Spring Training, Day Five

Day 5, Spring Training. Chain of Lakes Park, Winter Haven. Home of the Cleveland Indians. A somewhat more pleasant place to visit compared to the “mistake on the lake” in northern Ohio. I don’t know what the “Chain of Lakes” is all about. I suppose there may be some lakes in the area, but there are none within eyeshot of the park. It’s a serviceable ballpark. The outfield is huge – 340’ down the lines, 380’ in the power alleys and 420’ to deep center. Three outfielders kind of look lost in all that acreage.

I sprang for a more expensive lower box ($13) rather than an upper box ($11) seat. Unfortunately, the upper box seats are all under cover in the shade while my lower box seat was in the full sun when I got there. However, past the first few rows in the upper box, there could be some obstructed view issues due to the support poles. By the third inning though, the sun cleared the top of the stands and I was in the shade. My seat was five rows up from the field just past the 3^rd base bag.

Bob Feller, hall of fame pitcher for the Indians was on hand signing autographs – if you were willing to pay him whatever was the going rate. I walked over to where he was doing the signing and saw money changing hands at the signing table.

I planned none of the visiting teams, so it’s by chance that I saw the Phillies for the third straight game. Checking my schedule, I see the Phils at total of seven times, including one at their home in Clearwater. Since the Indians wore dark blue, the Phillies were clad in their usual red. Now they looked recognizable to me. There were a lot of Phillie fans here too. They must travel well or there are more retired Philadelphians in the area than I realized.

In the second inning, Indian reserve first baseman Mike Aubrey lashed a foul ball into the Phillie dugout and broke some plumbing fixture. Water erupted like a geyser from the dugout and arched onto the field. It was quite spectacular. It took them a while to find the right valve to turn it off.

Indian all-star catcher Victor Martinez staked the Indians to a lead with a 3-run homer in the first. Ryan Howard, batting from the right side against lefty C.C. Sabathia, crushed a solo shot well over the wall between the 380’ and 420’ signs to start the Phillie comeback in the 2^nd inning. Phils eventually take a 6-5 lead into the 9^th, but Jim Ed Warden takes the 7-6 loss and the blown save when Tribe outfielder Shin-Soo Choo hits a walk-off 2-run single off him in the bottom of the 9^th. Old Jim Ed can pack his bags and head back to the minors. Choo is a local fan favorite. The chant of “Choooooooo” goes up when he takes his turn at bat.

It took about an hour and a half to get up to Winter Haven. I took the Interstate there, but took the back roads through scrubby, rural Polk County on the way home. There’s not much in this state between the two coasts.

Tomorrow, I venture up to Dunedin to see the Blue Jays.

Dad