Kickstart My Heart

Despite the picture shown in the previous post, we're going to heed Monty Python's famous advice to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". Tuesday's game was a gut-wrenching thriller, as the Tribe couldn't punish Kazimir for putting guys on, then came up a bit short in the 9th.

As one of the 23,000+ (who, despite the small number, were very loud and very into the game), I sat there in the 9th, with the Tribe down 2, and looked at the scoreboard to see the hitters for the bottom of the 9th. My thought was that if Coco and Peralta got on, it could set the scene for some Jake magic with Pronk at bat. Alas, after Coco and Jhonny Cool did their part, Pronk grounded out (Peralta mowing down Lugo was the only thing that prevented the DP) to break all of our hearts. But wait, The Stick keeps things alive, so the always loose Jelly Belliard just needs to put one in the air to score Gutierrez from 3rd. No sooner had I said, "As long as he doesn't hit into a DP", did he hit into a DP. It was like the air had been let out of the Jake. Disheartening? Yes, but not enough to kill my enthusiasm and positive vibe. It may be enough for the jinx (yours truly) to contemplate skipping Friday and Saturday's games (for which I have tix), but not to put a damper on Indians' Fever.

Luckily for the Tribe, all four principals in the race lost as well, with the ChiSox leaving 22 RUNNERS ON BASE (!) in their loss to the Motor City Kitties. I thought Blake leaving 5 on was bad. Oh wait, that is bad. Can someone please find for me MLB leaders in Men Left On Base for 2005. I've tried in vain now for two weeks, and I can't find it anywhere. Blake has to have a double digit lead in that category. Even the wife (who used to count Casey as her favorite groaned last night, "Why does he always come up in these situations", right before Blake whiffed) has taken notice.

A few positives out of last night's game:

• Fernando Cabrera looks untouchable at times. I've recently heard a few broadcasters compare his impact to what K-Rod did a few years ago with the Halos. Just remember where you heard that first.
• Broussard coming off the bench for the perpetually ineffective Jose Hernandez and lacing one down the RF line. If Benny can get hot now, look out. I know that we're facing 2 lefties (Fossum & Buehrle) in our last 5 games, but that could mean that Benny becomes a factor late in the game as a PH.
• Not necessarily related to last night's game, but did you know that Barry Bonds has 708 HR? He's 6 away from Babe Ruth, and it doesn't even get a mention locally. To me, that's good news.

By the way, you can't help but get jacked for a game by sitting in the Jake as The Crue's epic Kickstart My Heart from Dr. Feelgood (you know, right before Without You on the LP)blasts to start the game
Ooh, yeh
Kickstart my heart
Give it a start
Ooh, yeh, baby
Ooh, yeh
Kickstart my heart
Hope it never stops
Ooh, yeh, baby

Let's hope that tonight we don't need a kickstart from a broken heart.