#409---Norfolk @ Columbus, 7/31/2011

 

The Clippers trailed the Tides 5-1 after five, but got solo homers in the sixth and seventh and a two-run homer in the eighth to tie it up. Not much happened in extra innings; Columbus had runners at first and second with one out in the twelfth and Norfolk runners at first and second with two out in the thirteenth. In the bottom of the thirteenth, Shelley Duncan led off with a walk, then stole second on the first pitch to Nick Johnson and took third on the catcher’s throwing error. Johnson and the next Clipper batter were intentionally passed and pinch hitter Beau Mills hit one to the track in left for a long walkoff single.

For me, the most notable aspect of the game was Matt Angle returning to Columbus as Norfolk’s leadoff hitter. He had a good game, going 3-5 with a walk, although his good v. evil confrontation with Zack Putnam never really came to fruition as he dropped down a sac bunt.

#408---Trenton @ Akron, 5/3/2010

 This was a wild Eastern League slugfest without a lot of notable future big leaguers. Akron trailed 6-0 but put up their first five-spot in the third. Trenton answered with a pair of two-run innings, but Akron plated five more in the fifth (the first six batters reached) and it was 10-10. But Trenton had the haymaker with a seven-run sixth (an inning started by Kerry Wood) capped by Brandon Laird’s two-run homer. Wood was on a rehab assignment and was lit up for five runs in 2/3 of an inning. Laird had the biggest offensive performance on a night of big offensive performances (4-5, 4 R, 3 RBI, 3 D, HR, W). 

#407---Binghamton @ Akron, 8/31/2009

I suppose the three most notable future big leaguers in this game were Reuben Tejada (3-4, 3 RBI, D, SB), Ike Davis (2-5, 2 RBI, HR), and Carlos Santana (3-4, 2 RBI, D, W), and they all had big games. Aeros leadoff hitter Jose Costanza reached base all five times, scoring four runs, and Akron won an entertaining slugfest 10-7. 

#406---ATL @ WAS, 3/30/2008

This was the MLB season opener and the first game at Nationals Park. Washington got off to a good start, with two-out RBI hits from Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns giving them a 2-0 lead off Tim Hudson. That was literally all they would get off Hudson as he retired the last nineteen batters he faced, leaving the game after just 78 pitches through seven.

Chipper Jones’ homer cut it to 2-1 in the fourth, but the Braves managed little offense with just two baserunners in the fifth through the eighth. Facing Jon Rauch with one out in the ninth, Mark Teixeira doubled, advanced to third on Jeff Francoeur’s groundout, and scored the tying run on a Paul LoDuca passed ball on the first pitch to Brian McCann. Meanwhile, Will Ohman had a 1-2-3 eighth and Peter Moylan set down the first two Nats in the ninth, running Atlanta’s streak to twenty-four retired. But Ryan Zimmerman ended that and the game with a homer to centerfield.

#405---NYA @ BOS, 4/22/2007

All eyes immediately jump to the bottom of the fourth, where Jarret Wright induced six consecutive flyballs. The first two were secured by Bobby Abreu and Melky Cabrera; the next four, hit by Manny Ramirez, JD Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek, were over the fence. My note says that at the time this was the fifth occurrence of four straight homers, with JD Drew having hit the second homer in one of the other skeins. 

Despite that, the Yankees held a 5-4 lead entering the seventh until Mike Lowell hit a three-run dinger off Scott Proctor. Boston held on for a 7-6 win. One oddity was Andy Pettitte’s sixth-inning relief appearance – not sure what the story was there as he was a rotation stalwart in 2007, leading the league with 34 starts.

#404---CLE @ CHA, 4/2/2006

I believe this is the only time the Indians were ever given the privilege of participating in the first MLB game of the season, a Sunday Night affair at the defending world champion White Sox and the opening salvo in what was expected to be a season-long divisional race. The game and the season both turned out to be disappointing (both for the Tribe, the latter for the ChiSox). 

Chicago started getting to CC Sabathia in the bottom of the third; they had scored two runs and had a runner at first with one out when Sabathia had to leave due to an injury after delivering a strike to Jim Thome. Danny Graves, a former top prospect for Cleveland making his return as a veteran bullpen piece, would allow another run and wriggle out of a bases loaded jam. The Tribe answered back in the fourth with a three-run shot from Eduardo Perez, but the game was delayed by rain in the middle of the fourth for nearly three hours. When it finally resumed, Jim Thome answered with a three-run shot off Fernando Cabrera and Chicago put up third straight three-spot in the fifth, cruising to a 10-4 win. The game finally ended at 2:13 Eastern time.

#403---CHN @ SD, 6/4/2005

For this game I used a scoresheet that incorporates some of the concepts of Reisner Scorekeeping, but maintaining a 9x9 grid and eschewing the use of diamonds. Each line in the scorebox labeled 1, 2, 3 is to note the lineup slot of the runner on the respective base and what happens to them during the course of the plate appearance. For example, looking at Jerry Hairston’s box in the top of the fourth, the #8 hitter was on second base and the #7 hitter was on third. Hairston singled, advancing the runner from second to third (-->3) and the runner from third to score (-->H). The boxed X indicates a run scored. 

As for the game, the visitors got seven in the fifth to roll to a 11-5 win credited to Greg Maddux. Maddux had yielded just an unearned run through five, but Brian Giles singled and Phil Nevin homered to leadoff the sixth. Maddux completed that frame and then was pulled having allowed three runs on eight hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. 

An interesting side note is that I posted this scoresheet to my old Baseball Scoresheets site circa about 2005 and didn’t really think about it again for fifteen years. Then one day I happened to see it being used by a poster on the BaseballScorecards subreddit. Sometimes people actually stumble across your obscure vanity sites. Someone may some day even stumble across this post. 

#402---DET @ CLE, 3/13/2004

The Tribe led this spring training game 2-1 on Casey Blake’s homer, then put together a three-run rally with two outs in the sixth against a bunch of Tigers pitchers that I would have to google to identify. 

#401---CLE @ DET, 3/1/2003

 

There were a lot of runs in this early spring training game, with the Indians getting three-run homers from Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta to power a 13-8 win. Their third base coach must have been easing into the season as well as they had two consecutive runners nailed at the plate in the fourth. Some fun names show up here (Eugene Kingsale and Hiram Bocachica), but Steve Avery’s sad comeback attempt with his hometown team is also on display (although he did make nineteen appearances out of the pen in the regular season to close his MLB career after not having appeared in any of the previous three seasons).

#400---CLE @ ANA, 3/31/2002

No one knew it at the time, but this was Opening Day for the Angels’ World Championship season. It did not get off to a fine start as they were whitewashed 6-0 by Bartolo Colon. Cleveland got more than enough runs, jumping Jarrod Washburn for four in the first. Colon was brilliant, going the distance on just 98 pitches, allowing five hits and two walks while fanning five

#399---BAL @ CLE, 4/6/2001

The Orioles got to Dave Burba for three in the third, while through four the Indians had just two baserunners against Jose Mercedes. They scratched home a run in the fifth, then tied it in the sixth on back-to-back homers from Juan Gonzalez and Jim Thome. Burba finished a solid outing (7 IP, 6 H, 1 W, 9 K, 108 pitches) working around a Brooks Fordyce double in the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, the Indians got four walks (including a pinch-hit walk from Marty Cordova in his Tribe debut) off Mercedes, BJ Ryan, and Calvin Maduro to take a 4-3 lead. Paul Shuey and Bob Wickman made that hold up, with the only blemish a two-out walk to David Segui in the eighth.

There was a eight minute fog delay between the fifth and sixth because what’s early April baseball without a weather delay?

#398---SEA @ ANA, 10/1/2000

I followed this game on whatever MLB had for a gametracker in 2000, using their scoresheet (and showing my devotion to ignoring Disney’s edict by crossing out “Anaheim” to write in “California”). The reason this game held such interest for me is that the Indians needed a Seattle loss to force a wildcard playoff. 

Things stared off well, with the Angels plating two off Aaron Sele in the first. But that’s all they would get, scattering just five hits and a walk the rest of the way off Sele, Arthur Rhoades, and Kaz Sasaki. A-Rod homered in the fourth, Mike Cameron doubled home the tying run in the fifth, and David Bell homered to give them the lead in the seventh. Raul Ibanez delivered a two-run double, and the Mariners secured the wildcard berth 5-2.

#397---CLE @ ANA, 4/6/1999

The Indians struck first on this Opening Day in Anaheim on Kenny Lofton’s triple and Omar Vizquel’s homer in the third. Anaheim got one in the third and  back-to-back solo shots from Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson in the fourth before Cleveland singled their way to three in the fifth. When the teams came back on the field for the sixth, Anaheim’s marquis free agent signing Mo Vaughn was out of the game with an inkle injury, putting a damper on things for the home crowd, but three straight Angel singles in the seventh made it 5-4 and drove Jaret Wright from the box, and Darin Erstad greeted Ricardo Rincon with a game-tying sac fly. Tim Salmon led off the bottom of the eighth with a hit off Steve Karsay, but was out when hit by Garret Anderson’s hit. But Troy Glaus doubled with two outs to give Anaheim the lead, and Troy Percival made quick work of the Tribe, needing just eight pitches to retire the heart of the order for the save in a 6-5 victory. 

#396---ANA @ CLE, 4/10/1998

The Indians had a pair of two-run innings off Allen Watson to lead 4-1 entering the fifth, but Anaheim got four straight hits off Bartolo Colon and drove him from the game with the bases loaded and two outs after laboring with 105 pitches. Paul Shuey got out of it the Indians would take the lead back in the seventh on a two-out David Justice single off Mike Holtz. Up 5-4 in the ninth, Mike Jackson hit Dave Hollins, fanned Tim Salmon, and allowed a double to Jim Edmonds. Tim Naehring hit for Cecil Fielder and grounded to Jackson, who caught Hollins in a 1-5-2-6-5 out. But on an 0-2 pitch Garret Anderson singled to tie the game. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Omar Vizquel and Kenny Lofton both singled and both were caught stealing. Eric Plunk retired Anaheim in order in the tenth, while Troy Percival, on for a second inning, gave up a hit to Manny Ramirez and a walk to Brian Giles. With two outs, Jim Thome launched a three-run homer for a very entertaining 8-5 Cleveland victory.

#395---CLE @ TOR, 5/16/1997

Roger Clemens plunked Marquis Grissom to open the game, and he was singled home by Matt Williams, but the Rocket held the Tribe in check for the next six frames. The Blue Jays got to Orel Hershiser in the sixth as Carlos Delgado tripled home the tying run and scored on a sac fly. Hershiser got two groundouts to start the seventh, but Otis Nixon singled and Alex Gonzalez homered and it was 4-1 Toronto. Clemens was lifted in the eighth and Matt Williams took Dan Pleasc deep to cut it to 4-2, but Ed Sprague answered with a homer off Eric Plunk to leadoff the bottom of the eighth. The Indians mustered a walk but nothing else as Mike Timlin got the save in the ninth.

#394---Portland @ Akron-Canton, 8/7/1996

I kept score of this game on the ballpark scorecard sold at Thurman Munson Stadium, where the Akron-Canton Indians were playing their last season before moving into their new digs in downtown Akron with their new name (Aeros). The Indians scored single runs in the first and fifth to take a 2-0 lead off Sea Dog starter Livan Hernandez, but the visitors put up a seven spot in the eighth en route to a 7-3 victory. 

Hernandez was already famous a high-profile Cuban defector, and was quite gracious in signing autographs for young fans after the game, including one scrawled on my ticket stub in pencil. Other future big leaguers in this game included Luis Castillo, Todd Dunwoody, Kevin Millar, Mike Redmond, Bruce Aven, Richie Sexson, Alex Ramirez, Einar Diaz, Kevin Tolar, and Felix Heredia.

#393---OSU @ MSU, 4/8/2024

Only seven innings were required for OSU to defeat MSU as a ten-run rule after seven was in place for a doubleheader. Every Buckeye reached based safely, with eight of the nine starters collecting a hit and all ten who appeared either drove in or scored a run. A six-run seventh pushed the game into run rule territory, with Mitchell Okuley's two-run triple the biggest blow in the frame. 

#392---Venezuela v. Dominican Republic, 2/1/2024 (Caribbean Series)

With the Caribbean Series being played in Miami in 2024, much of it ended up on US cable TV, providing a welcome early opportunity to get ready for the season. This game saw the eventual champions from Venezuela down the Dominican Republic. The two most notable names in the game were former stars Yasiel Puig who homered from Venezuela and Robinson Cano who drove in the only Dominican run with a sixth inning sacrifice fly.

#391---TEX @ CLE, 2/26/2023

In a harbinger of things to come for both Texas’ and Zach Plesac’s 2023, the Rangers hit the latter for five runs in an inning and two-thirds, capped by Corey Seager’s three-run homer. They also scored off Guardians bullpen regulars James Karinchak and Sam Hentges, while Jon Gray, Cole Ragans, and Dominic Leone combined to hold the Guardians’ regulars to just two hits through five innings. Cleveland reserves Angel Martinez and Micah Pries would homer in the seventh, but Texas kept adding with five in the eighth and rolled to a 13-4 win in Goodyear.

#390---CLE @ SEA, 3/31/2022

This game may be notable as the one that sealed Julio Rodriguez’ placement on the opening day roster. Andres Gimenez and Owen Miller hit solo homers for the Guardians, but Rodriguez stole the show. In the third he reached on an infield single, stole second, and scored on Adam Frazier’s single. In the fifth he walked and came around on another Frazier single. After Miller’s homer tied the game in the top of the seventh, Rodriguez hit an inside-the-park homer to center with one out in the bottom of the inning, scoring all three runs in the Mariners win. 

#389---LA @ CHN, 5/4/2021

Clayton Kershaw did not have it in the first half of this doubleheader, getting yanked after allowing four runs and making 39 pitches in the first inning. Kyle Hendricks went the distance for Chicago, ducking out of much trouble as he stranded eight and had just one clean inning. His shutout was spoiled by Keibert Ruiz’s pinch-hit homer in the ninth; after the following two batters reached, he induced a Justin Turner double play to end it. 

Despite the Cubs winning, Javier Baez had a terrible game in the field, booting Mookie Betts’ grounder on the first play of the game and then in the ninth booting a Corey Seager grounder and compounding the problem by making an error on a throw to second base. He was 0-2 with a walk at the plate, the walk coming after whiffing on the first two pitches he saw from Kershaw and fouling off two pitches. So it was an out of character game on both sides of the ball.

#388---Barney’s Bunch v. Tito’s Troops, 7/16/2020

 

“Spring Training 2.0” in 2020 didn’t feature much in the way of game play, so intrasquad games ended up as fodder for radio broadcasts and of course, suffering from four months of baseball withdrawal, I was there for it. The Indians split squads played six innings under the lights at Jacobs Field, with the manager’s squad prevailing over his lieutenant’s team 6-3 and scoring two in the bottom of the sixth despite the outcome already being determined. Beau Taylor, Bradley Zimmer, and Greg Allen all hit homers.

#387—KC @ CLE, 3/3/2019

Cleveland jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the strength of a two-run Trayce Thompson triple and homers from Leonys Martin and Carlos Santana, but Brooks Pounders was pounded in the sixth. Seven straight batters reached, punctuated by a grand slam and the inning only ended by pinch-runner Terrance Gore getting caught stealing. The Royals would add a five-run ninth to turn it into a laugher and force me to spill over the ninth inning into the eighth inning column on my scoresheet. While I always laugh at the way scorekeepers lose their heads over batting around, scratching out existing column headings and throwing their top and bottom of the inning columns out of alignment (although many people use two pages so this isn’t immediately apparent), I will allow that when a team bats around in your last column, it’s a pain to deal with.

#386---CLE @ CIN, 2/25/2018

Another edition of “early spring Indians/Reds tie”, with Greg Allen’s two-out ninth inning triple pulling it even. The Reds got a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth, but could not break the deadlock with a strikeout and then were so eager to do so that the game ended on a double play on a line drive to right field.

#385---CLE @ ARI, 3/26/2017

 

The Indians got a two-run homer from Michael Brantley and a three-run homer from Chris Colabello in the first off Robbie Ray, then held on the rest of the way for a 6-5 victory. Ray was ejected after pitching four innings – unfortunately I neglected to note why but it appears he was unpleased at being rung up by Bill Miller in the bottom of the fourth.