of things to come with the 2000 Tribe. A five-run second, including two bases loaded walks, was not enough. Chuck Finley gave up four runs in five innings in his Cleveland debut, and Steve Reed gave up a three-run homer to Charles Johnson in relief. Johnson homered again off Scott Kamienicki in the eighth, and it was so bad that Bobby Witt came into get the last out. Things would only get worse as the season progressed.

#88---Home Run Derby, 7/13/1999

I only scored two home run derbies, honest. I posted the 1998 one a couple years ago, and figured I'd get the embarrassment out of the way now by posting the second, so that my heirs who continue this blog won't be sitting around in 2089 posting home run derby scoresheets.

#87---COL @ ATL, 4/26/1998

This game between the Rockies and Braves was pretty exciting, with Colorado scoring four in the first and two in the third in a rare stinker by Greg Maddux. Atlanta got back into it with five in the fourth, including a triple by Chipper Jones and a homer by Andruw Jones. But Jerry DiPoto (rare to see a future GM on a scoresheet) was able to record the save in the ninth, the Rockies' 7-6 lead secured with a big day by Vinny Castilla (single, double, 2 homers, steal, 3 runs, 5 RBI).

#86---CLE @ OAK, 4/3/1997

This game was kept on my horrible Excel scoresheet, examples of which I've posted before. Oakland won 5-4 on Geronimo Berroa's eight-inning homer despite Kevin Mitchell's three-run shot for Cleveland in the second. Mark McGwire went deep in the fifth off Orel Hershiser, the first of 58 he would hit this season.

#85---Dominican Republic v. Venezuela, 2/7/2010 (Caribbean Series)

The MLB Network has turned the Caribbean Series into either a great opportunity to watch meaningful baseball in February or a tremendous tease, depending on one's perspective. Yeah, it's nice to see some serious hardball action with some vaguely familiar names, but it lasts for a week and then there's a whole month until exhibition games return and two months before there is another game taken anywhere near as seriously. I prefer to see the glass as half-full.

#84---CLE @ HOU, 4/4/2009

This exhibition game just before the season started featured a ninth-inning rally by the Indians off the (amazingly still in the majors) Doug Brocail. With one out in the ninth, Choo and Espino singled, but Ryan Garko popped out and the Tribe was down to their last out. Jamey Carroll was hit by a pitch, then Grady Sizemore tied the game with a single to right. A throwing error by Chris Johnson scored the go-ahead run.

I was surprised when looking over this scoresheet that just a year and a half ago Shin-Soo Choo was batting sixth in a Cleveland lineup.

#83---DET @ CLE, 9/20/2008

I did not mess up the scanning of this sheet; it must have printed funny back in 2008 and I used it anyway. The Indians beat the Tigers in what was expected before the season to be a key late season game, but instead was a battle of two teams going nowhere, the Tigers collapsing and the Indians surging. Justin Verlander allowed four runs and made 97 pitches in four innings, and Shin-Soo Choo had a huge game with two singles, two walks, and a warning track fly.

#82---PIT @ CLE, 3/9/2007

This spring training game was not very interesting. It did feature Adam Miller, the much-hyped Tribe pitching prospect, who had a great spring training but soon saw his career undone by injuries. Miller gave up a walk, an infield hit, induced a foul pop, and struck out three.