Why You Never Leave Early!!!

YES...that is my friend Matt's boy, Victor Martinez. Probably the only good player on the Cleveland Indians despite his recent 0-18 slide. But, I'll get back to him in a minute.

As you all may know I am a die hard Cleveland sports fan (my father brainwashed me) and an even bigger Cleveland Indians fan. I know I should be complaining about the Cavaliers but I don't want to cry.

This season for the Indians has just been plain awful but we may have just witnessed the only glimmer of enjoyment that can come from this 162 game marathon. Luckily, I was there to witness it and I'm glad that I followed my rule of never EVER leaving a game early because of how down and out of it my team seems to be.

Let me give you a little history. I have been to games where they were losing 14-0 in the second inning and thought that there was a glimmer of hope that they would win when they hit back-to-back solo homers in the bottom of the 9th. (Gapa knows the look) I've been to games where they blew leads and went down 8 in the 8th and thought that there could be a miracle. As a fan it is our duty to stick it out and watch the BAD games because you always know that the baseball gods are looking out for you and will give you a gem to remember.

One of my favorites was back in the 90's, AKA the Glory Days, when we were down 1 going into the bottom of the 9th. I looked up at the scoreboard and saw Ramirez and Thome due up and knew that something special was about to take place because of course it was Thome bobblehead day. Ramirez comes up and just jacks the hell out of ball to tie the game. The crowd was going nuts and everyone knew what Thome was going to do. He came up and sent all of us home with probably the most memorable walk-off that I will ever witness.

Two years ago I thought I was witnessing a team of destiny like the Indians of the 90's. We were down 4 in the bottom of the ninth to those pain in the ass Tigers. We couldn't hit the ball if our lives depended on it and I wanted to leave so badly becasue I was pissed. I was sitting there with Gapa and V-Chuck and one of them called the victory just being stupid. With our luck, Todd Jones was pitching and he sucks haha. We came back to tie it up and had a guy on second. Then comes up David Dellucci, who I still can not believe that he is still on this team. He rips a single up the middle to score the winning run and caps off the biggest hit of his life.

This past Memorial Day was one of those games where you're sitting in the stands as a die-hard and you're asking your self why you are sitting there watching an awful baseball team down 10-0 in the 3rd. You're also saying to yourself that you're happy you only spent $8 for that garbage. Well, I was sitting there pissed off and ready to leave, but I couldn't. They started to creep back into it with 2 runs and then 2 more in the 8th to cut it to 10-4. The 9th inning comes along and I am just hoping for a quicky because I'm tired and ready to go.

There were probably only about 5,000 people left in the stadium and they had to all have the same feelings as me. A guy sitting next to me was joking that they were coming going to come back and win this thing. I didn't believe it and became memorized by a guy's shirt in front of me that said "It Will Always Be Called The Jake" (I have a picture of it on my phone if you want it.)

All of a sudden Tampa Bay forgot that there was something called a strike zone and they were giving up walks and hits as easily as AROD gives it up to Jeter. Then Matt's boy Victor comes up with 2 outs, a tie game, an 0-18 skid and puts a line drive single up the middle to score the winning run capping off a 7 run 9th to win 11-10.

The Jake just simply exploded like we had won the World Series and the players celebrated on the field like they had just won it too! Wedge actually showed emotion by standing on the field clapping. Tampa players walked off the field with their heads down. People were hugging complete strangers. Hands were slapping everywhere and someone may have slapped my ass. People were even honking their horns outside! It was AWESOME!!!!

So, this season may be a total waste, but at least they made a moment that will live on in my memories forever. It will always reassure me that there is a reason why I never leave a game early, no matter the circumstances. I know that the baseball gods have paid there debts and now I will have to sit through 10 more blow-outs to have one of those games, but it will surely be worth it. Just never leave early because you never want to be the guy the next morning that says "Well I was there but I didn't see the comeback becasue I left early"