European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday may2, 1986 the stars and stripes. Page 23 commentary can 3,788 the heart says they re on la something. The mind says they re suckers. Who s they they re the 3,788 Cleveland baseball fans who showed up last week to see the game against he orioles it s been years since they be had anything to cheer about decades since they be been Able to say we re number one.". Actually hey never said thai Flack in .1948. They did t use that phrase. That was another Era one that millions of people Only know As history. I keep thinking about those 3,788 people. Don t they know that the chill of an april night along the Lake makes your Bones ache Don t the stadium was built for 70,000 or 80,000, not 3.788? Don l they know that by september they la Lake Refuge in the fact that football has supplanted baseball As the lop sports attraction better they Don t. Faith is too precious especially regarding a team that has known frustration and the iosin3 Side of life for so Many years i can picture those 3,788 people Silling there in those yellow painted scats. They watch human islands in a sea of empty seats. Huddled in blankets or Over Coats they sip Coffee or Beer hoping against Hope that this year s team won t Wallow in Early season losses like its predecessors. The players must have a different look i can t Pic Ture what Andy Allan Jon or Scott bails or Rich Yett looks like. I can t picture the Way they stand at the wrong plate or on the Mound. I can t picture the Way they Crouch in the of Deek Circle or meander in the bullpen. I can t picture this team at All. The team i know touts a promising Rookie then trades him to years Bier. The team i know leads 3-0 after two innings then loses 9-4. The team t know spells Relief cd of a so often you cringe every time the manager Waves to the bullpen. What s with his team you say winning ii of he first 19 in t something to write Home about you re wrong. In t this the team that lost 102 games last year in t this the team thai Drew 655,181 people last year fewest in the majors in t this the team that has t seen third place since 1968, second since 1959 and first since 1954?. You say log in t much. You re wrong. The team posted thai Mark playing clubs like new York Balti More and Detroit All of which own winning records. They posted that record featuring a Starling lineup with seven starters acquired from other franchises. They posted that Mark with a pitching rotation that sends sports writers rummaging through reference books trying to find biographical data to fill in the Blanks. Forgive me but i keep waiting for the Oiler baseball shoe to drop. I keep waiting to hear that Phil Nickroo and Andre Thornton have turned in their uniforms for Good that Julio Franco or Brook Jacoby will be test or the season because of injuries that the Young pitching staff has Ben returned to the minors for another year of Don t things like that always happen to that earn that team is mine though. That team has disappointed me More often than not but in has t been All bad. Rocky cola inv Leon Wagner Gaylord Perry and Luis Tiant made my Day More than once. Others did too Only it was never often enough to give me and thousands of other loyalists the leering Hal Only a championship brings. I fear its too late for that. The Rumor winds of a franchise shift blow like those off the Lake leaving me and those 3,788 others just As cold. There s not Many of us left who withstand the urge to leave that massive Concrete stadium for Good. But i still Hope that this year will be different. This year he team won t collapse this year inc team will attract attention like in did decades ago when the Cleveland indians Drew fans not laughs. Too much to ask probably. But 3,788 people who watched the indians beat Baltimore 5-1 on a cold april night in Ryfun Tsipai stadium and Ana other Hoiu aids of Miles away still keep the Faith. Tin Start ind ill of Chison Down o s on Kittle s 100th or from press dispatches Chicago somebody retrieved Ron Kittle s tools major league Home run and the big slugger immediately promised thai the Ball would go to his father. He deserves the 100th More than i do and it has nothing to do with birth or any thing said Kittle. His two run Homer capped a six run third inning wednesday and powered the Chicago while Siklo tin 8-6 win Over the Baltimore orioles. He. Has meant a lot to my baseball Ca reer Kittle said he keeps my head at an even keel and my personality the Homer was Kiltie s sixth of the year. All of his four last hits have been Home runs. No i m not trying to hit Home runs i m trying to remain Calm but be real aggressive at the plate he said. I just want. To hit the Ball Kittle went into the game with a .230 batting average which is what he hit last season when he had 26 homers but missed nearly 50 games because of injuries. Al Roundup Kiltie s Homer helped erase a 4-0 Balti More advantage. Storm Davis 1-1, walked the first three batters in the third inning before Haroid Baines doubled in a pair another run scored As Carlton Fisk grounded out and Bobby Bodilla singled in Baines before Kittle greeted reliever Rich Bordi with his Homer. Chicago starter Richard Dolson. 1-2, staggered through five innings. Bill Dawley pitched three innings and Bob James finished for his fourth save. Rick Dempsey hit his third Homer in the Baltimore sixth off dawley.yank�3,twins2 new York Don Mattingly first Home run of the season a three run shot off Bert Blyleven in the fifth inning gave the Yankees a Victory Over Minnesota and the Best april in their history. The Yankees have a 14-6 record bettering the 13-10 Mark they posted in april i �7
