Category: Uncategorized
Confessions of a Shopaholic…
…was a terrible movie. Yes, I’ll admit that I watched it but that doesn’t change the fact of how bad it was. It may be because I am not a shopaholic and don’t understand what they go through so I may have missed half the jokes. I am also not one to confess to anything, but that is a whole different story.
Whether you are a shopper or not, you should enjoy knowing that a couple of Cleveland Indians players decided to get in touch with their inner fashionista and participate in the annual Shop With A Pro event that we put on. Some of the players had a little (okay, a lot) of help from their wives, while the others mixed and matched styles up on their own. Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, Vinnie Pestano flew solo and Justin Masterson, Chad Durbin and Matt LaPorta made it more of a family affair.
Matt LaPorta helps bag at Shop with a Pro. Photo courtesy of Dan Mendlik
The event took place at Macy’s over at Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted. Macy’s provided 30 kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland with $100 gift cards so that they could buy back to school clothes. Levi’s also provided gift bags filled with school supplies for each kid. Thanks to all the players and their wives, Macy’s, and Levi’s for all the help in putting this great event together and making a positive impact on our community!
Two Out Rally
WHAT IF last Friday night at Progressive Field, the heroics didn’t belong to the Cleveland Indians baseball team? WHAT IF the two out rally wasn’t started by Grady Sizemore or Travis Hafner? WHAT IF this time…this one time, the victories didn’t belong to the Tribe team that everyone is used to and instead belonged to the Cleveland Indians kickball team–made up of members of the Cleveland Indians front office? I’m glad you asked!
The competition was fierce that day, my friends. I’ll tell you the opposing players were 10 feet tall if they were a foot! But that didn’t matter to us. We simply looked at our enemies and smiled, because we knew–we knew we had the Cleveland Indians “bat magic” on our side. We had the likes of Dan “Asdrubal” Badders at short stop making unbelievable defensive plays to help out our pitcher Ashley “Pure Rage” Churchill. We had a core team of veterans named Machado, Walters, Janoso, Frohwerk, Sherman and Polito showing the rookies how its done. And most importantly, we had the “never-give-up/two-out-rally” attitude that has created so many memories for our fans this year on the baseball side of things.
Game 1 and 2 were easy victories for us and got the juices flowing. We knew going into Game 3 we would need great defense and even faster legs. We played smart ball, but still found ourselves down 1-0 early on. We came back to tie it up 1-1 in, what we thought would be our last ups. Time still remained and we were able to get one last at bat and that is where the magic began. In the bottom of the 3rd inning (the last inning), the Indians came back to win it 2-1! The opposing team was not happy thinking that they lost on a technicality. Umpire’s call–we win and we move on.
Game 4 was just as intense. We were again down 1-0 in the 1st inning. No matter what we tried to do, we were going down 1, 2, 3 until the 3rd inning (again). That’s when the rally began. We battled back to tie it up. Then, with two men on and two outs we kicked a solid single. Dan Badders, on second base took off to third and then tried for home to get the win. The ball was thrown and clearly the catcher did not tag our runner. The umpire had a bad angle and didn’t know what to call. She called out and then safe and the complaints piled in. There was no way for her to make it right and, because this was a game for charity, both teams agreed that a re-kick was the most fair option. The rally continued as we ended up scoring to win the game 2-1 and move on to the Championship game versus KeyBank.
I’m not even going to go into details of this game because every fan watching has their own take on how it all went down. That’s how legends are created, and that’s what this battle will go down as–legendary. Some will say we had it in our grasp from the first kick, others will say that KeyBank should have come up with the victory (those people would be wrong). Knowing the game was all for charity, the Cleveland Indians reached deep down into their guts and pulled out the greatest win of all time to became the first back-to-back kickball champions in the world!
The kickball games were played as part of the 2nd Annual “Cleveland Kicks-It”–a charity kickball tournament to raise money for an organization called Kick-It. Kick-It is a national fundraising program that raises money for children’s cancer research through the game of kickball. Cleveland Kicks-It brought local Cleveland businesses together to compete against each other at Progressive Field in a double elimination tournament. Competing teams included the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavs, Rosetta, KeyBank, American Greetings, Clear Channel, Quicken Loans, K&D Group, Kalman + Pabst, West Side Challenge and Fairmount Minerals.
Clubhouse Collectibles: The only time you’ll buy broken, faded, used, torn and dirty items at a higher cost than if they were new and never touched!
Due to the overwhelming popularity of this blog since I started it a few months ago, I’ve had so many request to drop people’s names in it. A couple of weeks ago, when the Tribe was playing in Los Angeles, my cousin (who lives in LA and was going to the game) asked if I could include his name in it. I had to quickly explain to Marty that this blog is for business purposes only–to promote to the world how the Cleveland Indians are helping the community through volunteer efforts, fundraising, appearances and the like. It is not to be used to plug the DeLaat family name. So I’m sorry, Marty DeLaat, but I will not be allowed to mention your name in this blog per MLB’s rules.
I am suddenly reminded of a crazy cousin of mine who, growing up, used to take the RTA down to then Jacobs Field during Indians games and get a bunch of autographs from the players. Being the business savvy kid that he was, he would then go on and sell a lot of those autographs to help keep his cash flow going. It was a great idea, completely legal, and kept him out of trouble.
Cleveland Indians Charities does a similar version of what my cousin used to do; however, we take a slightly different approach with it. For one, all of the money made from sales goes straight to Cleveland Indians Charities. We also get the items from the Indians Clubhouse, so they are authentic items (most were actually worn/used by the players) and not replicas.
We call these items Clubhouse Collectibles and they are sold in our Progressive Field Team Shop. Not all of the items are autographed, but we sell anything from bats (broken or just used), signed player photos, old player jerseys, signed baseballs, helmets, etc.
So the next time you come to a game, or are in the Cleveland area and are looking for some cool team issued/team used memorabilia, swing into the Team Shop and check out the Clubhouse Collectibles. Or, if my cousin from California is back in town you can just buy something off of him. We’d prefer you go through us, though!
I wanna ROCK!
Last night, I watched the 2001 hit movie, “Rock Star” which stars Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. If you’ve never watched it (or heard of it), I recommend it. The movie itself is very cheesy, but it is entertaining nonetheless. The general plot of the movie is a normal guy who is the lead singer of a tribute band becomes lead singer of the real band he idolizes.
One of the best lines of the movie comes when Wahlberg takes the stage for the first time and says to the crowd, “You know, I’m just a regular guy who grew up with the posters of these guys on my wall… and now I’m one of them! That’s right, I’m standing here, living proof that if you work hard enough, and you want it bad enough… dreams do come true. So follow your dreams…” (Okay, that may not have been the best line, but for the purpose of a heart-warming blog entry it was).
This particular quote reminded me of what I experienced earlier yesterday when I took Cleveland Indians relief pitcher,
photo courtesy of Dan Mendlik
Vinnie Pestano, to Roxboro Elementary School in Cleveland Heights. Vinnie was nice enough to stop by the school and talk to the kids (grades 2-5) about anything and everything. He talked to them about how he got to where he is today, the importance of a good education, and even covered a little bit about how to deal with bullying in school.
When you talk to Vinnie, he is just a regular guy who loves to play baseball. Growing up, he probably had posters of his favorite players on his bedroom walls and dreamed of being in the big leagues and now he is here–playing for a major league baseball team.
To those kids he was talking to he was their living proof that if you work hard enough, and want it bad enough…dreams do come true. Then again, they may not have been paying attention to him at all and his whole speech could have gone in one ear and out the other. I can’t say for sure, but thank you to Vinnie for being there anyway!
“Knowledge is Good.”
The beginning of June is finally here. After months of dealing with crazy Cleveland weather where it is 90 degrees one day and 40 degrees the next, we are officially free from cold weather for at least a month! Heck, I can’t even remember what a Nimbostratus cloud looks like! To the lay-person, Nimbostratus clouds are low-lying clouds that produce rain, ice and/or snow.
With June also comes the final days of school for many kids. Seniors in high school have their last summer at home to look forward to before opening up the next chapter of their life in college. Seniors in college have their last summer of freedom before they have to get a job and live in the real world–although, the way the job outlook is, they may have a couple of years of freedom before finding a job!
What else does June bring? Well Indians baseball, of course! Yes, I know the Tribe has been playing for two months now, but there are a ton of events coming up that are exciting to learn about! Here is what the Cleveland Indians and their Community Relations department has coming up in June:
June 3: Major League Baseball Player Alumni Association (MLBPAA) auction at the ballpark–auctioning off former and current MLB player memorabilia (Pete Rose autograph baseball, Nolan Ryan autograph photo, etc.)
June 5: Signature Sunday for first 100 High Achievers who check in during KeyBank Kids Fun Days
June 8: Fill the House for Charity benefiting Berea Children’s Home. Portions of ticket sales from the June 8 game will go directly to Berea Children’s Home!
June 17: Indians in the Community event: Members of the Indians front office and some players will help serve lunch at La Sagrad Church.
June 18: MLB Pitch, Hit and Run competition at Progressive Field. Local Pitch, Hit and Run winners square off to decide who will be the champion and move on to the Finals held at the 2011 All-Star Game in Arizona!
June 19: Cleveland Indians Charities “Play Catch” fundraiser. Fans can buy tickets to “Play Catch” on the field with their dad after the game. All proceeds go to Cleveland Indians Charities.
June 21: PLAY Clinic. 40 local youth are invited down to Progressive Field to participate in the clinic. The clinic is put on by the Cleveland Indians trainers.
June 22: Fill the House for Charity benefiting Special Olympics. Portions of ticket sales from the June 22 game go directly to Special Olympics!
Bic It, Masterson!
Back in my days as a Berkshire Badger (high school and mascot) cross-country runner, my team used to do some crazy stuff with our hair. Partially to psyche out the competition, partially because we were ranked 2nd in the state, a little because we had nothing better to do, but mostly because we looked freakin’ sweet when we did it. We had anything from mohawks one year, to long hair the next and even shaving our heads for our conference championship (which we won). When I say we shaved our heads…we shaved them down to the skin. Bic it, is what we called it, because we would use a Bic razor to get that nice, close shave. If I ever find a picture of us, I’ll post it up here–but don’t hold your breath.
As with all of my blog entries, the opening paragraph eventually leads into what I need to promote for Indians in the Community. This entry is no different.
This Friday night, while the Indians are taking on their inter-state/league rival Cincinnati Reds, our Indians Wives Association will be hosting what we call the “Tribe Treasures” silent auction. All of the players’ wives come up with fun things of their husbands that they can auction off that the general public wouldn’t normally be able to ever buy. Some of the items include:
- a Josh Tomlin game used glove (autographed)
- a pair of game used cleats and batting gloves (autographed) from Jack Hannahan
- Breakfast with Matt LaPorta and his wife
- A half-hour pitching lesson from Chris Perez
- Meet and greet with Travis Hafner
Probably the coolest and most unusual thing (in my opinion) comes from Justin Masterson’s wife. She is auctioning off the opportunity to have Justin Masterson shave your head in the home dugout before a game. I’m expecting him to Bic it.
If you aren’t into having your head shaved by a professional baseball player, and don’t enjoy breakfast with two strangers, or wearing some other guy’s cleats…there are still other great items to bid on. Or you can take your chances on the Mystery Ball fundraiser. For $40, you can reach in and get a wrapped up baseball autographed by one of the players on the Indians team. You won’t know what you are getting until you pay for it and open it up (hence the “mystery”). All monies raised will go to charity.
The auction will begin at 5:30 and will in section 153 up until the 7th inning. So make your way down there and put some bids on these wicked cool items. If you don’t want to bid, you can always just chat it up with the wives! See you there and GO TRIBE!!
No Comment
They say that newspapers are a dying breed. I don’t know who “they” are, but they are probably the people who are no longer subscribing to newspapers. When I asked the morning newspaper what it’s thoughts were on this, it just sat there on my doorstep without a response. We’ll just mark that down as a “no comment.”
Yesterday, the Cleveland Indians and The Plain Dealer partnered together to put on the annual Tribe Reporter for a Day event here at Progressive Field. This event has been an annual thing since Chris Perez last had short hair. The purpose of Tribe Reporter for a Day is to give high school students the chance to be, well, to be a reporter for the Tribe for a day. We are very creative with our event names.
High School students were asked to submit essays to The Plain Dealer telling why they are interested in sports writing and how taking part in this event would further their future career plans. Out of about 200 essays, the top 25 were chosen and those kids were brought to Progressive Field on May 10, 2011. The day began with them sitting in on an actual press conference with Manny Acta and the local media. After the press conference, Plain Dealer sports writer, Paul Hoynes, spoke with the young reporters. He gave them some insight on his world as well as some tips on how to make it in the business. After a few questions/answers, they were taken to the stands to watch the Indians take some batting practice. During this time, they were looking through their media guides and getting some notes/questions together for their own press conference with some of the players.
Shortly after batting practice, the reporters were brought to the Press Interview Room under the ballpark where they had the opportunity to interview Chris Perez, Adam Everett and Vinnie Pestano. The players seemed to enjoy the questions, which I should add were pretty intense questions at times. The session ended with a group photo and will be followed by stories from each reporter of their experience during the event.
Special thanks to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chris Perez, Adam Everett, and Vinnie Pestano for making this another successful event.
Indians take on the Browns at “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” event
Someone, somewhere once said that winning isn’t everything. Child, please. Winning isn’t everything? Really? What if George Washington had that mentality as he was moving his troops across the Delaware?
George: Guys, I know you are starving and freezing and probably catching a wicked bad cold, but just go out there and do your best. That’s all I can ask for because whether you win or lose, we’ve made some good friends along the way.
What if General William T. Sherman told his troops that right before they made their March to the Sea?
General Sherman: Okay men, this could be the turning point of the Civil War. We are going to burn everything in sight from Atlanta down to Savannah to shut the south down and end this thing. Don’t be afraid to give up or only give half the effort and not win because I’m sure the Confederate Army will just laugh this off in a week…maybe two weeks.
What if the 2011 Cleveland Indians thought like that before every game? We would definitely not have the record that we do, nor would we have so many 9th inning come back wins. My point is, winning is everything and you can’t go into a sport or an event like Bowl for Kids’ Sake bowling tournament thinking that it is okay to lose.
(Photo on left is courtesy of Dan Mendlik) Speaking of Bowl for Kids’ Sake, the Cleveland Indians front office just competed against the Cleveland Browns front office yesterday in the 9th Annual Sports Bowl benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters. After losing the past 4 years to the Cleveland Browns, this was going to be our year! Our entire front office wanted to win this so badly. We actually got into it more this year than we have in past years–and it helped that while we were bowling we had the Tribe game (versus Oakland) on for extra motivation. Even the Indians’ wives fielded a bowling team! Slider and Chomps bowled the ceremonial first bowl (which both ended up being gutter balls) and we were under way.
Fast forward two scored games and one fun game and the results were in. The Cleveland Indians (who fielded 12 teams of 5) had a combined pin count of 14, 123–a solid total and more than in past years. The Cleveland Browns (also having 12 teams of 5) had a pin count of 14, 470 and for the 5th year in a row, took the trophy from us.
I can’t say that I am happy about the loss. What I can say is that I am happy that both the Browns and the Indians raised over $10,000 to donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters, which is a HUGE win for all three organizations. I can also say that I am happy knowing that one of our employees who competed is a crazy big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and for the Browns to beat a Steelers fan is always a good thing. Thank you to the employees of both front offices who participated to make this such a great event. Without you all, we wouldn’t have lost for the 5th year in a row.
“Can I get your John Hancock?…It’s Herbie Hancock”
I don’t really know too many kids that would turn down a chance to get a professional baseball player’s autograph, especially when it is free. I guess I really don’t know too many kids at this point in my life, but reflecting back to when I was younger I know I would have jumped at the idea.
If you are one of those types of kids…or if you are the parent of one of those types of kids, then swinging on down to the Cleveland Indians KeyBank Kids Fun Days on Sunday home games is where you ought to be.
The Kids Fun Days take place on select Sunday home games throughout the season. They are held just outside of Progressive Field in the Gateway Plaza and begin at 10:30am lasting through the 5th inning of the game. Activities include a batting cage, pitching cage, gaming tent to play Playstation 3, photo booth and more!
One of the best things about Kids Fun Days is that, if you are a High Achiever Kids Club member (see my blog entry from a couple of days ago on information for that), you can sign in at the High Achiever tent and earn a pass to attend Signature Sunday. Each Kids Fun Day, we give out 200 passes to be able to go down under Progressive Field and get autographs from two Indians players. This past weekend (and in the above picture courtesy of me), we had Vinnie Pestano and Jack Hannahan signing for the kids. The guys love doing it and the kids/parents love it even more.
So be sure to register for High Achievers and come to our next Kids Fun Day so that you can participate in our next Signature Sunday on May 15, 2011. See you there!
“Good news…I saw a dog today.”
I’ve been thinking about getting a dog lately and if I do decide to go through with it, I would probably adopt one from a shelter or something along those lines. I don’t really care what type of dog I get, but to be able to “save” one would mean more to me than buying one from a breeder or the next door neighbor whose Poodle just had a litter and a half.
The problem I face is that, if I get a dog, I would have to keep it at my girlfriend’s house because I don’t have room for one. She isn’t too excited about the idea and has turned me down numerous times when I’ve asked her about it. I always thought that if I propose to her it would be fun to adopt a dog , put the engagement ring on his paw, and have him walk in her house with it on. I could then yell, “Surprise!” That way, if she told me I had to give the dog back I could say that the ring and the dog are a package deal–take it or leave, toots. Plus, in the future if she was ever upset with me over something else, I can say, “remember when I proposed to you by adopting a dog?” She would reflect back and think it was such a cute idea (this would be years down the line) that she would no longer be upset with me.
Either way, I still want to adopt a dog and what better place to find out more about adopting animals than through the Cleveland APL?! This Wednesday, April 27 is our Fill the House for the Cleveland APL night at Progressive Field. If you are interested in learning more about adopting an animal, they will have a table set up in the concourse behind section 155.
As a reminder, the Cleveland APL will get $1.00 for every paid ticket at the game (so if 15,000 people buy tickets, they will get a check for $15,000). So come out to watch the 1st Place Cleveland Indians take on the (tied for)2nd place Kansas City Royals and make the money you spend on a ticket count! The Cleveland Animal Protective League’s mission is to foster compassion and end animal suffering through adoption, human investigations, spay and neuter, and education.
Indians Off the Field 